B2B marketers need to borrow a page from the playbook of B2C marketers, who are constantly experimenting with mobile marketing in fun and creative ways to attract new customers and engage existing customers.
B2C marketers have embraced the mobile device as a new way to reach out to and message potential customers. They’re using push notifications, SMS texts, apps and tiny mobile ads to push consumers through the sales funnel. Those same approaches could be adapted for your B2B marketing mix. Here are six mobile-centric ideas:
#1: Mobile ads
These tiny mobile ads are becoming ubiquitous these days. Often, they just lurk on the bottom of your mobile phone’s tiny screen until you click on the “X” mark to close them. But, increasingly, they’re being used by B2B marketers instead of just B2C marketers, simply because they can be targeted to specific demographic users and groups.
#2: Push notifications
This assumes, of course, that you’ve built a mobile app. But once the app has been built, they’re a great way to push out notifications to users. You can keep them updated with new product announcements, as well as news from the company itself. You can think of these push notifications as quick text messages that you are sending at opportune times. You don’t want to overdo this, but it can be effective for remaining top-of-mind.
#3: User mobile data
Again, this assumes that you’ve built a mobile app. You can then track all of the user behaviors and preferences, creating a powerful database over time. You will learn what they like, what they don’t, and what kind of message works. And all of that mobile data can then be added to a giant CRM database, where you can use it as part of any predictive analytics work.
Maybe you find out that users are primarily using the “calculator tool” in your app – that could be a heads-up that you need to do a better job of explaining the ROI of your product. Or maybe you find out that users are primarily using your app during certain hours of the day or night – that could provide an insight into how and when to message them.
#4: Location-based offers
Here’s where you can really personalize the user’s mobile experience. Once you know their precise GPS location, you can target by area and location. This is actually a big deal, since the more personalized your marketing message is, the more likely it is to resonate with the user.
#5: Email
Email remains the #1 most effective channel for lead generation and sales, so it’s clear that it’s going to continue to be part of any savvy marketer’s B2B toolkit. The goal here is to adapt the email experience for the mobile device.
#6: Video
Users prefer to interact with video rather than text on their mobile devices, so the impetus needs to be on coming up with innovative new ways to make short videos that are optimized for the mobile device. These could be teaser videos for a new product, or short training videos, or even a mobile webinar.
But video is the key to getting and then holding a user’s attention. They are researching products on their mobile devices, so it’s no surprise that they are interested in ways to learn about your products and services via video.
Dane
Dane Cobain is a published author, freelance writer, book blogger, poet and (occasional) musician from High Wycombe, UK. Before going freelance, he worked as a social media marker, now specialising in writing about publishing, technology and marketing.