Mobile Marketing Basics For Local Business A Starter Guide

www.elevatesolutionsgroup.
com 2014 All Rights Reserved Page 1

Learn how mobile marketing can be used to acquire and retain customers,
promote your business to a bigger audience, and increase your bottom line!

Mobile Marketing Basics
for
Local Business

A Starter Guide for Owners, Managers and Marketers

By Ric Clark, founder and owner of Elevate Solutions Group

The information packed into this little book will give you a base knowledge of what
mobile marketing actually is, and how to use it to grow your business by increasing
your customer base and turning them into your fans and promoters!

Copyright 2014

By Rictor Clark, Elevate Solutions Group

www.elevatesolutionsgroup.com 2014 All Rights Reserved Page 2
All Rights Reserved

This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced or reused in any form without
permission from the author.

This book is written to provide information in regards to a specific subject matter. The
author takes no responsibility for the interpretation of the subject matter contained
within.

The author is not engaged in providing any legal, financial, or accounting services. No
claims or guarantees are offered or promised as a result of reading this book or
employing its techniques described. The reader assumes all responsibility for the
interpretation, use and implementation of any content within. Individual success is
determined by the readers background, motivation, desire and willingness to employ
the information. As with all business endeavors there is inherent risk of loss of capital
and no guarantee of earnings or results. The author accepts no responsibility for any
losses or liabilities incurred from the readers individual business decisions.

The sole purpose of this material is to inform, educate, entertain and assist the reader.
Every effort has been made to accurately represent all information presented.

Table of Contents
Introduction Page 5
About Me (the author)..Page 7
Chapter 1: 21
st
Century MarketingPage 10
Paradigm Shift..Page 12
OK, Lets Boil It Down.Page 13
Chapter 2: So What is Mobile Marketing?.........Page 16
Chapter 3: Rules, Regulations & CompliancePage 19
Chapter 4: Mobile Marketing for Locally Focused
Businesses..Page 22
A Mobile-Optimized Website.Page 24
Text Message Marketing.Page 26
Mobile Apps...Page 28
Search Engine Optimization for Local (Local SEO)....Page 29
Mobile-Optimized eMail..Page 30
Loyalty & Rewards Programs...Page 32
Social Media Sharing..Page 34
QR Codes...Page 37
Paid Ads.Page 39
Chapter 5: Paralysis of NO AnalysisPage 42
Chapter 6: How to Use All This Techy Stuff to Increase
YOUR Business..Page 45
Change = Opportunity.Page 47
Cmon Ric, I Dont Have Time for
Meetings and Plans!...................................................Page 47
Your Customers Have ChangedPage 48
Do You REALLY Need a Professional?.............................Page 51

Chapter 7: Enough Fluff Ric!! Give Me the Bottom
Line..Page 53
Final Stuff.Page 55
Contact & Engage..Page 56

Introduction

Right from the start let me say that having owned,
managed, sold to, and strategized with many small
businesses, I know that you as a manager or owner dont
have the time to read some long, dry book full of facts and
statistics showing you how smart I am and trying to
convince you that mobile marketing is important to your
company. I get that, and promise to keep it as brief and
simple as possible while giving you valuable information.
Having said that, welcome and thanks for taking the time
to find out more about new marketing technologies and
techniques. I hope you find it worth the effort!

This book is meant specifically for owners and/or
managers of small, local businesses. It is a primer if you
will, to give you the basics of what mobile marketing
actually means and how it can affect your company.
The reason I say primer is because mobile marketing is
rapidly growing and changing, encompassing many
different areas of your business. A book covering all of
mobile marketing would be more like a bookshelf!

I am writing this in a person-to-person style, as if you and I
are having a casual conversation that is valuable for both
of us. My style is direct, informal, and sometimes a bit
irreverent. I hope you can relate.

My wish is that you will find it valuable and entertaining
and you will be able to quickly and easily find all the parts
relevant to your business, and use them to help it grow
and prosper.


About Me
My name is Ric Clark, and I am an independent consultant
in the marketing field for local businesses. For most of my
working life I have been involved with companies that are
locally owned and operated. I am very familiar with the
challenges and opportunities that are presented to
businesses every day.

The one thing I am sure that small business
owners/managers lack is time, so I will try to make my
points in this book as brief as possible. I believe in
keeping things simple and to the point. I will not throw a
bunch of marketing jargon at you or bore you with mounds
of statistics and data about why mobile marketing works.
You wouldnt be reading this if I needed to convince you of
its worth.

I firmly believe that small businesses are the backbone of
our country. I also believe that it is harder to run one
every day. With more regulations to follow, a lack of
qualified employees, and constantly changing competition
and technology, I think running a small business is much
more challenging than running a large one! I know you
have to wear many hats. When you have an accounting
issue you cant just have your accounting department
take care of it. You ARE the accounting department! I get
it.

For the last few years I have had a desire to be my own
boss probably much like you, but I really wanted to offer a
product or service that has a real value to small
businesses. I had a desire to work with companies on a
long-term basis, helping them grow and showing real
results.

I found that in mobile marketing.

Thats enough about me. Lets do this!

Chapter 1: 21
st
Century Marketing
______________________________________________

Check out these two photos above. They were both taken
in St. Peters Square at the Vatican; the top one when
Pope Benedict was announced in 2005 and the bottom
one in 2013 at the announcement of Pope Francis. What
a brilliant illustration of how rapidly mobile technology has
changed the way we do things in our everyday lives now.

The almost universal adoption of mobile devices has
completely changed how businesses promote and market
their goods and services, especially for local business.
Gone are the days when you ran a few print ads and
reviewed your (very expensive) Yellow Page ad once a
year. Its a whole new ball game now, and if you havent
kept up, youre probably losing business to your
competition!

If youre not using mobile marketing to attract new
customers to your business, dont worry your
competitors are already using it and are getting those
customers instead.
- Jamie Turner, 60SecondMarketer.com
(Source: Ecoconsultancy.com)
These changes are not a fad, theyre here to stay and
will evolve more and more. The internet changed
everything and now it has gone mobile.

Paradigm Shift
OK heres the only part of this book where Ill throw some
stats at you, but theyre worth knowing. Almost everyone
has a cell phone now right? Well, over half of them are
smart phones and the number is growing. Over 60% of
emails are opened on a mobile device now (Source:
Movable Ink Q1 2014). Notice I said opened well pay
attention to this later. Most people have their phone within
their reach all their waking hours. 75% of us have even
admitted to taking them into the bathroom (Source:
CBSNews.com).

From a marketing standpoint the shift is even more
striking. In January 2014, more people accessed the
internet on a mobile device than on a desktop or laptop
computer (Source: CNNMoney). 79% of smartphone
owners and 81% of tablet owners use their devices to
search for info on local businesses (Source: Neustar
Localeze).

Right about now youre saying, OK marketing dude thats
great. Customers find me on the internet all the time.
Yes, but check this out (last bunch of stats I promise);
74% of consumers will only wait for a mobile site to load
for 5 seconds before moving on to the next one (Source:
Compuware). 57% of mobile users will not recommend a
business if they have a bad mobile website (Source:
ecoconsultancy.com). 61% of local searches on a mobile
phone result in a phone call to a business (Source:
Google).

OK Lets Boil It Down
Consumers are increasingly using mobile devices to shop
and buy. Almost all mobile users search for local
businesses on their mobile device. If a business isnt
mobile-friendly online (i.e. their website loads slowly or
their emails dont work on a mobile screen or they cant
find or call the business easily in 1-click), then customers
will move on to a competitor. Marketers call this a bad
User Experience (whoops sorry, I promised not to use
buzzwords didnt I?).

What doesnt show up directly in these stats is that mobile
devices are very personal to people. Businesses now
have a way to instantly communicate one-to-one with their
customers. While this is a tremendous opportunity, you
must be careful. Remember, mobile devices are personal.
It is critical that you send people information that is
valuable to them. With mobile its not all sell sell sell.
Imagine this; your home is very personal right? Would
you want someone knocking on your door at 4pm every
day saying Come eat at our restaurant now!? Of course
not. But, what if a friendly kid came by and left a notice
informing you of things like a new menu or new happy
hour pricing, every couple of weeks? That is valuable to
you and not intrusive. That is how mobile marketing must
be done or it will result in an epic FAIL.

One of the best things Ive ever heard is that Customers
hate to be sold, but they love to buy. (Sorry I cant source
that, its been around forever).

The KEY to future marketing success is building lists
of happy, loyal customers (email addresses or phone
numbers) who look forward to receiving info from
your company, share that info with their friends, and
keep coming back, and that you can continue to
market to in the future.

Chapter 2: So What is Mobile Marketing?
______________________________________________

While it is not quite as simple as just hitting the key like in
the picture above, mobile marketing can be as simple or
as complex as you want to make it.

The Mobile Marketing Association defines mobile
marketing as:
Mobile Marketing is a set of practices that enables
organizations to communicate and engage with their
audience in an interactive and relevant manner
through and with any mobile device or network
(Source: MMA).
There are 4 key words in that definition: communicate,
engage, interactive and relevant.

There are now many types of mobile devices and more
coming in the future; cell phones, smart phones, tablets, e-
readers, Google glasses, smart watches, wearables and
more. Even your car will be a mobile device soon! The
touch screen in your dash will have internet access, just
like a smart phone! Feel like the Jetsons yet? (Lets see
how many of you dont get that reference, LOL).

There is also a growing list of mobile marketing products
and services used to market goods and services on those
devices:
Mobile optimized websites
SMS & MMS text marketing
Mobile coupons
Mobile landing pages
Digital loyalty rewards Programs
Kiosks for opt-ins
Mobile apps
Mobile punch cards
Mobile appointment reminders/confirmations
Mobile optimized email marketing & newsletters
Social media sharing
QR codes
Virtual business cards
mCommerce
Text-to-Donate for non-profits & places of worship
Location marketing & Geo-fencing
Mobile-optimized social media channels
Ratings/reviews on mobile
Search engine optimization for mobile
Mobile-optimized email
Paid mobile ads

Dont get scared! I know it looks like a lot, but Im here to
simplify for you. Most businesses only need a small
number of these items to show a great return on the
investment. Well talk about the important ones in Chapter
4, but first.

Chapter 3: Rules, Regulations &
Compliance

Ok, you probably wont get thrown in jail for breaking the
rules of mobile marketing, but you can be heavily fined,
shut down by cell carriers and banned from internet sites if
you mess it up.
There are some really important standards that must be
met when engaging in mobile marketing. The CTIA
(Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association),
the MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) and US CBP
(Consumer Best Practices) have all established sets of
guidelines and requirements for companies engaging in
mobile marketing with consumers. Also, on October 16,
2013 the TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act)
went into effect. These are laws that pertain to both voice
and text messaging transmitted for marketing purposes.
They are very specific and breaking these rules can result
in cancellation of your message services by cell phone
carrier networks, lawsuits or worse. Needless to say you
want to stay clear of this mess!

Here is where you get to say, Come on Ric, gimme a
break! I dont have time to figure that stuff out! Well, you
have 2 choices to use mobile marketing in your business;
do it yourself, or hire a professional consultant, provider or
agency. I will tell you that trying to do it yourself(properly
and profitably) will take a lot of study and research on your
part. Employing a professional is the way to go for most
businesses. If you have a tech-nerd that you trust who
has the time to learn the ins and outs, you could give it a
try. But whatever you do, make sure to follow all the
guidelines and best practices or dont even start. Some
high profile companies have paid big fines for running
afoul of these rules! A professional mobile marketer will
make sure you steer clear.

Chapter 4: Mobile Marketing for
Locally Focused Businesses

A locally-focused business is one whose customers are
local to their physical location(s). For example, a
restaurant is locally-focused. Theyre not looking for
customers two states over to come and eat. A multi-
location business is locally-focused, with each location
focused on their area. A company that sells only online
would NOT be locally-focused. Their customers can be all
around the world.
Mobile marketing works very well and shows great results
for locally-focused businesses. Dont ever forget, mobile
marketing is also very personal. Think about how you like
to be marketed to. Your customers will likely feel the
same way.

Mobile marketing is not about fancy new technology.
Dont get caught in that trap. It is simply a set of new and
more effective tools for connecting with your customers.
Remember what I wrote in Chapter 1:

The KEY to future marketing success is building lists
of happy, loyal customers (email addresses or phone
numbers) who look forward to receiving info from
your company, share that info with their friends, and
keep coming back, and that you can continue to
market to in the future.

Here is a list of the most effective mobile marketing
products and services for locally-focused businesses with
brief descriptions (Dont freak out! You wont need all of
them!):
A Mobile-Optimized Website
You have probably seen this before; a website that
looks fabulous on a big screen laptop, but terrible
when viewed on a smartphone. Nowadays, if a user
has to pinch or expand the page or scroll around
trying to find something, theyre off to your
competitors site. Without getting all techy there are 4
types of websites:
Static This is the old school type made for a
computer screen. It does not change when
viewed on a mobile device. Pros: none for most
small businesses Cons: Looks terrible on mobile
devices. No customers want to use it.
Responsive This type of site is designed to re-
size itself to the screen it is being viewed on. The
pages shrink down, so they have to be designed
to look good when they are small. Pros: Easily
translates to different sized screens, easy to
design. Cons: Expensive, usually existing sites
have to be totally scrapped, can be a bad
compromise for viewing on a big screen.
Reactive - This type of site detects what type of
device it is being viewed on and loads totally
different pages designed specifically for each
device. Pros: A seamless user experience, looks
good on all screens. Cons: VERY expensive
since it requires a completely new website built
from the ground up.
Dedicated Mobile This is a website completely
independent of a static site, designed specifically
to be easy to navigate on mobile devices. Pros
Inexpensive, quickly and easily built and
activated, does not require redesigning existing
static website, designed for ease of navigation
and giving only essential info (what users want).
Cons Since the mobile site is completely
separate, anytime content changes are needed
they must be made on both sites, each site must
be hosted and maintained independently.

The bottom line here is that if you have gobs of
money laying around, hire a great web design team to
build you a beautiful reactive site that works on
everything. If your budget is limited, your site may be
able to be adapted to a responsive site, or you may
want to have a dedicated mobile site. Each business
is very different so I suggest consulting with a
professional marketer to help make this decision.
Whatever you do it is critical that you have something
that looks decent and is easily used on a mobile
device. If you dont I guarantee youre losing some
business.

Text Message Marketing
Using text messages is a great way to market to
existing customers and even attract new ones, if done
properly (see Chapter 3). It is a direct communication
tool to your customers. You can decide what to send
them (appointment reminders, mobile coupons, info
about your product/services, related content that is
valuable to them, pictures, videos, and more!). Also,
you can dictate when exactly to send them; remember
most text messages are opened right away. Do you
want your restaurant coupon to arrive on your
customers phone at 4pm on a Thursday? No problem
with text messaging. Non-profit and religious
organizations can use Text-to-Donate to solicit and
receive donations.

NOTE: NEVER EVER buy a list of phone numbers
somewhere and shoot out a text to them. This is
ILLEGAL! Dont let some shyster come in and sell
you something that is unethical and could cost you big
time. Call me anytime if you need clarification on this,
whether you want my services or not. Ill be glad to
help.

Mobile Apps
Ok, Im going to get in trouble with app developers for
this, but here goes! Most small businesses do not
need a mobile app. An app is not a webpage. It is a
software application. Heres how it works for a
business. First you have to build it in different
versions for different platforms (iPads/Phones,
Android, Windows Mobile, etc.). This gets very
complicated and/or expensive. Then it has to be
submitted to both iTunes and the Google Play Store
for approval and to be listed. Then you have to get
your customer to download and install it on their
phone. Then they have to KEEP it on their phone for
as long as they want to use it. Now, dont get me
wrong, there are good reasons to have an app.
Facebook and Twitter are apps and they need to be.
Apps have more interactive functionality than
websites. If you want to offer games or contests
directly to your customers, apps are the way to go.
But again let me stress that for most small businesses
they are not necessary. Consult a professional (NOT
an app salesperson) for advice.

Search Engine Optimization for Local (Local SEO)
SEO encompasses a big old bag of complicated
actions to get your business listing to rank higher in
Google searches organically (not a paid ad). Huh?
OK simpler; when you do a Google search for a
business do you ever look past the first page of
results? Rarely I bet. Well would it be any different
for people looking for your business? If you have an
auto repair shop and it shows up on page three of
local search engine results, do you think many
customers will find you? Nope. There are a LOT of
different things to be done to improve your search
rankings including content marketing, directory
listings, blogging and much, much more. Im not
trying to scare you, just being realistic and honest.
Good SEO requires consistent time and effort and
never ends. It can be expensive but doesnt have to
be. There are many techniques used. If youre not a
computer nerd with time to do all that is required, then
consult a professional. Your search ranking is
definitely important and there are many ways to
achieve results.
NOTE: If someone tells you they can improve your
ranking quickly and easily, RUN! Theyre either lying
to you or using techniques that are unethical and can
get you banned from search engines. Yes BANNED!
You do not want this, ever. Improved ranking requires
weeks if not months (depending on your market
segment and location) of consistent effort in many
areas. Whole books are written about this subject so
I cant get into all the details here. Being ranked
highly in searches is certainly worth the effort, just
dont underestimate it. Either take the proper time to
learn it, or hire someone to do it for you. The ROI will
pay off for you, if done properly.

Mobile-Optimized eMail
Remember back in Chapter 1 when I stated that over
60% of emails are now opened on mobile devices?
Kudos if you do! Heres the deal. What most mobile
users do now is screen their emails on their phone
or tablet. They keep or read the ones that are
important or valuable, delete the junk, and read them
on their laptop later when they have time. So what?
you say. Think about it. Do you want your emails
deleted? No! How to get your emails opened and
read by people is part science and part art. First, they
must be formatted for mobile devices. Then how the
headline reads, the colors in the body of the email,
the type of text, when the email is sent, and more are
all factors in making those emails effective and of
value to your customer. And making them effective
for mobile is different than for computers! Yikes this
is complicated sometimes. As a businessperson, I
would recommend you treat email marketing like
SEO. It is worth the effort and shows great results,
but either learn the proper methods yourself or hire
someone to do it right. If youre going to be sending
emails that cant be read on a smart phone you are
wasting money.
Loyalty & Rewards Programs
Does your business lend itself to increasing profits by
offering your customers rewards for their loyalty? Do
you already have a program in place? Still using
punch cards? If so, a digital program might be great
for you. The short description is that customers opt-
in to the program and then a system for keeping
track of their return visits is put in place. It can be
through a tablet based kiosk on your counter where
they check-in each time they visit or they can be
entered by your employees on a POS or counter
computer. They simply punch in their mobile number.
Then both you and the customer have a record of
their status in the program, how many visits they need
for a reward and more. You also capture their info for
future marketing efforts. I know weve said this twice
already but it is the most important thing in this book:

The KEY to future marketing success is building
lists of happy, loyal customers (email addresses
or phone numbers) who look forward to receiving
info from your company, share that info with their
friends, and keep coming back, and that you can
continue to market to in the future.
(Is this sounding familiar yet? I must think its
important huh?)

A loyalty & rewards program using a kiosk for
customers to opt-in and check-in is the easiest
method for gaining the best results. NOTE: This type
of program requires a wireless internet connection for
the tablet to connect to.

Customers love rewards programs. Compare the
costs to something like a deal-of-the-day website
coupon like Groupon and youll be amazed how much
more ROI a rewards program will return. Its different
for every business, depending on your product,
average sale, and amount of the freebie. Give me a
call and I can run an ROI report for your business.

Social Media Sharing
This is brilliant! I didnt think of it but I sure do use it.
So now you agree that reaching out to and engaging
with your customers is a good and profitable idea.
But lets take it further. What if you can get those
customers to advertise FOR you? Most of them,
especially millennials and younger, are on social
media sites like Facebook and Twitter all the time,
sharing all kinds of things with their friends. What if
we can get them to share the value of your products
and services with them?

Try this for a what if? You own a steak house. A
nice couple have become semi-regular customers of
yours. They like your place, your food and maybe
even you personally. They decide to check-in on
Foursquare while dining one night and say great
things about you. They might even go to UrbanSpoon
and give you a full-on awesome review. They post on
Facebook about how great your food is. The last time
I checked, adult Facebook users had an average of
338 friends. Do you think some of the 338 friends of
that nice couple will see their posts and give your
place a try? Of course! This is like of word of mouth
advertising on steroids!

How about we try some Incentivized Social Media
Sharing? I know, I know stop with the marketing
jargon. OK, but its really simple. We give customers
an incentive to tell their social media family about
how great you are. Maybe we tell that nice young
couple they get a free entre if they bring another
couple with them next time. Or we give them a free
dessert for giving you an online review. The
possibilities are endless. Your cost is minimal and the
results are phenomenal. Theres a reason they say
word-of-mouth is the best advertisement, and social
media sharing just expands the reach of it. And of
course we get all these new customers to like, follow
and share on their pages and it grows even more.
Very cool.
You can also have some fun with social media
sharing. Run a photo contest for your customers. Set
up a board for it on your Pinterest business page,
have them take pics of things in your restaurant and
post them to the board, then pick a winner at the end
and give them a free meal. I guarantee your
customers will love it and the pics will be shared on
Pinterest to even more potential new customers. I
love these new mobile devices!

The end game is to get your customers sharing with
their friends however you can. Expand the reach of
your good name and products or services. The more
people that find out about you, especially if a friend
recommends you to them, the more business you
attract. Do it however you can on social media.

QR Codes

Quick Response Codes (thats the QR) are funky
looking black & white squares that can be scanned by
cameras in smartphones and tablets. They are
typically used to link to a web page url. Theyre just
an alternative way to get a customer to check out
something you want them to see, like a landing page,
special offer, or whatever you choose. They are just
a code, like barcodes at the grocery store, to link to
something easily. They look like this:

Youve probably seen them but maybe never actually
scanned one. Heres how they work. Lets say youre
at the big orange home improvement store and
theres a plant in the garden section that you would
like info about. Theres a little tag attached with a QR
code on it. The first thing you do is download a QR
code reader app to your device, if you dont yet have
one. There are plenty of free ones in the Play Store
or on iTunes. Then once its loaded you have to open
it and using the camera on your device, scan the
code. It should automatically send you to a webpage
with all sorts of information about that plant.
Businesses can use them to link to anything they
want. Kinda cool huh?

Well, theres one little problem people dont seem to
use them much. When they first started appearing
they were the new thing but they havent really
caught on in the USA. Consumers seem to be more
apt to text a code to get a link, or just type a short link
into their browser. QR codes do have an upside;
theyre easy to generate and can be printed on
virtually anything and they are completely tracked.
You can sign up for a service that will capture info like
when or how many times the code was scanned, and
provide it to you in a handy report form. Its a great
tool for analysis of your marketing campaigns but if
people dont use the codes its all for naught.

I wont say that QR codes are dead there are still
good uses for them. But I will say for most small
businesses QR codes are in a coma. Ask your
marketing guru if your business can use them
efficiently.

Paid Ads

Like most marketing, digital internet marketing allows
you to pay for ads. The cool thing is that now you can
target those ads very effectively. You can set up with
Google, Facebook, Twitter or any number of other
sites, to have an ad for your business pop up in the
paid ad section on their site. Typically you have the
ad send them to your website when clicked, but you
can set it to link to whatever you want. Also, you can
target exactly where you want your ads to show. For
example, if you own an auto repair shop in Las
Vegas, you can tell Google to only pop your ad in
when someone in Vegas does a search for auto
repair. You can filter by location, search keywords
and many other factors. On Facebook you can filter
by things like the searchers age, sex or interests.
The benefit is that you can target your ads precisely
to the market you want to attract. The bad news is
that you pay a fee every time someone clicks on that
ad, whether they make a purchase or not. You are
paying to link them to you but thats all. An added
benefit is that all this activity is captured by the site
(Google for instance) for you to analyze. You can see
what works and what doesnt. Quite a bit better than
the old days when you put an ad in the local
newspaper and waited for people to show up!

The act of placing the ads is quite simple. They are
usually text based ads (no design work needed), and
the site you want to put the ad on will tell you
everything you need to know to get it done. NOTE:
Give serious consideration to which site you want to
try. Dont just place an ad on Google. Go where your
customers are. If you provide services to other
businesses, a site like LinkedIn may give much better
results than other sites. An internet marketing pro
could help you here.

Paid ads can get great results for some businesses
but may not be a good fit for others. Factors to
consider are; the vertical your company is in (oops
more jargon I mean the type of product or service
you provide), your local market and competition, your
marketing goals and budget. I would suggest
consulting with an internet marketing pro for some
advice. You can always start with a small trial and
just give it a shot. You never know what might
generate traffic for you!
Chapter 5: Paralysis of NO Analysis
______________________________________________

Remember the old saying paralysis of analysis, referring
to analyzing something so much that you never take
action? Well, you can also get paralyzed by not analyzing
data to see if what youre doing is working or not.

Personally, Im not a big fan of analyzing reams of data,
especially for a small business. But I absolutely believe in
tracking the results of your marketing campaigns to gauge
your success and plan future efforts.

A tremendous benefit of the digital marketing age is that
almost everything you do can be tracked and used to
improve your campaigns for better results. What good is
all this flashy techy stuff if you cant use it to make more
money right?

Heres my philosophy about analyzing marketing
campaigns for a small business. It is essential to do it, but
keep it simple. Its easy to get wrapped up in pages of
data and lose sight of your objective. Most small
businesses I know dont have a marketing department with
MBAs and MMAs sitting around analyzing reports!
Spending money on a bunch of disorganized shotgun
style mobile marketing efforts just because its the latest
marketing fad is just foolish. It doesnt have to be
expensive! You can either do it yourself or hire a pro with
experience building and managing successful mobile
marketing campaigns for small businesses.
I like examples so lets show one; you decide to run a text
message marketing campaign and offer customers a
discount for a specified amount of time. You can track
how many messages you send, who you send them to,
how many of the messages are opened, and how many
customers take advantage of the discount. If you design
the campaign properly you can even extrapolate out how
much your business increased from offering the discount.
Maybe youre not happy with the results and you try
adjusting the campaign by changing the offer, and see
what happens. If the results are better you stick with the
change. If not, you can try a different idea. Every
business and its customer base are different so results
vary.

The most important thing is to track at least a minimum
portion of your results, analyze them, adjust, and repeat.
Its a process that takes effort and consistency but yields
very good results when done properly. NOTE: Any good,
reputable consultant or agency will require a plan like this
at least on a monthly basis. You want that.
Chapter 6: How to Use All This
Techy Stuff to Increase YOUR Business
______________________________________________

First off, if the sum total of your marketing efforts looks like
the picture above, we have quite a distance to travel my
friend! Lets do it.

So Ive told you about all these products, services and
techniques in mobile marketing to use for your business.
The decision you need to make now is this; what result are
you looking for? Do you want to attract more new
customers? Maybe increase your customer retention
rate? How about getting existing customers to spend
more each time they visit you? These are all good things
for most small businesses but you need to give some
thought to exactly what you want.

Stop right here for a sec. Look, I KNOW you dont have a
big marketing budget, or a marketing department or
maybe not even anybody who helps you with marketing at
all! You may even think I dont need marketing. Ive got
news for you; if you do any kind of advertising, if you have
a sign out front, if you have business cards, heck, if youve
ever TOLD anyone about your business, you are already
in marketing. You have to be if you run a business.
Period. If you have all the customers you will ever need or
are about to retire or dont want to maintain the level of
business you have now, then dont worry about marketing.
You dont need to do a thing (I dont know many business
owners in this situation though!).
Change = Opportunity

If you want your company to grow, you really need to keep
up with these radical changes in how your customers
spend their money. The world is going mobile and like all
change, you can fight it or embrace the opportunity and
capitalize on it. OK, no more preaching from me.

Cmon Ric, I Dont Have Time for Meetings and Plans!

Do you need a plan? Yep. Does it need to be
complicated? Nope.

Once youve decided that you need to use mobile
marketing in your business, the rest is easy. Just decide
what you want to accomplish, get a free consultation from
a mobile marketing pro (hint: we all do it), put together a
basic plan, launch it, evaluate the results once a month,
make any changes and keep going. The key really is
consistency whether youre trying to improve your search
ranking or get more repeat customers through a rewards
program or whatever. Marketing, especially mobile
marketing, is not a one and done deal. Notice I said
consistent not expensive. If youre spending
$1000/month to get an extra $500 in business, you wont
be in business long right?

I just realized I have mentioned campaigns in the
previous chapters, so let me explain. A campaign in
mobile marketing is just a part of your plan. A special offer
that lasts for a month is a campaign. A loyalty club that
has no end date is a campaign. Heck, a Yellow Page ad
is a campaign. You want to keep campaigns separate for
the purpose of evaluating each one for ROI.

Your Customers Have Changed

Back in Chapter 2, I referenced the Mobile Marketing
Associations definition of mobile marketing as:
Mobile Marketing is a set of practices that enables
organizations to communicate and engage with their
audience in an interactive and relevant manner
through and with any mobile device or network.

I also wrote that the 4 most important words in that
definition are communicate, engage, interactive and
relevant. Heres why:
Communicate Dont just communicate TO your
customers, communicate WITH them!
Engage Dont just offer free stuff to your clients, ask
them what they want. Involve them in your business
as an active participant. Find out what their needs or
challenges are and provide them the solutions. But
you gotta ask them first!
Interactive Similar to engaging your customers,
interacting with them is more crucial than ever before.
Have a conversation with them (digitally). Make
them feel important (they are VERY important to you).
Be creative.
Relevant I would include value with this. You have
more opportunity than ever to connect with your
customers but dont blow it. Offer them things that
are relevant and valuable to them.

Again, remember, mobile devices are very personal.
These days a customer who only feels pushed to come
buy your stuff will tire of you quickly. Will a customer be
more inclined to buy from you if they feel bothered in their
own home (mobile phone), or if they feel like a valuable
and involved member of your companys family?
Cultivate your customers like vegetables in a garden
dont just throw your fertilizer on them.

If youve read this far (first thank you!), youre probably
saying OK, dude enough theory and vague ideas! How
do I use this in my business? Every single company I
have ever worked with is different. There is no pat
answer. Its all about what is important to, and will
resonate with, your customers. Finding what creates the
desired return for your business is part knowledge, part
experience, part persistence and even some trial and
error. Like most things, mobile marketing works, if you
work it.

Do You REALLY Need a Professional?

I have written a few times that all of these things can be
learned, self-taught even, and you can do it all yourself. I
have also said that in many areas you can use a mobile
marketing professional. That choice is up to you.

The world of digital marketing, especially mobile
marketing, is still very new. Its the Wild West right now,
with lots of new, complicated services. This environment
is filled with some less than honest people. Quick-buck
artists mostly. They have a smooth sales pitch, get you to
buy, then disappear. For marketing your business you
want someone to help you, not sell you.

Most consultants I know (and myself) are providers of the
products like text message services or hosting and
maintaining your mobile website. They will charge you for
the product but their advice on strategy and ROI is free.
As a small business consultant, my goal is to work with
you consistently over an extended period of time and be
valuable to you by increasing your revenue more than
youre paying me! Sounds simple, but a lot of
professionals in our market dont see it that way. They
sell you something like access to a text marketing service
and tell you to log in and do it yourself. This rarely works
and is a waste of your $$. The key is return on
investment. I am always telling my clients, If it doesnt
make money, dont do it!

Marketing is very important to your business, and your
digital marketing footprint is critical to build and maintain.
Give it due consideration, and it will pay off big time, for a
long time. If you miss the boat now, it will take you much
longer to catch up later.

Chapter 7: Enough Fluff Ric!!
Give Me the Bottom Line

Here it is:
Decide if your marketing efforts need to be upgraded
Figure out exactly what your marketing goal is
Decide if mobile marketing is needed for your
business
Get a couple of Free Consultations from
professionals
Figure how much of your time and budget you can
commit
Craft a plan of action
Launch the plan
Evaluate the results
Make adjustments
Dont stop! Keep going and be consistent

If you get busy, be creative, stay consistent and invest a
little time and budget in mobile marketing efforts I can
assure you that you will see increases in customer
acquisition, retention, spending and satisfaction. This
should all translate to more success happiness for you!

Final Stuff
______________________________________________

Thanks! Of course I thank you for taking the time to read
my book. As I said in the introduction, my passion is
helping small businesses grow and be successful.
Whether or not mobile marketing services are right for
your business, whether or not you enjoy my sarcastic
writing style, even if you think Im a nut who doesnt have
a clue about what hes saying, I truly do wish that your
business grows and prospers.

Thank you for being brave enough to take the risk to start
your business. Its important to you, your employees, their
families and our country as a whole.

Contact & Engage
______________________________________________

If youd like more info, general help and advice, or just
want to talk or comment, you can reach me here:

Ric Clark
Elevate Solutions Group
Cell #: 210-831-8903
ric@elevatesolutionsgroup.com
www.elevatesolutionsgroup.com
www.facebook.com/ElevateSolutionsGroup
www.twitter.com/ElevateSolGroup
www.linkedin.com/company/elevate-solutions-group
www.google.com/+ElevateSolutionsGroupHelotes
www.pinterest.com/ElevSolGrp
http://www.youtube.com/user/ElevateSolGroup

Id love to hear what you think! Be well.
Ric

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