Go mobile, or go home

It is becoming more important for companies to be present on mobile devices, with mobile marketing, promotion and advertising a booming business. Still to often companies simply link mobile and smartphone users to their websites that are designed for normal computers. I am not aware whether these companies know that this causes them more harm than it does anyone any good.

Dynamic Mobile Marketing Solution

Two companies QR4 and Jeroen Steeman teamed up to develop an effective and efficient mobile marketing service aimed at small to medium size companies. This provides everything any size company needs to get started with cost effective mobile marketing.

The concept is simple and effective using three zones that are completely adaptable to meet the requirements of any company and covers:
1. Branding and Identity
2. Presentation (products, services, special offers)
3. Interaction (call to action) including social media

Behind the QR code above you can see the demo I created in about 30 minutes using the management console of QR4. What this platform also offers is geolocation linked to the mobile marketing service, this makes it possible to target global and local users which can vert interesting for small local companies as well as franchises (closest dealer/store) and corporations running different offers in different areas. More specifics about this marketing service can be found on the 'Mobile Marketing' page.

Mobile Marketing, your 24/7 mobile sales force at your command.

Five QR codes to activate the five mobile marketing pages as seen in the header of this article:
NOTE: The promotional material behind each of the QR codes is owned and managed by their respective owners. This means that what is seen after scanning these codes may not reflect directly to the main image of this article anymore. This is inherent to the nature of the dynamic mobile marketing platform.

QR4 (that's us)	Falconcrest	AV Unit Media	ODOA	Message Master

Interesting to note is that this platform does not only function with QR codes, but can be activated via links in text messages, newsletters and email.

Is Your Website a Mobile Liability or a Mobile Asset

The most common mistake made using QR codes is sending users to a website that is not optimized for mobile devices like smartphones. This results in a poor user experience and if used in marketing campaigns, a guaranteed fail.

Mobile web page check service

To help in determining how a mobile user sees your webpage on their device, QR4 has introduced two mobile device browser emulators that allow you to see what your (or your competitors) web pages look like on a Samsung i9000 and an Apple iPhone 3GS.

Use the above two mobile view services to determine if your web pages are suitable for use with mobile devices and QR codes.

If the screen view is partial, the text unreadable and navigation not clear and not easy to 'tap' on then please reconsider the use of QR codes, as you will not be doing anyone a favour by doing so, least of all yourself.

Three addional mobile phone browser emulators to test your website with:

• Symbian - Nokia emulator
• Windows Phone - HTC emulator
• RIM - BlackBerry emulator

Need advice or solutions to get your web mobile ready, then please contact us.

If your business is not mobile yet, this is your wake up call!

Why mobile is important

The explosive growth of mobile devices used on a global scale is feuled by the need of people to get information when they want it. This is why mobile marketing is an important tool to engage your customers and thus important to integrate into your marketing strategy and programs.

Effective Mobile Marketing

At present from virtually (excuse the pun) anywhere anyone can get answers and information about anything they want really fast. More searches and queries are done via mobile devices than desktop computers. This means it is important that your mobile experience meets the basic requirements people have when gathering infomation 'on the move'.

Mobile friendly

Determine if your present website is mobile friendly, if not consider getting it mobile optimized or divert to a mobile app. Just because it looks good on your (or the saleman's) device does not mean it is the same for the rest of the world and the many other types of devices in use. Test it across various devices, platforms and carriers. The goal is to get an effective and efficient experience regardless of device, browser or carrier.

Global or Local

Most searches by mobile devices are for local services or products in the direct vicinity of the user. Make sure you can be found and that your address information, a 'store locator' or (interactive) map is available. The large majority indicate to prefer the option to have direct contact via a 'push to call' to initiate a voice connection.

Fat Finger Navigation

Clear, easy and quick navigation is important. And yes, the mobile world is rodent free, there are no mice pointing devices! Make links clear and leave enough room around them for those 'misguided taps'.

It's Alive

Mobile marketing, unlike many other forms of marketing is interactive (yes, just like your website, but different). Someone took the trouble to reach you on a mobile device while on the move. It is not like an add in the paper or a banner on a website (that does not connect back), it is very real-time and very interactive. An real opportunity to interact and get and supply more information with a mobile device interested in your product or service and get that sale, or the customer coming to your store.

Mobile Facts

• 78% of mobile users will leave your website if it not mobile friendly.
• more than 60% prefer a 'direct call' option.
• 49% of successfull searches lead to a sale.
• 41% of mobile searches are for local services, products or businesses.

It's your call to get engaged with mobile marketing, don't get left behind.

"Ok, so I use a QR code and send it to my website that does not use Flash and that makes it suitable for all browsers, right?"

WRONG!

Take the example below where we compare the same website. One is a standard website the other is the same site but with adaptive technology applied making it most suitable for tablet and smartphones alike.

If your websites are not ready for the next generation you could be loosing out. Worse yet send a mobile browser to a bad site and you're compromsing the experience big time.

Mobile usage is on the rise and is no longer a market you can afford to ignore.

Some recent developments that may motivate you to get into mobile if your not yet there.

• Of the 4 billion mobile phones, 1.09 are smartphones.
• Android and Apple cover 74% of the market.
• 30% are willing to scan codes to get discount offers.
• 40% of users leaving your store without a purchase were influenced via mobile.
• 95% of mobile acitivity is located around local resources.
• Mobile usage has increased 193% since 2010.
• QR Code scanning increased 300% in 2011.
• Tablets are used an average of 14 hours per week.
• 73% of mobile users access social media apps daily.
• Web traffic via smartphones increased 105% from 2011 to 2012.
• Currently 6 billion mobile global subscribers this equals 87% of the world population.
• Google currently earns 2.5 billion dollars from mobile ads.
• 80% of searches on smartphones are spontaneous.
• 60% smartphone shopping is done at home.
• 38% of media interaction is via smartphone.

More information about adaptive mobile friendly websites can be found here. For a ready made interactive mobile framework you can easily adapt to suit your business, look at the MKB PRO offer.

Remember: QR codes are scanned by mobile devices, please ensure your web services live up to the expectations of mobile users.

QR codes in the catering industry are not new, however some still need attention.

It's not often that I have the opportunity to go and eat out in a restaurant and recently I was mildly surprised to find a coaster on the table with a QR code. Having to wait to be served it's always nice to have something to keep you busy in moments when conversation at the table is in a dull.

Great a game! 'Who will be the sucker to get the next round of drinks!'

Scan.......

Hang on...what's wrong here? Tap...double tap (to try and scale the site into the view window), no response. Okay so no good view of what is going on and the loss of the WOW factor, which turns into confusion and dissapointment. Decided to rejoin the conversation at the table and left it at that. But did take the coaster along for some research.

The site looks great on my Windows computer at home:

But it was not at the restaurant and it does not scan QR codes, nor can it run iPone or Android apps.

This was done by a well known international 'branding' consortuim and I cannot figure out how and why they missed the mark, unless they all use the latest iPhone and expect the rest of the world to be the same. Truth be told HTML5 is used and that is worth at least ten plus points, however using HTML5 settings to block user interaction with presentation beats me.

Why did this QR code promotion for a bar game not work (for me).

1. That code is small and little 'quite space' took a heafty 30 seconds of zooming and focusing before it kicked in,

2. What I got to see on the screen was not what I expected and not the complete picture,

3. could not remedy it by user action (zooming and scalling had been explicitly forbidden!).

4. mixture of languages on the site (I know my language skills suck but it should be only one).

5. Do I really need to download another app!? Why immediately start the game  (via HTML5, It got to your site = I have Internet) and offer to have it anywhere anytime via an app download.

As far as I am concerned this mobile marketing campaign is a step in the good direction to engage, entertain, bind and brand to and with customers. The actual experience on the client side (IMHO) still leaves a lot to be desired. There's a lot of 'Droid' out there and I'm sure the install base for this will not be optimal.

If there are other catering companies thinking about using QR codes on coaters in the Netherlands to entertain, bind to, or just for  branding or promotion, contact Frans Hendricx - Infovijltje of Omnisense. He can get you on the right track and keep you there.