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| Advertising advertising (Photo credit: Toban Black) |
Marketing is one of the most important things you can do as a business owner. Without a marketing strategy and targeted advertising, many businesses simply do not make it. Many business owners think that simply having a store front or running an ad in the yellow pages is all they need to do and soon realize, it's not that easy.
In today's world, businesses big or small are finding more and more challenges when it comes to traditional marketing strategies. Running an ad in a local publication or paying for a spot in the yellow pages, just doesn't produce the same results they once achieved and are very expensive.
The reason why this is happening is that we are in a rapid changing communication age. With the birth of the Internet and number of internet-ready cellphones expanding globally, the effects on marketing are tremendous and are taking the marketing challenges to a new level. International businesses large or small are facing the same challenges.
The technical requirements associated with setting up a website, understanding social media, creating campaigns that will promote brand and convert traffic into buyers, are all part of the requirements necessary to market a business in today's world. The problem is many business owners need to focus on running the business and do not have the time, can't manage, nor have all the skillset required to create and manage an effective marketing program.
One new marketing method that will have a tremendous impact on businesses globally has to do with mobile text marketing. Mobile text marketing targets cell phone users in a very unique way. Similar to the time when e-mail marketing was brand new, mobile text marketing has a much higher response rate. With response rates at 90% plus, business owners need pay attention and incorporate this strategy into the overall marketing strategy.
There are a lot of reasons for the high response rate in mobile text marketing. Here are a few:
- When a user receives a text message they almost never ignore it due to the alert features on cell phones.
- It's considered more personal than an e-mail because it is used primarily by personal friends and family. So, the user always responds to a new text.
- Most businesses have not yet utilized this strategy so; the opportunity is here right now to be on the cutting edge of this new marketing concept.
- Users do not ignore the messages when received.
- Messages are short and to the point.
- Newer cell phones display the message right on the front of the screen.
- Users almost always have their cell phone on them.
- Cell phones do not require internet access to receive a text.
- Almost every cell phone made today has text messaging built in.
The most important factor is that cell phone users out number internet users worldwide. With the rapid increase in internet-capable phones, there will also be a proportional increase in a business' ability to market to a cell phone user.
For those who don't know, here is how mobile text marketing works in general. Let's say you want to run a campaign to offer a discount for a product, service, or an event. As a business owner, you would target your existing customer base first. You would offer a coupon or discount, when a user sends a text message from their cell phone to your advertised campaign word. An example of this would look something like the following:
To receive a discount today, text "specialoffer" to 41242
What happens is the customer wants to receive a discount, so they text the word to the number. Then they immediately receive a response back with a promo code or message authorizing a discount. They are also informed they will receive future discount offers and can opt out anytime. Your customers are ok with this since they are already patrons of your business. This process all happens automatically.
