Recent studies have shown that people redeem coupons from their mobile phone up to 10 times more than from print sources.
So if you’re a small business owner looking for a new and effective method to market your business, it sounds like mobile couponing could be the answer. Keep in mind, however, that when you start a mobile coupon promotion, it won’t be the same as marketing in print.
For starters, mobile coupons are obviously accessed via a smartphone. These days about 30% of all mobile phones are smartphones, and that percentage can only increase. It is estimated that the use of smartphones will again increase by at least 20% each year. So for the astute small business owner, it’s a technological phenomenon that can’t be ignored. If he doesn’t already have a mobile website, he should definitely get one. They’re pretty cheap these days, and I even offer free mobile websites, so there’s no excuse!
Once you’ve decided to give mobile coupon marketing a try, you need to place your coupon in a large banner banner on your mobile website. These mobile banners have lots of color and attention-grabbing graphics, and if you have a smartphone, you should be well used to seeing them. You should only use a minimal amount of text, as a mobile screen is quite small and as a consequence your text will also be very small, almost unreadable. In fact, you could get away with just using one word: FREE!
You must also include a QR code in your banner ad. These are the square barcodes that are popping up everywhere these days. Most mobile phones come with a built-in scanner that allows the user to scan the QR code and go directly to the website that contains the coupons.
You should also make use of offline marketing techniques such as displaying a sign on your store counter, or perhaps on your storefront. Of course, your website will also have a subscription form, where people can find out how to get your coupons and how to get on your mailing list to receive notifications of new coupons, and once you have their email address and mobile phone number, you have the ability to contact them whenever you want via email or SMS, for example if you are running a daily or even hourly special.
You should also consider having a referral system, whereby existing customers get a small reward for referring their friends and acquaintances and getting them to sign up for your newsletter.
So don’t ignore a new marketing trend that’s happening right under your notes. If you don’t take advantage of mobile marketing, you can be sure that your competitors definitely will!
