The Growing Importance of Smart Phones

Its a fact--smart phone use is growing rapidly, and because of functionality, represents the new frontier for accessing the Internet and the World Wide Web. There are even some pundits who believe that mobile phones may someday overtake desktop computers for personal use.
Sound improbable? We have a few statistics that might help convince you. We've assembled them from comScore, Inc., a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics;
1. For a three month period ending August 2010, 60% of smart phone users downloaded applications on their phones compared with 39% of regular mobile phones.
2. Even though smart phones make up less than 25% of the U.S. mobile market, by August 2010 their users represented the majority of mobile content consumers. The content most accessed was weather(43%), maps(35%), social networking(31%),search (18%), and news (18%).
3. In November 2010, 61.5 million people in the United States owned smart phones, up 10% form the preceding three months.
4. In July 2011, the top three search sites were Google (182.3 million visitors), Yahoo!(177.6 million), Microsoft(174.3 million).

For most businesses and organizations, the purpose of communicating with potential buyers is to generate new business, encourage repeat business, and promote customer loyalty. Accomplishing these goals can be done with content that:
1. describes a new product or service
2. explains a new way to use an existing product or service
3. provides a case study describing a problem and how a product or service provided the solution
4. gives testimonials from satisfied customers
Regardless of the specific content, there is one important question that all sales-related communication must answer. The question is from the perspective of the potential buyer, and is;

WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?

The benefit to the buyer must be apparent in whatever you are presenting, so be explicit. Use introductory phrases like "what this means for you is" or "this translates to" or "the results were", then provide objective evidence to support your benefit statement.

Direct mail markerters and advertisers work hard to determine what type of content motivates buyers. Research consistently uncovers four characteristics of content that score highest in buyer interest. The best content is;
1. useful or entertaining.
2. relevant to the buyer's interests.
3. timely.
4. unique to the seller, either in content or presentation.
These four characteristics are particularly important for opt-in e-mail subscriptions. If a reader signs up for your e-newsletter, the motivation wasn't to do you a favor--it was because the content of the newsletter had perceived value.

Amid the ongoing debate about whether direct mail or e-mail is the best method to market to customers and prospects, very little is being said about the one thing that is crucial to the success of both--the message. Unless the message is relevant to the audience and persuasively presented, it doesn't matter how it is delivered. So while the discussion about direct mail versus e-mail continues, focus on developing good content and honing your writing skills.
The objective of both direct and e-mail marketing it to persuade a customer or prospect to take action, either now or later. When a seller consistently and regularly sends a communication such as a mailed post card or a newsletter (either mailed or web-based), a buyer is more likely at a future time to take the action desired by the seller. In other words, direct or e-mail marketing is less about an immediate sale than about positioning the business or organization to be top-of-mind when the potential buyer is ready to make a purchase.
This is important in business-to-business selling where the sell cycle is often long(especially when compared to business-to-consumer), and it is hard to stimulate demand. Direct mail is also important during an economic downturn when either budgetary constraints or the unwillingness of the purchaser to spend money creates a long sell cycle for both businesses and consumers.

An outgrowth of the capabilities of variable data printing is personalized URL's (PURLs) on direct mail marketing pieces. A PURL is the web address of a landing page that is unique to the individual recipient of the marketing piece. A PURL combines a response device with a web site.
When a recipient goes to the PURL landing page, the response device is immediately filled with the recipient's contact information (such as name, address, telephone, email). With the click of the mouse, the recipient can request information or take advantage of the offer. As soon as that happens, the PURL generates an e-mail message that is essentially a sales lead.The novelty of the PURL, combined with the ease of responding, is said to increase the response rate.
Some Applications for PURLs include requesting a free sample, information, or trial; to take advantage of an offer or a discount; to RSVP or register for an event; and to complete a survey.

Variable Data Printing
High Speed copying in both black and white and color has been a standard service offering here at B.C. Printing for some time. Once digital printers began to replace analog copiers, the possibility of variable data printing was realized.
VDP enables various elements of a document such as text, graphics and images to change from one page to the next with no degradation of print speed or quality. From a production standpoint, VDP is a continuum from the simplest mail merge(changing the name and salutation of a letter) to versioning (customizing the document for a defined group rather that for a specific individual) to 1-to-1 printing where each document is completely unique. An example of simple VDP is a post card that is printed with the name and address of the intended recipient. If the photograph on the post card and part of the sales message changes depending on the demographic characteristics of the recipient, that is known as versioning. If the post card contains a photograph of the recipient as well as text with personal information, that's 1-to-1 marketing.

QR Codes are the new way for customers and prospects to reach a web page,a location, or obtain information about products and services. Add a QR code containing contact information to your business card and someone can add you to their contact list by reading the QR code with their cell phone or computer. Add a QR code to individual products on your web site and enable customers or prospects to download product details and a phone number for ordering, or link to a You Tube Video.
Another example of how QR codes are being used is the Google program Google Places, a way for businesses to manage their presence on Google. Any business selected by Google as a Favorite Place receives a window decal that includes a QR code that takes the viewer to the Google Place Page for the business. As of July 2010, Google has already distributed 100,000 Favorite Places decals and is planning a second round of 50,000 more.
With Google promoting QR codes, they are likely to become very important in search marketing. Google suggests that if your web site contains a QR code, search engines will see a new image and index it, and might in the future index the content in them.