SMB Mobile Marketing for the Holidays

Now is the time to start planning your campaigns for holiday sales later in the year. Mobile marketing can be a good tactic for SMBs. It takes time to develop a mobile marketing strategy so you need to start early to set up the technology and build your list.

Mobile Marketing Elements

Your basic mobile marketing elements are the short code, the keyword, and the message.

Your short code is a number, usually five digits, which is the mobile equivalent of your telephone number. It is used by mobile subscribers to contact you.

Your keyword is a unique word or number that users text to your short code. For instance, if you’re a retailer, consumers can text the keyword “win” to a unique short code for a special offer, discount, etc.

Your SMS message is a short and simple message limited to 160 characters of plain text. You can’t use HTML, links or images. Some phones offer a multimedia messaging service that allows you send images and video, but SMS is the most widely used mobile marketing tactic.

Making Mobile Marketing Work for You

If you provide coupons, tickets, or other relevant promotions and offers that people can use at brick-and-mortar stores, you’ve got a viable marketing campaign. Or you can design a text-to-win promotion.

Remember, SMS mobile marketing doesn’t work well as a stand-alone blast without the incentive. Users must find your text message relevant at the exact moment they receive it and be motivated to act. That means the text must be tied to a wider promotion or initiative.

Mobile messages work best in conjunction with other marketing channels such as e-mail and social media to support your marketing initiative. Start with email to introduce and explain your promotion. Mobile can be used to send text alerts reminding your users when they’re at the point of purchase. Then social marketing can be used to make it easy for recipients to spread the word about your promotion via their social networking sites, social bookmarking pages, etc. A smart campaign can even go viral.

Planning a mobile strategy for holiday sales isn’t easy. So take the time now to plan your promotion early by getting started and learning as you grow and expand your mobile initiatives.  If you need some help let me know, I have friends who can help you get set-up.