Hotels to Spend More on Mobile Marketing

Mobile marketing strategies are becoming increasingly popular for different niche markets, which is why I am not surprised to learn that more hotels are making the choice to increase the amount they are spending on mobile marketing efforts.

This strategy makes very good sense, when you consider that approximately 38 percent of mobile phone owners already have a smartphone, and that smartphone sales are increasing at a very rapid pace. What this means for hotel owners is that they need to invest some resources in creating a true mobile website for an optimal user experience. SMS, mobile websites, and mobile applications allow guests to browse availability, book reservations, upgrade, and receive reminders about upcoming stays through their mobile devices.

Offering mobile reservations as an option to travelers will be a key selling point to consumers who are faced with many choices for accommodation when away from home. I can see that the hotels that will do well are those that make it convenient to book a room quickly, and that means using mobile technology.

The results of the survey conducted during the "2011 Second Quarter Global Hotel Industry Update” webinar indicate that almost all of the participants (95.3 percent) were planning to either keep their workforce at the same level or add to it. Among hotel owners who planned to hire more staff, approximately one-third planned to bring in new employees specifically for social media and mobile marketing programs.

Mobile Marketing Will Drive SEO for Small Business in 2012

Mobile marketing is becoming more important for SEO as Google and other top search engines begin to add mobile searches to their overall optimization ratings. Small businesses should take note of this and include mobile marketing strategies as part of their overall revenue generation plans. More and more customers are using their mobile devices to quick search terms when they are looking to buy products or services from local providers.

If your business falls into one of the more popular categories for local searches, such as retailers, events, concerts, restaurants, or sports, you will want to make a point of using local mobile marketing to reach out to prospective customers. You can use mobile marketing techniques for a lot more than just advertising. This is an effective way to manage customer care functions and to offer coupons and specials to your mailing list.

Keep in mind that customers using mobile devices are not necessarily going to be going to Google or one of the other search engines to find you. They are very likely to be using apps on their smartphones and these devices do not use the same type of terms as a search engine does.

I believe that if you want your business to stay competitive, you will need to appeal to the growing number of customers who are using mobile devices to find products and services. Unless your business is connected to some type of mobile application, you are going to be missing potential sales. Rather than give business to your competition, a much better choice is for you to invest the time and resources you need to make your business mobile friendly.

Mobile CRM Solutions for Small Business Made Easy

Many small business owners find the idea of launching a mobile CRM campaign to be a bit intimidating. It does not have to be something that keeps you up at night, and it definitely is not something reserved for larger enterprises only. Small businesses can and should take advantage of the mobile wave that is already here and continues to build, with more users picking up their smart phone and using it to find information and make buying decisions.

One step that all small business owners can put in place is to make sure that their website is mobile friendly. If you do not already have a mobile website, there is no better time than now to create one and start using it. To be clear, a true mobile website is better than a mobile optimized site, since a true mobile website presents the most important data to your user in a clear, easy-to-use interface. A true mobile site communicates your message clearly and with as few words as possible, and gives users easy access to the most important information, such as location search and contact information.

Not only do you need to have a mobile friendly website, but also I think you should definitely consider placing ads through this medium. It is the next wave of getting your message out to your customer base and potential buyers. Use your mobile website and SMS messaging campaign to develop mobile customer databases that create a unique and personalized channel to communicate with your customer.

Essential Elements of a Successful Mobile Marketing Campaign

Many companies know they need a mobile marketing strategy, but are unsure of where to begin. There are some important considerations that must be accounted for when building a mobile strategy. The main consideration for any marketing campaign is content. Unless the content being provided is engaging to the consumer and relevant to their needs, the campaign will fall flat on its face.

To determine what kind of content the consumer would be interested in, the company needs do its homework to determine its target market and what this type of consumer needs. Only by getting to know the customer, understanding their interests and concerns, and determining what problems they are trying to solve, will the marketer succeed in engaging them and persuading them to open their wallets.

Since we are talking about a mobile marketing campaign, the content must be formatted in a way that makes it easy to access through a mobile device. You will need to consider that not all consumers have the latest gadgets available to them, and that many people are still using 2G technology. I would suggest aiming at that market, since it makes up the majority of users, and then upgrading over time as your consumer base embraces new versions of mobile devices.

Finally, data from the mobile marketing campaign must be gathered and evaluated regularly. You will not know which strategies are working well and which ones need to be tweaked without this valuable information.