More and more of your customers are searching for Plumbing & HVAC Services via their Mobile Phone. Here are just a few eye opening Mobile Stats that you should be aware of:
61% of local searches on a mobile phone result in a phone call. (Google, 2012)- 52% of all mobile ads result in a phone call. (xAd, 2012)
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- There are 7 billion people on Earth. 5.1 billion own a cell phone. 4.2 billion own a toothbrush. (Mobile Marketing Association Asia, 2011)
- It takes 90 minutes for the average person to respond to an email. It takes 90 seconds for the average person to respond to a text message. (CTIA.org, 2011)
- Mobile coupons get 10 times the redemption rate of traditional coupons. (Mobile Marketer, 2012)
- 91% of all smart phone users have their phone within arm’s reach 24/7 – (Morgan Stanley, 2012)
- 44% of Facebook’s 900 million monthly users access Facebook on their phones. These people are twice as active on Facebook as non-mobile users (Facebook, 2012)
- Mobile marketing will account for 15.2% of global online ad spend by 2016. (Berg Insight, 2012)
- It takes 26 hours for the average person to report a lost wallet. It takes 68 minutes for them to report a lost phone. (Unisys, 2012)
- 70% of all mobile searches result in action within 1 hour. 70% of online searches result in action in one month. (Mobile Marketer, 2012)
- 9 out of 10 mobile searches lead to action, over half leading to purchase. (Search Engine Land, 2012)
61% of local searches on a mobile phone result in a phone call. (Google, 2012)Are you planning to add Mobile Marketing to your sales funnel, but not sure exactly where to start?
Mobile smartphones can access websites, as well as perform a multitude of other tasks, which is why they have become more of a necessity than a luxury these days. For you, as a plumbing or HVAC business owner, this provides a unique opportunity to connect with local customers via their mobile devices.
Before you start to develop a mobile arsenal to drive more inbound calls, first figure out who your mobile competitors are. It is important that you know who you are up against in mobile marketing so you can plan your strategies around taking down your competition fair and square.
To effectively do this, you need to identify some of your closest competitors and find out what mobile techniques they are using to generate more sales.
First, find out which of your competitors have a mobile-optimized website. One quick and easy way to find out is to pull up their website right on your mobile phone.
Did it load quickly? Was it easy to find their contact information and other info that consumers tend to look for while on the go? If so, they have invested in their business by making sure their mobile customers and prospects are not ignored.
Now, pull up your website on your mobile phone? If it’s a nightmare for you, it’s not a problem with your mobile phone; it’s a problem with your website, which means you’re losing potential business.
Next, figure out which of your competitors are using text message marketing. If your competitors are doing text message marketing, they are probably telling the world to “text 123 to example.” If you see promotions such as this, they are using text messaging to build a list of repeat customers.
This is one of the most cost-effective and results-oriented forms of marketing ever. Text message marketing allows your competition to draw in local consumers with a great offer. Then, they send out occasional messages or coupon offers to keep them coming back to spend money with them.
Let’s say one of your customer had plans to contact your business today after work, but they recently joined your closest competitors email mobile list and received a text coupon offer from them this afternoon… Who do you think the customer will call?
There are many other forms of mobile marketing your competitors could be using to capture the attention of local consumers such as mobile SEO, QR codes and mobile apps.
If they are using these methods, it may be in your best interest to start researching how your business can do it even better.
Analyze Your Current Mobile Marketing Status
What is your status when it comes to staying connected with local consumers using Mobile Marketing strategies?
Researching your competition is a necessary task in the quest to become the local authority in your niche, but it is equally important for you to analyze where your business currently stands in order to move forward.
Are you currently running a mobile marketing campaign, but not getting results? Or do you want to start, but keep putting it off for one reason or another?
Every business in your local area is in a crucial fight for more customers and profits. Therefore, in order to enjoy increased sales, your company can no longer ignore the profitability of ramping up your mobile efforts.
Many business owners pump a lot of muscle in fighting their competitors, while neglecting to take a close look at what they’re doing. Analyzing your mobile status will help you figure out which weaknesses are pulling you down and which strong points can help you win the war.
You need to understand where your past efforts have taken you, as well as what your future has in store based on where you are today.
For starters, it is crucial that you take full note of what you’re doing – and not doing - to generate more sales using mobile marketing.
Is your mobile website user-friendly? Does it load within seconds or take forever to load?
Does your mobile website have all of the relevant information on it that consumers look for while on the go?
Does your mobile website come up high in the mobile search engines or is it nowhere to be found when local consumers perform a search for your "plumber + your city" or "Ac repair + your city" on their mobile devices?
Have you started to build a text marketing list? If so, what are you currently doing with that list? Are you focused on building a trusting relationship or are you spamming them with offers daily and getting high rates of opt-outs?
Is your opt-in call-to-action on all of your printed and web marketing materials?
Are you using QR codes as an additional way to increase awareness about your business? Do you have your QR codes on all of your other marketing materials? Are you using them to direct traffic to your mobile website?
Do you currently use a mobile app to keep your mobile audience engaged?
As you can see, there’s a lot to consider when it comes to making sure your business is on the right track to beating your local competition with mobile marketing.
Spy on Your Mobile Marketing Competitors
Want to know how your closest competitors are driving more business by using mobile marketing? Just take a look at it for yourself.
Mobile marketing has recently opened new doors for businesses that want to market their products and services by using mobile phones as personal mini billboards. This has been enhanced by the fact that more and more people own mobile phones and use them to find local products, services and businesses.
To beat your competitors in the world of mobile marketing, you need to know what they are doing to be ahead of the curve. Digital technology is growing at astonishing rates and is not expected to slow down anytime soon. This alone is causing many companies to be left behind when it comes to new-age technology.
Spying on your competitors’ mobile marketing initiatives may seem like a daunting task, but it’s not. In fact, all you need to do is identify the competitors you feel are taking most of your customers and let the research begin.
You should start by looking at their mobile websites on your mobile phone. Go through the websites and take note of everything about the look and feel, the features and the traffic flow. Although your goal is NOT to copy exactly what they’re doing, you could get a few pointers about your own mobile websites.
Next, you can find out how their text message marketing campaigns operate simply by joining their mobile list. They probably have a text call-to-action placed everywhere, so opt-in yourself and pay close attention to what happens throughout the entire process. This is the perfect way to get a first-hand look at their services, products, and promotions.
Are your competitors using QR codes to generate interest in their business? If so, whip out your mobile phone and start scanning their codes to see what lies behind them. Where do the QR codes take you? What type of incentives are they offering to get people to scan them?
Another thing you can look into is your competitors’ mobile applications. Download their apps yourself and see what they’re offering and how user-friendly their apps are.
The information you gain from your spying should solely be used to set up a mobile marketing campaign that will not only beat your competitors, but one that will attract new customers and keep them loyal to your business.
Spying on your competitors is not illegal, but there are limits you should follow to remain fair. Under no circumstances should you use unethical measures to jeopardize your competition in your quest for mobile marketing.
Make customers call your Plumbing Businesswith Mobile Marketing
The secret to beating your competitors in business is making your business more interesting to your target audience. There are several ways to do this using mobile marketing if you plan ahead, focus on the right things, and maintain your campaigns over time.
As much as you would like to boot your local competitors out of the picture, the fact is that a lot of them will probably be using some of the same mobile marketing methods as you are.
So your main focus should be geared towards making your customers choose your business over your theirs; which is fairly easy to do if your efforts are consistent and persistent.
It is up to you which tools you choose to help you work positively towards attracting new customers and keeping the ones you already have.
Here are a few tips that can work in your favor and help local consumers choose your business over your competition:
- You need to have a good website that is mobile-friendly and easily accessible by mobile phone users in your area. This is because people are using their mobile phones to access the web to search for local products and services while on the go. Make sure yours loads faster, gives them the exact information they need, and is easy to navigate.
- If you choose to start a text message marketing campaign, make sure your text messages offer great value, relay a clear message, and are short and informative. Also be sure to send messages out consistently, yet conservatively. Create a careful balance that makes sense for your business and your target audience. Need a boost in getting new mobile subscribers? Give your customers and prospects a great incentive in exchange for opting-in and watch your list grow.
- Consumers love businesses who stay “on top” of the digital age. They expect you to have a website, to be a part of social media, and to be easily accessible from their mobile devices. Have a mobile app developed to aid in keeping your local consumers connected with your business. Implement the use of QR codes as a way to keep your local consumers engaged and provide them with “instant gratification.”
- Mobile SEO should be used effectively to attract qualified traffic to your mobile website. Mobile users search for local products and services constantly on their mobile devices when on-the-go. If your business does not come up high in the results, there is major potential profit leak left for your competitors to scoop up.
Mobile marketing can be overwhelming when you think about all of the different possibilities, but with a little research and planning, it could be the key to sending floods of new leads, customers, sales, and profits to your local business.
Maintain Your Mobile Marketing Status
In the world of advertising, implementing strategies that will get you to the top can be a lot of work, but well-worth it. In the scheme of things, planning, setting up, and executing your marketing funnels is somewhat the “easy” part; maintaining them is where many businesses fail.
When it comes to mobile marketing, there are several things you can do to stay at the top of your local market and beat your competitors in all aspects.
Serious mobile marketing campaigns require that several tasks are to be executed and maintained. Otherwise, the whole thing could turn out to be a complete waste of your time.
- Increasing traffic to your mobile website
- Running consistent text message marketing campaigns
- Developing and maintaining a great mobile application
- Effectively creating and marketing your QR codes
Once you have everything set up and running, the only way to get your money’s worth is to fully improve upon what you have built. Therefore, it is important that you are prepared for the consistent upkeep of your new mobile marketing funnels.
Your focus should be on making them even bigger and better if you really want to push past some of your toughest local competitors - while boosting leads, customers, and sales at the same time.
- Constantly work to improve your text message marketing campaigns by creating exciting, valuable, time-sensitive offers that your audience can’t refuse. Always practice proper text message etiquette to reduce opt-outs and increases sales. Also be sure to utilize some of the advanced tools that your text marketing platform provides that were designed to take your mobile efforts to higher levels.
- Keep your mobile website up to date with the content your mobile audience needs. If you make a change to your main business website, be sure to reflect that change on your mobile site as well if it applies. Invest in mobile SEO strategies that will improve your mobile website’s rankings in the mobile search engines. This is the fastest way to get more eyes on your mobile site and capture the attention of the thousands of mobile users in your local area.
Your local market has wants and needs. To maintain the mobile audience you have worked hard to gain, you should simply give them what they are looking for.
If you take the time to fully figure out what your target market desires and then offer solutions, mobile marketing can be your gateway to finally taking down your mobile competitors.
If you would like more information about how to set up, maintain, and improve your mobile marketing strategies download our Free Internet Marketing Guide for Plumbing & HVAC Contractors by clicking here.
