Tag: mobile marketers

Using the best practice methods for quick response codes will go a long way toward success.

If there is one form of mobile marketing that can be considered highly controversial at the moment, it’s QR codes.

While some feel it is one of the best technologies currently available, others feel it was dead before it started.

No matter how you may feel about QR codes, the fact is that some companies have used them in order to achieve tremendous responses and highly successful campaign results. The difference between the efforts that have been a complete flop, and those that have broken records is in the techniques that are used. After all, the technology remains the same, no matter how it is applied.

QR codes are not all that complex, but need to be made worthwhile or they will not be scanned.

Among the issues to consider are best practices as basic as the following:
• Placement – if your QR codes are positioned in a way that they will not be noticed, then the odds are that your results will be minimal to nonexistent. You need to make sure that they are visible enough that the viewer will spot them, as well as being the right size that they will be easily scanned. Make sure that they are not located in the crease of a magazine or in a spot that the user will not be able to conveniently snap it.
• Call to action – when you apply QR codes as a marketing tool, you need to make sure that you are encouraging the customer to do something, such as make a purchase, learn about a relevant product, or take advantage of a promotion. By simply linking to a homepage, you will be creating a dead end for users as they have been provided with no further instruction as to how to proceed. The success of these barcodes is based on using them to accomplish a specific goal.
• Landing page – the page to which consumers are directed after scanning QR codes don’t need to be complex or large. They simply need to be mobile optimized, useful, and interesting. They can include written content, but they should be designed in a way that provides a little bit at a time and encourages the user to continue to learn more. Additional content options such as videos can help to improve interest, provided that it does not overlook the call to action.

Mobile marketing degrees are not being handed out

Education isn’t something that stops with a diploma or a degree, and continuing your learning is not a vital element in the majority of most professions, especially for marketers, who must always know the latest developments and trends to ensure that they can offer what their clients want most and how to best engage consumers to create an effective call to action.

Marketers go through their formal education and spend years building job experience, and the lucky ones are hired by a terrific organization. But this doesn’t mean that the learning can end there. Though governing laws may not require a marketer to take continuing education courses or otherwise update their professional knowledge, it remains an integral part of their ability to succeed (and for the ability of their employer to succeed).

PR and marketing professionals must remain on the cutting edge. Today, this means that they need to be aware of the latest developments and trends in the internet and technology. These two industries are moving faster than most people can imagine. Yesterday’s exciting new emerging concepts – such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter – have become common parts of our daily lives and, as such, are also routine elements of marketing campaigns and strategies.

As we’ve been seeing, emerging social media such as Pinterest and Google+ are just starting to find their place, and marketers will need to keep on top of their growing popularity or they will become lost in the trends and fall behind. That said, social media is only the start.

Mobile is opening up a whole world of new opportunities, but for many, it is like starting from scratch once more. QR codes, for example, aren’t just a buzz word anymore, but are becoming both supporting and central elements of massive campaigns. 

The difference mobile search made during the year…

With the ever growing number of smartphones in the marketplace, mobile search has become more important than ever before, but marketers are quickly discovering that their efforts with SEO and other traditional search techniques, cannot be quite the same as they were for the regular web.

Mobile search – unlike traditional laptop and desktop-based queries on search engines – offer different results different results and provide a different way of demonstrating those results depending on the kind of device that is being used – for example, a tablet or a smartphone.

Google has recently announced the development of a search engine crawler that was created specifically for smartphones, and that functions separately and differently from the one it is currently using for the typical feature phone. This is a strong indicator that unique SEO techniques will be required to effectively optimize apps and sites meant for smartphones.

Until now, it has always been believed that Google’s treatment of all mobile devices – from tablets to smartphones to feature phones – has been relatively the same as it has been for PCs, only with a few additional geo-specific results. However, with this recent announcement, it is clear that Google intends to treat the various devices differently, and SEO experts will need to come up with a new strategy that will take this into account.