The power of Mobile Marketing for Small Businesses
Mobile Marketing is here to stay and all businesses, especially the small ones, need to get going with a mobile marketing campaign. Studies have shown that more than half of all searches for a business are done with mobile devices. Thats why if you have to make sure your customers can find you on their smart phones or other types of mobile devices. 
One way to do that is through location based marketing. Location based marketing is a way to make it easy for potential customers to search for a business near to where they are at the time they are checking their phones. This is especially true for small businesses, who need to attract customers fast, and what better way to do that than get them when they are already close to your location. Here are a few of these location based methods you can try:
Get Listed in Mobile Directories
First, be sure that your business is listed in online directories like the search engines Google, Bing and Yahoo, as they all have mapping systems built right into their searches. Once you are in these directories, make sure that you keep the information up to date and current with accurate contact information.
Send out some location based coupons, promos
Coupons and offers can drive foot traffic into your store. If a potential customer is looking to buy something at your location, then can do a search and find a coupon for it, then that is double the reason for them to come and buy it from your small business. There are services like Groupon or Living Social that offer ways for you to entice customers through mobile means.
SMS marketing
Even non-smart phones usually can send SMS or text messages, so this is another great mobile marketing tool. When you send out text messages to customers or potential customers they can choose to opt-in and later you now have direct access and permission to send them ads, promos, discounts, etc. to make them even more likely to shop with you.
Plus, text messages cost a lot less than other kinds of marketing methods, and that is good for the budget of a small business. Plus, you are hitting the potential customer where they live because most people take their phones everywhere they go.
Check-in mobile marketing strategies
Lots of smart phone users think it is fun to do things like check in to a business or location using their smart phones. If you provide some incentives to your customers to check in with you by advertising about it on Social Media like FourSquare, then you will be attracting the sales that you need to stay in business. You can offer discounts, etc. and that will make people more likely to want to check in with your business and go there to buy things.
Online Reviews Help Promote Your Business
Consumers also many times want to know if a business is any good before they waste their time either online or offline there. So, studies show almost half of mobile users go onto their phones to read reviews on sites like Google Plus and if you have a lot of positive reviews, they are more likely to go shop with you.
Use Mobile Messaging along with other methods
Mobile marketing for a small business will succeed the most if you pair it up with other campaigns like email ads, placing QR codes on your packaging or business cards, creating FB or other social media accounts, etc. All of these things can be interconnected in order to reach your potential customers no matter where they are at work, home or play.
The bottom line is that 84 percent of small businesses using mobile marketing methods report increases in new customers. That should be a very good incentive for all small businesses to get involved as much as possible in a mobile marketing campaign. Mobile marketing is here to stay and will only get bigger as mobile devices get better and more widespread. So, if your small business isnt doing Mobile Marketing, dont hesitate to design your plan today!
