With the holiday shopping season, fast approaching, marketers are already gearing up for what’s certainly one of the most wonderful times of the year for businesses. Now, more than ever, our smartphones are our lifelines – especially during the holiday season. With each new day comes a new operating system update, app or tablet release that makes it increasingly more difficult to understand how anyone ever lived without mobile phones.
Worldwide, 1.2 billion people access the Internet through mobile phones or tablets and more than half own a smartphone.
While mobile commerce, mobile apps and QR codes have been around for several holiday seasons, many retailers are still not availing themselves of these important marketing and sales tools–or are using them ineffectively. Also, that reluctance to harness mobile or inability to leverage it may be costing businesses sales. Here are four (4) tips on how you can increase your sales using mobile this holiday season.
Mobile messaging & text messaging –
Need a better way to reach shoppers and boost sales this holiday season? Text messaging or mobile messaging may be the answer. Short message service (SMS) and multimedia message service (MMS) is, an effective way to notify consumers and clients about sales, deals and other special promotions. Once you have received permission from your customers to send them offers via these methods, you can leverage this option at best to draw attention and build sales. This holiday season will be busy as usual and customers looking for great deals will find it more convenient to look on their phones. Unlike other forms of marketing, text message and mobile messaging also provides an opportunity to interact with customers on a personal level via devices they use the most and to use a medium they typically can’t live without. Whether you send plain text messages or branded images and videos, these platforms can attract more buyers throughout the holidays, from Black Friday to Christmas and post-holiday retail sales.
Mobile landing pages/Website –
The holidays are almost here, and we know that not everyone will be able to afford a mobile application (mobile app) whether it is free or paid. Truth is you can benefit from building mobile landing pages as a way of exploring how your customers respond before investing in a mobile application. A mobile landing page can be used to drive customers to your door. Unlike text message, however, your customers will require Internet or data on their phone in order to benefit from this experience. Assuming they do, you can proceed to build a rich landing page where they can be driven to your doors and make a purchase.
Mobile applications –
Once upon a time, there was no such thing as mobile apps. Shoppers would just buy a newspaper for ads and go shopping. Nowadays, consumers chart out a course of attack on their smartphones by using apps. Any app that can help smartphone users easily and efficiently navigate holiday sales can help increase sales. Once you can afford a mobile app you will find it is a pretty cool thing to have for your business, but pretty cool things do not always make you the big bucks. Consider making your mobile app an experience that will drive your customers to you. Mobile apps are scaled based on what your needs are, but can be very simple to start so you can get a feel for what your customers need.
Existing mobile social networking apps –
Whether consumers are just browsing social media sites to stay entertained while waiting in line or they’re using social media to actively find sales, the mobile app platform on almost all major social networking platforms is an opportunities you can use to help increase holiday sales. Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and others all have mobile apps where you can stay connected to your customers and for the most part it’s FREE. However, the challenge is not the cost of using the app, it is the cost of the time and effort it will take to consistently build your network and engage your audience. Once you can master that, you will see a difference in your bottom line.
With a mobile marketing campaign, you can easily get the word about all of your best holiday’s sales, deals and promotions. Whether you’re a marketing veteran, have a few years of experience or you’re totally new, you can find tips, tricks and information to help you craft a holiday-friendly mobile campaign that will increase sales and bring in new customers. If you need professional help on how to make these and other tips work best for you this holiday season, feel free to contact us.
Bianca Bethel – Sawyer is a professional writer for the MI Group of companies including Bahamas Virtual Mall and All Things Mobile, which focuses on eCommerce, eMarketing, eBusiness and Mobile. Helping Businesses connect every day using these services and solutions. If you need any help with mobile marketing please give us a call.