Marketers are a buzz over the potential mobile marketing offers. Experts predict that almost half of US mobile phone users will have a smart phone by the end of 2011, so interest in marketing to mobile users has reached a tipping point.
Social media marketing appears to be the “low hanging fruit” in mobile marketing. According to Simon Salt, author of Social Location Marketing, it is defined as marketing based on location sharing applications like Foursquare, GoWalla, Facebook Places, and Yelp. These applications let members of a user’s social network know where they are and what they are doing at that location. The user “checks in” via the application on their smart phone.
What are some social marketing techniques that businesses can use to leverage mobile applications and social networks?
Coupons
Many retail establishments now offer discounts when someone nearby checks in on Foursquare. Think how much more effective a coupon is when it is delivered to prospects near the actual store, vs. left in the Sunday newspaper. Coupons range from a free coffee drink at a fast food establishment to a free appetizer at a restaurant.
Sweepstakes
There are free sweepstakes, such as a “7-Eleven Check-In to Space,” which offered a chance to win tickets to the Super 8 movie, a free zero gravity experience, and a sub-orbital flight. Just like off line contests, social media contests must adhere to sweepstakes rules and regulations.
Mayor Reward
Repeat business is generated when members of social networks to compete for the title of Mayor of a locale, a title Foursquare gives to the person who most frequently checks in to a location. Places provide incentives to the mayor, such free sub sandwich for the mayor.
Trips
The Gowalla application has a trips function which works something like a scavenger hunt. People can pursue a “trip”, which is a series of locations a related to a theme. By using the smart phone to check in at each location, participants complete the trip. Examples of trip applications are as follows:
Education-visitors to a venue can check-in to various places to add interest to their visit, such as the Fort Worth Zoo Safari, which serves as a personal guided tour. The application shares interesting facts about each exhibit, while visitors contribute to the content by sharing pictures of the jaguars, tigers, and elephants.
Sponsor Reward-The Social Media Club of Dallas offered a thank you tour for its sponsors that offered members prizes for completing a trip by checking in to its various sponsor locations. This served to encourage sponsor patronage.
Enhancing Membership-Chamber of Commerce organizations can create new member trips, demonstrating value in the membership by encouraging existing member to patronize their respective businesses through completion of a trip.
In conclusion, there are a variety of promotions and discounts already being used by businesses and organizations to generate trial, build repeat business, enrich the experience, and add value to the membership.
There is much discussion about how effective these new social location marketing activities are. However, history has demonstrated that businesses that enter a new marketing channel can reap disproportionate response rates while the field remains uncrowded.
Ready, set, check in!