Chances are, you own a smartphone and/or a tablet, and are constantly connected to emails, text messages, news feeds and all the other channels of communication that have been consolidated into one handheld tool. How many of your existing and prospective clients do you think are also using these tools?
One of the central tenets of marketing is to bring your message to where the customer is, rather than forcing them to seek out your business. The latter strategy generally results in disappointing sales and a low ROI on your marketing campaign. More companies, are starting to put a greater focus on reaching clients and prospects through their mobile devices.
Millennial Media and comScore recently partnered to develop a better sense of how marketers in retail sectors can launch more intuitive, successful marketing strategies. You can download the entire guide here.
Among their findings was the fact that more than 80 percent of mobile finance users – those who access ads and financial content on their mobiles – have smartphones. They are also more likely than the general public to own e-readers and tablet computers. This is a trend that can be exploited for driving more traffic to your website, blog or other digital assets.
In order to take advantage of these findings and promote their practices, businesses may want to spend time optimizing their websites for viewing on the smaller screens of tablets and smartphones. Also consider sending out targeted email newsletters or text messages that can help keep your name at the top of clients’ and prospects’ minds. For best results, try a marketing mix that includes online advertising through email newsletters and blogs, in-person promotions such as running seminars, and more local tactics such as direct mail and networking.
As the researchers note and as we teach in our training programs at The Covenant Group, it is vital to understand your audience – their habits, goals, motivations and fears – in order to effectively market to and serve them. If you choose to write a newspaper column or a blog as a way of demonstrating your expertise and offering valuable advice to clients and the general public, be sure you write with your audience’s interests and desire to learn in mind. People are much more receptive when they feel they are being spoken with, rather than talked at.
