How to Use Mobile Marketing to Generate More Leads

With the number of mobile device users constantly on the rise, mobile marketing is no longer something that can be ignored. Rather, it should be used as a powerful tool for reaching potential customers and staying in touch with existing ones.

The statistics regarding mobile devices and their users are staggering. By the end of 2014, there will be 1.75 billion smartphone users. If you aren’t employing mobile marketing techniques to reach these people, you are missing out on a huge opportunity.

So, how exactly do you use mobile marketing to generate more leads? 

How to Generate Leads Using Mobile Marketing

Optimize Your Content for Mobile Users

This is the simplest step, and sometimes it is the most overlooked. If you want to generate leads from people using mobile devices, you need to make sure your content displays properly on those devices. Mobile website optimization and mobile email optimization are crucial.

If your website or marketing emails are difficult to read on a small smartphone screen, most mobile users will look elsewhere. Plain and simple. To make sure your content is seen by mobile users, use fonts that are large enough to be easily read. On your mobile optimized site, include only the essential information, a call to action and a link to your full desktop site where more information can be found. Keep everything simple and streamlined.

Keep Your Call to Action Simple, Too

When a prospective customer opens an email from you or visits your website, your call to action needs to be front and center. It needs to grab their attention without being overly flashy. A simple button with text works well, as long as the button is large enough to be easily tapped with a finger without zooming in.

Offer Discounts

More and more people are using their mobile devices to save money. Offering some type of discount for mobile users is a great way to attract new leads. You could offer some type of coupon that the customer must show on his or her mobile device, or you could do something as simple as offering a special discount to people who can show that they have liked your business’ page on Facebook. People love saving money, and being able to get a discount by simply showing something on their phone is much easier than remembering to bring in a printed coupon or flyer.

Make Your Contact Information Clickable

If someone visits your website looking for a phone number of physical address, they are more likely to take action if they can call you by simply tapping your number or navigate to your address with a single click. Mobile users don’t want to spend extra time copying and pasting. When they can reach you by simply tapping on the information, they are much likely to make contact.

The field of mobile marketing is constantly expanding and evolving. With smartphones becoming more accessible, many people are turning to them to perform searches rather than using desktop computers and laptops. Mobile device users are a huge demographic, and if you aren’t gearing your marketing strategies toward them, you are missing out. At Mile High Mobile Marketing, we can help you develop an effective mobile marketing strategy that will generate new leads for your business. Call us at 720-352-0795 or visit our website today!

Content Marketing Best Practices for 2014

Content Marketing Best Practices for 2014

It's been drummed into our ears for years: Content is King! Well, perhaps it was the pre-coronation phase, as it appears that the time for content to actually rule has indeed begun.

Gone is the time of being able to manipulate the search engine results pages (SERPs) with large doses of faux link building and other black hat methods designed to claim the top search spots for their immense value whether or not you had something of value to offer. With some 27 million pieces of content posted daily, sorting out the wheat from the chaff is Google's quest. And Google is getting significantly better at figuring out the actual worth of a page, and its popularity, allowing the cream to rise to the top.

So how do you make that magic on your own sites? Here are some trends and best practices for content marketing in 2014.

• Make a content plan - Just as major publishers use an editorial calendar, you should make and stick to a content plan, one that is flexible enough to allow for spontaneous adjustments when necessary.
• Make a blog - Since each month more than 329 million people read blogs, and businesses that have an active blog are receiving 97 percent more leads than those that don't have one, what's your excuse now?
• The advent of branded content - Another newish term recently is branded content. This is content designed to sell while at the same time delivering an undeniable entertainment value.
• New channels - Exploring new content channels you may not have tried before should be on your to-do list. LinkedIn sponsored posts, Slideshare and Google+ are awesome outlets to plunder.
• SEO your content - Planning your content with SEO in mind is crucial. Social sharing, links and tying in with email are items to think about. It never hurts to keep Google in mind when building your content.
• Have a social media strategy - Since 80 percent of users prefer to connect with brands on Facebook, an active social media plan along side your content is extremely important.
• Optimize for mobile - 56 percent of Americans now have a smartphone, and are not shy about using it! Make sure your content is optimized for mobile viewing and reading. No one wants to read volumes on a small screen, so remember that.

Make 2014 the year you develop and execute a winning content marketing strategy. It will pay off!

How to Use Microcontent in Your Marketing

How to Use Microcontent in Your Marketing
Today's content marketing strategies are multi-lingual: they speak in many different mediums. Long form content continues to be important, visual content is gaining ground rapidly and microcontent is fast claiming a place at the table. Microcontent? What the heck is that?
Microcontent can be explained as a bite-sized content blurb, aimed typically at one specific topic and limited in scope. A significant factor in the growth of microcontent is the global shift to mobile devices. No one is wanting to tackle large blocks of text on a phone, as it's too hard to do. Mobile content is shorter, concise, and quite often visual, or at least features a visual component. With predictions of some 80 percent of traffic from mobile devices within the next few years, it's time to get a grip on how to access that audience!
Some tips for using microcontent in your business!

• One way you might already be using microcontent is for posting a status update on Facebook leading back to your blog.
• Make an image or meme which includes a quote from your post and post it to the photo sharing sites like Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr.
• Use Vine or Instagram to produce a short (in the case of Vine; 6 seconds!) pithy video and direct viewers to your page.
• Create copy that your readers can easily retweet!
• Incorporate calls to action inside your microcontent. Click here to learn more, etc.
• Curating bits of content that your readers will find useful from other sites can do many things for you. It helps establish your authority, satisfies your audience, and is very easy to accomplish.

Be sure to remain consistent in your microcontent strategy. Getting your readers accustomed to receiving useful and actionable tidbits from you will help in getting your content shared. Also make liberal use of visual content in the form of images and videos, as it is precisely what your audience is up for!
Remember, the best use of microcontent is to make it sharable, and also to have it lead to a destination of your choice!

Is Visual Content the Future of Marketing Online?

Is Visual Content the Future of Marketing Online?

Welcome back everyone! Online marketing is a fluid, ever-changing world and it can be pretty tough some times to keep up with the latest trends. That said, let me ask you something: exactly how many articles have you read this month versus how many videos have you watched? I would be willing to bet that the videos watched outnumber the articles read many times over. It's the state of the Web in 2014, as we turn into a culture that is far more likely to engage via a visual medium than any other.

It's now well-known that more than 90 percent of the information transmitted to the brain is of a visual nature, and that we process visual information some 60,000 times faster than the written word.

In addition, sharing visual content is much more likely to occur than text. Studies show that images are liked 2 times more than text, while videos are shared 12 times more that links and text posts put together!

Here are 4 methods to incorporate visual content into your marketing mix!

1. Videos - Not only do you need to have a YouTube plan, but an in depth video marketing initiative. YouTube on its own can bring you a ton of traffic, but there is a lot more you can do with video in addition to posting it to your channel and leaving it at that.
2. Infographics - A well-made infographic can become shared all over, and help build brand awareness while sending direct traffic and backlinks to you. Creating them is far easier than it was even a year ago, and they remain a top tool for attracting interest and engagement.
3. Imagery - The images you use in your blog, website or product images can now have a life far beyond the borders of your site. Photo sharing sites like Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Flickr and others are proving to be excellent sources of referral traffic, and are gaining in total traffic share every day!
4. Social Media - Sharing on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Twitter and others is the driver behind the traffic surge. A number of the social media giants are now inextricably in the video business, as Facebook has acquired Instagram, Twitter owns Vine, and of course Google owns YouTube.

Visual content marketing is an integral component of where your traffic is going to be coming from, and to a large extent, your search rankings too. Stay vigilant, keep at it, and make sure you take advantage of the steps we just detailed for you. It seems like a lot to take on, but small steps make big jumps in your marketing success.