I live in a relatively remote area by choice and tend not to venture out shopping a lot but when I do I see people everywhere I go on their mobile devices either texting, updating Facebook, or looking up the next place they are going to shop. This is where the power of mobile search is bringing buyers to local businesses who are properly optimized to be at the top of local organic search, this is also why it is imperative that one must have a mobile optimized web presence as well.
This excellent quote from Josh Steimle of MWI, a premiere SEO firm in Utah, tells it like it is regarding the importance of mobile in 2013 and beyond:
Grandma and Grandpa watching a video on iPhone
“Within the next 1-2 years your grandma will have a smartphone if she doesn’t have one already. She’ll have a tablet too.
If we’re past 50% smartphone adoption now, we’ll see 85%+ adoption of smartphones within the next 2-3 years.
And mobile SEO is going to make or break certain types of companies. Self storage is one of them. Restaurants are another.
And throw anything else in there that is a product or service that serves a certain geographic market. Other industries will be affected as well, but “local mobile SEO” is where we’ll see massive activity.”
What all businesses need to realize is that more and more consumers are using their mobile device more to search when they are actually shopping than their PC. Of course we still see a large amount of shopping online where the entire transaction is done online and the consumer never steps foot in the store, but we are talking about bringing local buyers into your local business. There are numerous methods that can be employed in order to integrate mobile marketing to maximize your local marketing efforts:
- Create Your Own App
- Utilize Social Media Networks such as Facebook and FourSquare
- SMS/Text messaging campaigns and Mobile Coupons
- Combine TV and Radio advertising with mobile marketing
Many businesses are becoming aware of the benefits of having their own mobile applications whether they be for internal use or for business to consumer. Even here in the small rural area that I live in we have a handful of restaurants that have their own mobile apps with menus and updating specials that are sent out via push notifications by text.
The activity most done on mobile devices is participation in social media, for smart marketers it only makes sense to interact with your local customers on social networks. The key is not to make every post be a sales offer, share useful information that you think your clients would find interesting. While you want to write as much as you can or at least hire a quality ghostwriter to write original content, you can also syndicate some new information to help you with content. Consider offering your clients some type of reward for checking in at your business through Facebook or FourSquare.
Unless you’ve been running around with blinders on for the last couple of years you have no doubt seen advertisements such as “For more info text backpain to 90210”. This is an example of an SMS/text campaign, in this case for a chiropractor. This is one of the most effective mobile marketing methods available and one that should be integrated with any business strategy. Direct mail is expensive and has dismal returns, email doesn’t get opened… By contrast 97% of text messages are opened and the majority of those are opened in the first 90 seconds they are received.
According to a recent survey 85% of those surveyed said that they have their smart phone either in their lap or right beside them while watching TV. Savvy marketers are beginning to realize this and take advantage of it, Oreo did this with their Super Bowl marketing pushing Instagram and Twitter. If you utilize television advertising in your marketing strategy, integrate mobile for better tracking and interaction with your clients and potential clients.
What people want these days is transparency and they want to know they are doing business with real people. Do the right things, optimize your site for local search and mobile devices and get heavily involved in social media to interact with those in your market. In return for your time investment you will earn the trust of your local area and by utilizing mobile marketing you will be able to deliver messages straight to their hand.
SEO | Social Media | Local Marketing | Mobile | Gregg Hall 