Using the Paper Receipt To Drive Incremental Revenue

Sometimes the most important communications vehicles are right under our noses.

The paper receipt could be the latest example.

Jack Dorsey, founder and CEO of Square and co-founder of Twitter, recently told an audience at the National Retail Federation's annual expo that printed receipts are underused and could be a next-generation point of engagement with consumers.

"What if we see the receipt more as a publishing medium — a product unto itself that people actually want to take home, that they want to engage with, be fully interactive with?" Dorsey said. "What can we do with this everyday tool?" he said.

"What can we build into this canvas that's actually valuable, that's independent of the product you just sold? What can you give in this communication channel, this publishing medium, that people want to engage with?"

Via a receipt, a business can reach every single shopper with a message.

My company Mobivity has entered into a Letter of Intent to acquire SmartReceipt, Inc., a marketing solutions company whose software products transform traditional retail transaction receipts for Subway, Baskin-Robbins, Dairy Queen and others into engaging "smart" receipts that feature coupons and special offers for consumers.

Integrating SmartReceipt's point of sale data into Mobivity's SMS and Stampt offering will enable businesses to generate actionable data to craft specialized offers, coupons and messages based on actual individual purchasing histories. This is unique, monetizabe, and a win for both the consumer and for the business.

A SmartReceipt campaign with one of the largest quick service restaurants shows the power and the potential - the Los Angeles market included a call to action on the receipt in a text-to-win program and saw 17,000 participants. New York did not and got 1,900.

Dorsey and others are chasing the receipt opportunity, too.

In many ways, as an industry we’ve only scratched the surface in providing personalized offers and information to mobile users even if they have opted in. The receipt changes that, especially when marketers are offered a solution for extracting purchase information without the need to change or even touch the point of sale system.

Consumers can be incented to join loyalty clubs, then SMS databases can be segmented and more relevant offers can be sent.

As to whether shoppers will care, I’ll point you to a Maritz loyalty survey that says  that the top choice of consumers is loyalty rewards based on preferences revealed from purchasing habits.

While few predicted it in 2014 trend forecasts, the receipt could have a major bearing on sales from the small and medium-sized business all the way to the largest retailer.

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This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program http://Goo.gl/t3fgW, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Is Captain Kangaroo Still King?

Parents say mobile education apps don’t provide value, but TV still does. So says a study from education-focused research firm The Joan Ganz Cooney Center. Since I don't have young kids, I need to ask - who is the modern-day Captain Kangaroo?

For all of Amazon's knowledge of the user, is it not surprising that local offers delivered daily are generic?

It has been five minutes since I've seen a tweet about the weather in NY for Super Bowl 48. C'mon, people. I need to stay informed.

The Weather Channel is doing heavy promotion to try to get us to leave the Super Bowl telecast at halftime to watch its forecast for the second half. Really?

A study says that looking at your smartphone at night can make you more tired the next day. We know this, but can't help ourselves.

My Fitbit Force says I burned more calories in less than four hours of sleep after midnight than in 28 minutes on elliptical. Really?

The size of the iPhone has always been ideal for me. Making it larger might bring others into fold, but send others like me away.

Facebook is either going out of business over the next several years or it wins in mobile advertising. The latter is more likely.

More and more, I'm hearing feature phones referred to as dumb phones. Keep that reference out of your marketing.

Is engagement the metric that matters most with mobile? It’s extremely important but sales trump everything.

My new Market Motive mobile certification students are from China, India, Canada and the U.S. It is representative of where mobile is today.

BlackBerry landed a massive Pentagon order and its stock soared. What is this, 2005?

Apple is no longer the consumers’ favorite tech brand, according to a Forrester study. It dropped to No. 5.

How Many Technology Trends Must SMBs Know?

With amusement, I saw that a leading small-and medium-sized business consulting firm lists 10 technology trends for 2014.

Ten is a great-sounding round number, but it’s preposterous to believe that SMBs know – or should spend time knowing and assessing – so many technologies.

As I’ve written on this blog, my experience tells me that that SMBs wake up in the morning to bake cakes, clean shirts, and sweat for a profit. Bringing in new technologies comes next, if at all.

Here’s the list http://www.smb-gr.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/12-3-13__2014_Top_Technology_Trends.pdf from the SMB Group, a Massachusetts company that focuses on researching and analyzing the SMB market.

1.         Progressive SMBs Use Technology as a Game Changer

2.         Cloud Adoption Accelerates, But SMBs Steer Clear of Dark Clouds

3.         Mobile Management Becomes a Priority as SMB Mobile App Use Soars

4.         Social Media Marketing Stalls as SMBs Re-focus Marketing Practices

5.         SMBs View Payment Systems in a New Light

6.         SMBs Prepare for the Insight Economy

7.         SMBs Integrate to Gain Higher Solution Value

8.         The Affordable Care Act Puts Workforce Management in the SMB Spotlight

9.         It’s Easy for SMBs to Go Green and Save Green

10.       Make Way for an SMB Influencer Shake-Up

SMB provided much detail for each. Here are a few items that caught my eye and my reaction to them:

Progressive SMBs invest more in technology-based solutions, view technology as a business enabler, and are much more likely to expect revenue growth than other SMBs. Progressive SMBs are blending technology and business savvy to reshape business models, carve out new market niches and invent entirely new businesses.

So-called Progressive SMBs are no less time-challenged. They choose to spend their time differently. Why? Maybe they saw a competitor succeed or have more interest in technology. The commonality is that they know that they need to do things differently.

67% of SMBs now view mobile solutions and services as “critical” to their businesses. They will be looking for easy-to-deploy, cost-effective mobile device and application management platforms and solutions to reduce management headaches and get more value from their mobile investments.

Even Progressive SMBs would be on the sidelines for new technology if it wasn’t easy-to-deploy and cost effective.

Technology vendors that provide unbiased education—and can clearly demonstrate how business benefits from their solutions—will have a decided advantage over those that don’t.

I sell every day to this group. I win when I can effectively communicate business benefits for the individual sales prospect. Anything short is time wasted for all.

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This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program http://Goo.gl/t3fgW, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The "Value of A Mobile Game" Edition

While they are widely considered entertainment, smartphone games are broadly downloaded and used for a health benefit. Half of U.S. smartphone gamers cite stress relief as the No. 1 reason for participating, according to Smashing Ideas.

Only 3 percent of Americans owned a tablet less than 4 years ago; today 42 percent own one.

Amazon has patented a system in which it can ship you a package before you’ve even clicked “Buy.”

Major security holes have reportedly been found in 90 percent of top mobile banking apps.

Men are more likely to have refrained from downloading a mobile app due to privacy concerns than women—41 percent vs. 37 percent.

51 percent of emails were opened on a mobile device in December.

85 percent of mobile users expect sites to load as fast or faster than sites on desktop. You must optimize for mobile.

For the first time, Apple is expected to start repairing iPhone screens in stores this week.

Verizon Wireless customers pay more for wireless service each month on average than any other customers in the country, according to a new report.

“Designing for multiple devices does not end at responsive. Consideration for native and platform-specific design is always needed.” Wise words from my friend Nick Finck, Senior Manager of User Experience at Amazon,

Facebook saves everything we write in the status box, even if we don't post it, a Slate story says.

Mobile ads in the retail and electronics categories see the highest click-through rates, according to eMarketer. That makes sense. Automotive ads are up there, too.

Nearly a month into my Fitbit Force experience, I’ve moved from underwhelmed to mildly amused. There is little that I didn’t know, except for fact that we burn calories when we sleep. And when we toss and turn.

A headline says mobile is an "up and comer". Shoot me now.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - "The Objects Are Further Than They Appear" Edition

An Amazon "local" offer to me was for Universal Studios in Los Angeles - approximately 1,000 miles away. And I thought I was poor in geography.

It’s almost time to rev up my predictions of more mobile marketing tied to Super Bowl TV ads. Then I remember the anticipointment the last 5 years.

The inadvertent deleting of emails is one of my biggest user issues with the iPhone.  It happens at least weekly. Just me?

I never understand how reputable tech sites can run stories on something that "might be" an image of the next iPhone. Of course, it’s for clicks.

My favorite Tweet from CES – “I want a smartwatch that will send me an alert every time a new smartwatch is announced.”

Headline: Now Is The Time To Analyze #Mobile #Marketing Efforts. Just shoot me now.

Samsung Design's Dennis Miloseski says users unlock mobile phones 100 times a day.

NBC won’t live stream Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. We're back to 1990s-type coverage. Sad.

In five years, about 5 percent of carriers’ data revenue will come from connected-car services, up from less than 1 percent today, per analyst Chetan Sharma.

Remember when many predicted the death of mobile apps? Apple reported a record-setting $10 billion in 2013 sales.

How many who ridiculed Michael Bay's performance at CES had a similar speaking session implosion? Give the guy a break.

Recognition -- voice, facial, gesture, other -- was the advancement I was most interested in coming from CES. Are we any better off now?

According to Pew, 18-29 year olds use LinkedIn just 2 percent points more than those 65 plus.

Ready to kick your mobile knowledge up? Please consider the 35 teaching hours I offer with Direct Marketing Association certification. More here - http://dmaeducation.org/course/mobile-marketing-certification/

Wearables With Inaccurate Data Are Hardly A Fit

On the morning of Dec. 25, when the most strenuous thing I had done was to push the button on my computer, my new Fitbit Force showed that I had burned 861 calories.

I considered it a Christmas miracle.

Or a sham.

I figured that despite an exercise program that my doctor said put me in the top 1 percent of his patients, I owed it to myself, profession and gut to try on this “wearable” thing. You know the category that some claim will replace the smartphone.

Former New York Times personal technology columnist David Pogue, now reporting for Yahoo, had put the Fitbit Force on the list or products he personally would buy. That clinched it for me when my wife asked what I wanted for a holiday present.

First came the so-called “unboxing”. Pogue had warned readers about the difficulty for some in getting the band to stay on the wrist. Absolutely, that was the case. It fell off several times in the first few days of use.

Setup was significantly harder than an elevator ride. The lauded Fitbit dongle for syncing is a tiny USB stick that could easily end up in the mouth of a child or puppy. Keeping it permanently in one computer isn’t practical for me since I work on three. So it could easily be here today, gone tomorrow.

I especially was interested in downloading the app on my iPhone and iPad and syncing on the fly. Fitbit’s app is not optimized for an iPad, but that was hardly my biggest complaint.

I created a personal profile, but the numbers immediately seemed inaccurate. Why would one buy a wearable if it could not produce real measurements?

Then, for more than two days, the band and iPhone app would not sync. I grabbed the shipping box in case I needed to ship the product back to Best Buy, but finally seemingly worked out the issues by going to the problem-solving page of fitbit.com, then rebooting and resetting several things.

I knew ahead of time that I would have to input my food consumed. That makes the Force anything but setup and go, but it was a price that I was willing to pay.

I took my saga to Twitter and folks I personally know and don’t know expressed surprise that I called the experience underwhelming.

“I've seen them on all sorts of people and just like working out it's about commitment and not entertainment,” one Tweet read.

Entertainment had never crossed my mind. Information for me to make better choices is all that I’m after.

We’ll see how it goes from here.

I do know that the wearables category is among the most hyped. And that smartphones aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, so we can continue to run our mobile marketing programs and sell more stuff through the transformational device.

With CES up in a few days, expect the wearable category noise to get even louder and more crowded.

For those inclined, you can already buy something called Tikker, a wristwatch that claims to count down the seconds of your life. Of course, your time of death is estimated.

Just like my calories burned.

(article first appeared on imediaconnection.com - http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2014/01/01/wearables-with-inaccurate-data-are-hardly-a-fit/)

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - "The Ramifications of High Expectations" Edition

There was an interesting Gigaom take on the delivery problems encountered by UPS during the holidays: "The internet has turned us into slaves of instant gratification." I see it a different way – businesses, even owners of small shops, can respond on demand. That’s key to selling, surviving and even thriving. And it’s not a bad thing.

More evidence that consumers want stuff fast. During the holidays, Amazon gained one million more subscribers to speedy Prime. Amazon sold a record 426 items per second before Christmas.

Google-acquired Bump is shutting down this month, ending the efforts by users to transfer data just by touching devices. That’s more than a bump in the road.

73 percent of U.S. adults ended 2013 being part of social networks. Pinterest passed Twitter in popularity.

Internet enabled TV didn’t even exist in 2011, but it’s already in 11 percent of U.S. homes, according to Nielsen.

One would think Gogo would improve its bandwidth before working with airlines on providing free content – the latest being weather information.

Sales from mobile devices reached 14.4 percent on Christmas Day vs. 5.3 percent on Christmas Day 2010—an increase of 172.9 percent, IBM reported.

40 percent of U.S. ad dollars are still being spent on TV ads.

I'm not in the camp looking for a larger iPhone screen. You?

When mobile isn't "mobile" - Over 60% of mobile shopping happens from the sofa.

Going into the gift season, nearly 1 in 5 kids under age 8 used a mobile device every day. The numbers have to be higher today.

Mobile makes up 51 percent of the email opens.

Lauded by pundits, Apple's holiday ad was surely a hit as families came together. It played well in my kitchen.

87 percent of moms use mobile, up 34% And they were the buying decision-makers before. It’s even easier now.

The Moto X print ad in the January issue of Wired changes colors on command to show customization.

A Six-Pack For SMBs That Is Worth Digesting

In this season of indulging, it’s a six-pack of mobile strategies for small and medium-sized businesses that feels right.

The list on streetfightmag.com http://streetfightmag.com/2013/12/09/6-strategies-for-helping-smbs-understand-the-importance-of-mobile/ includes ideas and commentary from several who work with SMBs every day.

I’ll share the strategies here and give you my take on each:

1. Be straightforward about the costs and benefits. “Vendors should focus their ‘cost/benefit’ explanations on practical information. Many marketers tend to use channel-specific metrics or high-level statistics, which at Spotfront we’ve found isn’t necessarily meaningful to SMBs. Instead, I would recommend emphasizing — and if possible actually visualizing or calculating in real-time — the ways that an improved mobile presence can actually impact a business. Quantitative metrics related to customers, products and revenue are most valuable. By putting mobile into business-impact-specific terms, a mobile pitch becomes more relevant and understandable.” (Alex Sherman, Spotfront)

Me: This is the only way to go. Tell them how they will sell more dresses, hamburgers or dance lessons or they will Cha-Cha away.

2. Take a proactive approach. “SMBs are extremely conservative when it comes to trying new things. The risk is mainly their time. Hence, they all lament the sales calls. Depending on your service, go out and just put merchants in your mobile technology process as if they were paying customers. What we have done at near9 is put published offers on our platform that we have seen in print and online. The consumer base we have developed sees the offers, visits the business, displays the offer, and as you might expect, the merchant then ‘sees the light.’” (Dana Ward, Near9)

Me: This works in theory, but I wonder how many SMBs have the time to “window shop” for mobile proof.

3. Put up a good offense. “I like to describe the ‘offensive’ and ‘defensive’ reasons to integrate mobile. Offensively, consumers are addicted to their mobile devices and increasingly expect their favorite retailers to support mobile ordering, payment, etc. You’ll get more business if you offer more ways for consumers to interact. Defensively, your competitors are integrating mobile, making them more attractive to the younger generation of digital native consumers. Don’t get left behind.” (Matt Niehaus, Instore)

Me: Selling a defensive stance doesn’t sound right to me, but the understanding of what competitors are doing is critical for SMBs.

4. Augment existing solutions with turnkey components. “SMBs don’t particularly love point solutions. Mobile should be an important extension of an existing business presence, marketing or commerce strategy for an SMB, instead of its own separate channel. To that end, vendors that are currently ‘on the plan’ for website creation, online marketing and e-commerce back-end should be focused on augmenting their existing product packages to include automated mobile components. It may be an upsell, but it’s a mutually beneficial one.” (Alex Sherman, Spotfront)

Me: The less you ask the business owner to do, the better.

5. Show originality. “We suggest leveraging mobile targeting technology, breakthrough creative and real-time campaign optimization to maximize ROI. Smartphones and tablets present creative minds with new canvases to create compelling, original advertising. By creating ads that integrate the features and user behaviors unique to each platform, breakthrough mobile and tablet ad creative can provide both dazzling and utilitarian ad experiences.” (Michael Hayes UberMedia)

Me: SMBs have little time for optimization. See turnkey commentary.

6. Do it and demonstrate it. “Vendors need to provide it, do it and show it. Mobile technologies looking to serve SMBs are up against an ‘immoveable object.’ Operate your services for a period of time to demonstrate the effect you can have on the SMB’s business, and report back to them on analytics and what you have been able to accomplish, such as clicks and views. Vendors need to do and demonstrate much more to teach local merchants the importance of mobile.” (Dana Ward, Near9)

Me: Analytics are key, but in my experience, SMBs want them in small, digestible forms given other priorities and a lack of category expertise.

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This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program http://Goo.gl/t3fgW, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

To Build A Sandwich or a Database

I’ve traveled more this year than ever. While I’ve had my share of bad meals, I’ve come across a handful of business owners who’ve perfected the making of a sandwich.

The building of a database for marketing purposes is another story.

While the results of others justify more adoption of mobile by small and medium-sized business owners, the fact remains that SMBs for the most part wake up to run their operations. Marketing, especially through mobile, comes when it can with limited funds.

That may change in 2014.

In a new survey from highly-regarded Borrell Associates, 64 percent of SMBs are “very” or “somewhat” optimistic about near-term improvement of the local economy. Spending has already begun with digital dollars allotted rising from 15 percent of ad budgets in 2011 to 19 percent this year.

Mobile stands to be a big gainer going forward, says Borrell. The survey found that 85 percent of local businesses say that a mobile presence is important, but only 19 percent are participating.

An increased spend in mobile could come at the expense of other channels, especially the declining daily deals model. Seventy-seven percent aren’t participating in daily deals, according to Borrell. Only half who do are satisfied.

Despite the headlines that indicate that the sky has fallen, newspaper still gets the majority of SMB ad dollars – 22 percent. Beyond the aforementioned digital numbers, print publications (12 percent), direct mail (9 percent) and radio (8 percent) followed.

What’s going to get SMBs to engage more in mobile? Focused, concise, results-oriented sales pitches. Borrell says that on average, SMBs get five sales calls a week and listen to only one.

For those of us who are positioning our products to this audience, it behooves us to sell ease of use, return on investment, manageable costs, and the understanding that in 2014, the making of an outstanding turkey sandwich will still weigh higher in an SMBs mind that the building of a marketing list.

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This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program http://Goo.gl/t3fgW, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The "Fat Chance" Edition

Headline – “Using smartphones too much may make you anxious, fat and a poor student.” So may Twinkies.

The text message turned 21 this week. With 160 characters, there is nothing sexy about text message marketing. Except that it works. In that regard, it likely leads in sex appeal.

Approximately, 100 million U.S. Internet users will log on to social networks via smartphones this year, according to eMarketer. Almost 80 million will use tablets to do the same, up 52 percent from 2012.

In five days, the video of the final play of the Iron Bowl was watched 2,245,386 times on Auburn's YouTube page.

Amazon, the king of personalization, delivered to me an offer for laser toenail fungus removal treatment. Flying trapeze lessons weren't available?

The tweets off of last week’s Amazon "news" drone on. Five years of this?

Text, coupons have replaced flash deals as a mobile holiday focus with just 5 percent of retailers using daily deals, eMarketer says.

Gogo tops my list of technology that needed major improvement in 2013 but failed miserably. Meanwhile, the company’s Twitter description says it’s “everyone’s favorite part of flying”. Someone has lost his or her mind.

Quote I read – “"Shopping is in the process of being forever changed by mobile." You think?

Smartphone sales have surged 61 percent in Southeast Asia. Android dominates with a 72 percent share, but that will change with Apple’s deal with China Mobile.

There are an estimated six billion mobile telephone devices used in the world today, and, for the first time, a small majority are smartphones.

In Japan, you can buy underwear for your smartphone. Some things should never come to America. This is surely one of them.

Answering Your Holiday Wish To Cut Through Responsive Design Hype

My 2013 Mobile All-Hype list includes wearables, Real-time Bidding (RTB), “mobile only” and responsive design.

To hear some tell it, responsive design is the end-all, as much of a no-brainer as indoor plumbing.

Or is it?

Mobile expert Michael Becker and I explored the pros and cons recently in a webinar for Market Motive.

Here’s some of what was discussed:

First, here’s a definition. Responsive design is an approach for developing a flexible, fluid and adaptive web experience across digital media properties. These may include personal computer, mobile web and applications (phones, tablets, phablets), email, SmartTVs, and the aforementioned wearables.

There are just as many reasons to do it as not.

Why go there?

·      To establish a solid “customer-first” presence and consistent brand experience

·      Responsive design provides the broadest reach for both sustained presence and campaigns

·      It can make tracking your customer’s journey across different platforms easier

·      It forces you to concentrate on mobile first, meaning you really define what the core content for your site is

·      If you don’t, Google will punish you in organic search results because they’re looking for an optimized mobile first experience

Why you shouldn’t go there:

·      Your data may not warrant it right now – you may not have enough visitors or open emails now

·      You don’t have the budget

·      A responsive design site doesn’t take advantage of the ability to leverage the performance and capabilities of a native application

·      It can be data heavy since all the sites assess download, possibly slowing the performance of your site down

·      You’re offering the same experience across all device platforms, not taking advantage of the uniqueness of each device platform

·      The initial setup costs can be more expensive, although the long-term costs should be lower

·      There are alternatives: you can also choose to build a mobile specific web site in parallel to your main site

As you plan for 2014, here are some actionable steps:

·      Remember it is about your customer/your prospects needs, not you

·      Remember “a customer/qualified prospect’ is a precious resource.  It is not a thing to waste"

·      Start with an informed business strategy

·      Develop measurable objective(s), no more than three with a specific time horizon and measurable key performance indicators (KPIs)

·      Don’t feel like you have to implement your entire brand experience

·      Keep it simple

The takeaways from all this?

·      Don’t get distracted by the hype

·      Responsive design is an approach, not a panacea

·      This may be the way to go, but you have options

(first appeared on imediaconnection.com - http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2013/12/03/answering-your-holiday-wish-to-cut-through-responsive-design-hype/

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - "The Don't Underestimate The Brick and Mortars" Edition

I’m as bullish on mobile as the next guy or gal. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Despite mobile’s influence, 90 percent of U.S. retail sales this holiday season are projected to occur in brick and mortar stores, according to ShopperTrak.

iOS users far outspent Android users over the holiday weekend, IBM says. Marketers, plan accordingly for rest of season.

From the same source: smartphones are for browsing - tablets are for buying. Black Friday mobile stats confirm our beliefs.

How did the retailers fare? The percentage of mobile sales for department stores was up 46.4 percent over last year.

PayPal saw a 123.9 percent increase in global mobile payment volume on Black Friday over 2012. This isn’t 1980.

Amazon took $50 off Kindle Fire prices for Cyber Monday. The company breaks even on the hardware, makes money instead on future purchases customers will make with the tablet.

A delay of NBA League Pass radio broadcasts in the Game Time app shows the score minute or so ahead. That makes no sense.

About 75 percent of smartphone and tablet users use a second screen more than once a month as they watch TV: Nielsen.

My 84-year-old mother in law is teaching us about Netflix on the iPad. Is this kind of stuff happening in your world, too?

Are we that out of control? A restaurant offers a 50 percent discount for turning off the phone.

I predict voice use via mobile phones on planes will never fly. Even those of us addicted to connectivity say no.

Over 120 million in the U.S. will research products on a mobile device this year, eMarketer says.

I have no quibble with the assertion that indoor location-based services will mature in 2014. There is value for mobile users

Competing and Winning Every Saturday

Any effort to drive traffic to small business is good to me, even the Small Business Saturday initiative that American Express started in 2010 and is as much about getting American Express more of the holiday spending pie than having Main Street benefit.

The day, coming this weekend during the holiday break, celebrates the efforts of SMBs. More importantly, it employs a host of marketing elements to drive traffic to Main Street.

SMBs that do business with American Express have access to free tools and resources including free in-store signage, social media posts and email templates. They can also view video case studies showing how other small business owners have made the most of the day.

American Express also creates a Shop Small Map for participating Small Business, again open only to those who do business with the global services company.

According to American Express’ second annual Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey, awareness of Small Business Saturday among U.S. consumers improved to 44% compared to 34% during the same period a year ago.  In addition, 77% of those aware of the day say that they plan to “Shop Small” this year. That equals tens of millions of consumers.

Additional findings from the Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights survey include:

·      Consumers say they would attend a community event on Small Business Saturday (44%);

·      Part of the reason consumers are attracted to small businesses is because they are able to find gifts for people who are hard to shop for (70%);

·      One fifth (21%) of consumers said one of the main reasons they patronize small businesses is because they offer better prices; and

·      The top five places that consumers plan to shop on Small Business Saturday are food stores (38%), restaurants (37%), clothing stores (35%), bakeries (34%) and gift/novelty stores (31%).

Of course, smart SMBs market well beyond this one day. As written about often in this blog, permission-based mobile databases enable merchants to send messages and offers and bring more customers more often.

Any attempt to make the year’s sales numbers off Small Business Saturday alone is foolish.

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This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program http://Goo.gl/t3fgW, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions

Should Retailers Be Open On Thanksgiving?

CMO.com asked me whether retailers should be open on Thanksgiving.

Here’s what I told the publication:

“This isn’t 1980 when tradition won the day. Holiday sales and decorations didn’t enter our lives until the day after Thanksgiving. Now we have holiday lights in retailers around Labor Day and red cups in Starbucks after Halloween. What’s changed? E-commerce and m-commerce have given consumers 24/7 access to buying. Brick and mortars believe that they need to be open to be competitive and to make their numbers. Is this right? Some believe yes, others don’t. It’s 2013. The genie will never get back into the bottle.”

The full article is here - http://www.cmo.com/content/cmo-com/home/articles/2013/11/15/CWTK_Retailers_Open_Thanksgiving.html .

Mobile Is Big For Some SMBs

Did small and medium-sized businesses mobilize in 2013 to not only survive but thrive?

Some did, like a four-location pizza maker in the Phoenix area, that used the Stampt mobile loyalty app to make more dough. More than 10,000 Venezias customers get rewarded for purchases and receive offers. And they undoubtedly come in more often.

Others were slower on the uptake as evidenced by a new survey of 20,000 U.S. based businesses conducted by BrightLocal. Of the 68 responses from businesses spread across over 50 industry sectors, at least 30 percent don’t yet have a mobile optimized website. By the end of 2013, such a marketing vehicle is table stakes in my opinion.

Also from the survey:

-  Only 4 percent believe a mobile website is notrelevant to their business

-  The average spend on marketing across all industries was $400 per month with 32% spending less than $100 per month

- The average SMB allocates 46 percent of their total marketing budget towards internet or mobile marketing

-  33 percent spend less than 10 percent of their marketing budget on internet or mobile marketing

-  Over 13 percent spend more than 90 percent of their marketing budget on internet & mobile marketing

The Building & Construction, Transportation & Telecommunications sectors have some of the highest marketing budgets as well as higher allocation of budget to digital. Non-Profit categorized SMBs are also spending above the industry average on their marketing, but similarly their online spend is not as high.

SMBs within the Pet Services, Travel & Leisure, Health & Beauty and Personal & Household Goods sectors are leaders.

What’s ahead for 2014?

As I’m seeing at Mobivity, more Mom and Pops are coming on board the mobile train. Rather than the categories listed above, pickup has been in sandwich shops (1,500 opt-ins in one in Oneida, N.Y., for example), dry cleaners and the like.

As a former radio client said in my Mobilized Marketing book, “Why wouldn’t we communicate with our listeners the way they communicate with each other?’

By 2014, nearly 80 percent will text.

That’s big even for an SMB.

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This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program http://Goo.gl/t3fgW, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The Tower of Power Edition

Let’s start with a head-scratcher: I received a text from AT&T saying that my mobile service will get better with the installation of a new cell site. One that is 438 miles away.

If a brand says we will appsolutely love it's mobile app, I won't download it.

A headline says Eye Tracking Is Changing Mobile Marketing. Me: please.

A technology divide among generations? Not a believer. My 84-year-old mother in law sends me emails from her iPhone. And she texts.

Hands on with the iPad Mini Retina tells me I didn't go wrong buying an Air. It’s equally impressive and comes down to preference IMO.

25 percent of social media users exclusively log on to social networks via mobile devices, according to eMarketer.

From industry analyst Chetan Sharma: 90 percent of mobile devices sold in the U.S. in the third quarter were smartphones.

REI, Toys 'r Us and CVS are among top rated mobile retail sites.

71 percent use their phones in store to compare prices. The holiday season will be fascinating.

Gogo Air has added talking and texting, but U.S. fliers won’t be making voice calls soon. How about they fix the awful core service? In my view, the company has done the impossible - supplanted Comcast as the most frustrating for consumer experience and value.

IPG's Magna Global says that viewers tweet 21 percent more often during TV commercial minutes compared to program minutes.

More users get news on Twitter via mobile devices than they do on Facebook, according to Pew. It’s a 20-point difference.

The number of mobile app developers with 1 million users has grown from 400 to 875 since Q1 2012.

Dumb forecast of the week?  200 million people will use augmented reality in 2018. Like anyone knows.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer: Aspirin Tablets To Handle Tablet Ad Blitz

 With a tablet advertising blitz coming between now and Christmas, we will need aspirin tablets. Microsoft is said to be coming big with Surface ads, but not quite to the Samsung spending level.

Despite those who want to convince you otherwise, Twitter is gaining in popularity among teens.  So is Instagram.

HTC will donate $1 for every Movember HairstoChange picture posted to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

T-Mobile's “free” tablet data plan costs $10 a month.

As my friend and keen industry analyst Ross Rubin says about early holiday sales, “If every day is Black Friday, no day is Black Friday.”

The strength of the Apple brand? I bought two iPad Airs for holiday giving sight unseen.

Almost half of Facebook's daily users are mobile-only. Please tell those who still view mobile and social in silos.

Facebook's mobile ad revenue was 49 percent of total ad revenue during third quarter (up from 14 percent in Q3 2012).

Home Depot approaches 100,000 mobile point of sale transactions per week.

For the first time ever, ESPN mobile properties saw more unique visitors than http://ESPN.com in September.

Yet another rumor of larger iPhone has me wondering whether I'm in small group that doesn't want size changed to bigger or smaller.

Heard about a tanning salon that had its best-ever Monday after sending out its first mobile blast. Mobile success doesn’t necessarily need scale – it needs customers.

How do you feel about this one? 38 percent of children under 2 use mobile media, a new study says.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google’s smartwatch will launch in the next few months. Marketers, please take a measured approach to wearables. It’s very early days of adoption.

Free registration for the Nov. 14 webinar with the Mobile Marketing Association, Mobivity, and Valley Yellow Pages - enabling local business to thrive with mobile https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/851664870.

“Check It Out” – Many SMBs Are Behind The Times

I spend my life pretending to be hip, then doing things and saying things that shoot that argument down in a flash.

An instance is when I tweeted that I still get a printed newspaper delivered to my driveway and that I pay with a check.

I expected to be dinged for my ancient reading habits. Instead, a response on Twitter asked, “What’s a check?”

You’ll understand that I remembered that sad saga when I read that small and medium sized businesses still make the majority of their payments by paper check.

A new survey of more than three hundred small and medium-sized businesses released by MineralTree and Bredin, found that, in ten years, the number of paper checks written by businesses has actually gone up by 53 percent.

U.S. businesses now issue nearly 10 billion checks annually, spending between 10 billion and 20 billion dollars on check issuance alone. The survey released found that nearly seventy percent of small and medium businesses want to eliminate check writing altogether.

Bredlin, which has an electronic solution so it has a horse in this race, believes that what’s holding SMBs back is they can’t find a solution that meets their payment needs.

That may or may not be true.

This brings me to the idea of mobile payments.

If you believe the hype – and I hope that you don’t – cash will be gone by Tuesday. You know the story – customers will be using their cellphones only. Of course, if this were true, the ramifications would be huge. They would include the readiness of point of sale systems, not to mention the output of training of salesfolks to the new world.

So just where are we? The good news is that mobile payments are in the early days. With that said, I know of kids selling Girl Scout cookies with the use of the Square payment solution. Small and medium sized businesses are now expected to have newer technology than checks.

As this survey shows, SMBs are behind the times. So am I. The issue isn’t critical. Yet. But there is no doubt that both SMBs and I need to get with the new world.

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This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program http://Goo.gl/t3fgW, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Mom, Baby and Phone Make Three

New moms spend more time on smartphones than other adults, an AOL survey says. Researchers found that new moms turned to their phones as a “lifeline”  - namely personal assistant to manage schedules, social hub, personal shopper, “informer” to get educated on a slew of new topics, and escape route to get away from the pressures of motherhood.

Wikipedia will start texting info to users in Kenya who don't have Internet access.

I haven't talked to one person who said “Great, BlackBerry BBM is on Android and iPhone”. Timing is everything.

Amazon fired away at Apple's new iPad with an ad that says the Kindle Fire HDX is "Lighter than Air".

With limited supply expected, positioning to get an iPad Air or Mini will be like going after Springsteen tickets.

It’s smart for Apple to call the new thin iPad Air. The Air laptop is beloved and considered by many – including me - as best out there.

I was asked if there is a reason for a business with 40 percent of its traffic coming from mobile to not have a mobile optimized site. None.

SMBs should look further than Foursquare ads for marketing - think permission-based databases.

By 2017, 83 percent of retailers expect to have in-store wireless and 56 percent envision having guest Wi-Fi, a new report claims.

Devices with voice recognition will top 1 billion units in 2013. I recently met someone in that space. Advancements are coming, including voice authentication like “fingerprinting”.

The U.S. healthcare industry reportedly will spend $539 million on mobile marketing by 2015.

Four years ago, less than 4 percent of emails were read on mobile. It’s now near 50 percent.

New York City, the country's largest metro area, has the lowest adoption rate of smartphones -- 48 percent. That’s a surprisingly low number.

Advice To SMBs – Be Forewarned About Foursquare Ads

Years after talking up the check-in, Foursquare is asking SMBs to check out its new Foursquare Ads program which was beta-tested with about 1,000 businesses.

In a blog post, Foursquare wrote up the offering this way:

“Today, we’re opening Foursquare Ads to all small businesses around the world. We’re moving past the days when business owners have to figure out if a “like” or a ‘click’ has any meaning in the real world; now they can tell if someone who saw their ad actually walks into their store. We built this to be simple and flexible, learning from our four years of data and relationships with over 1.5 million claimed businesses.”

To create an ad, the business owner goes to foursquare.com/ads, chooses a photo of their space and offers a special or what Foursquare says is a great customer tip (if you and I don't know what that means, can we expect the business owner to know?). Then they set their monthly budget and push their ad live for people nearby to see.

Merchants can monitor how many people have viewed their ad, how many have tapped on it, and how many actually came into their store.

Says longtime industry analyst Greg Sterling:

“Anyone familiar with the online SMB market will know that self-service has historically seen limited success as a tool for mass SMB advertiser acquisition,” Sterling wrote on his blog.

Foursquare’s description of the ease of its business fails to take into account that the business owner has maybe 8,000 things to do in a day. Getting before a computer to set up and/or monitor an ad makes it 8,001.

In my position as CMO of Mobivity, I see and hear from SMBs of the desire for coaches and in many cases, someone to handle the setup, distribution of marketing messages, and the monitoring for them. We address that in our SMS and mobile loyalty Stampt products and services where customers aren’t put on an island and asked to not only survive but thrive.

Another challenge Foursquare faces is the unproven model. SMBs have other options, including spending against and monetizing permission-based SMS mobile VIP clubs. Expect SMBs to be slow on the Foursquare uptake until and unless they see real results that they are convinced are repeatable in their situations.

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This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program http://Goo.gl/t3fgW, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.