For many small businesses, the holidays can be a stressful time. Balancing day-to-day activities during a hectic time of year is challenging enough. Carrying out a mobile marketing strategy to draw in customers may seem like a puzzle you can’t find time to solve.
Let’s face it. Consumers nowadays are more tech-savvy and mobile than ever. Purchases made with mobile devices are continuing to steadily rise, with no signs of slowdown. Small business owners need to keep up with this trend, which is why it’s important to have a mobile marketing game plan.
Mobile commerce is driven by a desire for both convenience and personalization. If a customer needs to find that perfect gift for Mom this holiday season, they will want to find it quickly and easily.
The big-box stores already take up a sizable chunk of mobile real estate. So you might wonder how you, the small business owner, can keep up.
Here are some tips to help you beef up your mobile presence, attract more potential holiday shoppers, and keep them engaged.
Have a mobile-friendly website.
If you’re going to draw mobile traffic, the first thing you should ensure is that your website is mobile-friendly. It’s frustrating trying to look at a website on a smartphone and having to enlarge your screen just to read it. Now imagine not being able to see it at all because it has features that can’t be viewed on a mobile device.
Your mobile site should also be quickly accessible. If it takes too long to load, most people will simply click away and move to the next option. Bounce rate measures how often visitors view your site and then click away from it without visiting any other pages.
A baseline for a good bounce rate can vary depending on who you ask, but it’s safe to say that if people are clicking away from your mobile site more than half the time, it might be time to optimize it.
Keep your online presence consistent and up to date.
Online holiday purchases usually increase year after year. But there are still plenty of people who prefer to do their shopping in a physical store. Thanks to mobile apps, it’s gotten easier than ever to find businesses that cater to a specific need.
Many shoppers will actually connect with a business online first. Once they’ve figured out you have what they want, they will come to you. This is why it’s crucial to make sure your potential customers know how and when to find you.
Your business can be in other places online besides your own website. Perhaps you’re managing a Facebook page, or have a Yelp listing. Make sure your contact information such as phone number, physical address and email address are correct. If you’ve got holiday hours, make sure those are updated, too.
It’s a good idea to check your online listings to make sure they reflect your business accurately. If you find an inconsistency, you can make corrections as needed. This way, when an on-the-go customer finds your business through a mobile search app, they won’t find out-of-date information.
Maintain a good social media presence.
Small businesses are increasingly using social media as a way to connect with potential customers and engage with them. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are currently among the most popular mobile social apps. As more users turn to them to find businesses, having good content is key.
Are you running specials for Small Business Saturday? Got an item that makes a great holiday gift? Create a social post, and include pictures or video; having a visual makes your content more enticing to customers and makes them more likely to engage with you. Respond promptly to messages and comments, so you can keep them engaged.
Facebook and Instagram offer Story features which allow you to create a visual story about your business. With Story features, you can use photos as well as videos to enhance your message. It caters to mobile users and is a great way to show off holiday gift ideas or alert your customers about sales.
Don’t forget about text marketing.
Many businesses engage with customers by using email marketing campaigns. These should always be a part of any small business mobile marketing strategy. However, text marketing allows you to take it a step further by making it easier to reach your customers quickly.
Building a good contact list is important if you plan on adopting this approach. Be sure your customers consent to receive messages from you, so your texts don’t get ignored or deleted.
Start by organizing your contacts into groups. From there, you can tailor your message based on what product or service they’re most interested in. For example, if you sell fine jewelry, one group of customers may want to know more about holiday discounts on tennis bracelets, while another may want to know when men’s watches go on sale. Personalizing your text messages makes them more relevant and appealing to your audience.
Keep your holiday mobile marketing messages short and sweet. With text marketing, less is more, so it’s a good idea to not make texts too wordy. If you are running a special, give customers information like discount percentages, and sale dates. Discount codes work well if you are trying to drive online sales, too. Have a call to action with each message, so customers know they need to act.
Track and measure your results.
Once you’ve come up with and executed your holiday mobile marketing strategy, make sure that it’s getting the results you want. Keeping track of how your mobile campaigns are performing lets you know which ones to keep, fine-tune, or scrap altogether.
For small business owners, this can be a daunting and time-consuming task, especially during an already busy time of year. Make it easier on yourself this holiday season by trying a software tool like Thryv. It can help you can gain valuable insights into your customers, stay on top of your online presence, and obtain detailed analytics to see what’s driving the traffic you want, and what isn’t.
