As the smartphone market nears saturation, mobile continues to change the way consumers shop and the way businesses advertise. When it first began, mobile marketing was something only the large, national and international corporations did. Now even the smallest local businesses are getting into mobile marketing. If your business depends on getting foot traffic into a brick and mortar location, you might think that mobile marketing isn’t for you. You couldn’t be more wrong. Mobile is a great way to drive foot traffic to your location.

According to one study, 80% of smartphone owners use their phone to search for local businesses. Furthermore, 80% of mobile searches result in a purchase and 75% of them lead a customer into a brick and mortar location. Here are three ways you can use mobile to drive foot traffic to your business’s location.

Competitive conquesting

Location based marketing has been gaining popularity for some time now. It’s a technique in which businesses advertise via mobile when a customer is nearby that business’s brick and mortar location. According to a recent report, mobile ad revenue from 40% to 52% in the next four years and businesses are expected to invest 4.5 billion in location based marketing this year and 15.7 billion by 2018.

Some businesses are taking location based marketing one step further. Competitive conquesting is based on the same principle, except businesses send a push notification when a customer is near a competitors business. Evidence suggest that competitive conquesting can lead to greater results from location based marketing.

Optimize mobile store locators

One of the toughest thing mobile marketers face is that most conversions (or purchases) take place in a store and offline. A mobile marketer’s job is to get mobile consumers to get off their phone and visit a business’s store in person. One of the most effective ways to do this is mobile store locators.

The goal here is to make it as easy as possible for mobile customers to locate a business’s brick and mortar location. According to a recent study, 70% of mobile shoppers use a store locator when planning their shopping trips. Your mobile optimized website should include a store locator (if you have a number of locations). Another great option is to include a click-to-map and click-to-call link for customers who have found your business’s address or phone number. With just one click, their phone’s GPS opens up and they can see exactly how to get to your address. The easier it is to do, the more likely they are to do it.

Provide “tap and collect” service

As mobile technology continues to advance, mobile users are finding it easier and easier to complete purchases online. Businesses that don’t sell online are missing out on a lot of business that way. For that reason, “tap and collect” services are growing in popularity.  “Tap and collect” allows consumers to make purchases on their mobile device and then come in to the store to pick up their purchase.

Restaurants have used this technology successfully by allowing people to order from their phone then have their order ready when the customer comes in. Pharmacies are using the technology to allow people to order a prescription and have it filled and ready for when the person comes in. Not only does it increase sales, but it gets customers in your store where they make additional purchases.

Source: streetfightmag.com/2014/05/13/3-mobile-marketing-musts-for-brick-and-mortar-retailers/