Mobile Marketing for any Business that Needs to Cut Their Marketing Costs

Since the heady days of the last boom ended in 2008 many business owners having been slashing costs; left, right and center. No part of their business is safe, not even their marketing department. However as people have less and less money to spend and with business owners fighting harder than ever for each customer, forgetting about marketing can spell the end for many a business. Instead of cutting out their marketing effort, businesses should be refocusing their marketing efforts on the people who are most likely to spend their money buying their product or service. In short they should be concentrating on getting the maximum possible return on investment for every marketing euro spent. By marketing to those who are most likely to buy from them, they can cut their marketing budget but still experience those vital sales.

Many businesses went through the boom years not knowing which of their marketing activities were working the best. They had a marketing budget, they spent it with gay abandon and customers were streaming in the door... times were truly great. All they knew was that something was working so it didn't really matter what.

Nowadays it's imperative that business owners know exactly who they're marketing to and how successful it is being. They must keep themselves in front of their 'perfect prospects' more consistently and nourish that relationship as it is these 'perfect prospects' that will get a business through a recession.

How do you know who these perfect prospects are?

Is it the people in the car passing by a billboard?

Is it the person listening to their radio on the way to work?

Is it the guy muting the adverts in the middle of his favorite TV show?

Or is it the girl scanning through a magazine?

Truth is, it could be any of these people but then again it generally never is. It is however the people who have given you permission to personally market to them, through the medium of their most on hand possession - their mobile phone.

By running a mobile club business owners are marketing to their 'perfect prospects' 100% of the time. These are people who have most likely already experienced your product or service and who are now giving you permission to market to them with special offers and insider deals. What other marketing medium can offer a business this level of targeted marketing to such a captive audience?

According to the 2011 Trend Watching report one of the emerging trends of 2011 will be Price Pandemonium. This means that increasingly, consumers will want to be a part of exclusive networks and groups that receive special offers. So in 2011 consumers are going to demand value like never before and joining special offer clubs will become as common place as being a member of a social network. Businesses need to be at the forefront of this trend and not rowing in behind their competitors when it's already an established practice.

The following are the basic steps to starting and growing a mobile marketing club for your business:

1) Chose your mobile marketing agency carefully. They will need to be experienced with running SMS campaigns and offer you advice on all aspects of the process from wording the text messages to the frequency and value of offers.

2) Secure and maintain a database of opt-ins. This is a highly important step and is the process of gathering the mobile phone numbers of the customers who have consented to receive marketing texts.

Real World Example - A pizza business placed a flyer inside every pizza sent out for delivery with instructions printed that allowed the customer to enter a competition to win "FREE PIZZA FOR LIFE" if they texted in and agreed to join their mobile club.

3) Always calculate your ROI before running the campaign, this will allow you to sculpt your offer around the potential response rate. Any mobile marketing agency worth its salt will be able to guide you on the expected response rate based on the perceived value of the offer.

4) Ensure a clear opt-out process is available. Customers must feel that they are in control and can opt out at any time. In a recent survey 70% of UK consumers said they were happy to receive mobile marketing messages if they were incentivized and in control.

5) Be creative, be original and be memorable. Use humor where appropriate and try to reflect the qualities and characteristics of your brand.

6) Be reactive and use the medium in and around events of national or local interests.

Real World Example - On the day of the 2010 budget a Dublin restaurant offered every member of their mobile club a free bottle of wine with any meal for two to "Drown out the sorrow".

7) Always include an offer and avoid bland run of the mill advertising. Opt-in's only want to hear about special deals and discounts that only members of the club can receive. They will opt out very quickly if they feel they are not getting real value.

There are more people with a cell phone than a television, computer, internet or any other media you can think of! So to not use this medium to speak to your customers would seem like a missed opportunity. A good mobile marketing agency will be able to have you up and running with a SMS campaign for a very modest outlay. Added to this the very low cost of text messages when bought in bulk, it really is the most cost effective form of marketing you are likely to ever experience.

Need to cut your marketing and advertising costs? Need to concentrate on your target market? Want to maximize your ROI for every marketing euro spent? Want to nourish the relationship with your existing customers by offering them discounts and special deals? Mobile Marketing through a mobile club is the perfect vehicle for all of this.

So there is no time like the present. Get going on those opt-'in's today and start your mobile club without delay. It could save your business.

Brian Stephenson