We had a fabulous show all about mobile marketing – why it’s here to stay and how you can take advantage of it.
About our guest: Tatiana Mulry is an award-winning mobile marketer and the founder and CEO of DDx Media, Inc., a marketing consultancy that specializes in working with businesses to develop mobile marketing campaigns, websites and mobile applications. Her personal and professional mission is to fill America’s classrooms with supplies by uniting businesses and consumers through the mobile application, edRover.
She is known for developing cutting edge digital and experiential marketing campaigns for an impressive roster of major retailers, restaurants and consumer packaged goods companies and professional sports teams. She is available for consulting or speaking engagements through DDx Media, or LinkedIn. Follow her on Twitter. Contact her at tania@ddx-media.com.
We live in a mobile world
People are glued to their phones and use them for so many things, including purchases. More and more people are getting smartphones, and we’re dependent on these phones to run our lives.
In the book business mobile marketing can be successful if people can be encouraged to make an impulse purchase. Make your product (book, etc.) readily available to purchase. The mobile phone could be a direct line to getting people to buy your digital goods.
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Mobile marketing can apply to any industry/group. For instance, a sanitation company could send recycling tips… really anyone can make sales and offer information via mobile.
Early adopters Tatiana worked with include JC Penney and Wal-Mart. Mobile marketing got started with retailers wanting to send out last-minute deals. Then they started to have mobile commerce sites. Consumers can be notified of special offers via text messages.
How to get started with mobile marketing
It’s hard to navigate most websites on phones, you have to pinch and drag to see the site and there are too many choices. Flash is really difficult for mobile phones to display. A good mobile optimized website has larger buttons that are clearly labeled for actions people are most likely to take when they are on the go such as: review a menu, place an order, and get directions.
If you have a WordPress site you can search for a mobile plug-in. It will create a mobile friendly version of your site that will automatically switch to the mobile version for people who visit your site from their mobile device. You won’t have control over the branding. There are some other quick options for you to make your site mobile friendly that you can find online, but as with the plug-in for WordPress you won’t have much control.
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If you want to do it right, find a professional who knows how to design mobile optimized sites.
Connecting with text messages
Text is quick and easy. You first need text permission. You can collect the data on your website and offer instructions to join your text group in your book. Whatever means you use to reach people, you want to encourage them to join your list. You want to text infrequently and let people know how often they’ll hear from you.
You can use the text messages to ask questions, seek feedback, to ask people to buy your next book, enter your next contest – there are so many great things you can do once you have permission to text them. You should still collect their email addresses and get their phone numbers too. The more touchpoints you have to surround people with your message the more they will love you (if you do it right).
Monetizing mobile marketing
First, you have to grow your list. Engage them with content, but every now and then you want to ask them to do one more thing, such as buy your book. Or offer enhanced content.
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Push notifications – this will remind users that there is new content for them to view. Your app needs to be useful or entertaining in order to engage fans. This could include a book excerpt, a back story on a character, tips, etc. It’s a matter of finding the hook and creating a strategy to get followers to engage with your message on a regular basis.
Mobile can be used to help you get your content out prior to your book release and help build pre-publication buzz and generate preorders.
Using QR codes
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QR stands for quick response. It’s a bar code that can gather information and encode that data – the codes now show up on packaged goods, websites, etc. You just need QR scanning software on your phone. They are gaining in popularity because they are quick and easy to print.
It’s a way to get people to interact with a product and respond. If you do text and QR codes, three out of four people will choose text. Text is still easier for people to do. They know how to open their text box and respond. Many are not completely sure about using the QR code.
They both can be helpful to you, but Tatiana recommends pairing mobile and QR codes for maximum response.
Roving fans mobile marketing
Rovingfans.com (from DDx Media) is a marketing tool that combines mobile texting, pictures, video, email, social media posting, voicemail and QR codes and even IM. Starting at $29/month, you can collect contacts from your website, social media, texts, QR codes and then correspond with them.
Successful apps
Apps that enable viral sharing do really well. Wrapp is one success story; it is a mobile gift card. If you connect it with Facebook it reminds you when one of your friends is having a birthday and it encourages you to buy a gift card for your friend.
Future of mobile marketing
Tatiana says the next big thing will be mobile payments. You will make payments via your phone instead of a credit card. There will be a microchip in your phone encrypted with security. That’s the next big thing in mobile and it will be available soon.
Download the full show at:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thepublishinginsiders/2012/06/26/all-about-mobile-marketing
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Upcoming Episode:
We’ll be back July 10, 4 p.m. Pacific, to discuss “Do You Have a Platform? Do You Know What a Platform Is?” with The Book Shepherd Judith Briles:
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