The next wave for reaching your customers and building your brand is happening now through mobile marketing. Consumers are rapidly embracing smart phones with over 49.1 million smart phones in use today in the US alone. At least 50% of US homes own one or more smart phone and are using this technology to browse, shop and gather information. The sale of touch screen smart phones continue grow exponentially, opening up new marketing opportunities. Savvy marketers are finding ways to leverage these consumer devices to create brand building activities that increase customer loyalty and convert more consumers to buyers.
Here is how it works.
You place a specially created 2D barcode on anything in print. With over two billion tags already in existence, millions of people have already downloaded the free Microsoft Tag reader and are using it. Consumers are realizing that when they hold their smart phone over the tag, the digital information or video content appears in the smart phone window. No typing a URL or texting, waiting for a response – in an instant your message appears – driving it deeper into the hands of your potential buyer at the moment it makes the most sense.
Mobile is important for a number of reasons:
It has an immediacy that consumers expect.
It provides a portal from the real world to digital content.
To be successful the mobile activity has to follow some best practices:
The activity must be engaging.
The content must be relevant.
There must be a call to action.
Is mobile marketing a trend or just “fly by trendy”?
From my research, I think that this is the next “thing”. Think back to when the internet was introduced and you may have wondered “do I really need to have a website? Does a digital footprint even matter?” We all know how important that move was to business. Now you have an opportunity to engage your digital presence with your print materials. This is still new enough to garner word of mouth excitement yet it is also established enough for anyone to piggyback off of the successful adoption of the technology. Over 100 million magazines since August 2010 carry Tags in their advertisements and editorial.
Watch for upcoming posts on how this technology can be used in the arts community.
Re-printed with permission. Charlie Bogusz offers customized business solutions and coaching services to artists, galleries and cultural event planners. She has over 20 years experience in advertising, public relations and event management. She is passionate about the arts! Her company is Primary Colors Consulting. Click here to follow her blog.
