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Slaying the Mobile Monster - How do you incorporate a mobile strategy into your overall communications plan?

Just when you thought you were getting the hang of email marketing, website development, and social media smartphones come along. 

With over 4.55 billion people worldwide to use a mobile phone in 2014 (eMarketer) mobile marketing is a rapidly growing monster that has still yet to be slayed. 

Smartphones are dropping in price, data plans are becoming more affordable, and Wi-Fi is the new hot attraction to bring customers into your location are all attributing to the growing use of mobile devices. 

Mobile marketing opens up an entirely new arena to your marketing plan. Society is attached to the hip to their mobile phones, literally – I mean have you seen those side clips? Very trendy J And they are not letting go anytime soon. We have become so attached to being accessible and available that we will leave our wallets, keys, laptops, kids, spouses, etc. at home but we will never forget our phone. 

Could you imagine ever being tethered to the wall again? What would life be like if we had to stay in one place while talking on the phone or always had to have our computers plugged into an outlet? Now we are free to travel around as we want and still be connected to everyone around us. You no longer have to wait to be connected. And everything is instant. So why shouldn’t your marketing plan be the same way?!

Going mobile is the next step in staying connected. We have now entered an era of instant marketing. You’re consumers want to buy and they want to buy now. They want it shipped directly to their doorstep. Marketing is no longer you feeding information to you consumer and your consumer digesting it. Consumers are now interactive and communicating back with you. Being mobile has opened up huge opportunities to get in front of not only your old customers but also has given you an opportunity to find new consumers. 

Why go mobile? 

Congratulations you have a website! But now what? Well one half of all local searches are performed on mobile devices. Mobile is not just for the big guns but for the mom and pop stores as well.

If you are not accessible via mobile phones you are missing your consumers and basically handing them to your competitor. 

Mobile marketing expands outside of the traditional advertisement marketing. Companies are getting smarter about the way they reach their target audience. 

Take Facebook, the pioneer of social media, into consideration. Every company, celebrity, musician, non-profit, local organization has a Facebook page. They want to easily reach their consumers where they are. Putting their message in their consumers face. Companies no longer have to wait for their consumer to find them, they can now find their consumer. Facebook even offers paid advertisement where companies can geographically or demographically target a person just by the information on their profile. You really didn’t think it was coincidental that you recently became engaged and you are now seeing ads for wedding photographers. Or now Match.com ads are popping up everywhere you turn on Facebook after changing your relationship status to single. No – these companies are demographically targeting you based on your profile. 

Look at Instagram. You swore you didn’t follow Pottery Barn but they are showing up in your Instagram feed. Well you aren’t losing your mind, you didn’t follow them, but Pottery Barn paid to play. So they bought a sponsored ad space and you are receiving their ads because you follow your favorite DIY star on Instagram. 

Pinterest is following suite as well. They are now suggesting products to you based on the people you follow and the types of pins you have on Pinterest. Just the other day I started receiving a lot of eclectic outfit choices on Pinterest in my feed that were suggested to me. I started noticing a pattern in the clothing line and realized all the pins were from Anthropology. So curiosity got the best of me and I went back and looked over some of my most recent Pins - they all happen to be clothing choices as I was doing a little spring shopping. 

Have you ever purchased Starbucks using the Starbucks app? This has to be the best use of mobile marketing I have seen yet. You can upload money to a virtual Starbuck gift card and pay with your smart phone. For every purchase you make you receive a star. After so many stars you begin to receive freebies which could include free drinks, discounts, or yummy treats. First of all this is genius! If you are competitive like me you see your stars start to grow and you just want to keep buying Starbucks to gain more stars. It becomes like a game which in return bring more revenue to Starbucks. Secondly, Starbucks records all of your buying history making it easier for them to target your specific interest and to personally market to you as a consumer. No more getting coupons you will never use! So Starbucks may lose a dollar in overall sales on your purchase but they made $4 on you because you bought Starbucks that you may not have done otherwise. Way to again stay ahead of the trend Starbucks while still providing an easy to use and convenient purchasing tool. Bravo!!

And we can’t forget the old trusty mobile marketing tricks. 

While people caught on to the SMS texting ploy it still is a popular tool used to send promos out to consumers. SMS texting is an easy way to directly reach your consumer without being abrasive. Consumer can choose to ignore the message but you still planted the seed for a future purchase and stayed relevant to the consumer.  

Email marketing is still just as prominent as ever. Now consumers have email that comes directly to their phones. You can send out promotions and coupons and consumers can access them while in your store and make purchase. Email is a great way to encourage foot traffic to your brick and mortar store. Or to send a consumer directly to an item to purchase on the web or mobile device. It is always important to ensure that your email message is easy to use and mobile friendly. Nothing kills a conversion like a non-mobile friendly message. 

Mobile is here to stay! And it is time to start making mobile marketing a permanent fixture in your marketing plan. As they say in Talladega Nights: 

So start your mobile marketing campaign and slay the mobile monster!

Cutting Through the Chatter

With the ability for every internet user to develop and publish content there is becoming an overload of content. And not only are users able to develop content but they are also able to share, comment, Tweet, Pin, Tumbl, and Instagram their thoughts and opinions on the content.

Internet users are more stimulated than ever when it comes to content. So how do you ensure that your content is lost in the deep blue sea of internet content?

Forbes contributor, Neil Patel, wrote a great article about Dominating Content Marketing in 2015. Again, more content floating around on the internet.

Patel makes great points that every writer who wants their content to be taken serious should take to heart.

• Focus on guest blogging.
  
  It’s ok to bring in diversity. Spice up your content by bringing in a new view point or opinion. Also, guest bloggers tend to self-promote to develop their own personal brand – it’s a total win\win for all parties involved.
  
  

• Create content with users in mind.
  
  Gone are the days of writing content that makes no sense just to ensure that you are getting in EVERY SEO word you can think of to boost your Google search reach. Google is now changing their search formula to eliminate poorly written, SEO driven content. Write quality content that is engaging and informative that is user focused and the readers will come.
   
• Diversify your forms of content.
  
  Blah, blah, blah – words, words, words. Let’s talk change. Incorporate images, pictures, drawings, videos, music, and more to engage your users. It’s ok to change up the formatting. Try using bullets, short paragraphs, and quote inlays to keep your users attention. Remember: Content is more than your blogs. It’s also your Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube channel, forum interactions. Anywhere you can tell your story - Tell it!
  
  

• Don’t be afraid to establish a higher budget than normal for content marketing.
  
  It takes money to make money – we have all heard this saying and it holds true. Invest in good content writers, good images, and video production. Quality content isn’t just within the written content but within the total package. The more appealing your total package the more readers you will attract.
  
• Work on building your personal brand as well as developing content for your business.
  
  It’s ok to let your content writers shine. Let their content help develop their own personal brand, as well as the business brand. Users like to find things they can connect to so why not let them connect to one of your staff writers? Developing a personal brand can help develop a connection to the users and will have them coming back time and time again because they feel connected to your writers and in the end to your brand.
  
• Integrate your content with your email marketing and social media marketing.
  
  You have great content – USE IT!! You cannot build great content and expect users to just find it. We wish it were that simple. You have to reach users when, where, and how they want to be reached. So share your content love. Publish it to your blog, promote it on Facebook, Tweet about it on Twitter. The more platforms you disperse it on the more users you will reach. Total reach of users is just as important as how many people came to you. It’s time to start going to the user.
  
  
• Place an equal effort on promoting your content once you publish it.
  
  Promote, promote, promote!! If you write it, they will come is a thing of the past. The gap of industry leaders is rapidly closing with the free flowing content. Places like National Geographic and Sports Illustrated, who were one time industry leaders, are now competing with independent bloggers, photographers, and viral video producers. It is important to develop great content but it is equally important to tell people how great your content it. So get out there and start promoting!

It’s time to start cutting through the content chatter. If you want to stand out amongst the noise you’re going to start staying ahead of the trends, promoting, and developing great content.

Resources: http://www.forbes.com/sites/neilpatel/2015/01/12/how-to-dominate-content-marketing-in-2015/

Is the printing press a thing of the past?

Is the era of the printing press coming to an end?

Highly doubtful. You hear people talk all the time about the age of technology killing print but until every household is outfitted with tablets, Google glasses become a daily wearable, and paper is non-existent printed materials will never be dead.

There is a lot of chatter that my generation, the Millennials, will be the last generation to completely experience printed materials as Generation Z, the first fully digital generation who does not know of a world without technology, emerges.

This is just simply untrue.

In order to kill the printing press every person on the planet would have to carry and have access to a technology driven device, be willing to adapt to 100% to a digital world, and refuse to purchase printed materials.

There is a happy world where both print and digital media can be married together to create an encompassed message reaching all target markets how and when they want to be reached. It is our job as marketing and PR professionals to bridge this gap.

Forbes in 2012 released an article listing several reasons why print is not dead. Almost three years later this article still holds truth.

Tangibility – A print piece is a physical thing. Magazines and newspapers can stay in houses or offices for months or years, while Internet ads can disappear into cyber space instantaneously.
Credibility – There is something about print that gives a sense of legitimacy. The saturation of popups and banner ads on the web can be overwhelming and the fear of spam and viruses is enough make people weary of clicking. There is no imminent danger in a print ad.
Branding – Print ads are excellent for solidifying your brand identity. Your ads should have a consistent aesthetic in terms of fonts, colors and types of images to establish brand recognition.
Target Marketing – Placing ads in publications such as specialty magazines can effectively reach niche audiences that may be more difficult to target online.
More Engaging – Consumers are more engaged when reading printed material, unlike websites, which are often skimmed in as little as a 15 second visit. A study shows that people read digital screen text 20% – 30% slower than printed paper. (Alshaali & Varshney, 2005)
Less Print Ads – With more and more businesses relying solely on the Internet for their advertising needs, the decline of print publication can actually be used as a marketing advantage. The publications are less crowded, allowing more room for your ad to shine, and possibly even cheaper prices for that ad space.
QR Codes – Placing QR codes on printed pieces is an excellent way to bridge the gap between print and web. When scanned with a smartphone, the QR code will take you to a homepage or a special offer page that lives on the web.

The only way the printing press will die is if we the people allow it to die. If we as business professionals walk away from the basics of marketing we are walking away from the printing press. And shame on us if we allow that to happen.

Resource: http://www.forbes.com/sites/thesba/2012/06/28/print-is-dead-not-so-fast/