Five Expensive Mobile Marketing Mistakes

5 EXPENSIVE Text Message Marketing Mistakes Small Business Owners Make

I’m cursed, really I am. I’ve been in marketing for the better part of a decade, and I’ve seen it all. So, I cringe when I see people doing things the wrong way.

Yes, I’m the guy who circles the misspelled words on the Chinese takeout menu.

I’m cursed because I want to help everyone.

I want to call each and every business owner. I want to “Fix it” when they make mistakes with their email marketing, with their social media accounts, and with their Mobile Marketing program.

I see so many small mistakes business owners make with their Mobile Marketing program it drives me nuts!

So, Today I’m going to share some inside thoughts, I’m going to share….

The 5 BIG & Expensive Mobile Marketing Mistakes Business Owners Make

So let’s jump in and touch on each one of these.

Oh, by the way… side stepping these mistakes will save you thousands of dollars in wasted money!

Here we go…

Making Mobile Marketing Complex With An APP

This is a huge BEAR trap many business owners fall into. They think their business needs a Mobile Marketing strategy… so they ask their IT guy. He only knows programming and says, sure I can build you a mobile APP.

Trust me an APP and mobile marketing are NOT the same thing.

Months later, thousands of dollars down the drain they get a skeleton of an app (if they can get it live in the apple ecosystem). The app does 1/3 of the functionality they thought they’d get… and then they realize they need to spend the next year and tens of thousands of dollars promoting an APP, not their business!

Skip the headache. Sign up for a third party Text Message Marketing system (like Betwext.com) and start collecting phone numbers and texting your customers.

That leads us to the next big expensive mobile marketing mistakes.

Mobile Marketing Mistake – A Bad Call To Action.

When many business owners start out, they’re excited to start texting their clients… so they sit down, hash out a quick message… and hit send. Then they’re shocked… shocked I tell you… when they don’t get a flood of orders in the door.

What went wrong?

I can usually tell within 10 seconds if a business owner understands the need for a Call To Action (CTA). What’s a Call To Action? it’s a phrase that tells the text message reader what to do next. For example:

Click here to Download
Click to Watch the Video
Call us at XXX-XXX-XXXX
Visit our store located here
Read more here!

There are thousands of CTA’s… but in a heartbeat the reader of your message knows what to do next. If you forget to put in a Call To Action, it’s like hanging up on your customer mid-sentence. So, use a call to action on EVERY message…

Now a quick Pro tip: Write your call to action first… then write the rest of your message. It seems like a weird way to do things, but it will guarantee the most important part of the text gets the attention it deserves.

That leads us to the third mobile mistake…

Not Having A Mobile Optimized Website Is A Huge Mistake

This is a MAJOR mistake I see all the time. A business owner will send a text message (with a great Call To Action!), and his customers, VIPs, and prospects will eagerly click on his link.

The owner think’s he’s being savvy by sending them to a special page on his website. But he makes one critical error. He doesn’t look at his own website on his smartphone.

He doesn’t realize his website isn’t mobile optimized… or there’s an error message on the page… or his pop-up blocks the entire page on a mobile device.

Talk about frustrating… You just turned a great customer experience into a horrible one.

Avoid this mistake by asking your IT guy to install a theme on your website that’s mobile optimized! It’s not hard, and there are thousands of mobile optimized themes you can get for FREE.

But that’s not the only mistake business owners make with mobile marketing…

Another Mobile Marketing Mistake – Sending Crap Info

Let me be blunt… When you text someone, you’re interrupting their day. So you had better either be their mother with an update on Aunt Elaine… or be giving them some important and useful information.

I can’t tell you how many times I see marketing messages that are crap. They aren’t interesting, they aren’t useful… and frankly they’re annoying. Don’t be that guy. When you text someone, make sure it’s something they want to know about.

Easier said than done… but remember, it’s easy for your prospects and customers to text back the word “STOP” to get themselves off your list. So, sometimes it’s better to say nothing!

And that brings me to the final expensive Mobile Marketing mistake we’re going to talk about today.

Not Following-Up Is A Major Mobile Marketing Mistake

I believe the money is in the follow-up! Yes, follow-up. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen business owners spend a ton of time and effort collecting leads and prospects (and spending tons of money).

But, once they get a lead into the system, they don’t know what to do next. They text once or twice… and when the prospect doesn’t pull out the credit card to buy, they immediately move on.

It’s a huge mistake.

Look, aside from a small number of people who buy everything day one… a new customer takes time to develop. And don’t forget people are busy.

If you’re going to find success in mobile marketing you’ve got to follow-up.

Don’t just send offers to buy, or discount coupons… share information about your product… provide links to YouTube videos, downloads of articles with case studies, provide information your customers find useful.

But stick with it and do it systematically… I guarantee you’ll see better engagement, better responses, and improved sales over time.

Are these the only expensive Mobile Marketing mistakes business owners make with their SMS Marketing plan… NO. There are hundreds more… but I’m out of space for today.

Remember Mobile Marketing is a very powerful, and cost effective tool to communicate with your VIPs, prospects, customers, and employees!  Give it a try today.