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2 Simple Mobile Marketing Approaches

With mobile marketing apps springing up all over the place, it can be hard for those that are new to these apps to understand how to properly use them. Really, at their core, most of these apps are essentially the same. No matter what you’ll be using these apps for, there are a few standard uses for them all that can be harnessed to help grow your business.

Hipscan is one of the strongest of this group and can be used to effectively manage the two most basic—yet also the most utilized-- mobile marketing tools. They are:

Outbound business SMS

This is essentially basic texting. It’s low cost and wide reach make it a great mobile marketing tool. Of course, with the many apps on the market, simple texting can be ramped up to be much more effective than sending a simple message. Outbound SMS can be used to inform customers of special offers, a form of customer service, and to even confirm sales. It’s convenient for not just the business, but the customer as well, making it an extremely useful tool. Throw in the fact that the vast majority of mobile device users seemingly love to text and Outbound SMS is a truly powerful tool.

Inbound Business SMS

Because texting is such a powerful medium, it only makes sense to use the power of mobile marketing to allow customers to reach you in the very same way. This allows them to send you texts as part of contests or campaigns. And these campaigns are a greatway to get new customers. For a good deal of time now, campaigns such as “Every 10th text gets a 10% discount” and similar tactics have worked great for many businesses. The ability for your customers to reach you in such a way created avenues of customer engagement that were not available prior to mobile marketing.

How have you been implementing these two basic mobile marketing strategies into your business? If you haven’t started using them yet, now is a great time to get started. Check out these two great mobile marketing tools with Hipscan today and see what you’ve been missing!

4 Reasons Why You Should Be Using Location-Based Mobile Marketing?

It’s one thing to understand mobile marketing. But it’s an entirely different thing to understand location-based mobile marketing.

As of late, location-based mobile marketing has proven to be the most effective form of marketing for most businesses. (And it just so happens that Hipscan has the capacity to deliver in this form).

A recent report released from BI Intelligence indicates that location-based mobile marketing is not only more popular than ever, but it is without a doubt one of the most valuable forms of marketing any small business can implement.

The reasons?

When you launch a local campaign, it is much easier to measure the results. More than that, it is also easier to target a particular audience. Any business that is new to mobile marketing would be well advised to start small—with a location-based launch in their geographic area—before taking on larger tasks.

Location-based mobile marketing allows the user to ways to use algorithms to track their target audience and collect valuable data. It can even get a precise as aiding in behavioral demographics, making it much easier to know which sorts of campaigns to launch in any given area.

In a recent study of more than 2,500 marketing campaigns, it was discovered that location based marketing was nearly twice as effective as the traditional click through rate.

There is a peculiar sense of community with location-based marketing. This is especially true for businesses that are marketing to certain demographics within their own geographic location. This sense of community is a great way to establish brand loyalty and name recognition. When certain offers or products are available only to certain locations, it can help gain momentum locally.

There are certain apps that make location-based mobile marketing easier for businesses. With Hipscan, you can tailor your marketing to certain locations and audiences in real-time, making it time-specific as well.

How have you been able to utilize Hipscan or other location-based mobile marketing strategies to your advantage?

#mobile markting

Mobile Websites Vs. Mobile Apps

The number of people that are connecting with businesses with their mobile phones is growing significantly. Because of this, more and more people are using mobile apps while websites are becoming almost a secondary feature.

The fact of the matter is that when a business behind dabbling in mobile marketing, they stand a much better chance of dominating the market if they have their own mobile app.

The line gets blurry here for some as those that aren’t well-versed in mobile marketing sometimes get the features and duties of a mobile website and a mobile app confused.

So to clear the air a bit, here are a few of the biggest differences in mobile websites and mobile apps.

Mobile websites require an internet connection while apps do not.

Mobile websites are reasonably easy to update; apps, on the other hand, can be sort of a pain.

A mobile website is built to cater to a whole demographic and audience; mobile apps can be built to be super-customizable.

The shopping experience on mobile websites can often be clunky and slow whereas mobile apps make it more convenient and very simple.

Because of their static and basically unchangeable presence, websites aren’t great for creating brand loyalty as far as customers are concerned. However, apps give customers a persona connection with a business making them a much more suitable conduit for brand loyalty.

Mobile users spend nearly 80% of their time on their devices using apps—compare that to the mere 20% or so used for basic web-browsing.

You should remember, though, that no matter which one you find more valuable, it’s in your best interest to have a mobile website and a mobile app just to cover all of the bases. This way, you are pleasing your existing customers while also catering to newer ones.

How Hackers Are Targeting Mobile Marketing

Nearly everyone that is using mobile marketing as part of their advertising campaigns have used QR codes in some form or another. They have a proven track record of success and a few reports of failure. Whatever your ultimate thoughts might be on them, you have to remain aware that QR codes, like any form of technology, are susceptible to attacks.

In fact, mobile malware jumped up by nearly 1,000% in 2012. This staggering number comes from the Chief Security Researcher at BitDefender.

Hackers are find more and more ways to use QR codes for ill intent. The growth in malicious activity comes from the fact that mobile devices are quickly devouring PC use, becoming the most used device and, therefore, the most attractive to hackers.

To make matters worse, smartphones typically don’t come with much—if any—security software installed. This means that if a user scans one of these malicious hacker-bred QR codes, they could be in for quite a headache.

The creation of these malicious QR codes come easy to the hackers; QR codes can be created at any number of websites for free of charge.

These malicious QR codes work in much the same way as a Span link that carries users to sites embedded with malware. When the user scans the code, they are taken to a mobile page that is infected with malware, putting their smartphone in severe jeopardy.

The infection usually comes in the form of a JavaScript Trojan which takes over the mobile device and sends all kinds of valuable information back to the hackers.

There are, of course, some steps users can take to prevent such horrible events. Chief among these is making absolutely certain you know where the QR code is taking you. Most “safe” QR codes come with a very brief description of where you are about to go via the code. If you don’t see this and the QR code is from a questionable source, it might be best to avoid it.

Taking Cues from a Mobile Marketing Award Winner

If you’re going to take notes about mobile marketing, it should be from the best in the business. And according to a recent awards ceremony, that man is Tony Peacock. Peacock was given the Mobile Marketing Experts Award for "Best Mobile Marketing Company to Build Mobile Websites" in a recent web poll.

The poll in question was set up to determine the best mobile marketing company with a specific talent for building mobile sites.

So what is it that is so special about Peacock? What can you learn from him to better utilize your own mobile marketing tools?

First, consider the fact that it appears that many of Peacock’s accolades come from other mobile marketing companies and consultants that he has worked for. Greta word of mouth from other industry insiders is among the best promotion you can get in any industry. Being able to serve these types of clients no doubt played a vital part in Peacock receiving the award.

Next, he values his customers and is very vocal about it. In a statement afterwards, he said: Hearing that other mobile marketing experts have actually acknowledged me as the best mobile marketing company to build mobile websites, is not only an honor, it is also a privilege. We all play an important role in educating businesses on the importance of getting a mobile website and mobile marketing.”

So what can we take away from Mr. Peacock’s award and his approaches based on these two items? Well, when you place these same approaches over your own business, there are a few questions to ask yourself if you want to make it to Peacock’s level.

What can you do to work for other within your industry in a way that will not compromise the competitive nature of your business?

Are you doing enough to gain the respect of your competition and other similar entities within your industry?

Are you remaining humble in your successes and recognizing your audience as part of your success?

Be honest with yourself in answering these questions and see how you better shape your company into achieving the success of Mr. Peacock.

Mobile Marketing is Never a Gamble

One of the great things about mobile marketing is that it is highly adaptable. Literally every business can benefit from its amazing tools. This includes some industries that you may not automatically think about when it comes to marketing practices.

For instance…think about casinos. At first glance, you may not think that they have much of a need for mobile marketing solutions. But recent trends are showing that casinos are actually adapting to mobile marketing in a way that has surprised many marketing experts.

Like all other industries, direct mail marketing approaches are quickly becoming ineffective in casino marketing and, therefore, eliminated.

Recently, a new app has come along that is beginning to revitalize casino marketing. As a mobile marketing app, it is allowing casinos to reach their audience via personalized advertising like never before.

This app, called Joingo, is letting casino owners create and customize their own apps as a means to reach out to their audience. The app gives incentives to those that are loyal to their casinos by offering free updates, deals, and offers that keep users up to date—and, in some cases, give them an edge in the casino landscape.

This is just one of many examples of how apps are quickly going the way of social media profiles: it’s not enough to have them; it’s really all about how you choose to use them. Sure, you have an app for your casino…but what it is offering your customers that your competitors aren’t? How can you get creative with it in a way that benefits not only the customer, but your business as well?

With a personalized approach to these apps, which is easily allowed, casinos now have a better chance of engaging new clients rather than simply catering to their existing base. And in the casino industry, being offered up-to-date information and offers can help make clients make decisions as to which casinos they will visit next.

Personalized and time sensitive, mobile marketing to this degree is where you’ll see the most success.

What can your own business do to reach this level of mobile marketing success?

Hipscan - The Best in Mobile Marketing Apps

It’s safe to say that we’ve become a mobile culture that is obsessed with the next best app. Whether it’s a game like CandyCrush or the next best e-reader app, the mobile app market is taking off!

And now, to add fuel to that fire, there’s Hipscan.

With its super-fast QR code reader and a wide variety of groundbreaking mobile marketing tools, Hipscan is the absolute best mobile engagement solution on the market.

Now you can discover new content, connect with your friends on social media, or engage your audience and clients by using Hipscan’s many tools.

Want a glimpse at the power of the world’s first true marketing platform with a mobile app extension?

Custom QR Code Generator: You have the ability to create a QR code that will make it easier for potential clients to quickly reach any site you want them to—your homepage, a video, a direct contact link, a special offer, anything you want!.

Free Hipscan Profile: Use your free Hipscan profile as a digital business card that shows that you are using state-of-the-art technology.

Social Media Access: Instantly send your audience to your Facebook or Twitter page—or any other social media platform. Staying engaged with your audience in the social media realm has never been easier!

Provide Instant Offers: Make an offer and place it on a landing page that is only accessible to those that use your Hipscan.

Change Your Destination: As perhaps one of the best advantages to using Hipscan, you can easily change the location that your Hipscan takes your audience. Switch from a special offer to an introductory vide I just a matter of seconds!

Capture Video Feature: This brand new feature allows you to seamlessly take real-time video and connect it to your Hipscan QR code while you’re on the go!

And there is so much more! Get in on this groundbreaking mobile app today and see how much further we can help take your mobile marketing strategies.

Get Hipscan now at either of these great mobile app stores:

Google Play

iTunes

Hipscan's New Mobile Apps

As readers of this blog know, Hipscan is the leading marketing tool for connecting your online and offline personas.

Now that Hipscan has gone public with their amazing tool, a whole new audience has a chance to discover the amazing potential that Hipscan can offer their business. Beyond that, consumers are also going to be able to unlock mobile marketing benefits like never before.

What’s so special about Hipscan? Well, it’s the first company to offer a mobile marketing program that allows users to edit promotional items and even instant websites and offers from within the app. It’s all tied to a SMS marketing dashboard where users can be notified of specials as the business introduces new ones.

So what are some of the great advantages users will find when they unleash the power of Hipscan?

Video: Everyone is using video to strengthen their marketing message. With Hipscan, you can create a QR code that will lead users to any video of your choosing. Simply introduce yourself or describe in great detail certain offers that you have going on at that time. This is a great way to directly link a video to your target customer base.

Adaptable for all types of consumers: Mobile marketing is equally as powerful for the small-time musician as it is for the huge big-label band. The same is true for restaurants, e-commerce sites, and a variety of retailers. Hipscan does not cater to any one specific demographic; it can be used by anyone that needs to get their message to more people in a quicker and easier way. If you have the slightest bit of creativity and the desire to spread your message, the Hipscan application can be effectively used by anyone!

Easy Access: Videos, direct contact e-mails, special offers…anything you want to direct your audience to via Hipscan’s QR codes is literally at your fingertips. Never before have retailers and their customers been so intimately linked via a mobile app!

If you haven’t gotten in on the Hipscan bandwagon, now is the time to do so. Whether you’re a business owner looking to expand your audience or a consumer always on the lookout for great deals, Hipscan is the best mobile marketing tool available today!

Engaging Your Customers with Hipscan

As a small business, there are many benefits to using Hipscan. Sure, there’s the obvious benefit of better connecting with your audience and being able to provide them with offers at the drop of a hat. But the user experience for your customers is improved, too. And when your customers feel that they are better engaged with you, you stand a much better chance of bringing those customers back and luring in new potential customers.

With Hipscan, your customers become more involved in your marketing in several ways.

1 – They can learn something new. Sometimes, customers want to know more than just what products you have available or how you can help them. With Hipscan, you can link them to pages that give detailed information on your company or reviews of your products or services. Keep them informed so that they will get a sense of your honesty.

2 – Easy access to exclusive offers. Use your Hipscan to let select customers enjoy special offers such as discounts or coupons that they can redeem at your business. Make these offers exclusive and only available through your Hipscan to make the customer feel as if they are getting something truly special.

3 – Instantly get in touch with you. You can have your Hipscan automatically send a text message or e-mail. This gives your customers instant access to you; they no longer need to go online to look for your contact information when they can get it all from simply scanning your Hipscan.

4 – Check out videos. For a truly unique twist, why not create a brief video where you explain a bit about yourself, your business, or how your business can benefit the customer. Make it personal and maybe even give an inside glance at how your business works. This makes your brand more personal and most customers will relate to you when they have seen your face.

Of course, there are many other ways to utilize Hipscan, but these are perhaps the best ways to make your customers feel more involved with your business.

5 Ways to Get The Most Out of Hipscan

With the typically slow summer months upon us, there is no better time to deliver a power boost to your mobile marketing campaigns. With Hipscan, you will see your mobile strategies evolve to levels far beyond your competitors.

The trick is to know who and why mobile marketing tools such as Hipscan work in the first place.

You can use the technologies behind Hipscan to create a visual that people can interact with. This helps create customer engagement in ways that were virtually impossible just a few years ago.

Finding new and creative ways to incorporate the QR technology that Hipscan is based on can help bolster your brand and make your logo interactive. Think of the possibilities with business cards, fliers and other promotional material.

Give customers a reason to scan your Hipscan. Indicate that there’s an exclusive offer to be had after scanning.

Similarly, make sure your customers know where the scan will take them and what they can expect on the landing page the Hipscan takes them to. This gives them confidence and eliminates the worry of fraudulent activity.

Work towards building your online customer base by placing your Hipscan strategically in different locations. Think of including Hipscans on direct mail products that are sent out of state. You can even place your Hipscan on your website. However, if you do this, make sure it links to a page that’s not accessible through your site, but only by scanning your Hipscan.

Of course, these are just a handful of multiple methods to use your Hipscan to grow your audience. These will help you get get started and show you just how effective a strong mobile marketing campaign can be.

Check out Hipscan today to get the absolute best in mobile marketing!

Let Hispcan Evolve Your Mobile Marketing This Summer

There’s no better time than the summer to start working on areas where your business is weak. Summer months tend to be the slower part of the year…making it the perfect time to build on your mobile marketing efforts.

And if you’re looking to really enhance your mobile marketing efforts, there’s no better place to start than with Hipscan! The learning curve is basically con-existent, as this great new mobile app does the work for you!

For consumers and business owners alike, Hipscan is an unstoppable mobile marketing tool. And with both these audiences in mind, Hipscan is the most effective tool out there.

Here’s just a brief glimpse at all of the ways Hipscan can benefit not just small businesses but consumers as well.

For Consumers

Get the best deals the moment your favorite businesses send them out to the masses. Just scan the Hipscan with your mobile device and get loaded up on great offers!

Share and discovers new offers via social media and SMS text.

Great deals and offers for consumers that follow businesses that are using Hipscan.

For Businesses

Hipscan allows you to seamlessly connect all of your online and offline profiles, making it easier than ever to reach customers from both audiences.

Easily keep track of certain marketing pieces for your business; keep track of stats and reactions from your audience like never before!

Make sure that anyone that sees your ads or campaigns will be directly sent to your webpage or any other landing page you want by simply including your Hipscan. Best of all, your Hipscan can be placed on anything: posters, fliers, business cards, and so on.

So all you small business owners—don’t hesitate! Take advantage of the break the summer months have given you and use Hipscan to take your mobile marketing to the next level!

Using Hipscan to Enhance the Bar Experience

There’s more than just drinking going on at bars.

Anyone that frequents bars will tell you that there are some lively discussions going on behind those beers. Politics, music, technology, movies and so on. So, given the huge mix of personalities and their likelihood for open discussion, your Hipscan has the potential to play a huge impact on not only the bar’s owner, but the patrons themselves.

Here are some ways that bar owners (or any business, really) can make more use out of using Hipscan for better customer engagement.

When ordering a drink, a lot of people will ask “What’s on tap?” or something similar. Answer this question for them by placing your Hipscan on coasters that are set at each table or barstool. Label with a caption indicating that the Hipscan will lead them to the bar’s beer selection.

Many bars have specialized drink menus. Bars known for their martinis will often have a menu strictly for their martinis. Place your Hipscan on these menus with quotes from patrons that have tried certain martinis. This helps the customer determine which drink might be best for them.

Placing a Hipscan at specific parts of your bar area that lead to great liquor and mixer pairings is a great idea. Place a few of your bar’s specialties in a landing page and have your Hipscan led them to it. Show the ingredients and even how to make the drink in the event the customer may want to try making it their own at home.

Another option for coasters: Ask the question, need a ride home? Those that have had too much to drink are sometimes embarrassed to openly admit that they are unable to drive. Place a Hipscan on a coaster that pulls up the number of local cab companies. This allows the drinker to contact the cab company without making a spectacle of it.

What are some other ways you can think of to use Hipscan to make the bar experience more interactive and engaging?

How to NOT Use Hipscan

We’ve already proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Hipscan can be one of the most effective marketing tools your small business can use. When used properly, it can totally revolutionize the way you do mobile marketing.

But for all of the ways we have suggested you use Hipscan for maximum results, there are also several ways you should not use it. These are ways that essentially result in you wasting your time and efforts and letting your Hipscan go to waste.

Here are some of the most basic ways you should not use your Hipscan.

Don’t place it on promotional materials that are going to be located in isolated places, especially locations such as subway terminals. Many people’s mobile service provider have a very difficult time obtaining a strong single in these locations, making your Hipscan ineffective.

Don’t include them in your e-mail signatures. Some businesses think this is a great idea—a clever way to let their clients see that they are using recent technology. However, providing a simple link in an e-mail is much easier than QR technologies. Think about it: the user can either click the link or grab their phone, open their scanning app and then open your information on a second screen. Which seems easier to you?

It’s been proven that QR codes on vehicles or large billboards along the road aren’t very effective. Vehicles are constantly on the move, making it hard for users to scan them. Similarly, trying to scan a billboard from a moving vehicle is also difficult; if you’re the driver, it can be downright dangerous.

Don’t use your Hipscan to link to a landing page that is not mobile friendly. This may seem like an obvious move, but you’d be surprised at the number of companies that have made this mistake. What’s the point of creating a Hipscan for mobile users when the content can’t be used on their mobile device?

As you can see, these can uses can all be ruled out when simple common sense is applied. So when you are planning on how to best use your Hipscan, keep things like location and overall use in mind.

Music to Marketing Ears: How Hipscan Can Help Musicians

We’ve briefly touched on some of the ways that Hipscan can be used to help musicians promote their music. But as QR technology continues to grow and independent music is more popular than ever, there seem to be new ways to use Hipscan popping up on a weekly basis.

Indie artists have always had to get creative with finding ways to get their music out there. When they use Hipscan, they open up a whole new world of marketing possibilities. They are finding that when you can’t get the financial push that bands on large labels are getting, mobile marketing can offer similar strength for a cost of nearly nothing.

Here are some new ideas that have sprung up among indie artists and bands on smaller labels.

Place a Hipscan on a concert flyer or other promotional material that links to your Bandcamp or CD Baby page. This gives people interested in your show direct access to your music and the ability to buy your CD before the show.

You can do a similar thing by making a video; maybe an interview with your band or even a recording of practice or rehearsals. Create a Hipscan that links to this video and place it on flyers or even in the liner notes of your album.

Use your Hipscan on any sort of printed material (or even stationary on your website) that links to a page where a free download of your best track is available.

For a really cool and unique trick, you can create a Hipscan and have it printed onto a tee shirt. But there are many ways to get creative with it. You can place a Hipscan on a shirt that links directly to a YouTube video or a page containing one of your band’s songs. You can even make variations of these shits to sell at your shows; this lets your fans actually wear their favorite song.

With Hipscan, the possibilities for musicians and all other artists are endless! What are some other ways you have seen musicians utilize QR code technology.

Three Powerful Ways Hipscan Can Help Grow Your Business

If you haven’t quite gotten the foothold you like in the realm of mobile marketing, now is the time to give Hipscan a try. More than just a typical mobile marketing tool, Hipscan stands to help grow your business while also giving your customers the deals and attention that they deserve.

Ready to master mobile marketing like never before? With Hipscan, you’ll enjoy the following three benefits and so much more!

REACH YOUR AUDIENCE NO MATTER WHERE THEY ARE

Almost all people leave the house with two major things: their wallet and their cellphones. Cellphones, of course, are what you need to be concerned with. Even if they don’t have QR scanning apps on their mobile devices, they can still get text messages. This allows you to reach your target audience no matter where they might be.

With Hipscan, you also implement QR code technology into the already powerful world of text marketing. There are over 5 billion people on the planet that own a cellphone and with a tool like Hipscan, the potential to reach larger audiences, regardless of location, is huge.

BLENDING SMS AND QR TECHNOLOGIES IS HIGHLY EFFECTIVE

If we look at text stats even without the QR capabilities, there are some amazing numbers. Compared to television, print or direct mail ads, text message advertising has a much higher redemption rate—somewhere in the neighborhood of 50-70% more, in fact. Studies also indicate that nearly 95% of all text messages are opened and read.

This is a huge opening for your small business. Of course, you need to get your customer’s information first. And that’s where the QR technology part comes in. By scanning your Hipscan, users will be asked to provide e-mail information (or any other information you set your Hipscan up to ask for). Once you have this information, you can then engage your audience in real-time scenarios.

MARKETING WITH HIPSCAN IS COST EFFICIENT

Mobile marketing is by far the most cost-effective way to market. It offers the highest ROI rate of any form of advertising currently available. There are no waste printed materials to worry over. In fact, the initial cost of mobile marketing is nothing when compared to traditional methods.

Hipscan is the best way to start engaging you customers via mobile marketing techniques. Check us out today and take your mobile marketing strategies to the next level.

Mobile Coupons, Polls, Surveys and More – Focus the Attention of Your Customers

If you are involved in online marketing, one of the big draws was likely how ubiquitous the use of the internet and social media is among your client base. However, the massive success and rise in popularity of social networks and marketing campaigns attempting to use them have made it more difficult than ever to effectively enact a coherent strategy, and keep it going over time.

One of the biggest obstacles to effectively using QR in a modern marketing campaign is the amount of configuration and administration a campaign can take. Every individual promotion can have many moving parts; if you use coupons, polls, or surveys you have to make sure that you are constantly updating the content, and doing so in a way that gradually funnels your customers towards actually making sales.

This can be a major headache from an administrative point of view; one simple error in your sales chain can result in large percentages of your traffic being re-routed to incorrect pages or destinations, which will result in lost revenues.

That’s where a product like the Business Marketer plan from Hipscan can come in and save the day.

You see, Hipscan focuses on presenting a single, unified platform that enables you to tweak and adjust individual aspects of a mobile QR marketing campaign all from one easy-to-use dashboard. You won’t have to remember five or six different individual login credentials, or worry about how your coupons are distributed to your customers; Hipscan takes care of all this for you.

In fact, through their powerful, streamlined interface, you will be able to directly control every ad and interaction you have with your customers. Your coupons and special offers will find their way into the hands of those most likely to use them. Your surveys will help you to determine market and preference data which should allow you to increase your efficiency.

So why not try Hipscan QR Marketing today, and see if it is a good fit for your business? There is a free-trial available of all of their programs (and their Business Marketer plan is only $19 per month, an absolute steal) and they even have a long-term free plan that just delivers the basics, if you’re not quite ready to take the full plunge into the world of QR.

#QR marketing #mobile polls #mobile surveys #mobile sweepstakes #mobile engagement #hipscan #hipscan mobile marketing

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