Category : mobile
Resurgence of Print with QR Codes
Just when we thought print advertising was dying, it’s taking off again thanks to QR Codes. Embedding Quick Response (QR) Codes in a variety of printed materials and advertising vehicles is helping businesses engage with their customers in fresh ways. A simple scan of the barcode by a smart phone—or other like device—directs customers to a promotional mobile web page where they can receive tickets to an upcoming concert, get 20% discount from their favorite retailer, or share trailer of a great movie they just saw with friends on Facebook.
The customer benefits are obvious—access to great deals and information with a simple scan of a barcode. What about the benefits to a business? They are even better.
The cost of rolling out a marketing campaign and not knowing whether it reached your audience is one reason print has suffered in recent years. It’s costly to print ten thousand brochures and when details change more expense is needed for reprinting. Now businesses can use one QR Code for multiple marketing activities and incur only a one-time expense. Because all that needs changing is the mobile web page that the link leads to—not the campaign material. Another huge advantage of QR Codes is businesses receive response instantly whether their campaign is working.
Where to Get QR Code
Multiple websites exist that offer free QR Codes, but most redirect connection through their website. Here’s a list of QR code generators to start with to determine who is best for your business. Good luck.
- http://www.qurify.com/en/
- http://quikqr.com/
- http://qrcode.kaywa.com/
- http://www.snapmaze.com/
- http://www.qreasy.com/
- http://onlineqrlab.com/
7 Tips for a Killer Mobile Search Campaign
One area brands should be looking at in the near future is mobile search. As mobile devices have become more sophisticated and easier to use, mobile search has become the starting point for consumers on the go.
Before tackling a mobile search plan, it’s necessary to understand how mobile paid search differs from its traditional web-based counterpart:
- There is less competition within mobile search, but there are also fewer ads per page.
- Calls to action and user experience can vary based on objective. For instance, click-to-call and click-to-map don’t need to point to a mobile site.
- Shorter search queries means there are greater demands for relevancy and understanding intent.
- The constantly accessible devices lead to greater immediacy with consumers’ needs.
- Marketers must get their point across faster.
Here are eight tips for integrating mobile search into your marketing mix.
1. Group Mobile Campaigns Separately
Mobile search campaigns tend to perform differently from online search campaigns, so you’ll want to be able to measure them on their own benchmarks. Additionally, you’ll often want to establish different bidding rules for each campaign.
2. Broaden Your Scope
Mobile search volume tends to be significantly lower than online search for most keywords. To achieve the best reach, you’ll want to target queries more broadly, include more high-volume queries and possibly include additional keywords.
3. Go Local
Google Mobile reported that about one in three mobile searches has local intent. If geo-targeting matters at all for you with online search, it’s going to be vital for mobile, because mobile search is especially useful for local queries.
Whether or not they include local modifiers (such as a city name or zip code), consumers searching for “JCPenney” on their mobile phone will expect to find one in their area.
4. Incorporate Mobile Functionality into the Creative
Click-to-call was somewhat useful online, but it’s poised to play a pronounced role in mobile search. Anytime a consumer would benefit by talking to a person, from a booking agent, or someone at a local store, click-to-call can potentially improve conversion rates.
For example, travel companies can leverage click-to-call to connect with on-the-go mobile users searching for information on flight schedules and airline tickets.
5. Target Immediate Needs
Ad Age reported that 70% of mobile search users complete their task within one hour, compared to 30% on the PC. Make sure copy and landing pages are useful for consumers looking to meet their needs right at that moment. For example, entertainment companies can promote movie listings, theater locations, TV tune-in reminders, album releases, concerts and other live events.
6. Target Searches Outside the Query Box
Some mobile searches take place directly from mapping applications. For Google AdWords advertisers, marketers who enable location extensions and opt-in to the mobile content network can have their ads run on Google Maps for relevant queries. Ads can then direct consumers to Google Places listings to get people right to a store.
7. Prepare for Instant Search
When Google launched Instant Search recently, it was clear that this will be much more important for mobile devices where every keystroke counts. Marketers will want to make sure their listings rank well for the relevant queries at the top of Google’s suggestion list. If this feature proves to be popular with users, you can expect other search engines to follow suit.
Evolution of the Mobile Life: Part 2 – Day to Day
The honeymoon period with our Android based T-Mobile G1’s are now over. Sure, both my wife and I love the phones. They seem to work great, but was it really worth the money we laid out for them? What kinds of tools exist that will make our lives better in some way? Here I present to you some tips and review some of the applications that I use every day. Most of these focus on personal use, business productivity will be covered in a subsequent article.
Google Maps
First, there is Google Maps which comes preloaded on the phone. It integrates with the GPS already so finding where you are is easy. I needed to drop something off at one of my utility companies; however I had never been to the office and I did not recognize the address. Entering it in to Maps made it easy to find. The integration is very nice.
It also has some of the “cool” features like a street view that integrates with the compass/accelerometer. It actually changes the picture of the street based on the direction you are holding the phone. Not very useful, but neat. The directions and location; however, were very useful.
Quickpedia
The free application makes it easy to search and browse Wikipedia for articles, throwing in a few tiny twists along the way to make navigating, reading, and learning interesting tidbits a breeze.
I have to agree with their assessment and would add that the formatting of the data is by far the best out there for a mobile device. While other applications require you to flip pages or scroll endlessly, Quickpedia groups data into categories and lets you expand the sections you are interested in. It is very handy to be sitting on the couch, in a restaurant or at a friends house and be able to look up information on something rather than promising to yourself to find it later (which we always do of course, right?).
Movie Finder
I love the movies. I don’t go nearly as often as I like these days, but I still love them. I cannot begin to count the times we have been running around town and started talking about a trip to the theater.
Me: We have have a couple of hours before we have to pick the kids up.
Wife: Yeah? Let’s catch a movie!
Me: Sounds great! What’s playing that you want to see?
Wife: I don’t recall. How about you?
Me: Um…..
Wife: Hmmm
Me: Maybe next time.
Next Time
I hope you enjoyed some of these apps, tips and reviews. Next time I will relate my experiences with Android productivity, including applications that help me stay on top of both work and home life.
Evolution of the Mobile Life: Part 1 – The Move
Today, cell phones are commodities. We expect to replace them every 1-3 years, and the reasons vary from breaking hardware to desired new features. Recently I have went through this very process and want to share a series of articles with you detailing my experiences and observations of living in an increasingly mobile world.
Recently both my wife and I found ourselves with mobile phones that were having problems and, due to our cell phone company being acquired by a national provider, the phones would soon cease to work on the network. This time around we decided to shop for phones that fit us rather than settling for the phones available from our provider.
Decisions
My wife’s needs were simple, she wanted phone that was easy to use and she wanted to be able to get her Gmail on it. She did not care about Internet access, music or other advanced features. My needs and desires ended up being a bit longer list; however, the main feature I was looking at was stability. My previous phone was a Windows Mobile 5 HTC P4300. While it was a large phone, there were a lot of things I liked about it; however it required frequent reboots and I’d been forced to hard reset the phone about once every 3 months requiring configuration and reinstallation of all of the applications I used.
After looking at the phones available in our area from the various providers, we decided that we would both go for the T-Mobile G1 (HTC Dream) running the Android platform. It seemed to encompass everything that we were looking for. We made the move and anxiously awaited the arrival of our shinny new phones.
Unboxing
Our phones arrived on a Tuesday night. After waiting the prerequisite time to charge them fully as directed by the instructions, we sat on the couch with our handsets and a quick-start guide. My first impression was that it was a very organic interface. All of the press goes to the ease of use on the iPhone, but in my opinion Android is just as natural. I came to this conclusion after a conversation about 45 minutes after the unboxing.
Wife: “I think I’m going to like this thing.”
Me:” “Oh? Why’s that?”
Wife: “Well, it’s much easier than my old ***** (bleeped to protect the innocent) was.”
Me: “Yeah?”
Wife: “Yeah.”
Me: “Really?”
Wife: “I’ve set everything up from Gmail, contacts and calendar already.”
Me: “Cool!”
Wife: “Oh, and I never opened that book once!”
Me: “Sweet!”
Wife: “I even found Pac-Man on the Market!”
Me: “Awesome!”
My experience was similar, I had my basic phone functions up and running in a few minutes and had already began using the browser to go through Google Reader’s unread list. Searching Google was effortless and viewing YouTube videos was almost faster than my laptop! All was looking well!
Next time
The first few days of course are the honeymoon and much joy is to be expected. In my next article I will discuss the experience of daily usage and begin talking about some of the applications that increase the general quality of our lives.
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