Is Mobile Marketing for Small Business or is Outdoor Advertising a Better Fit?
Are mobile ads appropriate for everyone? The clear answer is no, there is no one size fits all when it comes to advertising and communicating. Your brand will have its own unique way of connecting with their customers. But there remains a high pressure on companies to perform when it comes to advertising on mobile devices. What happened to the good Ol’ days of fun billboards and catchy jingles? Those are the kinds of things that I signed up for when I declared my marketing major.
It’s not as easy as it once was, I bet marketers wish the only problem they had with advertising was the size of the screen. Instead, we have the headache of having to create something that is visually appealing and draws a person to complete a task, and the cherry on top? You have to do it in eight words or less. This headache though is causing business to pour millions of dollars in this new form of advertising. EMarketer expects mobile to overtake desktop for US search ad dollars this year, rising from $8.72 billion to $12.85 billion—just slightly above desktop’s $12.82 billion.
What kinds of business can just throw money at an advertising campaign that is centered on just eight words? Big ones. This platform has yet to develop and make itself readily accessible to your mom and pop corner store grocer, in fact even Toyota is struggling to see solid ROI (return on investment). That is why a new phrase has come about in that last few years called ROO (return on objective), this new change in direction is a measure of the buyers perception or the movement toward brand favorability.
Do small business need to cater to winning favorability in the consumers mind and how are they going to win new customers? This is where small business holds an advantage, these small companies are leaner and more adaptable to take advantage of unique events of a regional area. Small business advertising is most effective when the customer can experience a piece or extension of the brand, think of personal selling at trade shows or on vehicle advertising that goes everywhere the brand goes. The small business is small enough to use quirky and unusual advertising, something a giant such as McDonald's could never get away with.
A small Ice cream shop in York, Maine is known for their unique photo booths where patrons can stick their head through a hole and suddenly the ice cream stand is known for something more than a dairy product, there is added foot traffic because of the buzz around their comical photo boards.
Facebook is a great tool that allows businesses of any size to reach demographics selected based on the needs of the campaign. Also you can post short post, in-depth post, or link to other material that you think is relevant. It is a tool that once explored can become one of the most effective ways to stay relevant in the hand of your customer. If you want to connect with your customers you need to be where they are, and in most cases they can be found on social media. A quick $5 boost to a page post can take off to influence 500 views and start to organically trend your pages other content.
If you are looking for an organic boost to your pages content try adding video. Facebook is making a push to original video content and it is allowing it to reach more people than its photo or text post.
In conclusion, small business is not ready to join the mobile markets in advertising, but there are different ways for them to engage customers. Think outside the box, create an experience that is both positive and advances your brand farther into the lives of your customers. What ways have you all experimented with mobile marketing?
