Gone are the days when you mainly checked social media after reaching your computer. It’s the mobile era; nearly every consumer is accessing business information on their mobile phones. What many companies still aren’t grasping is that they can enhance their social media marketing with mobile, and that the two can coexist in one unified campaign.
Who Should Complement Social Marketing with Mobile?
Mobile marketing isn’t reserved for tech companies. Today, anyone from brick-and-mortar businesses to ecommerce to nonprofits can leverage mobile to enhance their social campaigns for a greater return on investment. Anyone with a social presence should consider using mobile apps and text message marketing.What Makes Mobile Marketing So Helpful?
Let’s take Facebook. Mobile advertising on Facebook is geo-targeted, meaning you can choose to show only people in specific locations. Those nearby your brick-and-mortar store are more likely to spend money in your place than those in another zip code.By leveraging mobile options like this, you have the opportunity to generate more qualified local leads. If you have multiple locations, it is helpful to run several ads with super-targeted landing pages for each (i.e. the phone number specific to that site instead of a toll free number).
Recent Facebook algorithm updates make it more difficult for business posts to show up in a user’s stream without the company paying for advertising. This means that any of your posts that push people to make a purchase or buy an app, ask for submissions to a sweepstakes or contest, or use the same content as your ads are likely to drop down to the bottom of Facebook’s priority list, making them less visible.
So, now, boosting your Facebook posts is the inevitable step. In 2015, it was estimated by Mobile Marketing Watch that SMS messages had a 98% open rate. By shooting out a quick text message leading users to a specific social media post, you significantly increase your chances of being seen.
Here’s the Catch
So, here’s the catch. You can’t just solicit text messages to users who haven’t given you express permission to receive communications to their cell phone. You will have to implement and grow a strong mobile opt-in list. Share a URL or instructions for entry to your SMS opt-in list via email, social media, in-store and billboard advertising, and stay in compliance with best practices.
Make Sure Your Facebook Tabs Are Mobile Friendly
Mobile users will be landing on your Facebook page, and you have the opportunity for them to see your calls to action right away. To ensure this, though, you have to make sure that your Facebook tabs are mobile friendly. What appears one way from your laptop can have a completely different look when viewed on a mobile device.
Use a URL Shortener for Better Mobile Viewing
When sharing a landing page link on Twitter, LinkedIn, and via SMS, it’s important to use a URL shortener that keeps the character count to a minimum. Here are some of your options:
- Goo.gl (Google)
- Bitly.com
- Lnkd.in (LinkedIn)
- T.co (Twitter)
What About Your Website?
When thinking about social media and mobile, you also have to consider your company website. Social media efforts will drive viewers back to your website, and it should be mobile optimized/ responsive. If you don’t already have a responsive theme, get one. Then, you need to test all new content to see how it’s viewed from all devices, not just the computer you’re working on. If you’re viewing from a mobile device, you should be able to click all calls to actions, including phone numbers, and be taken to the corresponding landing page (in the case of phone numbers, the landing page is actually the call function on the phone or tablet).
Generating QR Codes for Use With Social Media
You’ve seen QR codes (the black and white boxes with what seems like random squares, printed on flyers and brochures) and maybe even used them in your marketing. Customers scan QR code with their smartphones which usually have QR reader installed and get the instant access to the information that was written in that code.
For example, I’ve just used online QR code generator and created this code for Volusion blog URL. If you scan it, you will be guided to this link.
For social media efforts, direct your QR codes to the social media profile / content that you want shoppers to see - use them to direct traffic to Facebook pages, Youtube videos, Instagram profiles and more.
Which Mobile Apps Can You Use to Enhance Your Social Marketing Efforts?
It’s not only your viewers you should be thinking about, but also yourself when it comes to enhancing social media efforts with mobile. Your job will be easier by using mobile apps that can make social a breeze. Here are some winners (and all of them are free):
- Facebook Pages - Apple / Android - makes it easy to manage Facebook pages from your mobile device.
- Bufferapp - Apple / Android - helps schedule social media content across multiple platforms.
- Plume - Android - is like Tweetdeck, but you can use it for free on Android devices.
- Google Currents - Android - is great for finding trending content that you can share across your social media profiles.
Conclusion
Use mobile tools and tricks to enhance your social media marketing across all platforms. Increase the odds of users seeing your message with SMS messaging - just be sure to include and stay in compliance with an opt-in form before you start sharing your promotions with users on their cell phones.
Upgrade your Facebook tabs to make sure they’re all mobile friendly. Use URL shorteners to optimize the readability of your social and mobile communication. Leverage a responsive website theme for mobile optimization. Point your QR codes to social content. Use mobile apps to make your social marketing easier and increase productivity.
Which of these techniques have you already tried? Which do you want to try next? Share your experience in the comments!