Marketing is a fast-paced world and both new entrepreneurs and established businesses must constantly find other ways to reach their target market. If you would like to get ahead of the competition, you should think about using mobile marketing solutions since it is one of the most viable options most companies have today. The application of this set of strategies is easy to manage, plus you would discover that there is no need to raise a lot of funds for your application. It is filled with endless possibilities especially since it is a versatile marketing move to adapt.

Mobile marketing solutions can use more than one channel, and it can also employ a series of strategies. You would see that most mobile marketing applications are easy to apply so if you are just new to the industry, you can either learn how to do it on your own or you can also easily hire an external team to handle your marketing plan for you. The whole process won’t cost you a lot of money too so you don’t have to worry about overtaxing your fund allocation for marketing. In most cases, you won’t have to worry about getting the most out of your funds, since a lot of studies have shown that this is one of the most effective marketing strategies one can use for advertising and promotion.

Using mobile solutions to reach your business’ goals can both be easy or a little complicated. It would basically be base on the marketing strategies you would like to adopt. Just like traditional marketing options, you can either settle for basic mobile ads or you can also create a complex system for your company’s exclusive use. Just like in any other marketing plan, you don’t have to stick to one strategy either since you can easily apply more than one at the same time.

If you have not applied this type of marketing to your business yet, you should first try to create a mobile-ready website for your company. This is a good start since it would give you an idea just how powerful this advertising medium is. Aside from making it ready for other mobile marketing strategies, it would also have positive effects of their own. For one thing, it would connect you with your consumers who love to use the internet-surfing capabilities of their phone. You don’t have to rely on popular media to get this kind of connection with your direct target market.

Aside from making a mobile phone-compatible site, you can also use other strategies that would utilize your phone’s features. One of the most popular ways to accomplish this is by using the Bluetooth and infrared function of your mobile devices. Some companies would also use the more traditional SMS and MMS functions to market goods and services to others. Just like other marketing strategies though, the challenge lies in making people feel like they are not cooperating with a marketing plan since some people are wary with these moves. Unfortunately, feelings like these are due to the abuse of email marketing by some bad internet marketers.

The corporate world is revolutionary and continues to evolve to meet the demands of its consumers. This provides the opportunity for everyone to be productive and at the same time be profitable. Part of the evolution in the advertising and selling milieu is through affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing is a marketing approach or strategy in which a business (seller) pays the affiliates for every consumer that is brought into the marketing arena. Simply put, the affiliate invites consumers into the selling methodology of the seller of a particular brand to attract them to purchase the products or services. By doing this, the affiliate is considered a partner by the seller and gets compensated monetarily.

It is very easy to become an affiliate. You just simply go to the website of a company that needs affiliates. Many companies often accept applicants year round. After you evaluate yourself and your motives to be sure that you are interested in working with a particular company, you can then move forward. Sign up and contact the company where you desire to become an affiliate and read their program terms, FAQs and protocols. This is normally free of charge. Different companies might have different policies and procedures on how they compensate their affiliates. Once you have agreed to all the terms, conditions and provisions of the company, you are given a user name and a password. The company provides you with the materials that you need for your marketing. Marketing materials include banners, text links, email ads, etc.

Affiliate marketing is diverse in terms of its types and approaches. One popular affiliate marketing type is pay per sale. Once a product is purchased via the affiliates referral link, a commission is given right away. Another type is pay per click (PPC). PPC uses an IP tracker to determine the authenticity of each click and if it is indeed done by various users. With the Pay per click method, each click corresponds to a certain payout amount. Another type is pay per print (PPP), in which the advertisers or the companies pay for every print outs that comes from the provided website. The most common type is pay per view (PPV). This allows visualization of advertisement banners provided by the seller. And lastly, pay per sign up which requires the client to sign up on the website.

Affiliate marketing is beneficial and advantageous for the sellers, the affiliates and the consumers. Here is why:

1. The sellers can easily advertise and make their products popular to their consumers.

2. The consumers are provided with information and easy access to products and services that are available to be purchased.

3. The affiliates get compensated monetarily by bringing the sellers closer to their consumers.

Become an affiliate now and earn from it. Affiliates can potentially earn up to five figures per month or more. Working in the marketing industry is very rewarding and you can enjoy the comforts of your home while being profitable. Capitalize on affiliate marketing with your time. Start today!

Car dealers have numerous avenues for selling cars. They can use salesmen, or women, run classifieds, aggressively seek referrals, run campaigns on national TV or even hung on the reputation and marketing of the manufacturers. And for most dealers this has worked for years in bringing the profits and making a name for the dealership. However one of the things that can increase the return on investment and is usually least utilized, is mobile marketing. So what really is mobile marketing and how can it be used to boost sales? Well here are just 5 tips…

To start with, you need a short message services (SMS) system, and a customer-relationship management system (CRM). You will also require a modem with a SIM card that has texting capability. When that is in place, start capturing phone numbers of interested buyers. Next create an ongoing two-way customer relationship between buyers and the dealership. Mobile users can sign for alerts when the car requires maintenance or to be informed of special exclusive offers. This ensures you are in constant communication with your clients and that you are able to give real value to them.

Creatively use opt-in campaigns to drive customers to your dealership especially during non-peak hours. For instance, give out coupons that give a 20% discount on oil during certain hours. But ask coupon holders to confirm their intention to show up during the prescribed time by texting back. This way you capture the phone numbers of customers at the same time increase the flow of traffic to your showroom.

Another genius way of increasing return on investment is by a ‘FOR SALE’ sign that says ‘for pricing text 2525 to 6667′. The former being the car identification number while the later is your text messages number. This gives important leads to the sales force who will do a follow up on the people who texted. Text messages reduce the time taken by employees in interacting with customers. This increases the efficiency of your workforce and the potential of more profitability.

These days mobile handsets are very sophisticated. And as such you can create an application that allows users to interact more with you. Create one that allows past and present customers to receive whatever information that they require and link it up with social media networks and the manufacturers website. This way your customers will be able to receive alerts directly from the manufacturers on upcoming models. Of course the social media networks will allow users to exchange ideas on car maintenance savings and anything of interest to them. You need to be careful. Send message on those people who have given you consent to do so. And at the point of seeking consent make sure you inform customers that by giving consent, they accept to occasionally receive marketing messages.

Form an exclusive club for your customers where communication is on mainly by texting. This will build brand loyalty and raise your dealership to the stratosphere. By the way, you need to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns. Drop those that are weak while improving those that are major pullers. Do this consistently and your competitors will not know what hit. Chances are they will seek an audience with the senate committee to complain on unfair competitions!

Mobile marketing has the potential to increase a retailer’s return on equity tremendously. How could this be? Well, cell phones provide a cost-effective marketing and customer service solutions. When used well, mobile marketing can generate quality leads, disseminate important information instantaneously and improve customer confidence in a retail store. With about 80% of Americans having handsets, the marketing opportunities are immense. So what are the exact steps one can follow to reap these benefits?

1. Start generating leads by SMS enticing mobile users with discounts once they visit your store. All they do is to present the SMS codes at the cashiers and get the discounts. The assumption is that you already have customers who have gladly given you their mobile numbers, and they have accepted to receive marketing messages from you. If you don’t have such a list, then make it you priority this year. It is the most important activity you will ever do in your business. A customer list is more important than any other asset you own. Some marketers can generate up to $30 per customer list name per month. Imagine the potential.

2. Use bar codes to give customers information about products. For example a customer can take a picture of a clothing price tag. The phone then connects to the SMS-CRM system and the user in returns receives a return text. This shows the specific product info including colors available, which celebrity wears it and the accessories that match with it. Sounds great. It is!

3. Use SMS to remind customers of the ongoing or upcoming sales. Or even items that are about to get out of stock. Of course you need to know the items that may be of interest them. Further allow mobile users to text and receive item pricing and availability. Allow them to see videos of your items of fashion and download if interested.

Final remarks…

Technology is changing fast. And only your imagination can bar you from getting close to your customers. As mobile phones get smarter and more intelligent, your store can be your customer’s only logical choice. And that would be great.

To have a sizzling SMS campaign, you need to have certain things in place. To start with let me assume that you already have a list of customers who have consented to receiving marketing messages on their phones. That being the case, there are certain tricks, known to very people, which can make your campaign wildly successful.

1. Have one offer at a time. It pains me to see marketers sending out messages promoting their ‘just arrived’ goods in the store at the same time asking people to get into the monthly contest that is going on. These are two important items. For more effectiveness, just focus on one at a time. The human mind is such that when you confuse it, it takes the next best option-inaction.

2. Always reward your SMS respondents. That means that you should give an incentive for replying or taking the action you asked your customers to engage in. The law of reciprocity is powerful and an incentive triggers it. Research time and again has shown that campaigns with incentives work far much better than those without. Buy the way; you don’t have to give some expensive stuff. A $5, $10 coupon, a free meal or loyalty points is all you require.

3. Your campaign should feel urgent. You will need to limit the number of people or the time frame required to respond. It could be valid for only 14 days or for the first 14 people who respond. We are all created the same, lazy and indifferent. If nothing is urgent, then we postpone action.

4. Always give a complete message. It is better to send a long sms that tells the entire story than send a short one that says nothing. The interesting thing about SMS, unlike email s that goes for days without being opened, it has a 98% open rate, according to some experts. An interesting, captivating long SMS will be read in its entirety.

5. Encourage your customers to spread the message. Just a little creativity is all that is required to turn your campaign viral. Just imagine what would happen if every 3 customers send your messages to their friends. If you own a restaurant, it could suddenly become the talk of town!

The untapped potential in mobile marketing is enormous in America. With 80% of the American population now connected, it just requires innovative restaurants to provide ‘book a table’ facility and sales can skyrocket.

Just imagine how marvelous it can be for hungry people to search for your restaurant and order food by SMS. Think of how great it would be for someone to look at your menu remotely and locate your restaurant at the far end of town just by using his or her phone. Or even think of how nice it would be for a young man to trace your budget hotel for that first time date that will make or break his relationship.

You can make it happen. Just by getting the right software that can enable customers to do weekly contests where a winner can win a delicious lunch or dinner. You send text messages announcing daily specials. You could have customers order food or reserve tables by text.

Surprised?

Many savvy restaurant owners are doing it. Some are exploiting the full potential of cell phone marketing while others are not. This is an underutilized resource. And surprisingly, SMS open rates are much higher than emails; some experts place it at 98%. And text messages are very personal meaning it is only the intended recipients the will receive and read your message.

The secret of achieving desirable results in phone based marketing starts with building a list of customers who have consented to receiving marketing messages on their phones. Maybe you can start by giving a dinner voucher in exchange of people’s phone numbers. Let your clients know what is going on in your restaurant. Inform them about the free offers that you may run from time to time. Use text messages to do this. You may be surprised by their positive response.

The future of mobile marketing is very bright and the facts tell it all. For instance, according to CTIA Wireless Association 250 million Americans carry mobile phones- a whopping 80% of the population. While the global advertising market will be over $16 billion in 2011.

And that’s not all…

An estimated 10 trillion text messages are expected to be sent by 2012.

Many savvy marketers are turning to SMS as a marketing tool. Unfortunately for most of them, they are getting it all wrong.

Here are the best practices that you can put to use today….

1. Marketing and promotional materials need to indicate if the service is a subscription or a one-time campaign.
2. If it is a subscription, terms and conditions of the program must be disclosed.
3. Indicate pricing information clearly of any paid program.
4. All marketing and promotional materials must clearly display opt-out information.
5. Do not promote services as ‘free’ when ultimately the subscriber will pay to participate in the program.
6. Always respect the subscriber privacy. And you must employ clear optin procedures with subscribers fully aware of what they expect to receive and the frequency.
7. As a rule of thumb avoid sending unsolicited messages. They will ultimately erode the brand you are trying to build. Ensuring the customers want to receive the message is vital and will save you money.
8. For applications that require payment, create double optin procedures. One for free marketing messages and one for paid participation.
9. Avoid documents that have big files. It may annoy subscribers and besides the mobile devices are different in capabilities.
10. Use a language that subscribers are used to. Avoid slang or words that are not commonly used.

With 57% of young Americans of the view that mobile devices are an absolute must have, mobile marketing looks like the way of the future. Even Google Chief executive Eric Schmidt acknowledged that mobile advertising is poised to be the next ‘huge revolution

Until recently, mobile marketing was relatively a new field. But with mobile devices now outnumbering PCs it is time for savvy marketers to take keen interest. And many of my coaching clients often ask me, what really are the benefits of mobile marketing?

Well here are, not two or three but seven some of which you probably don’t know.

1. The mobile phone is quite personal.
You probably don’t know this. Computers are not as personal as mobile phones. In fact 90% of Japanese surveyed said they would not share their mobile phone devices, while in other countries the figure stands at about 63%. The implication is that the right person will read your marketing message and no secretary or personal assistant will assume it is spam.

2. Mobile devices are always carried.
Here is something interesting, according to 2007 research by Morgan Stanley, 91% of mobile phone owners keep their phone devices within one metre, 24 hours a day. Apparently, even in the bathroom. That means that marketing messages will be read and acted upon immediately. Your marketing campaign can start to bear fruits within the same hour.

3. The phone is always on.
Think about it. Do you ever switch of your phone? In fact most people find it difficult to leave behind cell phones even when they are on holiday. For marketers, that means that you can reach anyone at anytime 24 hour a day. Warning: Don’t send marketing messages at 3 in the morning. I doubt if many people will appreciate this.

4. The payment system is easy.
Where a mobile phone acts a virtual wallet, the SIM card has an inbuilt payment system. Content downloads are paid for in advance and you will never have bad debts or bouncing checks.

5. The mobile phone is a great tool for impulse purchase.
Most people always carry their phones and any marketing messages done properly can create impulse buying. And the viral marketing implications are extremely great for any marketers.

6. Accurate audience tracking and measurements.
The fact that mobile phones are rarely shared means that any voice call, SMS message can directly be tracked to particular number.

7. Easily blends with social media platforms.
Many mobile devices can also be used to surf the net and Social media sites like Facebook and twitter greatly rely on mobile devices.

Isn’t time you embraced mobile marketing?

Did you know that mobile texting, when used properly, can make your business dominate your industry? Mobile devices are now more than PCs and the number is still growing. And any savvy entrepreneur who embraces mobile marketing will surely reap benefits. However most people often ask me, ‘Mary how do I know that I’m not screwing up with my marketing text messages?’

Well, though there is no rule that is 100% correct, I have some tips that can help you.

1. Steer clear from youth texting slang. Unless your service is strictly for the youth, slang is usually a turnoff for the mature generation. Just use normal words and language that the ordinary person is used to. Some trendy terms may not harm though but be careful; your language will most likely be a piss off to some people or an item pulling customers to your business.

2. Get a service provider that supports your dreams and is cost effective. Imagine yourself having a texting club with 20,000 members as some businesses have. Sending out tens of thousands of emails may be costly. You need a service provider that can allow this kind of bulk messages at a cost you feel comfortable with.

3. Integrate text-message marketing with other marketing strategies. Think of sending people to your store using text messages; figure out how to have text messages getting your website being a web sensation. Look for ways offline media can be integrated to your campaign. A little creativity is all that you require. Remember you need to test everything. You never know.

4. Hold contests, have special offers and give coupons. Wow! This is a big one. If you have ‘a buy one get one free offer’ nothing can bring a flood of customers like text messages. Have people compete for valuable prices by send messages that brand your business.

5. Be patient and allow time to build your program. Just like any endeavor of business, time is the determining factor. It takes time to build a mobile number list and it takes time to connect to your list members. So don’t give up too soon.

Final remarks…

You probably don’t have a mobile list at the moment. Start collecting your customer’s phone numbers. This is the most valuable asset you can ever acquire. Start by giving out coupons in exchange of their numbers. You will be surprised how supportive they will be. But give genuine reasons why you need their numbers. Say something like’ occasionally we do have sales for loyal customers only and we need a way of relying the messages quickly.’

This is an area that has been ignored for some time. But savvy marketers are slowly realizing that with 4.6 billion users worldwide, mobile marketing is simply unstoppable. The question you need to ask yourself is how can I tap into this vast ready marketing medium?

Here are a few tips.

1. Visual advertisements. These are banners or display ads. They show the graphics of a business or service specifically tailored for the mobile phones. When you create a mobile ad, follow the basic rules of any ad. Write a killer headline; give a complete message and a strong call to action.

2. SMS. This is a powerful tool you can use in your mobile marketing campaigns. And surprisingly most people will accept mobile text messages that have adverts if they come from a company they have relationship with. With SMS open rates standing at a whooping 98% you can be sure your message will at least be seen.

3. Mobile websites. These are fancy and interactive displays. Research by Forrester Research group show that 19% of online retailers are currently developing mobile websites. This means you a need to consider this advertising medium crucial to your success.

4. APPS. Phones are no longer for just calling. Many modern ones come with a full host of applications. For instance you can use your cell phone to compare hotel rooms, read Shakespeare and even examine brain scans. You can get your marketing messages read easily and affordably using various applications.

5. Location based SEO. Listing yourself on Googel maps helps shoppers locate you location using mobile phones. It is estimated that 40 % of shoppers use their mobile to carry out searches. If you run a business that targets local customers only, this is your incredible opportunity.

Final remarks…

If you have not considered taking on mobile marketing, chances are you are trailing in your industry. Mobiles are personal and your marketing messages receive immediate attention and action. And many of the big boys, Google, and Facebook are positioning themselves to take advantage at this revolution. So should you.