With people today busier than ever and on the go with smart phones in hand, your small business needs to be able to integrate the technology your customers prefer into your marketing strategy. Two of the biggest growth areas are social media and mobile marketing.
Social media apps account for 30% of the time smart phone users spend accessing apps from their device. Facebook and Twitter account for a great amount of this time, so your company needs a profile and activity on both of these. Here are some of the other social media sites you may be interested in establishing a presence on:
- MySpace
- Google Plus+
- myLife
- FourSquare
Your social media presence will feed into your mobile marketing strategy and vice-versa. Using multiple channels will enable you to increase your brand recognition and bring in more business which translates to increased revenues.
Here are some specific ways to integrate social media and mobile marketing:
- Facebook – Your Facebook page should have a clickable link to your mobile website and a discount offer tied to a text code that will sign the texter up to join your mobile texting list for offers. You may want to establish a different code for each media site so you know which outlet is bringing in the most opt-ins.
- Twitter – Your Twitter page should have a link to your mobile website in the banner area and you should post frequent tweets offering a discount or promotion to encourage people to text to opt-in to your mobile texting list.
- LinkedIn – Your LinkedIn page should have the basic information about your business, including a link to your mobile website and basic information about the business. As the owner, you should also have a LinkedIn page so people can search by either you or the company name to access your profiles.
- MySpace – While MySpace is not the big deal it once was, it won’t hurt to set up a page for your business including photos and interesting information about your business. Links to your mobile website and a text to opt-in code should be included as well.
- Google Plus+ – Setting up a Google Plus+ profile will allow you to interact with customers in one circle, vendors in another and employees in yet another. When you set up the page, include a link to your mobile site and a link to opt-in to your text list.
- myLife – This tool can allow you to manage several of your social media profiles in an easy to use dashboard and allow for local searchers to find you. Always include a link to your mobile website and text opt-in offer wherever you can. Be sure to set up both a business and personal profile that are cross-linked to maximize your presence.
- FourSquare – When you set up your profile here, be sure to include a link to your mobile website and text opt-in offer.
Once you have a social media presence, you can work in the other direction and link your mobile marketing back to your social media profiles. On your contact us page of your mobile website, be sure to have icon links to each of your social media profiles (you don’t have to include myLife, that’s more of a utility for you than your customer.)
Next, offer special discounts and promotions on your mobile website and through your mobile texting program to get customers to recommend you on LinkedIn or Google Plus+ or to “Like” you on Facebook or to check in with you on FourSquare.
Social media is social proof that your establishment is a place that others should frequent – by combining the accessibility of mobile marketing with the popularity of social media, you can most effectively promote your brand and increase your bottom line.