As Marketing Manager for a local artisan doughnut business with a devout clientele, and given the task of a mobile marketing strategy, my initial task would be to assess the company’s existing marketing strengths, and then formulate my own strategies for mobile to integrate with overall marketing plans.
Currently, the website of this family owned business is the only digital access to the company’s signature brand of products – doughnuts.
- And this access is with a call to action of filling in a form to place your order.
- The site is not e-commerce or m-commerce.
- Simplistic site with font and images not flattering to or reflective of the great products the business has made a name for.
- The text shows scant optimization for search engines.
So that quick analysis throws open the marketing strategies to integrate along these elements.
1. Leverage mobile search
a. The business does not have a customized mobile site, so any mobile search would fare poorly because the current website is not search optimized. An immediate solution would be through top loading key search words on the current website.
This requires rephrasing the page titles and first few sentences on each webpage:
- The Home page is a static image and functions poorly as a SEO beacon. “Gourmet Doughnuts” replaces the heading “Home”. The new body text begins, “Delicious home made doughnuts like no other in Ottawa.” Pictures of the 14 varieties to display with their names below.
- Menu page – the new heading is “Doughnut Basket” and the first sentence changes to, “Our doughnut basket is filled fresh with 14 varieties every morning. Made with quality ingredients.”
- The Special Order Page title changes to “Order Doughnuts”.
- “Location” changes to “Our Store” with a leading sentence, “Here in Ottawa serving delectable doughnuts all days of the week, morning, noon and evening.”
- The News page is dated and must be archived. Instead, local community activities that the business supports should be highlighted with the company’s own media content. “Doughnut Community” could be the page title.
- “Events” is a blank page and should be deleted
- “Contact/Hours” heading changes to “Contact Us” with the sentence, “We serve batches of freshly made doughnuts for your pleasure all through the day. Our store hours are …”
- Then, the head and title tags for each webpage should be modified according to the revised text above, so search engines would easily access the key search words.
b. The next step would be to build a responsive mobile site, with a very specific objective of allowing customers in Ottawa order doughnuts. The content would be created afresh and would not follow the website model.
Proposed mobile wireframes of purchase set up in 2 screen mode.
2. Mobile advertising
“Mobile ads with four words or fewer receive an average of 28% more clicks than wordier creative.” According to a 2012 Google Survey, 61% of phone users browsing a company’s mobile site expect to effortlessly find a phone number or click-to-call link for immediately contacting the company. (Source: How to Write a Great Mobile Ad, October 4, 2013 by Mateo Llinas).
a. Segment ads to specific customer groups in and around Ottawa with paid Facebook ads and Google Adwords. Creating ads using these two providers is neither expensive nor difficult. An investment between $5 and $10 a week would generate good returns in sales and conversions, both of which are eminently trackable to analyze progress over a short period of time, say two months.
i. 18-25 group
| Fresh and funky doughnuts | Company name/logo |
| Call 613-123-4567 to order |
ii. 26-45 group
| Doughnuts of the Day | Company name/logo |
| Call us 613-123-4567 |
b. Target users by location with push notifications on Facebook and near field communications.
Between 5 and 7 p.m. (which is the shop’s closing time). The aim of this specific ad is to offer the day’s remaining doughnuts at a discount and wipe out the day’s fresh inventory
| Happy Hour Doughnuts | Company name/logo |
| Call 613-123-4567 to order |
3. Mobile solutions with SMS: Partners for Distribution
Get a Rogers Small Business Advantage account for iPhone
A mobile outreach with SMS would be an ideal solution to send push notifications to an already loyal client base. Most mobile users view a text message within a few minutes of receiving one. SMS requires permission in advance, message content and frequency must be clearly defined and the client must have an opt-out that is simple to use. Two SMS options are available – subscription and “text to get” (a double opt in).
Mobile messaging strategy includes linking as many of these partners as possible:
- Rogers as the wireless service provider with their Small Business Advantage program
- CWTA – for compliance with its regulations.
- SMS cross platform apps to download – Facebook Messenger (free), Whatsapp ($0.99c) and Kik (free).
- There’s also the regular messaging feature that’s available on every smartphone. Shared data plans that carriers offer bundle unlimited text messages.
- Mobile number
- Customer ID
- email address
- website cookie
- Facebook fan
- Twitter follower
- Loyalty member
- Store purchaser
- Reviewer
4. Setting up a mobile store on Shopify
The family owned business is small and does not have a mobile presence. So Shopify would work well with this business for its very local m-commerce needs.
Steps.
– Download Shopify app – it’s free
– Follow steps online (www.shopify.com) that do not require any technical knowledge
– A 14-day free trial prior to a basic features offering of $29/month would be sufficient for the size of this small business
– Step-by-step approach: Name the store, upload products (text and images), choose a free theme design, add apps like “Product Reviews”.
– The Shopping Cart is a secure feature, and for this business the plethora of 50 payment options is unnecessary; a few common credit card options, PayPal and debit cards will be more than sufficient. Offline payment is also an option under “Offline & Custom Payment Methods”.
– Enter the tax rates under “Regions & Taxes”
– After completing these 7 basic steps, the business is ready to launch its online store.
– Shopify rates are very reasonable, however it changes a percentage of transaction fees for merchants who sign up for their Basic plan.
– Shopify has its own app store, so if needed, subscribe. The app to have “Product Reviews” is a good one to install.
Shopify has a clean interface and is easy and safe to use. One drawback is that it is not cross platform and uses iOS.
arcotalogue 