The push for mobile Internet marketing can create a sense of urgency for business owners that they’ve got to jump on the mobile marketing bandwagon in order to get customers, but it’s difficult to determine whether the hype is coming from Internet marketing companies or whether you are really missing out on customers by not being small-screen friendly. Consider the tips below to determine whether you are inadvertently responding to another business’ marketing campaign in your search to develop your own.
Good luck determining the cost of creating a mobile marketing campaign. While there are many options for creating a mobile marketing campaign from text messages to quick response codes, most will ultimately advertise that you have to optimize your website for viewing on a small-screen. Adapting your website for smaller screens is usually the most expensive part of the process.
Instead of listening to a blurb, try to find out the cost of this process first from any firm you are considering hiring by calling the company. Since they are marketing to you, they will likely try to emphasize that the cost varies and you should be ready to ask for a range of typical costs for establishing a mobile presence.
If you are considering a company that offers a free consultation, you are being marketed to. If you still want to try out a free consultation, call several of the companies and find out how you can take advantage of the free consultation. Many times your information is being captured for the company’s marketing campaigns.
The mobile marketing arena is still evolving in terms of tools you can use to market and how they work on people’s mobile devices. Determine whether you want to invest in a campaign that could be outdated or incompatible with different mobile devices very quickly.
Read your agreement carefully with any mobile marketing service you’re considering using, especially disclaimers about malfunctions or problems with your mobile marketing.
Ask whether the company will offer you a discount up-front by including the option to use the work they do for you as part of their advertising materials. Also ask to see examples of other companies they’ve done work for and contact those companies to see whether they will discuss their mobile marketing campaigns.
Consider whether your business is likely to expand enough to justify the cost of mobile marketing. Examine sample customers listed by mobile marketing companies and determine whether most of them are different categories from yours in terms of size and the type of product or service they are selling.
Determine whether there are ways you can dally in mobile marketing without going right into revising your website. Whether it’s Twitter or text messaging, you might want to test the waters and see what kind of response you get before you spend a lot of money on other mobile efforts.
It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the possibilities offered by Internet mobile marketing strategies but you should consider whether you’re focusing on the concrete possibilities for increased sales in your business or service or whether you’re being sold. Use the tips above as part of your consideration about whether you should undertake mobile marketing for your business.