Marketing is nothing like it was 20 years ago. Companies used television and radio ads, billboards, and magazines to advertise products. Customers who are enticed by those advertisements would head to the store to look at those items and then decide whether or not to buy them. Today, customers aren’t as likely to head to the store to look at a product in person. Anyone with a smartphone can research products from the comfort of their living room. Within moments of seeing an advertisement that interests them, they can pull up customer reviews, competing products, and then start doing some price comparisons. The moment of decision to purchase is no longer at the store but before the customer steps foot out of the house. The goal then for marketers today is to search for new marketing channels that can influence customers no matter where they are or what they’re doing.

Go mobile

When customers leave a store empty handed, a third of the time it’s because they found a better deal online via their smartphone. If your business isn’t utilizing mobile, chances are this is happening at your store. If you want to be on the other end, the business that’s drawing the customers away from competitors, you’ll need to have a mobile marketing strategy. Here’s a look at what you’ll want to accomplish with your mobile marketing campaign:

• Make it easy for customers to compare and evaluate products that you offer
• Discover which people are interested in learning more about your company
• Provide a way for your customers to communicate with you by participating in surveys or by providing feedback

Above all, a mobile marketing campaign should make your customers’ lives easier rather than harder. Make sure that your customers (not money) are central to all your marketing efforts.

Use what you know

In this day and age, companies are capable of collecting more data about customers and their behavior than ever before. The problem is, most businesses don’t know what to do with all the data they’re collecting. The secret to finding what marketing strategies will work well for your customers lies in the data you collect from them. Currently, 82% of retailers aren’t using social media and mobile channels to engage with customers. Be part of the 18% and you’ll have a major advantage.

Create mobile engagement

It’s not enough to just have the tools in place. You also need to get customers to engage with your business through their mobile devices. There are a few ways you can push your customers towards engagement:

• Design a mobile website. Your mobile customers that search for you on the web are less likely to engage on a website that is intended for a desktop or laptop
• Use mobile messaging. Texting is a great way to communicate with customers. It’s immediate, it’s easy, and it’s personal
• Use the customer data you have to make each customer’s experience personalized
• Invest in mobile SEO to reach potential customers while they’re trying to make a decision

Source:  Business 2 Community