Tag: mobile marketing

Apps Offer Sex Appeal in Mobile Marketing, But SMS Still King!

Posted on by Paul Segreto

The following is a guest post from franchise friend, Todd Salerno, Vice President Sales, PowerPlay Mobile, a leader in mobile marketing, providing unique technology that businesses rely upon to connect with customers in real time. I first met Todd at last year’s Franchise Consumer Marketing Conference in San Francisco where he facilitated a panel discussion on social media marketing where I was a panelist. Just this past weekend I visited with Todd again – this time at Franchise Expo South in Miami.

In a recent webinar produced by FranSummit and presented by Jeremy LaDuque, CEO at ElementsLocal, we discussed the continued trend towards mobile marketing dominance. We learned that it is projected that by 2014, more people will access search with their mobile device than any other electronic device. That’s less than two years away! With that in mind, and in my continuing effort to provide integrated franchise marketing solutions, I asked Todd to provide some quick insight into mobile marketing. Here’s what he had to say…

“Just to put a fine point on the title of this post, it’s worth emphasizing – while app’s offer sex appeal in mobile marketing, SMS is still king! With 87% wireless penetration in the United States, and still far less than half of US consumers using smart phones, more companies and organizations are using the medium to reach out to existing and potential customers.

SMS is the most effective channel for marketers because of its simplicity, familiarity, and unbiased reach.  Virtually all phones are SMS capable, which means the channel can reach 5 billion subscribers worldwide.  A study by ABI Research finds that consumers worldwide will send more than 7 trillion SMS messages in 2011, indicating a huge opportunity for marketers.  And, according to Nielsen Mobile, the average consumers sends 600 messages per month compared to using less than 200 voice minutes.

So what does that mean for the franchise owner and groups? It means you need to contact customers and potential customers through their preferred communication.  SMS is growing at rapid rate and businesses are starting to take notice.  Many national chains are already utilizing SMS to bring customers back into their stores to create higher sales volumes and keep them engaged.  The best part about it, is that once the business has the consumers opt in for their program, they can keep reaching them.”

About PowerPlay Mobile

With over 30 years of marketing and mobile experience, PowerPlay Mobile helps businesses immediately capture the SMS market. They understand marketing and the power direct connection between franchisees and customers. In summary, SMS works.  The ROI on SMS can be anywhere from 5X-20X greater than traditional media, online display, and  email marketing.  Powerplay Mobile has the ability to:

  • Reach Customers who do not have a smartphone
  • Reach Consumers who you have not engaged with recently
  • Monetize interactions through incentivized offer paths
  • Add the preferred channel of communication for your customers
  • Drive Sales through coupons and deals
  • Create the program you want

Todd Salerno may be contacted by phone at 704-288-0435 or by email at todd@powerplaymobile.com. Be sure to ask him about a free consultation!

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The Digital Holy Trinity – Possibility or Probability?

Posted on by Paul Segreto

I was recently asked my opinion of Groupon and I immediately thought of its place within the whole realm of traditional and social media marketing, and how I see its sustainability in small business, including franchising, and if I recommend using group coupon deals at all.

Here’s my opinion, subsequent rant… and a bold prediction!

Groupon and others like it should only be utilized strategically and only for a specific purpose such as generating immediate interest and cash flow for a typically slow period, and to infiltrate a competitor’s customer base. Both of these objectives have been achieved by utilizing a Groupon-type coupon. Further effectiveness is evident as the coupon strategy is enhanced by social media.

Personally, there are so many Groupon copycats that the allure, even from a customer perspective, has diminished considerably from just six months ago. Case in point – I had purchased over 30 Groupons and similar coupons and was happy to use them all. That being said, over the past three or so months I have not purchased a single one. Why? Because before it was one deal per day and I was notified of the same and I could simply decide one way or the other. Now, I’ve got to look at deals, is it family based or not, entertainment or service… just too much of a hassle. Not to mention the bombardment of collateral emails like for Social Escapes by Living Social, etc.

Beyond that, coupons and promotions will be very geo-specific. Actually, social media is becoming very geo-specific which will drive the geo-specificity of coupons and promotions. Facebook has a distinct advantage over many others as they have both Facebook Places and Facebook Deals. Further, they have finalized or are close to finalizing a deal with Foursquare whereby it works hand-in-hand with Facebook Places. As it is, Foursquare populates into Facebook (and Twitter). And mobile phone usage will continue to drive check-ins and geo-specific marketing. Customer Review sites are jumping on the bandwagon and offer check-ins as well.

Where I believe Facebook will prevail as the leader, is the community feature. Basically, a captive audience where fans can realize all, including coupons and promotions, check-ins, customer reviews, sharing information, posting comments, etc. The push to a more mobile-friendly Facebook is already occurring. If you can think it, Facebook is probably working on it. If not, they’ll buy it. Long-term contracts? Facebook deems them as not being necessary. They really don’t need to as no one really competes with Facebook.

Now that Facebook has become more business-friendly, the sky is the limit. I project you’ll see Facebook go after LinkedIn or develop something similar. Twitter could be a possible acquisition. MySpace? That will be interesting especially as Zuckerburg feels the under 13 crowd should be on Facebook. With MySpace, he’d give them more reason to do so… or maybe justification. Foursquare? Some type of merger would be practical. How about the rumors that Apple is stockpiling their cash for a run at Facebook? Now THAT would be very interesting!

On the other front is Google. Certainly, they are a search powerhouse. And, with their acquisition of YouTube, they now have the top two search engines. Yes, YouTube is used for search even more than Yahoo and Bing. But, Google has not done well with social media. Think GoogleBuzz and GoogleWave. So, at what point does Google and Facebook realize they’ve each cornered their own parts of the market. Maybe even covering the whole market? Would that then create the possibility of a Google-Facebook merger? Just think of THOSE possibilities! And, now that Microsoft has purchased Skype, maybe the celestial landscape will include Skype… albeit with an improved mobile application.

So, the winning combination in one way, shape or form is… Search, Social, Mobile. I like to call it the Digital Holy Trinity!

*This post was originally posted on this site May 2011.

Author’s note – As for Google +, it remains to be seen what happens with Google’s latest attempt at social media.  I, for one, believe it will also fall by the wayside as their other attempts within social media have in the past.


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Integrated Franchise Marketing For Franchise Success At All Levels

Posted on by Paul Segreto

Integrated Franchise Marketing (IFM) is a term we use at franchisEssentials to describe a comprehensive approach to achieving multiple goals and objectives within start-up, emerging and mature franchise organizations. IFM directs its focus on creating or improving brand awareness for the franchise organization at local, regional and national levels, driving revenue for franchisees, and generating genuine interest in the franchise concept itself.

The key to IFM is the development of a comprehensive marketing strategy that benefits the entire franchise organization, and is in line with the goals and objectives of all parties to the franchise agreement. It includes coordination at all levels to deliver concise, consistent messages that ultimately ensures positive results at franchisee and franchisor levels including:

Franchisee Level

* Local brand awareness
* Increased sales
* Improved communications with corporate office
* Improved communications with fellow franchisees
* Improved profitability
* Increased business value

Franchisor Level

* Regional & National brand awareness
* Increased royalty revenue
* Improved communications with franchisees
* Improved franchisee validation
* Increased interest in franchise concept
* Improved profitability

IFM works within traditional marketing methods and processes through and in conjunction with a very wide spectrum of non-traditional marketing and today’s unique, innovative tools and technology including the many aspects of social media, mobile, and email marketing. In addition, IFM encourages a cohesive, team effort at all levels of the franchise organization through information sharing and process awareness, enhanced by a solid educational approach.

As we are at the halfway point in 2010, and understanding that making things happen in the third quarter is crucial to overall success for the year, there’s no time like the present to develop and implement a plan that will help all within your franchise organization achieve their goals and objectives.

For more information about utilizing Integrated Franchise Marketing (IFM) within your franchise organization please contact Paul Segreto by email or by phone at 832.838.4822.


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Exclusive Mobile Marketing Program for Franchise Organizations

Posted on by Paul Segreto

Are your franchisees struggling for new customers, or to get more business from their existing customers, in today’s difficult economic environment

Do your franchisees complain that they can’t afford to advertise to get more customers?

Does your corporate staff have a difficult time getting franchisees to read important emails or updates on the company Intranet?

Does your franchise development staff need additional methods of generating leads for prospective franchisees?

Would you like an easy-to-use, high ROI, low-cost way to solve these problems?

If so, please continue reading because Mobile Marketing is the answer!

Studies have shown that mobile marketing has the highest ROI of any direct marketing medium, are read by 97% of recipients within 15 minutes, and because 84% of consumers keep their cell phone within 10 feet of them at all times, mobile messages have an AVERAGE response rate of 15%.

Strategic Partnership Benefits Franchise Industry

And we can help your franchise organization take advantage of this incredible marketing medium through a new strategic partnership between franchisEssentials and Strategic Growth Concepts, who recently entered into an agreement to become a Certified Solutions Provider for a leading Mobile Marketing services firm.

Because of franchisEssentials Integrated Franchise Marketing initiatives, we have requested and received authorization from our strategic partner and the Mobile Marketing services firm to offer a special Franchise Incentive Program for franchise organizations interested in taking advantage of the benefits of Mobile Marketing.

FREE Mobile Marketing Account

For a limited time only, we’re offering franchisors a FREE mobile marketing account for the corporate office that achieves a minimum percentage of franchisees signing up to participate in the program individually. And the FREE corporate account remains in force as long as the franchise system maintains the minimum percentage of franchisees also participating in the program! And we’ll help sign them up!

This means that your franchisees can begin sending unlimited text messages for as little as $25 per month, and the corporate office can begin sending them for FREE! Since text messages are typically read within 15 minutes and have an exceptional ROI, franchisees can start increasing revenue immediately, and you can start generating franchisee leads, marketing on a chain-wide basis, and communicating more effectively with your current franchisees!

Franchise Organizations Are Using Mobile Marketing

Click the links below to learn how several franchise organizations are using Mobile Marketing, and the successful results they’re experiencing:

Little Caesar’s Mobile Campaign Nets 62% Opt-in

Popeye’s Mobile Campaign Garners 54% Opt-in

Mobile Marketing Ideas from National Brands

Learn More About Our Special Offer and New Mobile Club

If you would like to learn more about Mobile Marketing and to take advantage of this special offer, please TEXT the word FRANCHISE to 244326. This will opt your organization in to franchisEssentials Mobile Club, and notify us to schedule a FREE demonstration for your organization.

Members of our Mobile Club will be eligible for future special offers, and will receive weekly tips on using Mobile Marketing to benefit your business. If you prefer not to join the Mobile Club but would still like to receive the FREE demonstration, contact us by email at paulsegreto@FMDpro.com. Please be sure to mention keyword FRANCHISE.


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Mobile Marketing in a Franchise Environment

Posted on by Paul Segreto

SGC BannerThe following article was written by Guest Author, Linda Daichendt. Linda is Founder, CEO and Managing Consultant at Strategic Growth Concepts, a consulting firm that specializies in start-up, small and mid-sized businesses.

During my recent guest appearance on a segment of the FranchisEssentials Show on BlogTalkRadio, we discussed briefly how franchise organizations can benefit from Mobile Marketing. I thought it might be useful to expand on that discussion by providing show co-hosts Paul Segreto and Joel Libava (The Franchise King) with a listing of more ways in which franchise organizations can benefit from the use of Mobile Marketing. The following are a few of my thoughts on this topic:

With Franchisees/Potential Franchisees

• Provide consistent messaging to franchisees regarding upcoming deadlines or special events via text messages, voice messages, or mobile websites
• Receive inquiries from potential franchise candidates asking to receive initial franchise information and to request initial contact
• Send messages via voice mail or text to relay the date for upcoming potential franchise candidate seminars based upon those earlier registrations
• Have franchise seminar attendees complete a survey about the event and indicate interest in continuing conversation

With Consumers

• Mobile contest registrations
• Mobile customer loyalty program registrations
• Fitness franchises; sign up consumers for FREE introductory visit and/or post exercise class schedules for existing members
• Restaurants; allow consumers to make reservations
• Plumbing, locksmith, electrician, other trade franchises; post emergency numbers on mobile websites, allow consumers to contact you via text at those numbers
• Distribute coupons to registered consumers
• Provide information regarding upcoming sales and/or discounts available
• Have consumers complete surveys about products/services
• Restaurants; allow consumers to place food orders in advance for pick-up or immediate seating upon arrival
• Restaurants/fast food; allow consumers to place food orders for delivery
• Utilize GPS mobile technology to notify registered consumers who drive into a targeted geographic area about a limited-time (1 hr) only offer to initiate immediate response
• Real estate franchises can send home listings to potential buyers for review and selection
• Real estate franchises can add an SMS code (text number) to the signs posted at each listing which will enable consumers to indicate an interest in seeing the house; and enable real estate agents to respond immediately
• Maid services franchises and other trade franchises; allow consumers to schedule appointments via mobile
• Fitness clubs/tanning salons/hair salons; allow consumers to schedule appointments and/or send appointment cancellations and/or request re-schedules
• Fitness clubs/tanning salons; allow consumers to make monthly payments via mobile
• Florists/candy store/gift store franchises; allow consumers to place orders for delivery
• Florists/candy store/gift store franchises; allow consumers to check on status of orders placed
• Florists/candy store/gift store franchises; distribute special offers to registered consumers to encourage early ordering during peak seasons such as Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day

Obviously, this list is in no way comprehensive as the ways that Mobile Marketing can be utilized by franchise organizations are limited only by your imagination. Mobile provides an extremely cost-effective and efficient method of reaching target audiences. It works well as a stand-alone marketing strategy, but works extremely well as part of a multi-media strategy in which all media being utilized are integrated for maximum effectiveness.

If your firm is interested in learning more about Mobile Marketing and the ways in which your firm can benefit from its use, please visit the Mobile Marketing section of our website, or contact me directly at linda@StrategicGrowthConcepts.com and indicate you were referred by FranchisEssentials in order to receive your FREE one-hour Mobile Marketing consultation.

Mobile Marketing Can “Mobilize” Franchising

Posted on by Paul Segreto

SGC BannerThe following article was written by Guest Author, Linda Daichendt. Linda is Founder, CEO and Managing Consultant at Strategic Growth Concepts, a consulting firm specializing in start-up, small and mid-sized businesses. She is a recognized expert with 20+ years experience in providing Marketing, Operations, HR, and Strategic planning services to start-up, small and mid-sized businesses. Linda can be contacted at linda@strategicgrowthconcepts.com and the company website at www.strategicgrowthconcepts.com.

Mobile Marketing Can “Mobilize” Franchising

Given the precarious state of today’s economy, franchise organizations are on ‘high alert’ for new ways of increasing their franchise development capabilities and helping their franchisees to increase revenues. While recent technology advances provide a variety of methodologies that can be useful in achieving these goals, there is one that has only recently come to the forefront of marketer’s awareness – Mobile Marketing. While you may not yet have heard a lot about it, be assured that in the very near future, you will need to know as much about it as you previously needed to know about direct mail, telemarketing, radio or TV.

Consider the cell phone and its capabilities if you will: recent studies indicate that there are currently more than 272 million mobile phone users in the U.S. (89% of the total population); of those phones, 99% are text capable and 57% of those mobile subscribers use texting on a regular basis; 15% of active mobile phones have the ability to utilize mobile web applications and 44 million people regularly access the mobile web from their cell phones; and over 84% of cell phone owners won’t leave home without the device. These statistics lend legitimacy to the school of thought that indicates that Mobile Marketing is likely to become a substantial portion of corporate marketing budget expenditures within the next few years.

mobilemarketingpanelGiven that, marketers will likely be intrigued by the following facts about Mobile Marketing derived from recent studies: over 80% of consumers respond to SMS messages within 1 hour; 23% of SMS campaign messages are forwarded and become viral; and the messages sent via mobile are actionable and trackable thru specific consumer replies.

I recently gave a presentation to a group of franchisors and franchisees on the topic of Mobile Marketing for franchises, and how its use can aid franchise growth and profitability. I was very pleased by the group’s positive response and interest in the topic, and the many excellent questions that were posed by the event attendees. Given the high level of interest by that group, I thought blog readers from the franchising industry might have an interest in the topic as well. Therefore, I wanted to share some basic Mobile Marketing information, as well as provide several ideas for how it can be utilized in a franchising environment.

First, let’s review what it is. Mobile Marketing is a simple to use, targeted and measurable method of reaching consumers anywhere, anytime via their mobile phones. There are a variety of methods of Mobile Marketing, among them are:

• SMS (short message service)
o Also known as ‘texting’
• MMS (multi-media message service)
o Messages that contain multi-media objects such as images, video and audio
• Mobile Web
o Browser-based web services such as the World Wide Web using a mobile device
• Bluetooth (short-range wireless technology; up to approx. 33 ft)
o Also known as proximity marketing
o The localized wireless distribution of advertising content associated with a particular place. In other words, if you have a cell phone in the proximity of a marketing broadcast, you would be able to receive a message or advertisement
• Location-Based Marketing
o Delivers multi-media directly to the user of a mobile device dependent upon their location via GPS technology
• QR Codes (quick-response barcodes)
o Two-dimensional barcode
• Voice

Next, let’s review several ways in which franchise organizations can utilize Mobile Marketing; these ideas include:

• a franchisor can communicate with all franchisees in their organization at one time via text message to remind them about an upcoming deadline or special event, insuring a timely and consistent message delivery
• a fitness club franchise can post class schedules or let potential customers sign up for an initial free visit on their mobile device
• a restaurant franchise can post seasonal menus or send coupons to their customer database
• a plumbing franchise can list rates and emergency numbers for consumer referral
• a franchisor can send voice messages to a group of prospective franchisees taking part in the franchise development process all at once; the franchisor can insure that all receive the same accurate version of the message, and they can save payroll costs because it takes only moments to have the message sent once instead of hours for personnel to make the calls directly
• many, many other ways that will drive business growth thru franchise development and/or increased consumer demand

Mobile Marketing is extremely cost-effective and results in very satisfactory ROI; with a typical ROI of 10 – 12% and returns as high as 30% reported on some campaigns. According to Nielsen Mobile, half of all U.S. mobile data users, or 28 million people, who recall seeing mobile advertising in the previous 30 days say they responded to a mobile ad.

Driving Customers to Franchise Locations with Mobile Marketing

Posted on by Paul Segreto

Strategic Marketing Concepts, a Strategic Partner of franchisEssentials, is a leading expert on Mobile Marketing. Below is a quick glance at how a small business can use mobile marketing as described on the Strategic Marketing Concepts website and blog. We highly recommend visiting these sites to learn more about this exciting technology, and trust you’ll find the information valuable enough to share with your franchisees individually, or through your franchise organization’s advertising cooperatives.

mobile-marketingHow Can a Small Business Use Mobile Marketing?

•a fitness club can post class schedules
•a restaurant can post seasonal menus or coupons
•a school can send voice messages to parents to remind them to attend parents’ night
•a locksmith can list after-hours contact numbers
•a manufacturer can survey customers about a new product
•a plumber can list rates and emergency numbers
•a bookstore can post special events such as guest appearances by well-known authors
•a theater can post movie schedules
•a nightclub can promote appearances by various entertainers
•a grocery store can post weekly coupons and special offers
•a bank can notify customers if their account is going to be overdrawn
•a radio station can have listeners enter a contest
•many, many other ways that will drive business

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Huge Growth Projected for Social Media, Mobile and Email Marketing!

Posted on by Paul Segreto

As the following article and graph points out, it is projected that social media marketing, mobile marketing and email marketing will experience huge growth through the year 2014. franchisEssentials has projected the same, and has geared up to provide clients comprehensive, technologically advanced marketing services and strategies. Complementing its own expertise and increasing success in social media marketing, franchisEssentials has recently aligned itself with several leading marketing and support organizations. To address email marketing and mobile marketing, it has entered into Strategic Partnerships with iVideo Makers (aka Franchise Video Makers) and Strategic Growth Concepts.

iVideo Makers bring an exciting combination of video and audio products that take email marketing to new levels of message delivery and professionalism. Quite frankly, nothing compares. It’s newest product, iVidMail is state-of-the-art and is used to create video email campaigns with extensive audio and video capabilities, complemented by an expansive tracking and reporting system.

Strategic Growth Concepts utilizes years of experience and expertise in mobile marketing and cellular technology to create successful mobile marketing campaigns for franchise organizations and independent small businesses alike. Utilizing more strategy than a particular product, and capitalizing on the increasing popularity of the iPhone and Blackberry, Strategic Growth Concepts keeps itself on the leading edge of the rapidly expanding mobile marketing market.

franchisEssentials has also entered into Strategic Partnerships with Arment Dietrich PR, Open Box, SmartFinds Marketing and AssociAD. These highly successful organizations are focused on public relations, custom software development and tech support, internet marketing and direct mail marketing, respectively. franchisEssentials is excited by its ability to offer clients extensive and comprehensive marketing and emarketing services, as a one-stop marketing and development company, for years to come.

Forrester Predicts Huge Growth for Social Media Marketing [and Mobile Marketing and Email Marketing]
as posted on Marketing Pilgrim Friday, April 24th, 2009 by Andy Beal

Forrester Research is holding its own conference (Forrester’s Marketing Forum 2009) down in Orlando and has just revealed its predictions for the growth of online advertising. The bottom line is that social media and mobile will be the hottest, but just about everything will see an upward trend.
social-media-marketing-figures1