Small Business Saturday may be months away, but there’s no reason you can’t use local and mobile marketing to attract business locally now and build up momentum for the annual shop-where-you live event in November.
Ryan Golden should know. Although he now is a co-founder and the CEO of Moasis, an intelligent location engine for marketers and advertisers that unifies the intersection of location data and instant, multiscreen and local delivery, he used to be a small-business merchant.
“Mobile marketing gives merchants the ability to attract local foot traffic or influence the consumer’s impulsive behavior or consideration set,” Golden said. “A potential customer could be down the street or at home, a few blocks away. A local and mobile marketing promotion will help get the word out to local consumers while they are out and about and using their mobile devices. Never has there been a better time and easier way to reach consumers on the screen they look at most — their phones.”
According to the National Retail Federation, 20 to 40 percent of yearly sales for small and midsize retailers take place within the last two months of the year. Small Business Saturday will be on November 30, so you don’t want to wait for fall to start attracting your local customers. Get ahead of the holiday rush now by piggybacking on summer traffic.
Here are Golden’s rules for small businesses using local and mobile marketing:
Get the word out in advance that you are participating in mobile activities
Celebrate the value of community and other small business via promotions
Let your local consumers get involved with their community; suggest they bring a can of food for a local food drive or perhaps participate in a fundraiser being held at your location to benefit a local school or organization
To learn even more about catering to your mobile customers, read, “How To Give Mobile Customers What They Want, Fast.”