Mobile marketing rules for business
Here are four basic mobile marketing rules to follow if you want to achieve that all-important mobile connectivity with your target audience.
There are estimated to be over 5 billion mobile subscribers globally, so making mobile-friendly content accessible to them is clearly essential. Mobile marketing is a key tool and channel available to marketers.
Mobile marketing rule #1 – The ‘8-minute rule’
Research has shown that people struggle to focus on one topic for over 8 minutes. Therefore, your mobile content must fit within this small window; keep it brief and to the point.
To achieve the 8-minute rule, your mobile content must:
- Inspire users to read your content by making the language you use exciting and compelling.
- Give users relevant information.
- Be compatible with all screen sizes (i.e. smartphones and tablets across different operating systems etc).
- Ensure that spam filters and other barriers such as display limitations do not prevent subscribers from viewing your content.
- When designing mobile-friendly content, less is definitely more.
Mobile marketing rule # 2 – Information sharing is vital
Mobile marketing is all about sharing information across social networks. Encourage mobile users to ‘like’, ‘Tweet’ or ‘share’ content by offering incentives for doing so via their devices. You could invite visitors to post their own videos, images and comments on your site.
A blog is a great way of connecting users through mobile networks. People love ‘community’ and the opportunity to share their views and experiences with other like-minded individuals. The more engaged users become, the more likely they are to spend time on your site and sharing encourages this trait.
Mobile marketing rule # 3 – Rewards and incentives
An effective motivator is reward. A great offer is almost guaranteed to catch and keep visitors’ attention so get creative with your reward programme strategy to keep mobile users coming back for more.
QR (Quick Response) codes can be useful here if you’re merging the offline into the online. Incorporate them into your marketing content so that visitors using their mobile devices to access your content are offered exclusive rewards and incentives.
Other rewards have included useful or wanted downloads, early access to specific material or extended content – the longer version of the song rather than the edited version.
Mobile marketing rule # 4 – Friendship is important
Mobile lends itself well to creating a feeling of closeness between you and your customer. SMS messaging can be set up to deliver personalised messages and greetings; targeted email campaigns can contain extra fields allowing prospects to share common interests.
Assuming that you have consent to make contact, make sure that your content is tailored for the various types of mobile device; mobile phone users will need briefer content than those with a tablet, for example.
Don’t go overboard and continually bombard people with messages. Limit your mobile campaign content so that it remains relevant and timely, and chimes with the consent you’ve gained.
Mobile subscribers offer a great opportunity to market your brand on a more personal level. Keep your message device- and user-friendly and watch your following grow.
