The Difference Between a Standard Website and a Mobile Website

The major difference between the two is how they display on a mobile device. If a company has a mobile website, it’s created specifically to display easy to navigate options on any mobile device. Graphics are created to display properly and the user doesn’t have to zoom in to figure out what something says. The display resolution for a mobile website is much smaller than a regular website. This helps your site display in the right format for the much smaller screen most mobile devices use.

Looking at a mobile website compared to a standard website on a smart phone is the easiest way to see the difference. On the mobile website, it’s easy to read all the text, find links and navigate the site. However, without a mobile site, your standard site will show up and unless the user knows where to go already, it can be very difficult to find the right links, pages and information.

Four Main Advantages of Mobile Websites

1.  User Experience

The most important advantage you gain from the use of a mobile website is the experience you pass on to the user. Making your site fit the screen of mobile devices makes it so much easier on the user. They don’t need to zoom in to read anything and finding the links for purchasing, ordering, contact information and anything else of important becomes very easy.

2.  Speed

Regular websites tend to take forever to load on mobile devices because of the larger graphics and content. You don’t run into this issue with a mobile website because it’s designed specifically for these smaller devices. The graphics are smaller and the sites load much faster than your standard website.

3.  Improved Search Ranking

Google and many other search engines give priority to mobile optimized websites. Since many consumers search on their smartphones and tablets, it’s important for Google to display results able to easily be viewed on these devices. With a mobile website, you gain search engine optimization benefits, which can lead to more customers finding your site instead of your competitor’s site.

4.  User Engagement

With a mobile website, you can use mobile specific features, such as a “tap to call” or a location-based map. This allows you to engage the user and make it more convenient for their use. If you want more people to contact your business, using a mobile site will get the job done simply because you can use a “call to action” specific to these users.

Statistics Backing Up Mobile Website Usage

It comes as no surprise, more consumers are using their mobile devices to find restaurants, retail businesses and many other local businesses every year. The numbers are still climbing as more people purchase smartphones and templates. Here are a few statistics to help you understand the important of using a mobile website.

• Over HALF of all local searches happen on a mobile device
• Over 60% of those finding your business through a local search call your business and 59% actually visit the business
• Experts estimate, more people will use a mobile device to access the internet than a PC in 2013
• By 2015, many estimate there will be at least one mobile device for every person on the planet
• Experts project, tablets will make up over 20% of the mobile market in 2013
• Three out of every five mobile users expect your mobile site to load in under 3 seconds

Is a Mobile Website a Smart Investment?

Considering the statistics above, if you run a local business offering a service or product, you cannot afford to go without a mobile website any longer. Without one, you’re losing customers and missing out on opportunities to grow your business. Just as creating a regular website, when used properly, can help your business grow, so can a mobile website.

Imagine if 100 potential customers a month searched for your business on their mobile device. Without a mobile website, most of these people will simply look for a competitor and you will miss out on all the potential opportunities. With a mobile website, 60 out of the 100 people will at least call your business and over 30 of those people will come through your doors.

Without a mobile website, you could miss out on those 30 sales every month (assuming only 100 people search for you on a mobile device every month), which could lead to repeat sales, as well. You could be missing out in initial cash flow and profits, along with the opportunity to build a relationship with those people leading to repeat business and referral business. Potentially, you could be leaving tens of thousands of dollars on the table just because you don’t have a mobile website.

Investing in a mobile website today will pay for itself very quickly. For most businesses, it won’t take more than just one or two repeat customers to pay for the cost of the mobile website and all the other customers you gain from this investment make up your newfound profits. Imagine how much your business could grow with just a few new customers becoming repeat customers every month.

The bottom line, without a mobile website, your business is missing out. You need to allow potential customers to find you within the local search results, on their mobile devices. When they do find you, providing a mobile website for your local business increases the odds they will show up at your restaurant, retail store or at least call to find out more about your company.

Potential customers can scan these codes and they will upload information, such as phone numbers, business names, websites, coupons or anything else programmed into the code, into their smart device. You can connect the code with a mobile application, launch your website when it’s scanned, link it to a video or use it to generate a sales call.

How Can Your Business Benefit from QR Codes?

With the low cost of creating and printing these codes, businesses are using them to increase foot traffic, web traffic and get the message out about a new product or service. They are very powerful and it’s been reported that about 5% of American consumers scanned a QR code in a three-month period in 2011 (reported by The Forrester). This number may seem small, but its growing everyday as smartphone sales increase and more people learn what QR codes are.

Another statistic shows that most of those scanning these codes are younger, affluent males. Among those scanning a QR codes, it’s been reported that nearly 20% have made a purchase after scanning the code. Chadwick Martin Baily reported that nearly 14 million people scanned these codes and over 2.5 million made a purchase after the scan. AT&T reported that over 44 million of their users have the necessary app to scan these codes and the numbers are on the rise.

Your business can benefit in many ways from the implementation of QR codes. Here are some of the most common benefits.

• Helps bridge the gap between online and offline media – With the ability to add a QR code to business cards, posters, billboards, signs, flyers, brochures and any other type of offline advertisement, it’s much easier to merge these two worlds. No longer do you need to print your web address or phone number. When someone scans the code, all the necessary information can be stored within it, making it easier for you and the consumer.
• Community Building and Sharing – QR codes allow companies to create their own small community by connecting the code to a “like” button for your Facebook page. Companies can also create retweets with these codes to allow customers to retweet a message just by scanning the code. With the right implementation of these codes, you can put your social marketing on steroids.
• Create a “call to action” – These codes are great for creating a call to action for your business. You can allow a video to launch when the code is canned, take someone to your website, launch a pre-filled tweet or a number of other actions. The code can deliver a text message with a discount code or it can create a “call us” or “email us” action.

Many other Benefits from Using QR Codes

These three benefits are just the main ones. Your company can use QR codes in many unique ways to create many indirect benefits, as well. One of the most powerful indirect benefits is the social and search engine optimization you get from these codes. A big part of how Google and other search engines rank you website comes from social signals. By using a QR code to create more social sharing, you will indirectly benefit the SEO of your website.

You can also implement these codes into your advertising offering time sensitive discounts for those scanning them. This can certainly help increase foot traffic or if you prefer, send them to the website to use the discount, which increases your web traffic. There are many ways local businesses can implement QR codes into their marketing efforts and create unique benefits.

In-Store Implementation of QR Codes

Many companies are using QR codes within their business to offer discounts, vouchers, information and a number of other things. Maybe you’re promoting a new product and you want to allow shoppers to quickly view a video about the product. Set up a QR code linking to the video and they can view it right on their phone as they’re shopping.

They can also be used in place of paper coupons, which cost more to print, within the store. Since the customer just needs to scan the code to get the coupon, there’s no need to print more than just one code. Once the coupon is saved in their smartphone, they can redeem it at the register when they check out.

Restaurants can implement these codes on their menu and link to more information or even a video about how the dish is made. The information the consumer gets from scanning the code can also include a drink recommendation or an upgrade to the dish. This helps turn a boring menu into an interactive experience for the guest.

Other Creative Ways to use QR Codes

QR codes can be used in many other ways. Use them to provide a free trial download of a software program, to provide discounts within your advertising, sell space you have for advertising including QR codes or a number of other ways. One example of how these codes are being implemented is found from a restaurant offering advertisement on their placemats. They put QR codes on it with the words, “place your advertisement here”. When someone scans the code, they can actually pay for the advertising right then and there.

These codes provide many unique opportunities for branding, discounts and a number of other uses. Whether you want to build your social community by linking to a “like” or “follow” button or you prefer to link to a redeemable coupon, a QR code will allow you to grow your business. Local businesses can use these codes within their business and within their marketing. It’s a quick and easy way to get your information into the hands of the consumer and increase business.

What is a Mobile Coupon?

A mobile coupon is a part of an extensive mobile marketing campaign allowing a business to offer special discounts to smartphone users. They usually come in the form of a short text message sent to a list of users and they offer a discount to those receiving the message. When the consumer arrives as the business and wants to use the coupon, they simply show the message to the person helping them to redeem the coupon.

Businesses can include expiration dates, QR codes, special discount codes for online use and more. Since these coupons are sent through text message, the receiver can save the message and use it at their convenience.

How Your Business can Benefit from Mobile Coupons

The benefits of mobile coupons for the business are very clear. There’s very little cost involved and it’s far less expensive to send out a mass text message with a mobile coupon than printing thousands of coupons, mailing them or printing them with an advertisement. Just looking at the overall cost of sending your coupons through text message is enough to persuade most business owners to use this form of advertisement.

However, the cost is only one of the benefits. Mobile coupons achieve a staggering 96% “open and read rate” compared to the under 2% of direct mail and email marketing. Both direct mail marketing and email marketing are far more expensive and with such a low “read rate”, the return on investment is often much higher with mobile coupons.

The consumer also benefits from receiving mobile coupons. They don’t need to worry about clipping and keeping track of the paper coupon because there isn’t one. All the consumer has to do is save the text message, which most phones do automatically and make sure they have their phone with them when they want to redeem the coupon.

Combining Mobile Coupons with Local Marketing

Imagine sending a 10% coupon, through a text message, to one of your customers when they’re just around the corner from your business. This type of marketing is possible with the right mobile marketing modules and gives local businesses the opportunity to increase revenues, while offering customers discounts and rewards.

An example of how this type of marketing can benefit a local business is using mobile coupons with a restaurant. Imagine sending a text message to a number of business employees and other consumers about an hour before you start serving lunch offering a discount for that specific day. Some restaurants do this a few times a week and experience full restaurants at times they usually wouldn’t be able to fill the restaurant.

Many types of businesses can combine mobile coupons with local marketing to attract new customers. The major benefit for local businesses actually comes in building a list of mobile numbers from past customers and offering rewards/discounts to those on the list. This allows businesses to get their customers to come in more frequently, which leads to increased revenue.

A Few Statistics

The ability to influence your target market in real time with mobile coupons is very powerful. You can actually help someone make a buying decision with a simple message sent directly to his or her smartphone. Let’s look at a little bit of research:

• Deloitte reports that 57% of consumers want to receive coupons on their phone
• In 2008, the Mobile Marketing Association conducted a study showing that 24% of US mobile phone users have participated in some type of mobile marketing and have received special discounts on their phone. Twenty-two percent of these people redeemed some type of mobile coupon at a store or restaurant.
• A poll from PROMO Magazine showed that over 25% of US marketers are investing in mobile marketing campaigns and coupons currently.

Successful Use of Mobile Marketing and Coupons

Creating a strategy to gain the most out of a mobile marketing campaign is very important. Benjamin Franklin said, “A penny saved is a penny earned” and with mobile marketing, you can start saving more pennies, while seeing a larger return on the ones you actually spend. Creating a successful marketing campaign with mobile coupons requires three specific steps:

1. Developing a Strategy

Before you enter into a test program, you need to clearly define your strategy. Whether you want to build an in-store rewards program allowing current customers to sign up to receive discounts on their phones or you want to target a specific area, you need to define your marketing strategy before testing it.

2.  Creating an Appealing Offer

Creating the right offer for your mobile marketing will make a large difference in how many customers actually redeem the coupon with your business. Whether you decide to run a buy one, get one free special, offer a percentage discount, a free trial or some other type of offer, you need to make sure it’s tailored to your business and offers the consumer real value.

3.  Redemption Method

You can choose to require customers to present their phone with a QR code, include a numerical code entered into your system or another type of redemption method. Some businesses simply ask consumers to show the coupon at the time of purchase, but many prefer to add some type of security code to the coupon.

Once you’ve figured out the strategy, the offer and how the receiver will redeem the offer, you want to measure the results. This will help with the next mobile coupon you send out and you can make small adjustments as you test different types of offers.

Using mobile coupons benefits both businesses and consumers. It’s possible to save money and increase revenues by using this advertising method. If you want to connect with your customers and create a one-on-one dialogue, this type of marketing is one of the most innovative ways to get your message in front of your target audience.

What is Text Message or SMS Marketing?

Text message or SMS marketing is a type of advertising allowing your business to send a text message to the phone numbers on a list you’ve created yourself or purchased the rights to use. The message can include a coupon code, QR code or advertise a special promotion. Local businesses use these messages to deliver coupons, drive people into their business or create leads through phone or email.

Benefits of Text Message Advertising

1.  Open Rate

Compared to many of the other types of marketing, the open rate for text message marketing is much higher. In fact, over 95% of the people you send a text message to will read it within 15 minutes of receiving it. Email marketing doesn’t even compare with an open rate less than 20%.

2.  Response/Redemption Rate

Direct mail marketing is one of the most popular ways to get the word out whenever you’re having a sale, releasing a new product or you just want to drive business to your store. However, this type of marketing only gives you about a 2% response or redemption rate. With SMS text messaging you gain a much higher response/redemption rate of 20% on average and in most cases much higher. This is better than the rates found with print advertising, radio, TV and email.

3.  Permission Based Marketing

With SMS marketing, the person receiving the message has actually opted-in to receive your advertisement. Either they signed up for a rewards program within your business or they opted-in through another source to receive your message. This means they want discounts, coupons and special offers. When you send out your coupon through text, these people are more likely to redeem.

4.  Speed

One of the major benefits of text message marketing for local business is the speed of delivery. Unlike direct mail, the message is delivered instantly and unlike email, it goes directly to a mobile phone, which most of us carry with us 24/7. Imagine sending a text coupon at 11:30am for a lunch special in your restaurant and seeing a crowded dining room by 12:30pm. This is very possible with the right message and the right implementation of SMS marketing.

5.  Return on Investment

Most traditional marketing methods require physical printing or creation, but with text message marketing you don’t need to create anything other than your message. This helps to save you money and with the higher “open and read rate”, you receive a larger ROI. Typically, it’s less than $30 to send 1,000 text messages and you get a redemption rate of 20%, which means you will make more compared to sending 1,000 direct mail pieces giving you a redemption rate of 2% and costing far more to send.

An Example of How You can Benefit from SMS Marketing

A restaurant owner discovered he was losing customers to a new restaurant that opened up down the street. Through text message marketing, he offered a buy one entree, get the second at half price to anybody signing up for his VIP mobile list. Within just a few days, his list had over 100 subscribers. As he continued to build this list, he started sending out weekly discount codes to all those on the VIP list.

In just a few short weeks, he increased his sales by nearly 20% and had built his list to over 200 subscribers. This list gives him direct access to reach out to his customer base whenever necessary. He can run specials, discounts and other promotions with an almost guaranteed full restaurant because of his SMS marketing efforts. He was able to cut all other types of marketing after just one month, which saved him thousands of dollars every year.

This is just one example how a business can use SMS marketing to increase revenue, cut marketing costs and gain instant access to their customer base. By communicating with people already interested in your product, service or business, you can stay at the front of their mind. This leads to more sales to your customers and can make each customer worth more than triple the revenue every year.

Statistics to Back up the Success of Text Message Marketing

• Over 75% of smartphone users reported they use their smartphone to help with shopping
• More than 50% of US mobile ad spending is done on a local basis
• In the UK, the most effective form of advertising in 2011 was SMS marketing
• With SMS advertising companies can achieve nearly a 100% impression rate
• Over 90% of text message ads are read within 4 minutes of sending
• Over 60% of all mobile consumers (18-50 years of age) use SMS on a daily basis
• ALL mobile phones in the United States are capable of sending and receiving text messages
• SMS marketing is the leader in ease-of-use, cost savings, adoption rate and availability
• Over 85% of Americans own a cell phone

With the ability to send a coupon, special offer or any other type of message instantly, text message marketing is becoming one of the most popular ways to follow up with customers. The process is very easy to implement and the low cost of sending your text messages makes it one of the most affordable ways to advertise. Simply collect customer information and use SMS marketing to advertise to consumers already familiar with your business.

If you’re looking for a great way to increase your business and you want to make sure you can stay in contact with your customers, text message marketing will provide you a viable solution. Local businesses can increase foot traffic, fill their restaurant or drive more traffic to their website simply by using SMS marketing.

It’s important to assess your own business needs before deciding to create an app associated with your business. Be careful not to get sucked in by the “cool factor” of using an app for your business, and make sure it will actually provide benefits before investing your capital. Not all businesses actually have a need for a local business app and you certainly don’t want to waste your money.

Every business is different and those usually falling into the category of “not needing an app” deal with one-time purchases of services rendered in-person.  However, even with businesses in this category, there’s some wiggle room. Many businesses will benefit greatly from the use of an app and every business is unique. Take the time to discuss the possibilities with others in your business before determining whether your business needs an app or would just be wasting money.

The Main Benefits of an App for Your Business

Every app has its use and with an app designed specifically for your business, you may experience a number of benefits. There are some main benefits of local business apps and it’s important to become familiar with these benefits before investing your money. Here are a few of the most common advantages of an app for your business.

• Instant Gratification – With an app designed specifically for your business, you can give your customers instant access to your products, services and information about your company. We live in an “I want it now” society with things moving faster than ever before. Giving your customers and potential customers instant access can increase sales, profits and customer satisfaction.
• Gain New Customers – You may be able to tap into an entirely new market with your own business app. Just as you did when you first put up a website, there’s a new market of people using their smartphones and tablets for everything. Your traditional website can still reach this market, but with an app, you can put your company front and center.
• Better Customer Experience – By adding an app for your business to customer’s smartphones, you can make their experience much better. Apps are very easy to use and provide access for customers to get the help they need whenever necessary. Anything making it easier for your customers will make their experience better, which leads to more purchases.
• Beat Your Competition – If your competition doesn’t use an app yet, you will be one-step ahead of them. This can make the difference between a customer sticking with your company or your competitor’s company.

These are just a few of the main benefits you can gain by adding a local business app to your company. Since every business is unique, you may experience many other benefits not listed here, which can lead to larger profits, a better customer experience and business growth you may not have thought possible.

Why Adding an App to Your Business Matters

With the world moving faster than ever before, more people wanting things instantly and technology making it all possible, adding an app to your business is something you might need to do just to stay competitive. Experts estimate that over one million smartphones will be purchased in 2013, which doesn’t include the ones already purchases. IPhone, BlackBerry and Samsung Galaxy phones are some of the most popular on the market and they all allow the use of apps.

In 2010 alone, the smartphone app market reached over 2 billion dollars and that was only in the first 6 months. If this growth continues, we can expect smartphones to be the only choice for a cell phone moving forward. Currently, over one million apps have been developed with approximately 800,000 on the Android market and 300,000 on the Apple market.

If you want to experience growth with your business, retain more customers and see larger profits, an app is a tool that can make it all possible. Many large corporations offer apps to help with payments, purchases, customer service and much more. Your business may seem small, but with the help of a local business app, it can offer the same customer experience of a large corporation.

What Kind of App Should You Choose?

The first decision to make with your app is where you want to offer it. It’s a good idea to create an app that works on both the Android and Apple platforms. This will cover the majority of smartphone and tablet users. Once you’ve decided where to offer your app, you will need to choose the types of things the app will allow the customer to do.

You can make it easier for customers to make purchases, monitor their account, check out your services or a number of other things. The type of app you decide to create will depend on the type of business you run.

How much will it All Cost?

It’s hard to estimate how much your specific app will cost without speaking to a company capable of creating it for you. However, you do need to consider the costs before you decide to use an app for your business. As long as you can attract enough new customers to pay for the costs of the app, it’s worth the investment since an app can also help with customer retention.

Creating your own local business app can be a great way to connect with current customers and attract new customers. With the right type of app for your businesses, you can beat your competition by offering a better customer experience. As long as you assess your business and decide whether an app will really provide benefits and you choose the right type of app specific to your customers, you will find a local business app to be a great investment.