How to make your business “mobile-friendly” for customers, things to consider…

How to make your small business mobile friendly is a continuation of the mobile future post I wrote last week.  Our take on making your small business more ‘mobile friendly’ can be split into 2 main points;  1. Review and adapt your existing business and marketing practices with mobile in mind;  2. Take up greater opportunities for sales and marketing in a ‘mobile world’.  This is far from exhaustive but here are just a few things to consider for each of these points, to get you going…

 

(Just to clarify…when I say mobile, I mean smart phones, when I say smart phones I mean mobiles that are fully Internet enabled)

 

1.  Review and adapt your existing business and marketing practices with mobile in mind – a few things to consider…

• How do your customers currently interact with your business? How do they buy your products and services?
• Is your website  easy to access on a mobile? (Twizzlebird client’s have this tested as standard)
• Do you sell products online? If so, how easy is this process on a mobile?
• Is your website accessible on different mobile operating systems? That is, can you access the website on an iphone, an Android phone, Windows and  Blackberry?
• Do you need a special mobile version of your website, more suited to people on the move, or out and about? For example if you’re a restaurant you might want your location and map as the landing page with background information, like your about page or blog given less precedence than it is on your main site.
• Furthermore do you need an app? Differently from a mobile version of the site an app would be something that; has a more interactive function (so not just information) would be used regularly or would automatically update app users regularly and is genuinely useful and/or entertaining (if it doesn’t do at least all 3 it may not be worth investing in development of an app for your business)
• Social media sites, are great for mobile, are you making the most of these for your business?

 

 2. Take up  the greater opportunities for sales and marketing in a ‘mobile world’, a few things to consider…

 

• People tend to play around with their mobile in ‘dead space’ like waiting for a train, waiting to meet people etc is there any opportunitiy for people to use this time with your business? Quick purchases, making one-tap reservations for later – use your imagination, this could be a great opportunity to innovate and stand out from your competitors.
• Could you integrate your print and online marketing ? Currently QR codes give you a great and simple way to link these two.  Mobile users can scan the QR code to be taken to special content; what would entice a reader to do this? What could you offer? Discounts, free trials, exclusive info etc etc.  Mobile enabled print advertising is in its infancy and is set for much more integrated and accessible future, but QR codes are good way to get started. (get in touch if you would like more info on QR codes)
• Gamification (a bit of a buzz at the moment) if you can find ways to use the idea of play and gaming for people to interact with your business, this can work well for mobile.  For example social media platform Foursquare use badge collection as a way to encourage people to ‘check-in’ when they visit places with Foursquare profiles.

 

Like I say, this is a short list to get you started, if you would like a more in-depth chat or a free tailored review of how you could use mobile for your business, contact us now.