Loyalty Rewards Kiosk’s helping The Growth of Local Businesses

The new software is a fully automated Text Message based Customer Loyalty Program that links the use of mobile phones and tablets in order to grow local businesses enabling business owners to effortlessly build 

their SMS contact list on the fly whilst their customers go about their business as usual.

Business owners are able to instantly reward their customers for their visit to their business, or for any purchases that they have made on the day.

 When the dreaded "slow business times" come business owners can send SMS / Text messages to all their customers in just seconds to "call" them back to the business for any offer, sale or event that they run for them.





 Loyalty Rewards Kiosk’s puts the business growth in tablets that can be used in any type of business that primarily relies on walk-in-customers. With a Loyalty Rewards Kiosk the use of tablet PCs in business receives a money making element. So now it's not only cool and fun to use a tablet PC - now it is an intrinsic part of a business strategy to use a tablet that in some industries will make it an absolute necessity to tie the use of tablets into the sales process.

My NYRewards is a New York based company whose clients have had great success with this customer loyalty rewards kiosk program. Here's one case study from Central Park Auto Wash in Yonkers, NY.

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Successful Mobile Search leads to visits and sales

Over 50% of local searches are performed using mobile phones and 70% of these result in an action within one hour. This means a phone call, visit or purchase.

The introduction of Google+Local means that a listing here can rate a local business above most national brands.

85% of Smartphone users have searched for local businesses.  We can help you make you more visible to this new source of business which has grown by 400% since 2010. 

So, sign up for Google+Local, make your site visible and get noticed by new customers.


What's different about mobile search?

Consumers use mobile search differently from static searches.  They are looking to satisfy an immediate need from a business near to them.  They want to find a coffee or a hotel or a bar or a salon which will provide them with what they are looking for right now.
Research suggests that they do not spend a long time browsing but they do like a rich visual experience. They do not waste time with websites which are difficult to read or navigate or which are too cluttered.
 They are in a hurry. After locating a business on their phones 40% visited in person.
This gives you a fantastic opportunity if you have the simple tools to take advantage of it.

Google+ Local

Google is leading mobile search with the introduction of Google+ Local which is a free directory of local businesses. You just need to sign up.

The Vital Difference

What is so important is that Google are now placing Google+ Local listings on the first page of their search results.
Google + Local results are placed even higher on mobile phone searches giving a clear advantage to local businesses.

                                           
                                           Social Recommendation

Brands know social recommendations such as 'tweets' and Facebook 'likes' drive sales. Google+ Local search ranking are partly determined by these recommendations.

Up to 50% of all social recommendations now come from mobile devices. Your App allows one- touch access to social media to fully exploit its potential.

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Facebook Released Timeline For Business Pages Today!

Top Highlights of the Facebook Timeline for Business Pages:

Cover Photo: here is your billboard. Use the photo (851 x  315px) to engage users and present images with which they will positively respond

Pinned Posts: You can choose a post to be listed at the top of your timeline for up to 7 days. Use this post to express your weekly specials, your unique selling proposition, etc. Make it interesting.

Photos and Videos: These are now more prominent than the standard profile photos. Photos and Videos increase engagement among readers, so make them interesting and relevant to your audience.

Milestones: Create full width posts (photos can be 843 x 403px) for important events, achievements, and happenings in your business. Did you win an award, honor your 1,000th customer, open a new location? Create a milestone for it.

Apps: Page width for Apps can now be adjusted between the standard 520px to the expanded 810px.

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EMBRACING NEW TECHNOLOGY

Want to reach a broader audience, engage your current customers, and boost your profit in 2012?
Embracing new technology might be just what you need! QR codes aren’t exactly new, but they might be to you. And using them in your marketing efforts can help you reach customers in a unique and exciting way.
Whether it’s a new social networking site that pops up in 2012, another change to Google’s search algorithm, or new software that can enhance a users’ mobile site experience, don’t ignore the new technology the new year brings with it.
Instead, try some of it out to find what works for you. Adapt with the changing technology and your business will stay current and relevant to your target audience.
Tell us what marketipng strategies you're planning to use in2012

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2012 MARKETING TRENDS PREDICTIONS

Here are seven marketing trends we predict will define 2012:

1. Bottoms-Up: Customers First  2012 is the year  where customers will be showered by perks from the businesses they interact with. 
Also, consumers will reward brands that show more humanity owning up to mistakes and engaging in a two-way conversation with their customers rather than the traditional one-way monologue from the business spokesperson.
Takeaway: Your brand must rethink their sales, service and marketing strategies.

2. Continued Rise of the Mobile
We’ve explored a great many reasons your business should be thinking about mobile in our previous post: Is Your Business Marketing On The Move? If Not You Better Get Mobile. We should also note here, however, that technology will be pushing mobile one step further into a cash-less ecosystem of payment via that mobile tech.
Takeaway: Get a mobile website for your business and look into other mobile marketing methods.

3. Gamification of  Marketing Campaigns
Can you share, get points or unlock badges for it? These and other gamification aspects are the new motivators for customers who are increasingly engaged by interactive campaigns and purchasing models. Zynga is the go-to model for gamification ideas.
Takeaway: Study business models that include gamification, such as Getglue and Foursquare, and consider how these techniques could be applied to your business campaigns.

4. Social Business
Consumers will look to their social networks first to find out information about products and services. More tools for the measurement of social analytics will be released, and brands must use these tools to better understand their consumers. These insights will lead to the establishment of better connections with customers of all income levels.
Takeaway: Are you on the social networks? Do you know what is being said about your business? Get your social savvy on.

5. Mass Customization
Individuals are choosing their own content on their own terms. They will use technology even more to customize products for themselves and to manage their health and lifestyles. Consumers will also participate in surveys and campaigns as well to offer their own in-put about the direction that businesses take and the products they offer.
Takeaway: Reconsider your products and/or services. What level of customization do they offer? And what can you do to ensure more customized engagement with your clientele?

6. Channel Experimentation
Businesses like retailers will continue to experiment with their format, such as incorporating food trucks, pop-up stores and flash sales. Marketers and social strategists will see what kind of analytics they can collect through their various platforms and what sorts of content generate sales. Competition will encourage businesses to push the boundaries when it comes to promotions and campaigns.
Takeaway: As a business you must think outside the box. Now is the time to embrace new and innovative ideas.

7. Businesses Score Through Co-Promotion
Your business will do best to cultivate the co-promotion model. It’s social business on a business to business level where customers and clients will be influenced by recommendations and referrals.
Takeaway: Begin growing your network now, and support surrounding businesses to encourage overall community success.

Though the challenges to business in 2012 will be daunting, the progressive business will take social objectives mainstream and tie them to their overall business objectives. Engagement will be defined not by facilitated conversation, but the consumer’s overall takeaway value and the actions that result.

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Mobile marketing in 2012: ten predictions for the year

1. Mobile search marketing spend to increase significantly in 2012. Mobile searches accounted for approximately 9% of search activity in 2011. This is projected to increase to 20% in 2012 (source: A4U m-commerce report), making it a perfect time for retailers to increase their mobile search spend.

2. m-Sites will become faster and easier to use. With over half of users stating that they expect sites to download as quickly on their mobile device as their home computer and 60% stating that poor performance will make them less likely to return to the site (source: Gomez mobile web user experience survey), retailers will be ensuring that their mobile sites deliver the experience quickly, easily and efficiently. A well designed site, which operates as quickly as possible could make all the difference.

3. SMS will continue to rule. Just over 50% of the UK still own a non-smart phone (source: Kantar World Panel Com Tech) so SMS is key to capture all audiences. Marketers need to remember that apps and m-sites still fail to reach a large proportion of phone owners while SMS open rates are around 90% and covert at a rate that is 400% higher than email marketing (source: Econsultancy).

4. Apps and m-Sites go to war. 2012 will see Google and Apple go up against each other in the battle of the app vs the m-Site. Google will favour m-Sites as they dominate search, while Apple will back the billion dollar app industry. The truth for retailers is that neither is better – it’s all about the timing. Users look to apps for smooth navigation, interaction and user experience, whereas m-Sites are used for their immediacy. The best strategy is to go down both routes to capture as many consumers as possible.

5. The future of m-Commerce. Retailers will release that a mobile commerce strategy needs to be smarter that simply taking order via a mobile device. Smartphone owners are now relying on their devices to help them shop, even when in store to read reviews, compare prices at other retailers, watch demo videos, search for discounts and coupons. Use your mobile marketing strategy to reach out to these consumers and allow them to redeem vouchers via their phone. You’ll be surprised to see how many new customers you attract and existing customers you redeem.

6. Make your data work for you. Think about data capture on mobile devices. Touch screens allow for lots of mistakes and data entry takes time. Keep the data capture to a minimum – email and phone number are enough to generate impressive results.

7. Push the boundaries of Push messaging. The full marketing potential of Push messaging hasn’t been realised and next year will see some interesting developments with push. We’ll see retailers using it to remind users of forgotten items in a shopping basket or a long lost wish list. We’ll also see a shift from plain text Push messages to image led appointment or contact cards.

8. Retailers will realise that if you build it they will not always come. There are many examples of retailers that have taken the time to develop fully optimised mobile sites and apps across all operating systems but neglected to promote them. Think how long it took to build up the traffic to your desktop site and how much marketing it took. Use this as a base for mobile. Use SMS campaigns to send the mobile site address to subscribers, embed QR codes in direct and in store marketing materials, purchase mobile keyword campaigns, do all the things that you’re currently doing but include the mobile site and app.

9. Size is becoming more important when it comes to security. Ask any users about their biggest fear regarding m-Commerce and it will be security. 32% of smartphone users cite that security is the main reason why they haven’t made a direct purchase via their phone. When comparing this to the 17% of tablet users who have security concerns then it starts to become clear that size is important and that the difference is more around the risks of losing the physical device rather than the wireless broadcasting of secure information. Products and companies which develop technologies requiring a pin number to be entered into the phone or secure safes that store files and data in the cloud not on the device will start to change the perception that a phone is less secure than a tablet.

10. London 2012: the first Mobile Olympics. No set of predictions would be complete without a mention of the Olympics in July. Officials estimate an extra four million visitors to London during the two weeks of the Olympics. In addition to enjoying great sporting moments they will all be looking for places to stay, eat, shop and visit, and most will carry a mobile device with them. Just think of the opportunity you could be passing up by not having a mobile presence.

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How To Acquire & Engage Customers More Effectively.

A big part of the answer is through the intersection of social media, SEO and content marketing. If Social Media and SEO fit together like peanut butter and jelly then content is the bread that holds them together. Content is a crucial part of a social media strategy and therefore an understanding of customer-centric social content is essential.

Consumers are not interested in traditional interruptive marketing. They want to be educated and their behaviors for information discovery, consumption and sharing have changed. B2B an B2C customers alike expect to find solutions via search. They also expect to interact with what they find via search.

Consumers expect content from brands. They expect ease of discovery (via search or social), the ability to interact with and socially share content and to interact with others with similar interests (social networking). These aren’t “nice to haves” anymore, they’re expected.

Most corporate marketing is structured to create content around products & services vs. becoming a publisher. As a result, the idea of implementing a content marketing program can seem foreign. However, the abundance of publishing tools and platforms now makes it possible for companies to create content and media that rivals some news organizations.

Content fuels customer engagement at all stages of the customer life cycle from top of funnel to ongoing relationship. Content can educate customers about your products and services. It can help educate about the buying process and how to get the most out of the purchase. It can continue to reinforce the relationship and inspire renewals, upgrades and referrals.

The challenge is for companies to rethink their content marketing strategy and incorporate Social Media and SEO in order to fulfill customer expectations for ease of discovery, consumption and sharing. On top of that, content must educate and make it easy to follow a logical conclusion to buy. The companies that do those things best, will win the incredibly competitive online marketing race we’re in.

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