Welcome to Mobile Marketing Danger Zones, where we’re going to discuss mobile marketing gone bad … and how to fix it.

If you read my blog posts on mobile marketing, you probably have a pretty clear sense of why you need to use mobile marketing in your business. You might even have some ideas about how to implement a mobile content marketing campaign, but it can be a minefield out there if you’re not careful.

How to fix Mobile Marketing Gone Bad

Mobile marketing campaigns – successful ones, at least – involve more than just redirecting mobile users to a .mobi version of your site. In this blog post, we’re going to explore the biggest danger zones for mobile content marketing campaigns, and how to avoid making costly mistakes that could end up alienating the very market you’re trying to reach.

Failing to consider your mobile customers is the number one mistake businesses make and why you have mobile marketing gone bad. A website that looks great on your 21″ monitor won’t look so sweet once it’s shrunk down to iPhone size.

Installing a simple plugin is often enough to optimize your site for a variety of mobile users, especially if your site runs on WordPress. It’s easy to do, and won’t have your visitors closing their browsers when they get frustrated trying to scroll through your site.

But that’s not your only consideration. Think about your email marketing as well. Many list owners send HTML email that simply doesn’t render well in mobile email clients. Any autoresponder service worth its salt will make it easy for users to choose between HTML and text only emails.

All you have to do is offer both options.

Mobile marketing doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Start small, make a few simple changes to your existing site and marketing plan, and before you know it, you’ll have a mobile-friendly business.

Let’s fix mobile marketing gone bad. Here’s to going mobile!

How to Improve Your Website’s Load Time for the Best User Experience – End Mobile Marketing Gone Bad

Are you spoiled? A lot of Internet users are. We’re spoiled by fast connections, unlimited bandwidth, and browsers that can render a site in a fraction of a second. Not too long ago we might have thought long and hard about whether we really needed to download that 3 MB .mp3 file. Now we can download 1 GB in just a few short minutes.

Maybe.

The fact is, many mobile users face access restrictions, and as a mobile marketer, you need to be aware of and work within these limitations. Some problems mobile users face are

• Extra charges for excessive bandwidth usage
• Slower connection speeds
• Less storage space on their mobile device

Taking these issues into consideration when you’re designing your mobile campaign will allow you to reach more people, and that translates into more sales for you.

Some things you can do to improve your users’ experience include shortening your site’s load time, reducing the size of files, and making navigation on your site quick and intuitive.

Other areas worth considering are auto-play video and audio clips and pages with lots of graphics. Behind the scenes, make sure your code complies with the latest standards, or use a well-designed framework like WordPress to ensure your site meets or exceeds current expectations.

How to Make Videos Part of Your Mobile Marketing Campaigns

If YouTube is any indication, video marketing is here to stay. And video is the perfect medium for mobile users. They don’t have to worry about reading on a tiny screen, they can carry their videos with them to watch when they have time, and videos are easy to share with Facebook friends and on other social networking sites.

But for mobile marketing campaigns, video can have one big drawback: format.

Unlike PCs, which can handle just about any video format you throw at them, mobile devices are limited. Perhaps the most famous issue with videos and cell phones (and now tablets) is between Adobe and Apple. Flash is a popular online video format because almost all browsers are able to handle it, but iPhones, iPods, and iPads do not. That means anyone viewing your content on an Apple device will simply get an error message.

Now obviously Apple isn’t the only game in town, and many mobile devices handle flash video (and websites) very well. However, if you’re spending your time and money to develop a mobile campaign, doesn’t it make sense to plan for compatibility with as many devices as possible?

With that in mind, it’s a good idea to stick to the formats that work for everyone, including MPG and MPEG4.

It’s worth noting that a recently released app does allow iPhone users to view flash video on their phones. But do you really want to make your visitors work that hard just to watch your video?

Make it easy for them, and they’ll come back again and again. Make it difficult and have mobile marketing gone bad, and they might never return.

Mobile Marketing for Your Brick and Mortar Business

If you have a local brick and mortar business, you’ve got a huge advantage when it comes to mobile marketing. Social networking sites like X and Instagram make it easy for you to engage your audience, build a loyal following, and draw more customers through your doors than ever before.

Cell phone users have access to social networks right in their pockets, and it’s a shame when businesses don’t take advantage of that market. Facebook fan pages are the perfect place to post about special promotions and sales, and you can almost guarantee your mobile customers will take note.

One small company in Los Angeles made headlines a while back when they went mobile in a big way. Kogi Korean BBQ restaurant is housed in two catering vans, and every day they set up in a different part of the city. Want to know where to go for lunch? You have to follow them on Twitter. And several thousand people already do.

Your business probably isn’t quite as mobile as Kogi Korean BBQ, but your customers are. Why not encourage shoppers to keep an eye on your X or Facebook statuses by offering short-lived, unadvertised sales?

Offer a percentage off select merchandise for everyone who comes in during the next hour, or a free dessert to anyone who mentions they saw your X update.

You can use mobile internet marketing to build consumer loyalty by hosting competitions based on Facebook data. You might offer coupons to customers for visiting your establishment’s page.

Remember, reaching your customer when they’re in their home surfing the Internet or watching TV is good, but contacting them when they are actually out and “in the neighborhood” is even better. A great way to end mobile marketing gone bad.

How to Develop a Mobile Application

Optimizing your site for mobile devices and reaching out to local users are both great ways to get started in mobile internet marketing. But if you want to take your campaign to the next level, you need an app.

Mobile applications can be as simple as a menu app with your restaurant’s daily specials and a link to place an order, or as complicated as a mobile banking app.

Mobile apps can be fun, such as games or contests; they can be utilitarian, such as an app for calculating shipping costs; or they can be both. The point is, by making it easy for your mobile customers to use your services, place orders, and access content, they are more likely to become a long-term fan.

Just be careful not to exclude one user group by catering to another.

The iPhone might be the first thing you think of when you think about smart phones, but in truth, there are just as many Android users than there are iPhone lovers. And Android has its very own app store. As do Samsung, Nokia, and even Windows-based mobile devices.

Unfortunately, each platform requires a different development language and programming skills, which can quickly drive the costs of development beyond your reach.

That’s why it’s important to know exactly what your customers want and need, including what kind of devices they carry. Research your market and develop a mobile application to meet the needs of the majority of your customers. As time and money allow, you can expand to include lesser-used devices.

Here’s to going mobile!