The day has passed when it was correct to think that mobile marketing was simply the next big thing. It’s not just here; it’s growing daily. A survey by the Web.com group tells us that 69 percent of small business owners stated that mobile marketing would be important to their small business in the next five years; however, the majority of them had not even started. The same statistics show that 84 percent of those that had a mobile marketing solution reported an increase as a result. It’s clear that we’ve run out of excuses for not employing mobile marketing in our small businesses.

5 Tips on how to implement mobile marketing in your small business

• Make certain your website and social media are mobile ready! – Take the time required to ensure that your site and major social media pages are mobile ready. There are some significant items that determine whether or not your pages render well on a mobile device, such as font size, spacing and images files. Have these looked at, so you don’t lose your mobile visitors!
• Claim and optimize your local listings – Make sure that your local listings, such as on Google local, Yelp, FourSquare or other local directories are current when it comes to contact information, directions, and any promotions you’d like to feature.
• Have you optimized your email for mobile? – eConsultancy reports that 41 percent of email is now viewed on a smartphone or tablet, and of that number, a full 63 percent close or delete emails that aren’t mobile optimized. Make sure you use an email optimized layout, preferably one-column, and a font size of no larger than a 14 for small-screen readers.
• Use Google Analytics – If you are just guessing about whether or not mobile is working for you, you’re gonna be wasting a lot of time and money. Get hard data you can use with the help of Google Analytics. You will find a mountain of data available, but you can simplify by segmenting smartphone and tablet visitors and analyzing their on-page behavior, enabling you to see how your campaigns are doing.
• Offer great deals – All of us love a great deal, and there’s no one who is more active in this arena than the mobile user. The best part is that they are very frequently right down the street from you, and ready to buy. Providing awesome offers and coupons might just cause them to pay a visit they otherwise wouldn’t have!