It’s an important question every small business should be asking.  The simple answer is that mobile marketing sends your promotions via text messages to consumers’ mobile phone, smart phone, and mobile devices.  It has become a necessity because consumers are increasingly spending more time on their mobile devices than in front of a TV, at stationary computers or even on laptops.  Phones go everywhere with their owners, and they’re increasingly becoming the central hub to daily life.  What better way to reach consumers wherever they’re at than with the devices they carry everywhere they go?

What is SMS Marketing?

SMS Marketing stands for “Short Message Service” marketing.  It’s a form of wireless advertising using text messages to promote products, services and more. SMS marketing is growing in popularity as more and more consumers are using mobile devices as their primary personal electronic device.  It lets your business use SMS text messaging as a medium of direct advertising. An SMS Marketing campaign involves collecting mobile phone numbers usually by customer opt-ins using a keyword sent to a short code, which adds their number to your messaging platform database. Once numbers are collected, you can then prepare a special promotion or update and send a mass message to potential repeat customers.

What is a Short Code?

A short code is a special shortened phone number to which an SMS or text message can be sent. It’s fewer digits than a 10-digit telephone number, and it allows your customers to engage and interact with your brand or business through text messaging. Businesses routinely ask consumers to send a text to their short code to receive discounts, promotions, and updates. You can do the same thing with a short code in your wireless advertising campaign.  Another advantage to using a short code is that it’s a universal number recognized by wireless carriers so you don’t have to worry about regional restrictions.

Why Mobile Marketing?

It’s where your customers are at.  If your consumers watch TV, you’d advertise on their favorite show.  Likewise with radio and print.  Well, now your customers are on their mobile devices, and that’s actually a blessing because wireless advertising gives you many advantages including:

Ø  Responding to immediate market changes and needs.  Say your company sells shovels and a huge snow storm just hit, you can send a message right away promoting a special on shovels.

Ø  Affordable niche marketing.  You may have a certain product a small niche really wants.  It was too expensive to make a TV commercial for that small market, but sms marketing lets you cost effectively market that product to exactly the people who want it.

Ø  Affordable mass marketing.  Reaching thousands of consumers with your text ads is very affordable.

Ø  Reward subscriber loyalty with specific ads.  Send a specific promotion to your subscribers that no one else sees, thus rewarding their loyalty and encouraging others to subscribe to your wireless advertising campaigns.

Ø  Broadcast flash sales to pick up a slow sales day.  The weather’s dreary and sales are trending far below normal.  It’s a perfect opportunity to send out a flash sale to get people in the door (ex. “25% off storewide today only from 2pm-5pm”).

Ø  Very high read rate.  Nearly all (94%) text messages are read.  Are your TV commercials, radio spots, and print pieces that effective?

How have you used mobile marketing in your business?  Leave a comment below.