QR Code Archives

Get started with Mobile Marketing – Part 4, SMS Text Message
Can SMS Text Message Marketing help your business? It depends upon the type of business you have and the customers you serve.

So far, we’ve looked at What is Mobile Marketing in Part 1, What is Location Based Marketing in Part 2, and the best ways to implement QR Codes in Part 3.

SMS/MMS/Text Message Marketing

Much like email marketing, sms or text message marketing is a great way to reach your customers. Mobile messages have an astonishing 99% open rate. The primary difference between sms vs mms is that sms is text only, while mms can include images, audio, and video as well.

Where SMS Marketing Shines:
1. Event promotions
2. Promoting physical locations (discounts, specials, or new products and services)
3. Integrating in to traditional media campaigns (radio, print, tv)
4. Lots more
How to Opt In to SMS Marketing:
1. Text a short code to a specific number from your phone
2. Visit a specific page within a website to fill in via a computer
3. Scan a QR code
SMS Providers:
1. EZ Texting – a free way to get started building your list and pay when you are ready to send messages. Integrates with email systems. You can join mine at:
  
  Get special offers from Courtney Engle Robertson & Simple Local Business
  
  Phone Number
  
  Msg&data rates may apply. To unsubscribe, text STOP to 313131 (393939 in Canada). For help text HELP anytime.
  Available in USA & Canada. Your privacy is always protected and your information will not be shared. Powered by EZ Texting
2. Trumpia – one stop shop for all multimedia marketing, including email services.
I’d love to hear if you implement SMS marketing into your strategy this year. Leave a comment below.
January 13, 2014

Courtney Engle Robertson

Mobile Marketing

mobile marketing, QR Code, Short Message Service, SMS, Text messaging
Get Started with Mobile Marketing – Part 3 QR Codes
In parts 1 and 2, we looked at other things to do before jumping in to QR codes. If you haven’t yet read those posts, go do them now.

To scan a QR code, I like the Google app on iOS, using the Google Goggles feature. I aspire to consolidate the number of apps I have on my iPhone, and a stand-alone QR code reader isn’t necessary. Just click in the search box, and select the camera icon to scan the qr code.

QR Codes: A Fancy Barcode

When explaining what a qr code is to people, I liken it to a fancy bar code that can do a lot of things. Most bar codes are designed for cash register scanners to input the price and monitor inventory. With a smartphone that has a camera built in, QR codes are capable of much more:
1. Direct people to a website (make sure it is completely mobile-ready) which ultimately can be used to do a wide variety of things
2. Bookmark a website
3. Make a phone call
4. Send an SMS
5. Send an E-mail
6. Create a vCard (saves a contact to your address book)
7. Create a meCard (similar to a vCard)
8. Create a vCalendar Event (save an event to your calendar app)
9. Launch Google Maps
10. Launch Bing Maps
11. Geographical coordinates (for other mapping)
12. Android Market Search
13. Youtube
14. Encode latest Tweet
15. Tweet on Twitter
16. Twitter Profile Image Overlay
17. Blackberry Messenger PIN
18. Wifi Network for Android (connect to your friend’s wifi at their house by scanning a QR code without entering a password)
19. Free formatted text (display a plain text document on the phone)
I use an app on my Mac to create high quality QR codes.

QR Codes Are Misused

QR codes have been widely adopted by Japanese smartphone users, but haven’t gotten the same fanfare in North America. Primarily because marketers rushed to implement them without considering what happens from the users perspective. Common problems include:
1. The QR code is a low-quality graphic (these need to be high-resolution files the further away the user is scanning)
2. QR codes redirecting people to a non-mobile website (why would they want to see that on their phones?)
3. No prompts for what the user will find when they scan the code or incentive to do so
4. Placing the QR codes where people will likely have no mobile phone reception or is otherwise unsafe (billboards on the highway, the back of the company truck, subways, and airplanes)
5. Assuming using QR codes covers all your mobile marketing needs
6. Not tracking how many people scan the QR code and what action they take (how will you know if it works?)
7. Putting QR codes on websites – if I’m already on the site from the computer, I don’t really want to open it on mobile (and if I ever have a reason, I can do so without your help)
For a quick read and a good laugh at the marketing blunders companies have made, see Scott Stratten‘s book: QR Codes Kill Kittens.

QR Codes Can Be Awesome

I got an early Christmas present from my parents – a new Samsung Smart TV! I started to unbox it and was slightly stumped at the stand. I needed to assemble this correctly and thought that I had, but I don’t want my new big screen tv to wobble and unexpectedly face-plant onto the living room floor. It mattered to me that every screw was exactly in place as it should. So – I scanned the helpful QR code in the packaging that auto-played a demonstration video.

I’ve also needed a quick way to move a website that I’m looking at on my computer to my iPhone (like testing my clients websites). For that, I have a Chrome extension that I right-click on the site to display a QR code that I scan from my phone.
December 16, 2013

Courtney Engle Robertson

Mobile Marketing

BlackBerry Messenger, Google, Google Goggles, iOS, iphone, QR Code, Scott Stratten, Uniform Resource Locator
Get started with Mobile Marketing – Part 1
Is your business ready to get started with mobile marketing? Before even beginning, it’s important to first understand what mobile marketing includes.

Over the course of the next few weeks, we will start reviewing each of the categories of mobile marketing, as well as exploring new areas yet emerging.

What is Mobile Marketing?
1. Mobile websites
2. Location-based marketing
3. QR codes
4. SMS messages (like email newsletters)
5. Mobile ads
6. Mobile paid search
7. Apps
Mobile websites

Ensuring that your website works well on mobile is the first priority before venturing into any other aspect of mobile marketing. If you attempt any other thing first and customers click your call to action and land on a non-mobile website, it will only infuriate them and make you look bad.

Mobile Landing Pages

A website with mobile landing pages are useful when limiting users to a specific call to action. Like any landing page, the goal is to attract visitors to that specific page for a single purpose.

This is not meant to replace your entire website, but to only provide the necessary information. These are ideal for users that have scanned a QR code, but never a good replacement for the whole site.

Remember that if your blog post is shared to social media websites, people will be clicking through from Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or elsewhere to read your blog post. If the mobile landing page or a scaled back mobile website overrides their ability to read the blog post, something is very wrong with your settings. They want to read the blog post; help them do that!

I really like the University of Phoenix mobile landing page. It includes a click to call phone number as well as categories of service and a location finder with a big submit button that is great for thumbs.

Stand alone mobile websites

A standalone mobile website is usually proceeded with a letter m such as m.yoursite.com. This will work to automatically redirect mobile visitors to your mobile site. Essentially, you’re duplicating your entire website in a mobile version. The problem with this method is that you must be sure that you can figure many settings correctly so the Google doesn’t think that you are duplicating your website which could lead to penalties.

Mobile Themes

A mobile theme will convert your website. This approach will work if the theme for your website is not mobile responsive. I like using WP-Touch for this on my clients websites that aren’t ready to change the entire theme for their site. By adding in a plug-in for a mobile theme, the website will look good on a mobile device although it won’t look like the same theme that they get on the computer.

Mobile Responsive Design

Mobile responsive design will be the best choice when building out a new website or overhauling the team of your existing website. Mobile response of websites automatically scale every element of your entire website including photos and videos so that they display properly weather on a phone, a tablet, or any other mobile device.

This is the best solution for the look of your entire website, although mobile landing pages may still be a great option to include as well for additional elements like QR codes or links to specific mobile-only calls to action.

Next week: What is location-based mobile marketing

Because mobile marketing is such a large topic, join me next week as we review what is location-based mobile marketing.
November 18, 2013

Courtney Engle Robertson

Mobile Marketing

Mobile device, mobile marketing, Mobile Web, mobile website, QR Code
Getting Your Website Found Locally With Website Code
There are a few factors that help your website get found locally by search engines, starting with website code. It is important to ensure these elements are included in the code of your website so that the search engines know that your business serves a specific region and provides that to local search results.

Schema

Schema.org is a standard of search results that Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and others have accepted. It helps tell the search engines if you have a physical location, what type of business you provide, if you are sharing a recipe or an event, or many more options. If you have a physical location, you will want to include the local schema markup on related pages. An example of a snippet of schema code would result in this (ideal for a contact page):

[schema type=”organization” orgtype=”LocalBusiness” url=”https://courtneyengle.com” name=”Courtney Engle” description=”Helping Small Business Owners Streamline Social Media, Local SEO, WordPress, and Mobile Marketing” city=”Chambersburg” state=”PA” postalcode=”17202″ country=”US” phone=”6574644837″ ]

If you have a WordPress website, I recommend these schema plugins:
1. WordPress SEO with the Local SEO added on by Yoast
2. Schema Creator – great for listing organization addresses, reviews, events, and recipes.
3. Local Search SEO Contact Page
GeoTags

Geographical identification metadata should be included in media such as a geotagged photograph or video, websites, SMS messages, QR Codes, and RSS feeds. By including this code into your site, you are telling search engines that all your media is based in your location, though it isn’t visible to viewers of your website. You can get your code to embed into the header or footer code of your website from 51blocks. This will help mobile searchers land on your business while they are nearby.

HCard

When visitors to your site want directions to get to your location, you need to provide them with data that their GPS devices can use. Often they will click on this information on their mobile phones to launch Google Maps or Apple Maps.

Courtney EngleSimple Local Businesscourane01@gmail.comSocial Media, Local SEO, WordPress and Mobile Marketing
Chambersburg,
PA
17202

USA
6574644837

http://simplelocalbusiness.com
October 10, 2013

Courtney Engle Robertson

Local SEO

Chambersburg Pennsylvania, courtney engle, Google, Local search (Internet), mobile marketing, QR Code, Web search engine, wordpress

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Get started with Mobile Marketing – Part 4, SMS Text Message

SMS/MMS/Text Message Marketing

Where SMS Marketing Shines:

How to Opt In to SMS Marketing:

SMS Providers:

Get special offers from Courtney Engle Robertson & Simple Local Business

Get Started with Mobile Marketing – Part 3 QR Codes

QR Codes: A Fancy Barcode

QR Codes Are Misused

QR Codes Can Be Awesome

Get started with Mobile Marketing – Part 1

What is Mobile Marketing?

Mobile websites

Mobile Landing Pages

Stand alone mobile websites

Mobile Themes

Mobile Responsive Design

Next week: What is location-based mobile marketing

Getting Your Website Found Locally With Website Code

Schema

GeoTags

HCard