Mobile marketing is the new wave of marketing that allows businesses to access their potential consumers at almost any point in their day. Due to the accessibility allowed to consumers by mobile devices of all kinds, businesses can now capitalize on the digital age in a more direct way then ever before.

Use dedicated short code. The can be pricey, but they insure that you keep your brand intact. Avoid shared short codes if you are a larger company. Not only because you want people to recognize your own code, but there may be some legal consequences if the other company sharing the same code abuses the system.

Invest some time and effort into making your mobile marketing technique personal and customizable. If you are creating an application, make it unique and simple to use and consider providing customers with relevant customization options. If you are not creating a full blown application, at least make your mobile communications engaging and enjoyable.

Try not to add files to your message. If possible, you should only include a link. Adding large files, like pictures, to a message will only frustrate the customer, because you are adding to the download time. Also, you may be costing them extra money just to be able to view what you have sent.

Engaging with your customers is incredibly important in mobile marketing, so it’s a good idea if you have some line of contact open with them. Whether they can reach you via a forum, your IM handle, or by some other method, make sure you’re keeping the lines of communication open with your customers.

Social media is not a buyer’s market; it’s essentially a large, ongoing conversation that you will need to participate in as a mobile marketer. You cannot be the proverbial salesman here. Instead, you really have to be a mobile user much more than a marketer. This means you need to focus more on communication and less on being authoritative.

Set the times that your MMS text messages are sent to your customers for normal business hours. Sending out text messages at bad hours will just annoy customers.

When you are promoting a particular event, send the mobile marketing message a few hours or the day before the event. Customers that are genuinely interested in the event can easily forget the message if you send it several days before the event is to take place. You do not want your customers to miss out on anything.

Identify what your brand is and who you are right away. People usually remember the first and the last things that they hear. You will want your brand name first and the product last. Keep the middle short and directly to the point, because people will not spend a lot of time looking at the advertisement.

Make it very easy for your customers to unsubscribe from receiving your text messages. Many times having the option to reply with the word ‘stop’ will be the easiest way. This will lower any frustration if a customer no longer wants to receive texts. Remember that just because they don’t want a text does not mean they do not want to be a customer.

If your company has any social networking sites geared to the business, make sure to put a link on your webpage. Different customers will come from different referring sites, and you do not want to limit their ability to find you easily.

Keep in mind that mobile marketing is targeted for keeping your current customers, not acquiring new ones. Current customers know your product, and are much more open to getting texts from you and trust your website. New customers will probably find you using a regular computer, though it won’t take them long to sign up for texts.

Because users will be viewing them on small screens, mobile advertising messages need to be brief, clear and express urgency. Every ad should focus on a call to action that tells the market to do something. Forgetting to include a call to action in your mobile advertising messages is a common mistake that beginners often make.

Before you launch your mobile marketing campaign, it is important to conduct a test to make sure that everything runs like it should. Find some friends or family that all have different phones to be your testers and send them texts. Have them give you feedback on how everything looked and if it was quick and to the point.

Use your mobile QR codes everywhere you can. They are links to mobile devices, but the can be used in print advertising too. Any kind of advertising that your business produces should have your mobile QR code on it, even your business cards. Put it on your store signs, brochures, television ads, and catalogs.

Now that you have a full understanding about mobile marketing and how it can benefit your business, you can take the first steps toward increasing your visibility. The advice within this article can be a stepping stone to the world of mobile marketing and increased profit potential for your business.

When Is The Best Time To Send Mobile Marketing Messages? was originally published on Spring