Mobile marketing keeps businesses connected to customers.
 

The explosion of mobile phone usage and text messaging has resulted in a marketing opportunity for small businesses called "mobile marketing."

What is mobile marketing and how can you use it? It is a text campaign that reaches out and creates a personal, ongoing connection with your customer – reaching your target market with greater impact than traditional direct mail and freestanding insert ads.

According to Airwide Solutions, 75 percent of marketing campaigns using mobile marketing reported response rates over 5 percent. Traditional direct mail and insert ads have a 1- to 2-percent average response.

What are the key benefits?

• Reach a receptive audience

• Drive business to your Web site

• Increase sales

How can your business benefit from a text message campaign?

• It builds relationships and loyalty among customers.

• Businesses with customers who have "dead time" sitting or standing in line are perfect for this type of marketing.

Here’s an example of a successful campaign: Subway recently created a mobile text campaign in 12 Buffalo, N.Y., stores with an amazing 50 percent response rate. They used traditional advertising (in-store signage, print and radio ads) to instruct users how to opt in to the promotion to receive coupons from their chosen Subway location. The response was so effective that text campaigns are now used in more than 100 Buffalo Subways and have spread to more than 300 Subways in the lucrative Seattle-Tacoma market.

According to eMarketer, last year the worldwide market for mobile marketing was $1.5 billion. By 2011, it is forecast to grow to nearly $14 billion.

Mobile marketing and text campaigns are giving businesses a new and effective tool for staying top-of-mind with customers. Get on board with technology and see if you get results.

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