What you you using to drive Black Friday Sales?

There is no doubt that mobile has made its dent in the retail space and marketers are not only increasingly using the medium this holiday season to drive in-store traffic, but educating consumers to turn to their mobile devices first to make purchases.  So what have you done in your business to attract the mobile client?

Did you know that every holiday season, brands and retailers come up with new ways to increase sales. Over the past few years, many have integrated mobile into their strategies and have found success.  Our findings reinforce that mobile is not just another channel.

We live in a technology-driven cultural phenomenon that is changing how people are connecting to brands and commerce.  With more consumers shopping on their devices, brands are being provided with more mobile moments to address and create impact – even during a time of turkey, football, and family.

As mobile becomes the primary way for more and more people to connect to digital – including commerce – we’ll find that every day is mobile, not just Thursday or Monday.

Mobile only
Did you know that the retail market is embracing and igniting “Mobile Thursday” by early store hours or online sales?  Don't get left behind by not having a mobile strategy!

Take eBay for example. The company is ramping up its mobile efforts by heavily promoting mobile-only deals, which begin at 5:23 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

According to a recent study by Digitas, 28 percent of smartphone or tablet-owning adults plan to shop on Thanksgiving Day for the holidays with their mobile devices. This will be nearly double the percentage from 2011.

Furthermore, 29 percent of smartphone or tablet owners say that they have or plan to use their mobile device to assist with upcoming Thanksgiving holiday preparations. That number rises to 40 percent when focused on adults aged 18-34.

So NOW is the time to get your business mobile ready!  It's not too late.  Yes, many will be shopping this coming Black Friday yet we are all looking for the best deal. 

Contact us TODAY to get started:  www.beachbumsmarketing.com

IS YOUR WEBSITE COMPATIBLE WITH MOBILE PHONE BROWSERS...

That's the million dollar question!

Can your customers easily get to product information, services, contact information, or locations?

 

Does your site fit to the mobile browser window or do you have to scroll around to navigate on your phone?

 

Just because you have a website doesn't mean that your website is suitable for a mobile phone. For example, iPhone and iPad are not compatible with flash players therefore those users cannot access your site.

 

Mobile Websites solve that problem for you... we take your website and redesign it to fit all smartphones so mobile users can easily access and navigate through your website. The most successful companies in the world have mobile websites and mobile apps so why don't you?

 

If you are not mobile right now, you are likely missing over 30% of your highest demographic customers... don't let that be you!

You need to start somewhere, Mobile Websites are the perfect and most affordable way to get started!

 

 

www.beachbumsmarketing.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is Your Website Mobile Ready?

Driving on the freeway today I see signs everywhere asking me to download the latest mobile app such as "download The Toll Roads mobile app today." 

On the radio I'm asked to download the Vons app for additional savings while shopping at their market....mobile apps are getting popular.

With most people using their smartphone over the personal computers to search on where to go for shopping or a meal out with family and/or friends, they will use the phone to find that special place.

Is your business website mobile ready?  Will they click on your site and browse or will they click away?

The choice is yours.....get mobile today with Beach Bums Marketing.  Your full service social media partner.

www.beachbumsmarketing.com

Dunkin’ Donuts gives mobile payments app a jolt with targeted offers

 

The deals section of the Dunkin' Donuts app

Dunkin’ Donuts is strengthening its position in the mobile space by updating its commerce-enabled application with location-based offers that reward consumers for paying through their handsets.
Since launching its app earlier this year, Dunkin’ Donuts has been aggressively marketing it with multiple campaigns. The Dunkin’ Donuts app is available for iPhone and Android devices.
“Dunkin’ Donuts guests are always on the go, and increasingly reliant on mobile devices,” said Scott Hudler, vice president of global consumer engagement for Dunkin’ Brands, Canton, MA.

 

“By enhancing the Dunkin’ app to include special discounts and promotional offers on Dunkin’ foods and beverages, Dunkin’ Donuts is rewarding loyal fans and deepening the brand’s connection with people who make Dunkin’ Donuts part of their daily lives,” he said.

“As a nearly 100 percent-franchised company, it is strategic to have different offers by market that will resonate with local guests. We also believe that the vast majority of Dunkin’ Donuts mobile offers will be redeemed by guests at local Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants near where they live or work. We have no plans for national mobile offers at this time, but it is something we might explore in the future.”

Dunkin’ Brands includes both Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins.

Targeted offers
The updated Dunkin’ Donuts app now includes a “My Offers” tab.

The app uses a device’s built-in GPS to find nearby offers for food and drink items at Dunkin’ Donuts. Consumers can then click on an offer, which brings up a mobile bar code that is scanned by an employee at the point of sale.

The feature is being rolled out to some markets this week with other markets planned in the coming months.

Examples of offers include buy-one-get-one-free and discounted drinks.

Additionally, consumers can still pay for food and drinks via the app by loading a Dunkin’ Donuts Card and showing a bar code to check-out. Consumers can also send gift cards to friends and family, find the nearest store and view nutritional information.


Mobile coffee
Dunkin’ Donuts initially launched its mobile payment app in August.
Since then, the company has been actively promoting it through several campaigns that include social media and mobile advertising.

Most recently, Dunkin’ Donuts ran a targeted mobile ad campaign inside the Weather Channel iPhone app to encourage consumers to download the app.

By adding deals to the app, Dunkin’ Donuts is able to not only lure in new users but also drive repeat app usage with time-sensitive content.

The market for mobile payments with small, everyday items such as coffee has a lot of competition in it.

For example, Dunkin’ Donuts competitor Starbucks Coffee has been steadily building a mobile strategy around its branded payment app. Most recently the company announced that it processes more than two million mobile payment transactions per day.

“We have seen a lot of success in engagement through our mobile and location-based promotions over the past few years,” Mr. Hudler said.

“Continuing to expand our mobile presence and location-based promotions will be an important part of our marketing efforts moving forward,” he said.

“Part of why these programs are so important to Dunkin’ Donuts is that our busy guests are always on the go, so we know that they’re increasingly reliant on their smartphones to keep them running. What’s very exciting beyond driving traffic to our restaurants is that these types of programs encourage our guests to engage with us while actually inside a Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant.”

Contact us today to get mobile tomorrow:  www.beachbumsmarketing.com

Get Ready to be Mobile!

Thirty-four percent of all online shoppers make purchases on their mobile devices. 

And by the year 2015, Juniper Research expects that the m-commerce market will surge to account for $670 billion in world-wide retail sales.

No matter how you feel about m-commerce, these projections are hard to ignore. So if you're looking to maximize your profit margins and get the most out of your e-commerce experience, then having a mobile extension of your online store is a modern necessity.

Now that the world has gone mobile, maybe its time you should too!

Contact Us To Get Mobile Now!  

info@beachbumsmarketing.com

www.BeachBumsMarketing.com 

3 Critical Mobile Marketing Insights

1. Mobile will bury the PC.

When some, like me, say that PCs will die, it doesn't mean disappear. There are things you can do only on a machine with enough power and screen real estate. However, that number is going to quickly get smaller than the number of mobile devices.

According to Meeker, by the end of 2013, there will be about 160 Android devices, 80 million iOS devices, and 100 million Windows devices shipping per quarter. That's 2.4 times as many "mobile operating system" products than the old Windows standard. Meeker also thinks that by the end of the second quarter in 2013, the installed base of tablets and smartphones will be larger than the installed PC base.

Have you been ignoring mobile? Then you're already behind the times and had best get a move on.

2. You cannot ignore tablets.

One of the impressive statistics from Meeker's review in May was the speed at which people were adopting iPads--three times the rate of iPhones. That number has increased, as iPad adoption is now five times as high as iPhones, and that doesn't include the new iPad Mini.

That said, this is a bigger phenomenon than even the hyper focus on Apple would suggest. According to market research firm IDC, Apple's third quarter tablet market share was 50%. Instead of seeing that as a diminution of the iMachine company, see it as an expansion of the overall market.

In other words, you can no longer afford to ignore the tablet as a medium, whether you create apps, deliver online services of any sort to customers, or market electronically.

3. "i" isn't enough.

A common mobile strategy you can see in the market is the focus on all things Apple. Walk into any electronics store and you will see racks, if not aisles, devoted to iThings. A big reason is the ability to address a large group of users with a small set of designs. The same is true for app design, where skipping Android avoids the variability you can find in the platform.

The desire for economy is understood. However, reality should kick in. Android smartphone adoption is growing six times faster than that of the iPhone. There are caveats you can apply from other data. For example, it will include many less expensive units and all sorts of global markets. But to assume you can ignore Android is to say you can safely avoid the biggest part of the potential market.

www.beachbumsmarketing.com

Which mobile channel will reign this holiday season?

Large retailers first to embrace mobile marketing

This holiday season marketers are going to be using different mobile channels such as QR codes, mobile advertising, SMS and applications to drive in-store traffic, engagement and sales. However, which one will lead the pack?

Mobile has changed over the years. Retailers such as Target and Starbucks are using mobile to interact with consumers on a deeper level.

"If the recent CMO Council survey is to be believed, you can ask whether marketers are looking at the holiday season differently this year,” said Jeff Hasen, chief marketing officer at HipCricket, New York.

“Only 16 percent had a mobile strategy,” he said. “Contrast that with mobile users who are way ahead when it comes to mobile and the holidays – 56 percent of mobile shoppers will showroom and 27 percent will buy via their devices, according to Accenture.

"This creates excellent opportunities for mobile-savvy marketers to differentiate and satisfy the needs of the mobile subscriber and sell more stuff.”

‘Tis the seasonAccording to Mr. Hasen, many marketers who will win will provide consumers with mobile choices rather than dictate that interaction happens through one medium or another.

"Marketers should think of inclusive mobile strategies rather than ones that exclude users who have neither the technology nor the interest in interacting in just one way dictated by a brand."

“My wife has adapted her buying experience to include mobile, but the next time she scans a QR code will be the first time,” Mr. Hasen said. “However, if you give her an optimized mobile site, convince her the experience is secure and provide a winning price and convenience, the deal is done.”
Mobile presents marketers with key opportunities to reach consumers like they could never before.
According to the National Retail Federation, online holiday sales are predicted to grow by 12 percent this year and retailers are promoting new tactics to drive sales on mobile devices.

“Because of this, I predict that we will see QR codes utilized by major brands to help facilitate mobile and online sales,” said Laura Marriott, CEO of NeoMedia, Denver.

“Brands will also leverage bar codes to drive customer loyalty through, for example, driving consumers to mobile rebate pages or product comparison pages at the point-of-sale,” he said.

Emerging technologiesIndustry experts agree that brands and retailers will incorporate more mobile initiatives this year.
There will be an increase in some of the basics – such as the establishment of mobile sites, SMS and QR codes – and also an increase in mobile commerce, including NFC, mobile payments and couponing.

“Deloitte predicts that shoppers' smartphone activity, including research, coupon use and purchases, could account for $36 billion in holiday sales this year,” Ms. Marriott said. “As always, online shopping will prove to be the most-utilized forum for holiday shoppers, but we will see much more of the traffic to online sites come from mobile devices,” she said. “Because consumers have a powerful device at their fingertips, marketers need to ensure that their sites are optimized for mobile device access which will ultimately lead to sales.

“This is especially important, seeing that a new report from Gartner found in 2011, 79 percent of major advertisers had not launched a mobile friendly site.”

Ms. Marriott believes that mobile commerce and couponing will continue to be prominent within the industry.

Nowadays, consumers are always looking to save money – especially during the upcoming holiday seasons.

Therefore, coupons will be big. However, mobile coupons will be even more impactful.
Consumers are constantly on-the-go, therefore giving them an option to save coupons to their mobile devices to be redeemed at the point-of-sale will be essential.

“Coupons will offer consumers the opportunity to make an immediate purchase on their device, and this trend will continue to increase as the use of coupons via mobile devices have already risen 10 percent from last year, according to Deloitte,” Ms. Marriott said.

“Additionally, as showrooming remains a critical issue for retailers, we’ll start to see more retailers/brands utilizing mobile to their advantage,” she said.
“For example, they may choose to include a QR code on their packaging/in-store signage to drive consumers to a landing page which compares the product to similar products from other brands, both in price and features.”
According to Vivian Rosenthal, founder/CEO of GoldRun, New York, mobile apps have become the go-to channel for brands for the holidays because they allow brands to connect with consumers while they're on the go, in-store and at home.
"QR codes are being replaced by GPS-based experiences, which don't require the user to scan anything," Ms. Rosenthal said. "And while SMS is in widespread use, it doesn't create a personal or visual connection with the consumer the way a mobile app experience can, if done well.
"Bringing consumers into a dialogue with the brand is critical," she said.
This holiday season, mobile marketing is going to explode and be the biggest way that brands reach consumers in the coming years.
 
"We are anticipating photo sharing on mobile as the go to solution for brands because it creates both a personal connection with the brand and also has the viral effect that the retailers are looking for," Ms. Rosenthal said.

Testing on mobile
The biggest opportunity for retailers and brands this holiday season is to connect and engage with customers via their connected smartphones.
While QR codes, SMS, and the promise of NFC are likely exciting to marketing departments, they are really just vehicles for driving traffic.

"The question every retailer and brand should be asking is 'what experience are we providing to mobile consumers and how can we best drive conversions?' said Wilson Kerr, vice president of business development and sales at Unbound Commerce, Boston.

"Any marketer that is not working in lockstep with their ecommerce team to ensure an optimal mobile commerce experience delivery is simply not paying attention," he said. "An integrated, dedicated mobile commerce site is the obvious first and most-important step to unlocking the door to mobile traffic and subsequent conversions as sales revenue.

"All else is secondary, as there’s no use driving mobile traffic to a site not ready to receive it."
According to Mr. Kerr, real world trigger points such as NFC ad QR codes are hot, but an often overlooked key to mobile commerce success is a rapid seamless checkout process.

"Mobile integration with ecommerce registration allows mobile users to access pre-stored shipping and billing information so this data is autofilled on a mobile device, at checkout," Mr. Kerr said.

Key trends
Although there are many emerging mobile technologies out there, QR codes are becoming a hot commodity.

"QR codes will reign this holiday season,QR codes is the new generation of modern technology innovation," said Isabella Lin, content director at Appitalism, New York.

"Consumers expect immediate service and immediately understanding and knowledge of the product in this holiday season, this only QR can be done," she said. "For the interest of consumers, QR codes can provide all - service projects, the commitment of the transaction in the form of additional benefits, coupons, video lottery, social media interaction.

"Additionally, QR codes also helps ads break through the clutter."
In the past marketers were facing dizzying array of options to help capture the audience's attention and drive sales.

Mobile technology has rapidly gained momentum.

"Mobile and the upcoming holiday season follow with QR code potential is immeasurable, the next generation of bar code, will be held - so much more information and an Internet connection, will not even be necessary," Ms. Lin said.

"The content will be simple and efficiently embedded in the code," she said. "You will see QR code in all areas of the market everywhere."
Proliferation of devices

Over the past few months, there has been a proliferation of new devices including Apple's new iPad mini, iPhone 5 an the new Windows 8 tablet.

Tablets are becoming bigger and bigger each and every day.

"The tablet will rein this holiday season," said Bruce Bennett, CEO of Mad Mobile. "We will witness the first large scale test of the shopping season couch surfer/buyer.

"A recent study shows that 73 percent of consumers prefer to shop on mobile-optimized sites rather than just 27 percent of people who prefer to shop on a mobile app," he said. "So when it comes to shopping this holiday season, mobile-optimized sites will be the primary medium where consumers are engaging with brands.

"It is important to note that mobile shopping does not necessarily mean mobile purchasing. You have two types of mobile shoppers – those using their smartphone to search for information such as store location and hours, price comparison and product reviews, and those who are actually looking to make a purchase on their mobile device. It is equally important to have a mobile-optimized site for both types of shoppers."

Marketers will try to balance their omni-channel efforts. Mr. Bennett believes that spending will increase.

"Microsoft will be a huge player in the rise in spending around their launch of Windows 8," Mr. Bennett said. "Mobile and social ad spend will be a large part of the $1B plus spend for this holiday season rollout.

"Windows 8 is a massive step in the direction of touch management for laptops and tablets," he said. "Mobile marketing was a key contributor to the 2011 holiday shopping season and it will be much bigger in 2012 as more and more consumers are using their mobile devices for shopping.

"Large spend on tablets of all vendors, sizes and price ranges. The widespread rollout of 4G LTE will make true mobile web browsing a reality for mobile phones. Showrooming in its many forms will affect the majority of mobile shoppers. This will be the basis for a mobile-ffirst strategy for holiday seasons to come."

www.beachbumsmarketing.com