If you’re a regular reader of our blog and if you follow us on Facebook and Twitter, you know that we talk about the emergence of mobile commerce, also known as m commerce, and how important it is for online merchants to embrace this technology on a regular basis. Simply having a mobile site isn’t enough, however. In order to drive traffic and sales, you must market and promote your mobile site effectively.
Point Your Customers In The Right Direction
Let’s face it: trying to shop on an online store with a mobile phone can be a frustrating and slow experience. When your customers use their smartphones to go online and type in the URL of your store, are they sent to your main ecommerce site, or are they re-directed to the mobile-optimized version of your store?
If you haven’t already done so, make sure that your mobile customers are either automatically directed to the mobile version of your site, or are prompted to go there by clicking a button on your main site.
Build Relationships
Just as you would with any type of marketing strategy, focus on ways that you can encourage customers to want to receive more information from your company. Since most mobile commerce shoppers have constant access to the Internet, you should also experiment with SMS campaigns and sending short text messages containing links to your mobile commerce site or the appropriate landing page containing the coupon or special offer.
When they make purchases, write product reviews, or engage with you either on your site or through social media, take this opportunity to remind them of the benefits of opting into your marketing list.
You should also reach out to your customers on your existing email opt-in list to let them know that they can also opt-in to your mobile marketing list to receive exclusive benefits sent directly to their phones
What these benefits are is up to you, but in general, you should offer your loyal customers things like exclusive coupons, announcements about product releases and upcoming sales, first looks at product prototypes or designs, polls, interactive quizzes, and links to other relevant content.
Think Socially
These days, most businesses use social media to market their businesses and connect with their customers on a personal level. You can use social media to connect with your mobile commerce customers in the same way, by offering them deals, coupons, and informative content.
Remember, if your customers use social media and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter on their PCs and laptop computers, there is a good chance that they are also accessing the mobile versions of these sites on their smartphones, too.
Miva