Mobile Marketing For Business: Is it a must?

What the Rise of the Mobile Consumer Means for Your Business  

The world is going mobile at an exponential rate. Consider two facts:
FACT:
Apple sold more iOS devices in 2011 (156M) than the total number of Macs sold in all 28 years of its existence (122M).¹
Wow.
FACT:
Google recently announced that 850,000 new Android devices are activated daily; the total number of Android devices around the globe has surpassed 300 million, with a year-on-year growth rate of more than 250 percent.²
Wow Squared.
Based on the number of iOS5 and Android6 devices currently in existence, and the number of new devices being activated each day, advertising software solutions provider Marin Software estimates that there will be one billion smart mobile devices in-use globally sometime between December 2012 and June 2013.ONE BILLION.³
They’re not talking about cell phones; they mean one billion smart phones and tablets, i.e. one billion mobile computers.
Wow Cubed.
All levity aside, the rapid proliferation of smartphones and tablets is changing how consumers make purchase decisions and interact with brands.
Increasingly, purchase decisions are being made with the aid of user-generated content such as online reviews and peer opinions found on social media. According to data gathered by emarketer, one-third of US consumers, or 42.6% of mobile phone users, will log in to social networking sites via mobile devices at least monthly in 2012.
Already more than 50% of Twitter and Facebook users are regularly accessing the social media sites via mobile devices. eMarketer estimates that by 2014, over 98% of these users will be accessing Facebook on a smartphone.
The emerging world of the mobile-enabled consumer is blurring the lines separating online and offline commerce. This reality is already felt by retailers, as consumers can now check product reviews and compare prices while they shop in a physical store.
SEARCH ME
This has implications for mobile search, as mobile-enabled consumers are much closer to the final purchase point than a desktop search. Many consumers are also using their smartphones in a geo-local sense, i.e. to find local businesses while on the move.
With smart mobile devices becoming the rule rather than the exception, companies need to shape their online marketing strategies around how people search.
There are some key differences between a desktop and mobile search experience. For one, given the smaller screens of mobile devices, there is less room to display the results of both organic search and PPC ads. Interestingly, Marin’s research suggests that users are actually more engaged with search results on their mobile devices. Smartphone and tablet users have click-through-rates (CTRs) that are respectively 72% and 31% higher than users on desktop computers.³
The nature of mobile search may actually favor paid ads, especially when you consider that search engine providers like Google stand a lot to gain from the shift to mobile. According to a research report from Cowen and Company, Google earned $2.5 Billion in mobile revenue in 2011. By 2016, it’s estimated that mobile could drive $20 Billion in revenue for the search giant.³ At their current run-rates, mobile devices will account for 25% of all paid-search clicks on Google by December 2012, with 23% of Google’s US paid-search spend coming from mobile campaigns.

INBOUND MARKETING TAKEAWAYS
I. Optimize Your Website for Mobile
Many businesses are seeing lower conversion rates from smartphones because their website is not optimized for mobile. Most websites are still difficult to browse on smartphones; such usability issues can really put a damper on your Internet inbound marketing efforts.
To make mobile an integral part of the online sales funnel, you need to optimize your website for smartphone browsers. If you’re planning on building a new website or giving your current site a facelift, consider using a responsive web design layout. Doing so will optimize your website for desktop computers and mobile devices alike.
II. Write Mobile-Friendly Ad Copy
If you decide to experiment with mobile ad campaigns, you should craft device-specific ad copy relevant to the on-the-go-consumer. Try to use mobile URLS, and include phone numbers, CTAs for content offers, hyperlinks to directions, coupons, or geo-local social media sites like Yelp that have user-generated reviews.
III. Don’t Think Social. Think Social Mobile
It's important for businesses to approach social media marketing through a mobile lens. The future of social is mobile, and mobile users favor content that is visual and concise. Twitter’s 140 character limit and Facebook’s recent acquisition of photo-sharing app developers Instagram bear this point out.
When you’ve identified which social media sites are best for your business, you can create campaigns with social mobile-friendly content that is visual and concise.
Consumer adoption of mobile devices is not a mere trend, it is the new reality. If you recognize and accept this fundamental shift in consumer behavior, you can adjust your inbound marketing efforts accordingly.

What has your company done to prepare for the rise of the mobile consumer?

¹ The Register, "Last year's iOS sales surpassed all Macs ever sold"
² Daily Tech, "Quick Note: 850,000 Android Devices Activated Daily"
³ Marin Software, "The State of Mobile Search Advertising in the US"

Facebook admins beware: Always read the fine print

Facebook admins beware: Always read the fine print http://www.idealog.co.nz/blog/2012/05/anna-gervai-facebook-admins-beware

Too many brands have been severely punished for failing to do their homework. Tread carefully and learn to navigate the maze of ever-changing Facebook page rules.

Did you hear about Velvet Burger? It's one of the most recent companies to have its Facebook page deleted for breaking the rules, waving ‘bye bye’ to almost 10,000 fans in the process. You can read their message to their customers below.
You may have also heard Hell Pizza went the same way – losing its page and 20,000 fans along with it. Hell managed to getthe  page back through someone-who-knew-someone who worked at Facebook, but sadly – in most cases – if this happens to you, you’ll be starting from scratch.
In case you’re thinking being in a little country (Velvet Burger and Hell are in New Zealand) or that having far fewer fans will prevent this from happening to you, think again! Don’t get all up in arms with Facebook about this either, the only person to blame is … you.

When you created your Facebook page for your business you ticked a box saying you’ve read and agree to the terms and conditions. I know, I know, of course you didn’t actually read them (and I don’t blame you, there are pages and pages to read) but ignorance is definitely not bliss.
As Facebook says: “We reserve the right to reject or remove Pages for any reason.” And they’re not kidding. Don’t think you’ll get a warning either! Poof! One day it could just be gone.
The bad news is claiming you didn’t know you were breaking the rules won’t cause Facebook to reverse your page deletion decision.
The good news? With a little learning you can prevent the next victim being your page.
There are Facebook rules that page admins break on a daily basis, so included in the list of what you CANNOT do that follows below are no doubt many you’ve been guilty of.

Cover photo rules

You know that lovely big new image at the top of your page? As tempting as I know it is, you cannot use it as an ad.
What does that mean? The list includes:

You cannot:

• Include your contact details – ie: no website address, no phone number, no email and so on. That’s what your about box and info page are for. Basically if it’s a way to get in touch with you, or if there’s a field for that information on your info page, then it cannot go in your cover photo.
• Include pricing or purchase information – ie: ’40% off…’ or ‘Get yours now at our website…”
• Reference any “user interface element” – ie:  you can’t ask for, mention or even use a graphic to point to Like, Share or any other Facebook feature. Facebook even makes special mention that you cannot encourage or incentivise people to upload your cover image to their personal timelines.
• Include calls to action – ie: ‘Get yours now’ or ‘Tell your friends’.
• Use an image you do not own or have the rights to use, that is false, deceptive or misleading.

By the way, your cover image should be 851 pixels wide by 315 pixels tall and under 100 kb in file size.
(Shameless plug: If you’d like us to design an impressive, professional cover image and profile image for you, we have a special running for just $99 + GST NZD for a limited time, so get in touch.)
Want to read Facebook’s new cover photo rules for yourself? Here they are and here are some examples of cover photos from brands breaking the new rules.

Promotion rules

Here’s where you’re going to feel guilty as these are broken all the time. It’s these rules that caused Velvet Burger to lose their page (and their 9,500 fans along with it).
You cannot:

• Run any sort of promotion, competition, sweepstakes etc on your Facebook page using Facebook’s features and functionality – ie: make sure you use an app or ‘custom page’ and not ‘like this update’ / ‘share this photo’ / ‘upload your photo to our page’ / ‘add a comment’ (and so on) to enter (a more complete list follows below).
• Hold Facebook responsible: So you must include a disclaimer that releases Facebook of any responsibility – eg: You’ve got to mention something along the lines of “This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook”. This is best put on the page/s of your app and in your terms and conditions on your website.
• Following on from above, you must also disclose who the entrant is giving their information to. The usual wording is “Participants are providing information to [your company name and the name of any other companies who see entrants' information] and not to Facebook.”
• Use any Facebook features or functionality as part of the promotion or participation other than liking your page, checking in or connecting to your app.
• Use Facebook features or functionality as a promotion’s registration or entry mechanism - ie: the act of liking your page or checking in cannot automatically register or enter the person in your promotion. Basically a condition of entry can be to like your page but the fan must then complete their entry on your Facebook app or custom page.
• Use the Like button as a way of voting (eg: most likes wins is not okay). Any other Facebook feature or functionality cannot be used for voting either (eg: The person who invites the most new fans wins …)
• Notify winners through Facebook – ie: don’t use Facebook message, chat or posting on the winner’s page, your page or another company’s page to notify winners.

These rules apply when promoting your promotion as well! So when you advertise (eg: Facebook ads) or reference a promotion (eg: in a wall post) you need to follow the rules.
These types of promotions (often called Wall Promotions) are therefore not okay because you’re using Facebook features and functionality to run the promotion:
Share this [update / photo / video etc] to be in to win…
Upload a photo / video …
Every 25th new fan wins…
Add a comment …
Invite your friends to like our page …
Answer this question …
Photo with the most likes wins …

Data collection

Whether promotional or not, whenever you collect content or information from a Facebook user, you have to make it clear that you (and not Facebook) are collecting it.
You’ll need to notify Facebook users and obtain their consent plus tell them (or link to your website privacy policy or terms and conditions page) how their information will be used by you.

Your page name

Your page name and your Facebook username must reflect / match your company name.
So if your company sells milk called Moo Juice then your page name should be ‘Moo Juice’ or ‘Moo Juice Milk’ but not ‘Milk’ as you can’t call your page a generic term – eg: ‘Beer’ or ‘Pizza’.
Your page name cannot be entirely in capitals unless your organisation’s name is an acronym. So the Bank of New Zealand can call its page BNZ but if it’s not an acronym, even if your logo has your name all in capitals, your page name cannot be all caps.
You also cannot use character symbols, such as bullet points or excessive punctuation or trademark symbols, in your page name.

Facebook Ads

Before you run Facebook ads, have a careful read through the Facebook Advertising Guidelines here. There are so many that it deserves its own post.
One last word: Do not use this post  to decide if what you’re doing is or is not okay! Other than the fact that I haven’t made a complete list of ALL the rules, Facebook updates the rules all the time. You’ll need to do your own research or run  it past your Facebook rep or agency to be sure. You can get started here: http://www.facebook.com/page_guidelines.php.