4 Ways for Small Businesses to Implement a Solid Mobile Strategy

Today, people across the world are more connected than ever before, thanks to the fast increasing smartphone usage. As per the latest Ericsson Mobility Report, 85% of the world’s population will have 3G coverage in 2017. Similarly, Google Databoard has said that 77% of smartphone users do research on a product or service at one point or another using their phones.

So, what’s the implicit message in these expert reports for small enterprises? It’s that SMEs can no longer remain indifferent to this evolving business technology of mobile phones. Most of them think that mobile marketing is not worth investing in and they can even make do without it. This is because they don’t see the real value in such a strategy. Or maybe, they don’t know where to really start. But if these businesses don’t leverage this trend right now, they must become ready to be left out and left behind in the game, which is not a very good idea.

For the benefit of the clueless small players operating in numerous industries, we’ve enumerated here 4 rewarding ways to implement an effective mobile strategy that shall yield results unfailingly without busting the limited budget of these small companies:

(1) Make your business website mobile friendly

Whether you like it or not, PCs are fast becoming obsolete and are giving way to a practice wherein more and more marketing communications and business transactions are being carried out over smartphones. Due to this, it’s become obligatory to make your website mobile phone compatible. The site must look good, pleasing and user-friendly on hand-held devices. This is a hallmark of a responsive web design with mobile phone-friendly layout and content. The mobile-friendliness of a website ensures that you get your point across and consumers get what they want with ease sans unnecessary site anomalies, disruption, and frustration.

(2) Tap into the power of social media

Unarguably, social media is where all the exciting actions are happening at the moment. It’s also one area where you enjoy almost a free hand in deploying a methodically conceived mobile strategy, no matter whether it’s B2C or B2B. A vast majority of social media users access platforms like Facebook and Twitter using their smartphones. Speedy likes, comments, and shared by hundreds of users via mobile phones unlock the potential of social media in attracting traffic and achieving business conversions. Social media is also definitely the place where small businesses can carry out meaningful and consequential conversations about their products and/or services with potential customers.

(3) Magnify your digital presence through Google AdWords

This online advertising service from Google is something small businesses can’t do without in today’s highly digitized world of ruthless marketing. It offers effective tools to optimize, manage and track mobile ad campaigns and the resulting traffic. Google’s relatively new feature such as mobile click-to-call function wherein users is given the provision to call advertisers directly without having to visit the website is a shot in the arm for businesses. Be it PPC advertising or remarketing, a small business can now monitor a separate segment i.e. mobile searches made by customers, make use of mobile analytics and gain useful insights.

(4) Put your web address in shortened and manageable form

Smartphone users these days have a fleeting attention span arising out of unlimited information and choices. That’s why it’s wise to make your brand messages as condensed as permissible. Especially, the URLs must be short, to the point, easy on eyes, and easy to recall. This will make the mobile experience an easily manageable and enjoyable one. Directing prospective customers to your landing page shouldn’t be a laborious task. Simplify things as much as you can. Try out URL shorteners that are available for free. When considered just like that, this point may sound like splitting hairs, but shortening URLs does make a huge difference in the long run.

           

The above steps have been known to help small businesses consolidate their mobile strategy early on by providing the necessary framework. They make any mobile marketing campaign resilient and more consistent. So, prepare a detailed mobile plan for your business without further delay.

3 Practical Tips to choose the right Affiliate Marketing Program

You may have chosen the niche for your affiliate marketing program, and now it may be time to select the right affiliate partner. This thing will help you decide whether your affiliate marketing program is going to be successful or will lead to failure. Everyone has heard about Commission Junction, LinkShare, and Google Affiliate Network, but the list does not end here; there are more options that you can try out. This,  however, is not easy as hundreds of affiliate networks pop up daily on the Web and choosing the right program can actually be confusing.

Below are 3 solutions that shall help  you find the right affiliate partner:

Find  merchants that offer the highest value

You should try to seek a list of merchants who are very much similar to yours. Though you may not desire to run a similar affiliate network as that of your competitor, you must try to find merchants who perform effectively in your network. For example, if yours is a food product company, you should think how well your program will perform in the technology segment.

Find  the most prominent affiliate models in your network

Search for offers that resonate most effectively in your affiliate network. This will help you evaluate the pay-for-performance model that excites affiliates in your network.  According to Marketing Land, “If you’re looking for an affiliate network that  will serve as a platform to grow e-commerce sales, be absolutely certain that  the network is e-commerce centric with affiliates that like rev-share splits on  a Cost Per Sale basis.”

What types of affiliates are most successful in nature?

Identifying the most successful affiliates in a network is very important and so is studying their marketing methods. In case you deny affiliates to go for pay-per-click (PPC), opting for an affiliate marketing network with a big coupon will probably not be worth it.

Summing up


These strategies look simple, but they are quite effective in ensuring the success of an affiliate marketing program.  It is to be noted that affiliate networks also offer managed services for an additional fee. Some merchants also feel that continuing with an affiliate management agency is a better option. The answers to such questions will help you streamline your affiliate marketing process.

For more information read in Virtual Employee Article 

How to Increase Viewership of Your YouTube Channels and Videos

You may be producing high-quality video content, but it will serve little purpose if it is not getting noticed. Around 300 hours of video content is uploaded on YouTube every minute; so, you will need to make a serious effort if you want to get noticed.

The number of visitors who view your content mainly depends on the search engine rankings of your YouTube channels and videos. Here is how you can increase the visibility of your YouTube Channels:

1. Choose a short and descriptive channel name so that people are able to figure out immediately what the channel is all about. Names that cannot be comprehended easily put viewers off.
2. Include relevant keywords in the channel description. For instance, if you make travel documentaries, they should necessarily find a mention in the channel description you write. The description must make it clear to viewers what they should expect from the content published on the channel and at the same time, it must also adhere to the search algorithm of the social media platform.
3. Fill in additional channel details. Select an icon that represents your brand effectively, upload an impressive cover photo and provide maximum information in the profile.
4. Put up a link to your channel on your website so that visitors are aware of your YouTube presence. Competent marketers give links to all their social channels on their website. These links are generally placed at the bottom.
5. Embed YouTube videos on the website. This will enable your visitors to view your YouTube videos without actually leaving your site.
6. Stick to a schedule. Regular uploading of content helps in building an audience and sending the signal that the channel is active.

YouTube Videos

1. Keep the title brief and meaningful, and make sure the keywords are included. You need to choose keywords that are in sync with the content of the video. People will simply close the video if the keywords do not match the content.
2. Focus more on the first 100 words in your keyword description. YouTube’s search results show the first one to three sentences; so, write the content in a way that it becomes easier for viewers to comprehend it. The description should be concise and must describe the video’s content accurately.
3. Use tags to make it simpler for the YouTube algorithm to understand the video content. However, you must not go into an overdrive and use only as many tags as are required.
4. Use annotations to increase the engagement rate of your videos. They will remind viewers to like your video, request them to subscribe to your channel and inform them of your other content.
5. Add a YouTube card to your videos to create a clickable Call-to-Action (CTA), thereby making it easier for viewers to respond. You can insert cards at any point in the videos.

Final Word

One of the most popular social media platforms, YouTube, can play a big role in endearing you to your audiences. Just make sure you optimize your channels and videos, and you will be able to attain your objectives.

Read more at: Virtual Employee Article