Your Customers Have Smart Phones. Now What?

The last year has really been fun to be in marketing hasn’t it?  Think of all the “shiny new toys” that have come of age in the last year.  Facebook, Twitter, and of course the iPhone, Droid, Blackberry and numerous other smart phones.  All these new and exciting ways to reach out to your customers.

Of course all this new technology has come with a learning curve the size and shape of the Matterhorn.  Maybe “fun” isn’t the right way to describe this new landscape.

So on the topic of Smart Phones, what’s a local business to do?  Your winning strategy comes with four steps.

1.  Make a Commitment

The number of people here in the valley with smart phones is only going to grow.  So will their reliance on them as their primary communication / information gathering device.  And the more affluent your potential customer is, generally speaking anyway, the more likely they will be to rely on one of these little gems.  Whether you are ready of not, this is the new reality.  Whether your vehicle of choice becomes an ap, an ad, or a simple text message, you need to have a vehicle in this race as you can be certain that your competitors will.

2.  Don’t Overcommit

Caught you off guard with this one, didn’t I?  The major mistake I see local businesses making with all of these new technologies is that they latch on to them like they are the Holy Grail.  Mobile marketing done well is mobile marketing done as an extention of your other advertising efforts.  It has not been proven to be effective as the primary marketing tool.  So use it as it is best intended in its current form.  Preach to your choir.  Remind them of your fondness for them – and they of you.  Entice them with today’s (or this week’s) special offer.  Ask them to bring in a new friend for you to meet.  Ask for feedback on your newspaper ad or radio commercial.  Basically, communicate with them, but not too much.

3.  Integrate

Make sure that your new Mobile tools are included in your other advertising.  Remind your customers to sign up for your text alerts of weekly coupons.  Ask them to text you with their vote for the new flavor of ice cream.  Let them know that your website can be viewed easily on their smart phone (It can’t?  We should talk.).  Ask them to join you on Twitter or better yet Foursquare.  In short, all of your marketing messages for the foreseeable future should include something in them that reminds your customers of the cool ways that they can interact with you through their new favorite toy.

4.  Breathe

The general population is just starting to get the hang of this whole Smart Phone thing.  Give them time.  I promise that you will betnefit from starting now and getting out ahead of the curve on this, but it will take some time for the fruit of your efforts to come back to you.  Hang in there, learn, test, and measure the results.

Have some experience in this already?  Have some questions on where to start?  Do share.  We’ll all be the better for it.