Modern marketing has added a new phase called mobile marketing. The number of people that currently have mobile phones includes just about everyone. The percentage of people who have smart phones is very high. Smart phones are capable of accessing the Internet, reading email, texting, providing GPS capabilities and more.
Since most people have their smart phones with them most of the time, this opens up a market that has the potential of creating more sales, more quickly, than any other market in history. Many people use their smart phones for all means of communication. They don’t have a landline for their phones at home. Many don’t have a desktop or laptop computer, because they use their phone for that function for Internet access and email.
People use their smart phones to find things. If an individual is out shopping they no longer use the Yellow Pages to “let their fingers do the walking”. Now they simply look up the product or service that they are searching for on their smart phone, and it tells them the location with a phone number and a map to the location.
If you are looking for dog collars, for example and you are having lunch at a local sandwich shop, you enter something like, “dog collars Oak Park” into a search engine from your phone. The search engine will return all the pet stores that are nearby. Now it is a simple matter to call them or follow the map giving directions.
In all search engine results now, Google places will list a few optimized businesses that have taken the time to go the extra step. Obviously a business that shows up first or in the top 5 or so of the listed business are more likely to get more phone calls. This is very targeted traffic because interested buyers were just attracted to a place where they just found you, if you were listed.
Texting has been used by marketers with limited success. Think of it this way, if you are involved with something on your smart phone and an add pops up while you are in the middle of something important, it is a nuisance, and not very welcome. People don’t like to be interrupted while they are in the middle of something important.
The best way to market to the mobile market is to market to need. If you are a locksmith, you will want to be getting calls from stranded motorists who have locked themselves out of their car. If you are a towing company, you want to be getting calls from motorists who have broken down and just search for help on their smart phone. That is targeted marketing. The need is now, and the customer is buying now.
The potential of the mobile market is huge and this market is still in its infancy. Businesses who take advantage of this burgeoning opportunity will be able to capitalize on this opening and leave their competition in their dust.
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