For the 80 percent of adults aged 18-44 who have their smartphone with them 22 hours a day, the device has become a necessity. And when they bring it into a bar or club, it can double as your best marketing vehicle.
At the most basic level, your business gets some online love when customers’ selfies, tweets and check-ins tell their friends where they’re hanging out. Instead of being passively mentioned, take the reigns through proactive mobile marketing efforts. When done right, they attract new customers, build stronger ties to existing ones, and inspire patrons to tell their friends about your bar.
The key to driving successful mobile campaigns is to earn a place in your customers’ conversations. This requires a balance of engaging customers in person and taking advantage of the latest social and email marketing tools to strengthen those connections.
Dipping into the tip jar, here are five ideas for creating and executing mobile marketing campaigns.
1. Make sure you’re easy to find online. While your Facebook and Twitter accounts probably include your physical location and other relevant information, don’t forget to get your business listed on local online directories like Google Places and Yelp. After all, 90 percent of mobile searches lead to an action. Since there are literally thousands of online directories, you can streamline the process using a tool like Single Platform. You only have to fill out your profile once and the software populates all the relevant listings for you.
2. Welcome customers before they arrive. Go beyond the obvious offers for new Facebook fans and Twitter followers. Instead, reach out to them before they’ve even heard of you. Considering that 70 percent of people who run a local search on their mobile device act within one hour, use a special QR code to present a great offer to customers who find you through their smartphone.
3. Make sure your messages accommodate mobile, tablet and desktop users. Since you don’t know which device they’ll be viewing them on, be sure your messages are to the point and inspire action. To do this, limit your word count; use easy to read fonts such as a 22-point headline and 16-point body text, and make sure your images can be quickly and easily downloaded.
4. Include a clear call to action. For example, an RSVP to a private event should feature a button big enough to accommodate a user’s finger.
5. Encourage customers to use your dedicated hashtag by tying it in with photo and/or video-centric contests such as best selfie or biggest (insert promotional sports team) fan, for example. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to hang a sign by the entrance featuring your hashtag.
Before you dive into your mobile marketing campaigns, consider these two pieces of advice. First, you must get permission from customers before you text them. To inspire them to subscribe to your messages, assure them that you’ll never abuse their contact information and let them know that insiders get perks such as backstage passes and special offers. Second, even when you do have permission to contact them, you must get their okay before you post images, video or status updates that include them. With those permissions in place, you’ll see a big boost in your receipts and your online presence.