Jay LeonardMost business owners include social media in their integrated marketing plans. With the rise of Facebook business pages, social media marketing strategies and ease of engagement with customers, social media is a no-brainer.
Another fast-growing trend in marketing is the use of mobile, and more specifically, mobile commerce. Based on a report by Digi-Capital, mobile revenue will jump more than 300% over the next four years. According to the 2015 edition of the Internet Retailer Mobile 500, mobile sales by retailers will reach $83.78 billion in 2014, up 79.9% from $46.56 billion in 2013. Mobile is definitely making its way into the big conversations in marketing meetings.
Knowing that social media and mobile commerce are at the forefront of a good marketing campaign, let’s take a moment to discuss some ways in which a savvy business owner can integrate the two.
- Share the love – Make sure your loyal customers who already follow your social pages and have your mobile app downloaded know there’s more out there. Encourage Facebook and Twitter followers to head over to the iTunes store and download your app, and vice versa. It doesn’t hurt to spread the love and even offer an incentive deal for the new likes, followers or app downloads.
- Make your customers feel elite – Speaking of deals, it might be a good idea to offer your social media fans a special deal if they purchase on your mobile site or app. They should know they are valued as a customer and that you only offer these kinds of deals to the elite, members-only club.
- Hit them up on their mobile devices – Similar to offering deals to your social media fans, offer deals to your mobile app users if they go like your page, follow your handle or share a cool Pin. Mobile apps give you the opportunity to engage this way by sending push notifications right to your customers’ mobile device.
- Ask for some feedback – Typically, loyal customers will be happy to review a product or service. If you aren’t asking for reviews, start now. Then, when you have a rock-star customer give you a five star review, share it! Don’t hold back. Your fans and followers want to know about how well you are doing and the hottest items you are selling. Then, you can encourage them to head over to your mobile app or site to check out the sweet product that everyone is raving about.
- Appeal to Aesthetics – One of the biggest trends in web design and social media right now is the use of visual appeal and the decline of text-heavy sites. Designers are using more space, more graphics, photos, videos and images now more than ever. Hop on this train in your social and mobile marketing. Use appealing photos and videos in your social media that link to similar images in your mobile app or site. Pinterst, Instagram and even Vimeo or YouTube make this easy. Shoppers will will see something pretty as they mindlessly scroll through their Pinterest feed, click on it, see that same image on your mobile store and likely purchase. It all starts with an aesthetically pleasing sight.
It’s important to note that as you make some of these adjustments in your marketing campaigns, try to track as much as you can. Many social media platforms offer their own form of analytics. Many mobile app and ecommerce companies also have analytics that can even tie into Google Analytics and make your life much easier. Finally, you can use the simple hashtag to see how far your items or services are trending. That little pound sign is there for a reason.
If you aren’t pushing mobile commerce and social media to the top of your priority list for marketing in 2015, you might miss the boat. Don’t let sales slip away or competitors ease past you with their integrated marketing plans. Be proactive and make these two easy and affordable marketing channels your go-to.
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This article was written for Business 2 Community by Jay Leonard.
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This is so important for companies to know! Mobile ecommerce is only rising, and will continue to do so with faster, more accessible connections through smart phones/4G.
The app thing is a great idea! But when you say “Mobile apps give you the opportunity to engage this way by sending push notifications right to your customers’ mobile device”, I think it’s important to note that they should be completely aware of this as they install the app–because some people REALLY dislike getting those notifications. It sounds obvious, but I still think it’s an important detail to consider :)
Thanks for the comment! We agree, push notifications should be used to engage customers, not bug them. Our merchants give customers the ability to turn push notifications off, and we encourage merchants to use them with a strategy in mind. Don’t use them like you would a social media platform. Only send relevant deals or messages and keep them to a minimum (one, maybe two per week) to ensure customers stay engaged and don’t lose interest. Thanks again.