According to a recent study, 47% of small retailers are struggling to keep up with mobile marketing trends. Here are 10 tips for local mobile marketing that will help you.
Tips for Local Mobile Marketing
Mastering the basics
You can not put the cart before the horse when it comes to local mobile marketing. Make sure your website is up-to-date and the sound is the first step. Your social media channels also need to be updated. Watching your Google profile is also important.
"Look at all these things, including images and logos, before launching a marketing campaign to make sure they're airtight," says Marty McDonald, co-founder and chief strategist of Bad Rhino, a marketing agency in Philadelphia. McDonald's recently spoke with Small Business Trends to share tips on local mobile marketing for small businesses.
Locate your content
Focus on what makes any area special is a big part of local marketing. That said, you must be sure that everything you put forward makes it stand out.
For example, a blog post about the top five restaurants in a specific area gives search engines another way to match your business with that area. This applies to all the different types of content you work with.
Make sure you have mobile response capabilities
Your customers want to buy things, leave comments and contact you from their smart phone. You must be ready with the right technology. Make sure your website is compatible with mobile devices.
Turn On Mobile Payments
Make sure you can make payments from a mobile device. Consumers have become more comfortable buying items on their mobile devices and small businesses need to follow. There are traditional options here like PayPal, more recent entries like Apple Pay and a host of choices in between.
Deals on bargains
McDonald emphasizes how familiar technology facilitates the provision of incentives.
"There are many ways to integrate text messaging into this mobile strategy," he says. McDonald also recommends searching for software to help you target local niche markets with offers and discounts.
Offering customer loyalty rewards
As you might expect, there is a wide variety of applications to choose from. You should look for one that bends in your industry. For example, a restaurant reservation application may offer some kind of rewards program to eat.
A warning here. No matter which one you choose, make sure customers can check in and out quickly and easily.
Joining mobile directories
These provide another of the benefits you are looking for. The trick is to look beyond the obvious ones like Google Local and Yelp to see if there is something more suited to your locale.
Creating Google Landing Pages
"If you have multiple addresses, you'll need a Google landing page for each," McDonald explains. Do not forget to use the keywords related to your search, the name of your city and the postal code.
"Make sure they are optimized for local mobile search," he says.
Follow your progress
You want to track your progress once everything is optimized. However, knowing what to look for is essential to the big picture. Look more than just clicks. Make sure to rank the keywords you have chosen.
Simple online surveys are a great way to reinforce the trends you see from the analyzes. Ask people how they found you can even provide new keyword ideas.
Keep it
Persistence is the key to local mobile marketing.
"Once you have analytics, do not quit," says McDonald. "You have to do this more than a month to make sure you are doing everything right."
He also says that too many small businesses do not take the time to look in detail at their analysis.
Marketing on mobile photography via Shutterstock