Are You M Ready?

M-sites, meaning websites that are built specifically for users of mobile phone/handheld internet access are gaining traction in the marketing world. If top marketing companies are starting to advertise on these sites and building mobile sites for their companies, what does that mean?

It could mean critical mass is beginning to be reached in mobile internet access. There are now enough eyeballs seeing sites via their web-accessing phone or handheld that it is a meaningful medium for advertisers.

Yet only 10% or so of the nearly 270 million cell phone users in the United States have “smart phones” that are internet ready. That’s only (!) 27 million or so. Does that make it worthwhile for you to set up a M-site and think about advertising on high traffic mobile-access sites?

Maybe. It depends on your target market. Let’s think it through together. This is one of those times that our intuition and logic may serve us just as well as data. Which is fortuitous because there isn’t a lot of data yet on mobile ads and sites!

If you were to profile who would access the web via a mobile phone, considering the cost and the price of the handheld, who would it be? Our instincts might be to assume teens or young adults...who are all things digital, right? Maybe, although there is a cost to web browsing on a handheld, and from what I’ve read teens tend to want to spend their handheld time and budget on texting.

Here’s another clue: mobile banking is a big subject right now. Accessing accounts and making financial transactions from your phone. Bankers hours no more.

Now, given the cost and that information about banking, we are starting to see more of the profile emerge. Final clue: some of the early M advertisers have been companies like SAP (business management solutions company) who recently advertised on M news, financial and IT information sites.

SAP would target executive and management level corporate customers. And that is our profile: a chunk of those using mobile-internet access users are probably Blackberry-driving business people who are traveling more often and accessing information on the road. Also, salespersons who are constantly out of the office.

So, does your business need an M-site? The answer is Yes! Either “Yes Now” (if you sell to a profile like the one we’ve described that would have heavy mobile internet users) or “Yes Pretty Soon”. The trend is going to be toward mobile access. In an interview with Forbes, Omniture’s Josh James described a customer who is now getting twice as much traffic on its M-site over its website. With the iPhone, Blackberry and other handsets at lower prices, more and more mobile-internet users will appear, more M-sites and functionality...and more market segments to consider. Then we’ll all need to be M ready.

If you want to discuss your online strategy, including mobile marketing, email me to set up a time to talk.

SLE

Teens and Twitter

Have you heard about the 15-year-old Morgan Stanley intern in London who set the media world “a twitter” with his report on his friends’ use of media? It’s a fascinating story that reinforces many marketing principles: know your audience, use research, segment and target messages.

You can read more: the Financial Times story, or the Guardian UK here. Or direct download the entire report in PDF from Morgan Stanley.

For business owners, this sort of story may result in an attitude of holding off on Twitter or other Social Media Marketing. That could be a mistake. The reality is that SMM is becoming an important part of the marketing mix and certainly the online mix. Take the information, and use it wisely.

That’s why we’ve partnered with the Geek Ambassador to bring you solid information and “extra hands” to get you the information you need to make the right decisions about social media marketing and other online tools.

Our Social Media Marketing webinar series is a great way to learn how to use these tools to maximum advantage...and what NOT to do! See samples and get more info here. Geek Ambassador also has packages to help you plan and even implement social media marketing strategies...learn more here. And be sure to look for me on Facebook and LinkedIn, search Stephen L. Eckert. Thanks!

SLE

Where Does SMM Live?

A new research study by StrongMail finds that Social Media Marketing is a major priority for marketers in the second half of 2009. Companies surveyed responded that they will be increasing spending on SMM and email marketing and working to integrate the two channels.

Makes sense, but Social Media Marketing has connections within a number of different marketing channels. SMM can be considered a part of PR, or be used as a direct marketing tool. I’ll bet in large corporations there are ongoing discussions about where SMM should fit. Should it be the responsibility of direct marketing? Public Relations? Web and eCommerce? Have its own department (please, no!)?

As with all marketing elements, the key is integration. How will Social Media Marketing fit in with the other parts of your plan? This is where the hard questions come.

However before we get there: If your business doesn’t have an integrated marketing plan in place for 2009, email me at genius@geniusmarketing.com immediately. Any business of any size needs to work through these issues, and I can inexpensively get you going on an actionable plan in very little time. So do it.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled blog. For those of you that have a marketing plan, how integrated is it? Does the proverbial left hand of marketing know what the right hand of sales is doing? How are leads tracked to understand by which channel the lead found you? Are you measuring effectiveness of each marketing element?

And on SMM: what is the role of your social media? What is the goal of your blog, email newsletter, facebook/twitter/linkedin strategy? How does SMM integrate with your marketing mix, calls to action and resulting sales process?

Don’t be overwhelmed!!! These and more integration questions can be answered through some simple exercises from our Marketing Coach program. And your SMM strategy is just a click or two away through the Geek Ambassador webinar series or her DIY starter kit.

So 2009 part two To Do’s:

. Integrate your marketing and sales activities

. Develop a SMM strategy

. Integrate SMM with your other marketing elements

Let us know how we can help... email me at genius@geniusmarketing.com to set up a time to talk.

SLE

All Things

The shuffle mode on the iPod is a great thing. It dredges up tunes I had long forgotten. The other day I heard “Everything to Everyone” a tune from the late ‘90s by Everclear (I guess they really like the term “ever”). The song reminded me of target marketing.

Seriously.

A while back I attended a networking event at which each attendee was given the opportunity to introduce themselves. I enjoy these types of things because it is fun to hear a bunch of people describe what they do and why they are at such an event. And no, this isn’t a how-to on the “elevator speech”. Although that’s a good idea and I’ll do that some time soon in this very blog.

This is an observation about targeting. A number of people in this group of accomplished business people expected the other attendees to believe that their product or service was for “everyone”. The worst offender actually said: “So I’m really able to sell to anyone who breathes!”

No, they weren’t the proverbial “air salesman on the moon”. They owned an accounting firm. And while everyone may have to pay taxes (or at least fill out an IRS form), that doesn’t make everyone a prospect for this accounting firm.

If the firm’s target market really is “everyone” I would bet that the accountants at the firm waste a lot of time in one way or another.

First time waster: trying to develop the market of “everyone”.
With no focus on the type of individual or business they work with best, marketing and sales efforts typically have very little impact. Time and money are wasted when the message doesn’t specify the services and experience that would be attractive to particular prospects. The message is weakened because it is trying to be everything to everyone...and doesn’t mean much to anyone. Instead of standing up at a networking event and saying, “We help family-owned businesses reduce tax expense and improve cash flow.”, they say some milktoast message about doing taxes for anyone that is breathing.

Second time waster: slow execution of projects.
On the “product” side (forgive me accountants for using the term “product”!), production is better when it is repeatable. Now I’m not saying that accounting can become an assembly line. Still, experts become experts because they have experience. Not focusing on a tighter definition of the firm’s expertise means that the work probably takes longer, more tax code research must be done resulting in more cost and (maybe) less confidence in the work. Focusing on particular tax issues or business types would probably improve quality and reduce cost.

The application is this: understanding who to target and then actively targeting those prospects is a key to maximizing the marketing effort. Not profiling and segmenting prospects leads to waste of one kind or another. In our process, we use several tools and techniques to help uncover and define the market segments that are most profitable or have the greatest potential.

It’s not as cool as rock n’ roll, but it is an effective process. Email me your questions about target markets, or to set up a time to discuss how to better understand your market and target your next best customers. www.geniusmarketing.com

SLE