In case you didn’t notice, smartphones are not-so-secretly taking over the world. In the span of a few short years, smartphones have changed the way we do almost everything. When those who have put off owning a smartphone finally do give in, they wonder how they ever survived without it. One area in particular that is greatly affected by the popularity of smartphones is the business world. Because most shoppers today are equipped with a smartphone, businesses are quickly learning that to appeal to this crowd, they need new tactics.

A different world

If you’ve never heard of QR codes, it’s like watching something out of a sci-fi film. You simply scan the QR code and next thing you know you’ve been directed to a video advertisement or download link. By simply placing a QR code on a product or at a restaurant table, tech savvy businesses are inviting smartphone owners to interact with them digitally.

Understandably, many local business owners feel a little overwhelmed by all this new technology. Even the 70s and 80s kids who are young by most people’s standards can quickly fall out of the loop when it comes to mobile technology because it’s evolving so quickly. For small business owners looking to get into mobile marketing, here are four basic principles you need to know to succeed.

Connected consumers

It’s common marketing sense that the more a population is engaging with a certain medium, the better that medium is for advertising. By that standard of measurement, mobile is hands down the winner. There are approximately 6.8 billion mobile subscriptions in the world. Almost one for every man, woman, and child in the world. In other words, just about everyone has a mobile phone. And if that isn’t impressive enough, the average smartphone user will reach for that phone 150 times every day.

Consumers are searching for you

Even if you’re not reaching out to mobile users, they’re reaching out to you. Nearly 90% of smartphone users report using a search engine on their mobile device. The majority of these searches are for local businesses. In other words, the question of whether to go mobile is no longer an option because people are viewing your website via smartphone or tablet. Unless your website is optimized for mobile, many of these customers will quickly grow frustrated and look elsewhere.

Understand the medium

A crucial mistake many business owners new to mobile marketing make is assuming that advertising on mobile devices is just like advertising to people through a PC, but with a smaller screen. Nothing is farther from the truth. There are some inherent differences between the PC consumer and the mobile consumer. The major difference is that while PC users have a lot more patience to browse around for what they’re looking for, mobile users are much patient. Typically, people reach for their smartphones for a very specific reason. They’re not looking to browse, they need an answer to a specific question and they want it that moment. If they don’t find it within a minute or two, you can lose them. For this reason it’s important to make sure the important information such as your contact information is readily available to mobile customers.

Integrate marketing platforms

Mobile marketing will never be successful in a vacuum. Today all technology is connected. It’s important for small business owners to integrate their various marketing platforms. Email, SMS, and other marketing channels are most effective when integrated seamlessly.

Source: Huffington Post