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What I learned about Social media, Local, and Mobile Marketing from my Pizzeria.

Posted on 05. Jul, 2010 by Patrick Curl in Mobile Coupons, Mobile Marketing, Social Media

Before joining Brian at MarketingOC, believe it or not I co-owned a Pizzeria.

We owned a franchise of Fox’s Pizza Den, it was only short-lived because of the financial crisis we were basically left to fend for ourselves with no way to get more loans. Nobody was lending, it was a nightmare, and we had to close the doors.  We had actually purchased the business on a lease to own basis, and had to give it back to the original owner.

Through this experience, I had the opportunity to apply my social media know-how to a real-world business. Sure we didn’t necessarily succeed as a business, but that wasn’t for lack of trying, and it sure wasn’t because of our marketing, or lack thereof.

We started the business earning around $2,000 per week and by the end, we were making $3,200 a week. To stay afloat or break even we had to have made $3,600 per week. But all of that’s just gravy now. I’ve moved on – nothing keeps me down, and I’m extremely privileged to have found Brian, and joined MarketingOC.

Here’s what I learned about marketing online for Pizza shop owners:

1. A Web site is crucial. Having a website as a starting point was crucial, though in retrospect I do regret not having used wordpress. I was going for a simple online menu, and I think a blog may have worked out better, or at least had I had a blog attached to the domain in one way or another.

2. Twitter and Facebook are the backbone. Twitter was an amazing asset for finding new pizza customers. I had a bit of a secret trick to my twitter usage. We were a local company so the only people we were interested in following is those who could travel to pick up a pizza, or were with-in the delivery area.

I spent many hours following targeted people. I followed people who mentioned pizza, hoagies, subs, salads, and stromboli, who were located in the same area that our store was. An example search would be: pizza near:dayton,oh within:20mi … This search brings up every tweet that mentions pizza from twitterers in the Dayton area. I would then click on their name and follow them.

Next, I followed all the news agencies in town, hoping maybe someone with a good base of connections would retweet something I said, or even do an interview or write a blog post about us.

Finally, each night that we were slow I would run twitter contests. People would simply retweet a message, and follow us to get a chance to win a free pizza. I also did twitter specials where people who mentioned they found us on twitter received a medium 1 topping pizza for $4.99.

I would monitor twitter throughout the night, responding to people mentioning us.

Facebook is a wonderful place to gather leads. Having a custom facebook page with coupons, menu, and more gives customers an easy way to order without needing to go to another website. For facebook we designed a custom facebook page. On it we listed our current specials, and links to our menu, twitter page, and more.

Facebook was a bit harder to get fans, but I made sure to let everyone on twitter know, post it on every flyer and box topper, and put a sign at the front counter when people walked in.

3. Local Marketing Methods(Google, Foursquare, Gowalla, etc..).

Before we closed, foursquare was coming onto the scene. I didn’t use it very much, but I did have a few people come in and start checking in. I registered myself as a business, and even added a promotional item for mayors. It did definitely bring in about 5-10 new customers per week. I’m certain as it gained momentum that number would only grow in leaps and bounds. I never used Gowalla for the business but I imagine the results would’ve been similar to our results with Foursquare.

Google Places brought in a large amount of new traffic. Especially after I claimed my listing, added our website, added some coupons which you can do in the google business center, and listed more detailed information about our business. We got quite a few of the google coupons redeemed which only proved the success of the small amount of time I put into getting listed in Google.

I also made sure to list us on citysearch, yelp, and all the other local directories I could find. The more the merrier. They were free to submit to and only cost my time, which turned out to be a good investment.

4. Mobile Marketing. I started using mobile coupons as well for a way to get a good deal. It was great because it saved paper, was cheap, and people were genuinely excited about finding our coupons on their mobile phone.

There are a number of apps for different phones that offer coupon directories. I’d recommend you search out the one that will be best for your company, and maybe even going with a few different ones to diversify.

I would’ve loved to had the funds to market via sms text messages, and mobile search but I didn’t have that chance. Since joining forces with MarketingOC I’ve come across some amazing case stories of mobile marketing in action, and only wish I’d have known more about it at that time.

5. Google Adwords. Adwords isn’t always the easiest thing to manage, yet I found an interesting method that worked great for me. I set my budget to be $10 per day. I then dug up tons of pizza related keywords, italian food related, etc.. I also used some brand names like Dominos, Cassanos, Papa Johns, Donatos..etc…

Then I created a listing that would ONLY show during our business hours. That way our budget would get spent up and used during the times of day that were most beneficial to us. I also put our phone number in the Adwords campaign so that some people could simply call us up and order, instead of costing us money by clicking on the ad.

I experimented with a bunch of different ad copies but actually managed to get about 1-2 new customers for every $10-20 spent on adwords.

Everything I did online – I shared offline. I let everyone know we were on twitter, facebook, and foursquare. I made sure everyone who ordered food at our store received an updated flyer or menu with our website address, twitter, and facebook links.

Creating engagement with the customers is something that I really loved, and one of the things I miss most about owning my own Pizzeria. There’s a certain amount of fulfillment that comes with delivering a product that people love, and engaging social media users who share my love of Pizza.

A Mobile Website Should Be Like A Visit To Costco

Posted on 28. Jun, 2010 by Brian Fluhr in Blog, Mobile Coupons, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Websites

Comparing the warehouse Costco shopping experience to a users experience on a mobile website mayseem ludicrous, but there are some simple lessons to be learned from Costco (or Sam’s Club if you prefer) when it comes to delivering a positive mobile website experience for your prospects and customers.

Lesson #1: Provide value to your mobile website visitors

Costco is a membership only experience – visitors are there by making an implicit choice to pay to shop there and receive value many times over in exchange for their membership fee.

Your mobile website, while it may not be a membership only experience, it is one where users are making an implicit choice to interact with your brand and company via their mobile phone instead of their desktop. You need to provide mobile visitors with the value of giving them exactly what they want, without overwhelming them without consuming too much of their time and overwhelming their small mobile phone screen with too many choices.

Lesson #2: Provide access to only the key information your prospects and customers need while on the go.

Costco stores are well merchandised but based on simplicity.  They don’t carry everything like a grocery store tries to do. They carry select items to appeal to the majority of their audience – giving most of their customers most of the items they need – but not everything.  Costco is not meant to be a total replacement for visiting a full grocery store for example.

Your mobile website is not about jamming every bit of content, ever link, every image, every video, every whitepaper, every salvo in your web marketing arsenal   -  basically everything a user experiences from their desktop is not what they want to experience on their mobile phones. A mobile web site is meant to be well merchandised in the sense that it provides direct access to the key information your audience is seeking while on the go. A users needs are different when on the go then when they are on the couch browsing your website at their leisure on their laptop.

Lesson #3: Ensure your mobile website is easy to navigate

Costco aisles are wide and easy to navigate to find what you are looking for and to add those products to your shopping cart. .

Your mobile website needs to easy to navigate and simple for your users to find exactly what they are seeking at the exact point of time they are seeking it.

Lesson #4: Your mobile website needs to only offer the most valuable content for users on the go

Costco buyers are very meticulous when evaluating what products to bring into their stores. They want to make sure that they products that stock their warehouse shelves are going to meet their customers needs and as a result: sell.

When you plan your mobile website, you need to ensure you are carefully evaluating each piece of content to ensure it deserves the precious space on your prospects and customers limited mobile phone screen real estate.

Lesson #5: Your mobile website and mobile marketing initiatives are an opportunity to engage your audience if they opt in to your communications

Costco sends an email newsletter and printed Costco Connection that I welcome receiving each month – however, I can opt out at anytime.

Your mobile marketing strategy that coincides with your mobile website has the opportunity to be proactive in interacting with your audience. Once you have made a connection with your prospects and customers – and they opt in – to receive communications such as promotional text messages and mobile coupons you have an opportunity to create an ongoing, respectful dialogue with your customers on their mobile device.

I am certain there are other lessons to be learned from a company as successful as Costco. Of course, the biggest lesson we look forward to sharing with you is when Costco goes live with their mobile website. Be sure to give us a call…whether you are Costco or another fine business looking to go mobile, get social and reach local!

Are Mobile Coupons Effective?

Posted on 18. Jun, 2010 by Brian Fluhr in Blog, Mobile Coupons

Coca Cola recently ran a mobile coupon for their Sprite brand and found that mobile coupons are indeed effective. Check out the numbers:

Total coupons sent: 4531
Total coupons open on the phone: 2051

Total coupons redeemed for a Sprite: 1279

Total times the coupon was viewed: 8499

Redeeming rate: 28%

Why Some Marketers Are Slooooow To Leverage Mobile Marketing

Posted on 25. May, 2010 by Brian Fluhr in Blog, Mobile Coupons, Mobile Marketing

As an interactive ad agency it has always been our role to ensure that we provide the best recommendations for leveraging both marketing and technology channels to best reach our client’s audience. It’s no secret that our own agency has evolved to become true believers and practitioners of mobile marketing for our own agency. Just visit www.marketingoc.com on your Iphone and you will see a big difference between our desktop version of our website. We are also mobile evangelists for our clients – that is the clients with whom have the vision to see that reaching their prospects and customers on their mobile device (that phone that is rarely ever more than 3 feet away) is one of the most effective 1-to-1 communication methods that have ever existed (outside the old handshake of course.)

We understand that there are safer choices when it comes to selecting a marketing channel to distribute your message – e.g. who doesn’t like the slick look and feel of a well designed print brochure? A brochure is a marketing tool that everybody gets. They have existed for hundreds of years. Mobile marketing is new – especially here in the U.S.  But it really isn’t new – it is just another channel for which to communicate – just like email was not so few years ago.

For clients and businesses who are leveraging mobile marketing – they are primarily doing so today, to create brand awareness and to generate leads. I don’t know any business that doesn’t like to generate leads – especially quality leads that result in sales.

So, why are some businesses and marketers slow to leverage mobile marketing? Here are few responses to a study by R2i, Jan 28, 2010:

I don’t know how to develop a business case…

Every business case is unique – but for almost every business, there is a business case to be made. Which business case makes sense to you: Build your brand? Reach prospects? Initiate sales? Engage with clients? Provide product information? Allow users to interact with you where ever they happen to be? Provide mobile coupons?

Not enough analytics to measure ROI…

I suspect this response is related to a lack strategic goals – if you don’t know what you want to accomplish, then it is impossible to apply the metrics to achieve the goals. So every mobile marketing campaign needs to have a campaign goal and metrics against those goals.

In addition, there are many options to track mobile analytics. For every mobile campaign we deploy, we ensure that analytics are part of that solution.

But the real concern when it comes to mobile analytics, is that mobile is often (and we typically recommend that it is) part of an integrated marketing campaign. As such, the mobile activity often results in offline activity – e.g. an in store purchase. So, there needs to be a continuous flow from mobile online to in store offline tracking. Fortunately, that is also easily solvable – whether it is through a mobile coupon, a tracking code, a text message, etc.

Mobile is not in our strategic roadmap…

If mobile marketing is not on your strategy roadmap today, you better update your map! Really, to leave mobile off the table when your looking to reach and communicate with your prospects and clients is a recipe for allowing your competition to secure the mobile channel, essentially shutting you out. That’s not the only reason of course – you may be surprised how many of your prospects and clients prefer to interact with your brand on a mobile device vs. their PC or even in person.

I do not think my audience is mobile yet…

Unless your audience is over the age of 65, this just doesn’t hold water. Take a walk through a mall, at a Starbucks, even at Disneyland – everybody has a mobile device – and its not just teens.

Of course, any new channel that incorporates technology, marketing, laws (you can’t just send Text messages to anyone), sales, public relations, social media and a plethora of mobile devices does have its challenges – but these challenges are worth overcoming when the end result it better relationships with your clients and increased sales for your business.

Contact MarketingOC, experts and overcoming the challenges of mobile marketing to increase our client’s business.

Surprise! Women Like Mobile Coupons

Posted on 19. May, 2010 by Brian Fluhr in Mobile Coupons, Mobile Marketing

Actually, it really isn’t a surprise – we have long known that women like to save money – or at least receive good value for the money they spend. Of course, these days, who doesn’t like to save money?

According to a survey from miBuys, LTD – 93% of women age 16-54 who use mobile devices say they are always on the lookout for special offers; moreover, 68% of such women say they are interested in receiving discounts via their mobile phone.

Respondents also indicated a clear preference for mobile coupons relating to retail goods and services (53%)— over three times more than for dining-related offers (16%). (I wonder if the same could be said for men’s preferences? e.g. hot wings mobile coupon vs. a mobile coupon for a shoe discount?)

With mobile phone and device use growing at lightning speed – it is time to take the action to get your mobile coupon and mobile marketing campaign in place to reach your audience.