LESSON #83: Mobile Marketing
While there is a lot of traffic to be acquired from mobile marketing, there are also a lot of misconceptions about mobile marketing, and a lot of hype that’s been swirling around.
In this lesson I hope to dispel some of those myths, and clarify mobile marketing for you.
(Watch this video - it may take a minute to load after clicking it…)
Outline:
I’ll be focusing on four main areas of mobile marketing…
1) Paid Mobile Traffic
2) Mobile Applications
3) SMS Marketing
4) Mobile Optimization, Compatibility, and Targeting
See lesson #75 for more info about paid traffic. You essentially need to become a paid traffic expert to be good at it, but there is a lot of money to be made.
Some networks you may want to check out…
Google Mobile Ads (Part of AdWords which I covered in lesson 73 and 74)
Apple’s iAd Network
inmobi
Jumptap
Millennial Media
adfonic
BuzzCity
MobPartner
Many more listed here…
- Great way to make money
- Great way to get web traffic
- Give away the app for free to get traffic
Places to outsource an app:
vWorker
Scriptlance
Many other freelancer sites
Fiverr (See video for example)
Recommended web-based app builder:
Seattle Clouds (iPhone and Android. Includes submission to marketplace)
Marketplaces to list your app in addition to iTunes & Android Marketplace:
GetJar
Handster
appslib (for Android tablets)
Amazon Appstore (for Android)
iPhone vs. Android? Do both!
As I explained in lesson #59, the money is in the list.
- Ideal for brick and mortar businesses.
- Also good for Internet marketers.
- Effective for affiliate marketing.
- Local marketing consultants should teach/sell it.
(See video of how it works)
Some popular SMS Marketing providers:
Twilio (See also Twilio VBX WordPress Plugin)
MobileStorm
Boom Text
Express Text
DC Mobile Text
Mobile SMS Marketing (has White Label)
Textmarks (has White Label)
Trumpia (has White Label)
Avid Mobile (has White Label)
CallFire (has White Label)
MMS Marketing - Similar to SMS Marketing, the only real difference being that you’re embedding media in the text messages that you’re sending.
Proximity Marketing - Messages are transmitted to mobile device users who are physically within a certain area. Bluetooth Marketing is a common variety of Proximity Marketing.
- Most online businesses can benefit from this.
- Things have changed a lot since the WAP days.
- Mobile devices are adapting to accomodate standard websites.
- It’s still worth making sure your site is compatible and optimized for mobile.
Three ways to accomplish this…
1) Create a dedicated mobile version of your site (Most difficult. Was thought to be the best, but may eventually become obsolete).
-Detect and redirect mobile users to your mobile site. Use a script to detect the User-Agent using .htaccess, PHP, ASP, or javascript.
Possible locations of your mobile site:
m.example.com (this is pretty much the industry standard)
example.com/mobile
example.mobi (potential SEO conflict)
Redirect example.mobi to m.example.com
Tips:
- Keep the layout simple
- Make sure it’s fast
- Avoid flash
- Avoid javascript and other unnecessary scripts
- Avoid frames
- Design for thumbs rather than mouse clicks
- Prioritize your content
- Easy navigation
- Scroll vertical only
- Focus on one action
Mobile website building tools:
http://sites.google.com/mobilize (Free!)
yourmobisite
mobdis
mofuse
dudamobile
Do a Google search for “free mobile website templates” and you’ll find some.
2) Use Responsive Web Design, which allows your site to look good on any size screen. (Somewhat difficult, but may be the best long-term solution)
A tutorial: http://www.netmagazine.com/features/responsive-web-design
A quote from Bing search engine:
“At Bing, we want to keep things simple by proposing the “one URL per content item” strategy. For each website, instead of having different URLs per platform (one URL for desktop, another for mobile devices, etc.), our feedback is that producing fewer variations of URLs will benefit you by avoiding sub-optimal and underperforming results.” (ref)
Responsive WP theme: http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/responsive
3) Use a WordPress plugin, or mobile-ready theme (Easiest).
Themes:
http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/ (Search for ‘mobile’)
Plugins:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/
WordPress Mobile Pack
WordPress Mobile Edition
WP Mobile Detector
WPtouch
BAAP Mobile Version
Onswipe (specifically for ipad and tablets)
Mobile SEO?
- Combine a traditional SEO approach (See lesson #76, 77, 78), with mobile best-practices.
- Shorter keywords are usually better.
- Mobile Sitemaps (see Google)
Check your page speed and get specific optimization tips at:
http://pagespeed.googlelabs.com
Test your website on various mobile devices at:
http://www.blaze.io/mobile/
Another useful site that Google has provided is…
http://www.howtogomo.com
You can do a mobile search at:
- QR Codes
- Social Media, like Facebook and twitter
- Use video
- Coupons
- Ringtones
- Travel information
- Games and puzzles
- Mobile ebooks
- Restaurant and business reviews
- Local business info
- Weather
Action steps:
1) Decide whether mobile marketing should be a priority for your business.
2) If it’s not a priority, consider implementing some of the easier steps, such as a WordPress plugin to make sure your site is easily visible for mobile users.
3) If it is a priority, implement multiple mobile strategies to attract as much mobile traffic as possible.
In the next lesson we’ll be looking at some more free web traffic sources and strategies.
As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below 
Have a great day!
hi Eric.
great content.one question.regarding Bluetooth Marketing. would i need software or is there a service you would recommend. thanks rob
Generally you need hardware and software for bluetooth marketing. If you already have a bluetooth enabled computer (such as a laptop) you can run bluetooth marketing directly from your laptop, with the required software. However, your range will be limited by the power of your built-in bluetooth. For a broader proximity range, you would need a more powerful bluetooth device, such as a special server designed for bluetooth marketing. I do not have any specific recommendations, as I’ve not done it. But there are many companies offering the applicable hardware and software, including…
http://www.bluemediaserver.com/
http://www.bluemagnet.com/
http://www.wifi-d.com/
http://www.bluair.pl/
http://www.bluetoothmarketing.com/
There is no doubt in my mind that mobile marketing is going to become critical to the success of most online business. Mobile traffic will surpass the rest moving forwards. Even Paypal has jumped into the mobile bandwagon by offering mobile Paypal payment facilities.
Wow, I didn’t realize I can do that much more with mobile. I am going to get a mobile site done right away since watching this. Thank you Eric. I really appreciate it.
Hi Eric
thank you very much for this excellent lesson. This is by far the best content about mobile marketing I have seen.
Keep on the good work!
Thanks
Thanks and you’re welcome!
Yikes, this mobile web and marketing thing is a whole new ballgame, I hope we can keep up. I do notice in our sites Google Analytics that from what little traffic we get now, a small percentage comes from 1st the ipad & 2nd the iphone then a whole host of other phones & tablets.
Well thanks Eric and crew for the lessons I look forward to the next lesson of free traffic strategies, free traffic FTW!
.Andrew.
Thanks Andrew!
Hi Eric,
I do know abit about mobile markting and in particular mobile websites.
You’ve done a good job here.Great stuff and content.Well done.
Emma
Thank you!
GREAT LESSON as always !! I think from this lesson alone, I’ve detected about 5 general mistakes I’ve been making for years with my website’s marketing strategy.
Great, I’m glad to hear it
OH. MY. WORD.
This is JUST what I’ve been needing. Such a thorough, excellent training. I had been misinformed and am so thankful for Eric’s Tips!
Have a great day.
Thanks Carol!
god bless you.thank you for your help. i am a newbie.
hi Eric regard you has my guider on the net you like farther to me you know i was new to this but through your help i am able to regard my self a marketer i really like your lessons now many years down the road i see success in future i wish you the best and may God keep you and your family
hi Eric i hope you are fine i would like to know more about the apps program an also is there a lesson you made for apps i am new to this i hope to hear from you i wish the best and may GOd keep you and your farmily
Thanks Eric for a great in depth look at the future of mobile.
There are many ways to go about getting started as you have shown, if people follow your lesson they will easily understand what they need to do.
Hi Eric,
Great video! For responsive wordpress themes I love to go to themeforest.net
Click on the wordpress category and then do a search for “responsive”. There are pages of nice thems for $30-$40.
Keep up the great work!
Jason
Hi Jason, thanks for the tip
Great video Eric one problem though is most of it is directed at 55% of the population, those with smartphones!…and in relation to QR codes only half of those with smartphones have downloaded a QR reader app and know about QR codes.
Things are different in the USA when it comes to mobile marketing. You are restricted to 160 characters and you pay a LOT for your keywords to SMS standard rate text number. In the UK and Ireland you can send long messages typically up to 450 characters and having a mobile database you can make a LOT of money sending out text messages by giving (say) 80 characters to a sponsor who’d like to get a message to your mobile database at the end of the text going out — and thus you don’t have to pay for them. On the other hand, if you send more than (say) 16 texts a year to your database they’ll ask to be removed, texting has to be done responsibly to be effective.
In the UK and Ireland, you can also get keywords for just 100 a year….so when advertising with a QR code you put “Or text (KEYWORD) to 51500 standard rate text” ….and the reply contains a text message at the end of which is the MOBILE website URL that should be able to open on 90% of mobiles.
I will leave with something I truely believe in, NOTHING works better than texting
(keep your social media!)
Great training as always. I’m wondering if you have a webpage or file listing what was covered in each lesson so we can reference back to it?
Thanks
Ray
I’ve thought about adding one, but decided not because it would make it too easy for people to just copy the list for their own site. As it is, I’ve seen quite a few info-products based on my lessons, LOL. However there IS a list of all the lessons on a page in my coaching club… so there’s a little perk for coaching members.
Thank you Eric. You are the best Online Business Teacher I have seen ever. Because of your teachings my website is ranking on the first page of some search engines. But I have not made a single penny out of it, no problem for that. I know I will make it one day in my click bank account. I don’t know how. Despite I am a Electronics Engineer, I am learning Affiliate marketing from 2010 for a full time living. But I never quit.
We too have been working to get an online income since late 2010.
If your website is ranking 1st page, then you must be getting visitors-
Eric has Tips # 71,72,75,80,81,84 on Web traffic.
Suggest you ask Eric re Adsense Ads, and CPA - to put one or the other onto a site, to add to your income.
He has Tips # 73,74 re PPC related to CPA.
Also suggest you could ask re adding related Amazon products to your site
All the best.
Hello Brian and Heather,
Thank you for your suggestions! We actually did a promotion for a great Amazon product recently, providing a bonus to help in becoming an Amazon Superaffiliate. If you would like to contact our helpdesk, we can send you a link with the bonus details:
http://www.ericsupport.com/
Hi Eric!
I have enjoyed all your lessons and have found them *so* helpful. THANK YOU!
I was wondering if this is the last lesson because I cannot seem to get to Lesson 84, 85, 86, etc. and have not received any more emails since March 2012 (which contained the link for Lesson#83).
Please let me know as soon as you can. Thanks!
Hello Carrie,
It appears you’ve caught up to the latest lesson.
The next lesson will be completed soon. You should receive an email, as soon as it’s ready.
Hey Eric, I have been enjoying your lessons and am looking forward to #84. The last one arrived May 6, but no more lessons have appeared since then. Did I fall off of your mail list?
Hello Bill,
It looks like you’ve caught up to the latest lesson. Eric is hard at work on completing lesson 84.
Hi Eric, Great to have here and I am waiting for the rest of all LESSON from 84 throw to 100 still waiting for them i can get this LESSON dun eric…
Hi Eric,
I’m from the UK and new here as a subscriber to your blog. But I’m not new to your video lessons. I’ve actually been watching your videos for about a week after stumbling unto your website via the search engines. I’ve not yet reached lesson 83…still playing catch up to everyone here.
Having gone through some of your previous lessons, I have to say that your teaching is very impressive. I’m enjoying the lessons so much, I finally decided to subscribe to your newsletter today and be part of your community.
By the way, did you notice that your blog’s copyright is not updated to 2012?
Hi Eric, Can you recommend a good Hosting service- the cheapest but best, that can if needed Host ++ Traffic?
Unable to find a ‘Tip’ re Hosting yet, Thanks
Hello Brian and Heather,
When it comes to hosting, Eric’s recommendation solidly goes to Hostgator:
http://ericstips.com/hosting/
Hello Eric,
Thanks for your good info in your lessons. I need
your opinion concerning a software I was going to purchase. I know you told us to stop buying software. Here is it eBizInOne.com by Jason Walker. I would really appreciate your feed back.
I am tired of buying chunk with empty promises that leave me broke.
Thanks again for open your knowledge to working
people at a fair and affordable price.
I plan to do the same when I finalllllly make it
Rene
Bermuda
Hello Rene,
Thanks for pointing out the product. We are unfamiliar with eBizInOne.com.
If Eric feels that it would benefit his readers at this stage, he’ll be sure to do a review.
Great post and wonderful resources ! Looking forward to more about mobile
I’m trying to locate the lesson that discusses places to sell info products, white pages ,etc. I remember Eric talking about , instead of ebook, break it down to articles and how to’s & place it on various sites for sell
Thanks
Check out lesson 44 and 45:
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/lesson44/
I sure didn’t know that this much could be done with a simple mobile phone. Another great lesson.
Thanks,
Mark
You have such nice resources. Keep going
http://blustandard.com
By 2014 , more online traffic is expected from mobile devices than from desktops and by 2020 almost none will be coming from the desktop.
Create Mobile Website