Benefits of Mobile Marketing
Mobile marketing SMS is a great example of a new technology providing marketing opportunities. The growth in the mobile consumer market over the last ten years worldwide has been explosive, leading to a massive target market which has proven to be responsive to marketing messages. There are twice as many active SMS users than active email users, reflecting the full extent of the marketing opportunity presented by mobile communications.
But as a business owner, how can you capitalize on this growing technology with a mobile marketing SMS marketing campaign?
Challenges of Email Marketing for Small Businesses
According to a survey, conducted by Hurwitz & Associates for Ontario-based email marketing service provider Campaigner (a solution of Software-as-a-Service communication services and solutions company Protus), almost half of North American small businesses use email marketing today.
Campaigner’s “State of Small Business Online Marketing Survey” found that 46% of small businesses surveyed rely on email marketing to help them find new customers, keep existing ones and grow their businesses. Hurwitz & Associates gathered responses from 259 North American businesses with 1 to 20 employees.
Furthermore the report reveals that 36% of the surveyed small businesses plan to start using email marketing in the coming year.
Email Marketing Tips
An email inbox is a very noisy environment, with calendars, notes and folders all competing with the actual emails for space. Given that a reader may only ever see your subject line before deciding whether to read your email, you can’t afford to waste time. Make sure that your emails show right away why they are worth reading. Consider starting with a succinct table of contents to help decide whether they should read on.
Withstanding the Recession Using Email Marketing
Small business owners need to find additional means of promotion during tough economic times. Relying on a single method, such as an ad in the phone book or a newspaper, isn’t enough anymore. Most other ad mediums, such as radio and television, are often too expensive for the average business owner to use on a frequent basis.
Downsizing or reducing prices offers a short term solution in a failing economy. However, building a lasting relationship with your target market and keeping the lines of communication open is a far more cost efficient and effective method.
New Media Marketing – Now Affordable to the Smallest of Businesses
Both email marketing and mobile marketing have risen in popularity amongst business owners due to its effectiveness as a means of building customer loyalty and increasing revenue. Until very recently, the costs of email marketing and mobile marketing were prohibitive to all but the largest corporate players, and as such the market (certainly for mobile marketing) remains largely untapped to this day. Direct marketing using these methods has undergone a revolution in recent years. It has finally come to the forefront as a successful and affordable way to market to targeted individuals.
