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


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: 21st

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: 21st

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

[email protected]

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

Mobile Marketing Basics for Local Business A Starter Guide

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