30 Jul

5 More Ways Mobile Devices Can Grow Your Business

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 30.07.14 by John Meloche

Shopping woman texting on her phoneWe all want to promote our businesses. And we all want to save money doing it. Good thing you have the Synergy Marketing Blog to continually give you excellent cost-cutting ideas for how you can grow your business without going over budget, right? We’re pretty proud of the fact that we have been able to help Canadian business owners grow their businesses without breaking the bank for many years.

And, of course, it isn’t just our informative blogs that help to do the trick. Our amazing promotional products are both cost-efficient and very effective in helping business owners grow their reach. But, as we’ve been highlighting in our past two blogs, there are inventive mobile marketing techniques that can be employed to help take your business to a whole new level. And, it’s a very “smart” idea to use them.

On SucceedAsYourOwnBoss.com, Melinda Emerson writes that there are several ways to take advantage of the world’s fascination with smartphones. Nearly all of us have them. And those that don’t, generally have some type of mobile devices that can be used to gain further access to your brand. So what can you do, as a business owner, to encourage shoppers to pull out their phones and connect with you?

1. Use Mobile Directories. Suggests Emerson: “Get on the ‘mobile map’ by joining a few mobile directories. Make sure that all of your directory listings include a simple description of your services, hours of operation, phone number, address and a link to your website. Sample directories include Google+ Local and Yelp.com.” It’s no different than setting your business up with online directories. These, however, are specific to mobile devices.

2. Mobile Customer Service. Emerson writes that you can actually “use your smartphone to track payment processing and shipping details and to respond to any customer service or new business inquiries on the go.” Arguably, your mobile phone is the best way to keep in contact with all of your important clients, colleagues and suppliers considering that it is generally on your person at all times. No need to wait to get to a landline or desktop computer anymore!

3. Social Media Marketing. It’s rare to read a list of helpful business tips on the Synergy Marketing Blog and not find a tip that promotes the use of Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites. Emerson concurs, except she reminds us that we all need to keep our profiles up to date from our smartphones. Again, you don’t have to wait to get to a desktop computer to jump online.

4. Offer Text Bonuses. This particular tip is one that we’re adding to the list ourselves. In Monday’s blog, we commented upon the fact that one of our reps received a 20 per cent discount from a store that she visited over the weekend, simply by sending a text to a number that was posted on an in-store advertisement. Why not employ this exact same concept? Our rep is proof that it works. She can’t wait to get back to this store!

5. Offer Promotional Products. Okay, so how does this suggestion even make the list? It’s all about being creative. At Synergy Marketing, we offer the best promotional products in the business. But we know that the creative ways in which they are given out to customers is what really helps for business owners to grow their respective brands. The next time one of your customers sends you a text, reply with a message confirming that he or she has “won” a prize.

Call Synergy Marketing at 1-877-748-9884 to order those fantastic prizes today!

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29 Jul

6 Magnificent Mobile Marketing Tactics

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 29.07.14 by John Meloche

Shopping woman sending a textIn yesterday’s blog, we began discussing the concept of text message marketing. Fresh off of a weekend shopping excursion, one of our own Synergy Marketing staff members commented about how impressed she was by the discount she received at one of her favourite stores. As she informed us, getting the discount was as simple as texting a number that was advertised on a sign inside the store.

As we detailed yesterday, this type of marketing strategy not only impresses customers but helps for merchants to grow their contact lists. With everyone using mobile devices and being so in tune with the internet, it’s important for your brand to utilize these technologies to its advantage. On SucceedAsYourOwnBoss.com, Melinda Emerson writes to this point by listing a number of mobile marketing tactics.

1. Text/SMS marketing. The first suggestion speaks to the one being utilized by our rep’s favourite store. Emerson writes that “once you have permission to contact your customers, you should create the right message to get them to click on your link or opt-in to a specific promotion using text messaging.” To reiterate, encouraging texts from your customers allows you provide them with access to your website as well as other links to information about special deals and events.

2. Incorporate QR Codes. Also known as “Quick Response Codes”, these modern-day barcodes can be read and downloaded for free by any smartphone, points out Emerson. They allow customers to get access to specific pages on your website or special discounts and offers. Essentially, you are making it very easy for your customers to gain “insider information” about everything going on with your brand.

3. Encourage check-ins. Mobile marketing gives your client base an entirely new way of keeping in touch. And, as mentioned, you couldn’t be making it any easier on them to do so. Suggests Emerson: “You can encourage customers to use Foursquare, Google+ location sharing or shopkick and give incentives for checking in, including special recognition, discounts, kickbacks, and gifts.”

4. Mobile search advertising programs. “It’s just like traditional PPC or pay per click advertising, it’s just on mobile devices,” writes Emerson, “Google lets you bid on what you are prepared to pay, either per click or per call from a potential customer. From text to locally-targeted ads and click to call ads, there are lots of options for mobile search campaigns. It works well for local retailers as it’s estimated that 30 to 35 percent of mobile searches have a local intent.”

5. Create a mobile app. Apps are all the rage, these days. And as Emerson informs us, many smartphone users prefer apps to mobile websites, downloading them by the tens of millions. By creating your own app, you can provide mobile users with unique content such as newsletters or access to special discounts. Not to mention, your apps will work to direct more traffic to your website, which often leads to greater traffic in your store.

6. Use your smart phone to grow your email list. Who needs business cards when you have a smartphone anyway? This is why so many business cards get thrown away so quickly. People simply store numbers in their smartphones, making business cards obsolete. “To grow your email list via a mobile device, you should focus on the contact moments we have with people using a smartphone,” insists Emerson, “Instead of collecting business cards from people at a conference there are new tools you may want to consider for building an email list.”

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28 Jul

Building Your Brand Through Text Message Marketing

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 28.07.14 by John Meloche

Close up of a man using smartphonePeople love shopping on the weekends. That is certainly the case for many members of the Synergy Marketing staff. But when we shop, we do so with more of a keen eye on the ways in which merchants actively grow their businesses. This morning, one of our reps came in with a story about how one of her favourite stores is attempting to extend its reach by using a promotional campaign geared towards mobile phone users.

And by mobile phone users, we really mean, everyone! In this day and age, who isn’t using a cell phone, right? Most likely a smart phone these days, your handheld device is actually an excellent way to make use of discounts and other special bargains being offered by some of your favourite stores. But more importantly, as a store owner, you have the ability to grow your business by offering your customers special savings by using their phones.

And how exactly, are you able to do this? “When I was at the checkout, I noticed a big sign, saying that if I sent a text to their number, I would receive a discount code within seconds,” reported our staff member, “So I sent the text and I got a reply message with this code. I gave the code to the cashier and got a 20 per cent discount on my purchases! I thought ‘what an awesome idea’. Now, I get information from this store through text, but I don’t mind as long as it saves me money.”

Our rep points out a twofold benefit to beginning a new text message discount campaign. Firstly, it intrigues your customers by getting them interested in buying from your brand. Naturally, a discount is a great incentive to get your customers to not just by from you, but buy more than they normally would. Secondly, it grants you access to contact information that you can use to continually advertise to your loyal customers.

As you can imagine, the gathering of phone numbers will be a great help to your business. It is very often said that keeping your current customers loyal is a lot easier than attracting new customers to your store. We found that this somewhat new “text for a discount” idea was pretty impressive. After all, how hard is it to send a text? And, as previously asked, who doesn’t use a cell phone?

It’s practically a genius idea. Consider the fact that there are so many different benefits that you can offer your customers through this advertising concept. Our promotional products can work excellently with this technique. Offer your customers the ability to not just get a discount on their purchases, but a free promo gift whenever they send you a text and receive that discount code. As always, promo gifts are excellent ways to secure loyalty.

On SucceedAsYourOwnBoss.com, Melinda Emerson writes that “when it comes to marketing your small business, the next thing you really need to concern yourself with is mobile web marketing. You need to have a helpful website that is mobile ready, especially if you are a local retailer. Far more people use cell phones to access the Internet than ever before.” In tomorrow’s blog, we’ll discuss a few of her suggestions on how to use mobile marketing to promote your small business.

However, we’d like to make sure that you remain aware of how to get your hands on the best promo products in the business! Simply give Synergy Marketing a call at 1-877-748-9884. For decades, promotional products have helped Canadian business owners to grow their reach. And especially with a little help from your new text marketing campaign, we know that your new promo gifts will go a long way in helping to build your brand too.

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