As consumers go over the river and through the woods this holiday season they may be shopping along the way via their smartphone. There are more than 50 million smartphones in the United Sates, and according to the National Retail Federation one in four will use the device to research or make a holiday purchase. This does not even include other mobile devices such as the iPad.
Adding mobile commerce to your online sales strategy is an easy way to increase the reach of an online store and increase sales; after all, your mobile commerce strategy encompasses your email marketing promotions. Your email marketing service should provide easy-to-use options that make your campaigns mobile friendly. (Hint: If you use graphic-rich HTML in your emails, they already are mobile friendly.) Your email marketing service should also provide good analytics that include the ability to track open rates and engagement activity for each recipient.
Below are a few tips to help you drive in mobile business this holiday:
* Give them a gift that fits. Make sure that your email marketing promotion allows users to view the message in an easy-to-read format. A good service provider will include a default link at the top of each email campaign that gives subscribers the option to view the email as a Web page. Using a single column layout helps make content easily readable in the small real estate available on mobile phone screens.
* Keep the merrymaking effortless. Make it simple for mobile users to view your images. Make sure graphics are small—in some cases, large graphics will not download on a mobile device. You also want to be careful to not clutter the message with too many images. Add a festive graphic and a few photos of popular gift items or a discount coupon that is hyperlinked to your site. Include your terms and conditions in your email so that the only thing your subscribers needs to do is show their mobile device with your promotion to the cashier to redeem the offer in-store.
* Dust off the decor. Spruce up your email template with snowflakes, red-capped reindeer, or candy canes. If you’re new to this type of marketing, look for an email marketing service that includes integrated editing capabilities. This cuts out the need for additional graphics programs that can be expensive and hard to use.
* Extend the festivities with QR codes. They’re new, and a lot of folks are curious about them so why not try it? A QR code is a square barcode that contains URLs, location coordinates, contact information, or other text. If you search “QR code generator” on Google you will find all sorts of free tools to make the code. QR codes can drive traffic to your online store without users’ having to type in a URL. You can place a QR code in your email that links to a holiday special or include one in your printed advertisements. The code allows enabled devices to simply scan and go right to your Website.
You can also use it to get new email subscribers right in your brick-and-mortar store. How? By getting a QR code for your sign-up form and having in-store customers scan the code on their smartphone and then enter their email address on the spot, right from their phone.
Mélanie Attia is the product marketing manager for email marketing solutions provider Campaigner.
