The advent of social media has opened up a whole new world of possibilities when it comes to internet marketing. Beyond customization, business providers are now able to scale marketing down to individual consumers, helping to create brand loyalties that many felt had died away with the decline of the proverbial “mom-and-pop” merchant. This leaves one to wonder where social media marketing can go from here. After all, how much more customized can you get than talking directly to customers through social networks?
Marketing Going Mobile
Business lecturer Mark Schaefer described the evolution of internet marketing by comparing each stage to a revolution. The first was the “Presence” stage, where simply maintaining an online presence was enough to be successful. Next came the “Discovery” period, where the focus shifted to manipulating search engine rankings using SEO. The current stage is the “Utility” stage, where social media allows you to build trust amongst a certain customer demographic. The future will bring the “Immersion” stage, where customers will come to expect a completely interactive experience. Not surprisingly, Schaefer specifically cited mobile technology as having a dramatic impact on this experience.

The Impact of Mobile Technology

Market research has already shown that mobile device sales have begun to overtake PC and even laptop sales. Consider that fact coupled with these statistics: according to the OPA, the average tablet owner spends almost 14 hours a week on his or her device, while eDigitalResearch estimates that 64% of smartphone users shop using those devices. This new trend toward mobile technology makes it more important than ever to be able to communicate with and accommodate customers on their mobile devices. Social media has long a track record of excellent performance of these devices. Aside from your social media marketing efforts, having a well-functioning mobile site for your business is also a necessity.

RITE Content

The major obstacle to successful social media marketing on mobile devices is communicating your message in the brief space that social media allows. This can be achieved by producing RITE content, which focuses on making your message Relevant, Interesting, Timely, and Entertaining.

  • Relevant: Limited space leaves little room for fluff, which means that you should include only that which is relevant to particular customers in your posts and messages.
  • Interesting: Despite the limited space, your content must still hold the customer’s interest. This is where focusing on analytics and customer feedback is vital in developing effective marketing content.
  • Timely: Social media allows you to know your customers more than ever before, including important dates such as birthdays and anniversaries. Sending out content that corresponds to these and other special dates like holidays will make your marketing more effective.
  • Entertaining: Spice it up whenever you can. Include links, images, and custom video to make the customer experience more interactive.

Everything these days happens on the go; why would social media marketing be any different? The challenge now lies with scaling one’s online and social media content to the mobile web world. The experts at Webstract Marketing are ready to help to take on this challenge. For more information, simply call 855-201-5800 to speak with a representative today.