45 Reasons Why B2B Mobile Marketing Is a No-Brainer

If you’re in business in today’s difficult economy, you have to find creative ways to reach more potential customers without adding costs to your already over-burdened budget. If you’re not familiar with mobile marketing or haven’t tried it yet, you should seriously consider adding this new tool to your promotional mix. 

Mobile marketing is inexpensive, easy to use, and tremendously effective. Not surprising, then, that it’s rapidly growing in popularity. More and more big-name brands, retailers, and ad agencies are adjusting their marketing budgets in favor of mobile marketing because the return on investment is much stronger, and it can be integrated smoothly into existing sales and promotion strategies. 

Here are ten reasons you should contemplate “going mobile” to strengthen customer relationships and generate additional revenue.   

It’s Personal

1. Each customer decides when or whether to engage with you. Because your contact with them is permission-based, customers are more receptive because they are in control.

2. Once you connect with them, they are more likely to continue their “conversation” with you, becoming loyal customers.

3. You can establish informal yet interactive (two-way) communication with customers.

4. People keep their phones close at hand, so they are available to receive your message at almost any time.

5. “It’s mine!” Our cell phones have become almost an extension of our persona, with highly customized looks and features.

6. Sharing mobile devices is much less common than sharing computers.

7. Unique phone numbers make marketing personalization easier and more reliable than online, email, or postal mail.

It’s Entirely Affordable and Extremely Cost-Effective

8. You can build brand awareness without expensive traditional advertising campaigns.

9. Significantly reduced production and distribution costs make mobile marketing a good choice, even for small businesses.

10. Detailed targeting opportunities make it more useful.

11. You can add new and innovative strategies at little or no additional cost.

It’s Faster

12. Delivery is virtually immediate, allowing you to send even last-minute promotional messages.

13. You can create mobile marketing campaigns quickly, in less than a day.

14. Messages are entirely controllable and changeable.

15. Average response time is much shorter than email or postal mail, so you can engage customers in real time (or close to it).

It’s Always Available

16. You can reach customers on the go -- almost anyone, almost any time, almost anywhere.

17. Recipients can store your message to read or refer to later.

18. Even in developing countries and those with very rural populations, there is substantial mobile phone usage; in the U.S., one-third of 18-29 year-olds use only a mobile phone, no landline.

It’s About New Ways of Targeting and New Ways to Reach Targets

19. It is projected that by 2012, half of all mobile subscribers will have smartphones with internet access and applications.

20. With mobile marketing, you can direct messages to customers in a specific location, geographic area, a particular community, or even a specific place within the community.

21. Mobile offers innovative, interactive techniques to reach new potential customers.

22. You can create profile groups.

23. You can reach more potential customers with very small cost or effort.

24. Messages can be forwarded, increasing viral promotion.

25. Mobile phones are projected to be the primary access source for social networking within the next few years.

26. Mobile marketing messages can be simple text (SMS, or Short Messaging Service), pictures and sound (MMS, or Multimedia Messaging Service), or even display ads or search functions.

It’s Easy and Efficient, and it Works

27. You don’t need to be a techie to get started or manage your mobile marketing campaigns.

28. Editing and spell-check make message creation easy and ensure professional results.

29. Because consumers opt in, they’re more likely to read and respond to your messages. Studies show most messages are read within 15 minutes, and most recipients respond within 60 minutes.

30. You can use mobile marketing to close the deal because it’s action-oriented. Studies show mobile searchers purchase within 24 hours.

You Can Build Stronger, Longer Lasting Customer Relationships

31. You can turn existing customers into better ones with cross-selling and up-selling.

32. By offering SMS-only promotions, you can make customers feel special and thus reinforce your personal relationship.

33. You can use "text-to-win" or other promotions to gather additional data about customers, enabling even more detailed targeting and tracking.

34. You can include customers in product research by asking their opinions and what they want or need so they feel even more engaged with your brand.

35. You can offer special services such as after-hours assistance, return phone calls to avoid “phone lines,” confirmations, appointment reminders, and mobile ticketing.

36. You can offer incentives to appeal to back-lapsed customers.

It Integrates With and Supports Traditional Strategies and Media

37. Mobile search campaigns augment online marketing but don’t detract from it

38. You can use it with radio, TV, print, outdoor, website/internet, in-store promotions -- anything!

39. You can add mobile sign-up on your website.

40. You can use it to cross-promote products or services with other promotional media you’re currently using.

It’s Measurable

41. You can track delivery, response, and sales conversion, user by user.

42. Real-time monitoring means you can assess response right away and modify messages without delay.

You Can Generate New Revenue

43. Mobile marketing is very affordable, but you can recapture whatever costs you do incur through “premium-rated SMS” marketing.

44. You can use it to sell information services (weather, news, tourism, or business location information, etc.).

45. You can use it to sell other services such as auction bidding, virtual gifts, or discount coupons.

Right now, more than ever, you have to go where the market is. And these days, more than ever, your potential customers are using their cell phones or tablets, They’re mobile, so your marketing needs to be mobile, too, or you’ll get left behind. Start with a simple promotion or two, then get more creative as you get more comfortable. 

In what ways are you using mobile marketing to enhance your B2B company?

Image Credit: Francesco Pappalardo