In 2010, it will be all about your mobile phone. That was the prediction made by one of the trend-trackers that I follow back in Spring.

Yup, the next trend that will affect you will be from those pushing “mobile marketing.” You may have already seen or heard the commercial for KGB KGB - or 542 542. “Got a question? Text it to 542 542 (kgb kgb) and a kgb Special Agent will send the answer to your phone.”
Hold that thought; there’s more.

By now, the word “app” – short for application – has probably already been added to Merriam Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary (yes, they have their own “dictionary app”). Apps are icons that one can click on a smart phone (Blackberry or iPhone) that are designed to help the user perform a particular task. It is estimated that there are over 100,000 apps for the iPhone alone – everything from OpenTable, Facebook, The Weather Channel, and CNN to apps of the more unusual nature. For instance, there are apps that turn your phone into a flashlight; apps for those trying to find a nearby 12-Step meeting or an app whereby one could buy a movie ticket (Fandango) from one‘s phone.

Mobile marketing is coming at us – and in this office – at a rapid pace. In the last month, three different technology companies offering mobile solutions to reach new or existing customers have approached us. Here’s a run down:

1) There’s a company out there that for $500 - $1,000 will provide you with a template to create your OWN app for you. One of our clients signed on and we’re happy to help with a consult.

2) There’s another company that creates mobile websites - sites that are easily opened on one’s smartphone and in some cases can provide a Google map to your location (great if you own a restaurant or store). This company can also market your message via texts (just like an e-blast, now you can do text blasts) – in fact we are partnering with them via Long Island Restaurant Week. They offer: real-time alerts, notifications, and reminders; coupons and deals; programs; sweepstakes, contests and trivia games; voting and polling instructional, or important corporate communication. Wow.

3) There’s a group that will make a promotional video of your business and host it on an application that accommodates browsers, iPhones, Blackberries and other smartphones. Think of it as YouTube specifically for restaurants. (This one is in its infancy.)

If you were in business back in the mid-90s, then you remember the pleadings by those early web developers for all of us to have a web page. Remember that push? These days a business isn’t a viable business if it doesn’t have a website. Cell phones became the rage in the mid-90s too. They were big and clunky compared to today’s sleek models, but you could take your phone with you. Imagine that? And you could send a message via text. Pretty cool.

Let’s recap: every business has a website. Every consumer has a cell phone. These cell phones function like computers; many can view websites. But they can now view websites more quickly and more easily if the company has a mobile website.

So it’s no surprise that cell phones have come into their own as vehicles of marketing messages. Most mobile marketing solutions are opt-in/opt-out. The good news is if a customer has signed on, they want to receive your message.

And if you have an iPhone, you can: send/receive texts and emails; surf the web quickly (really quickly); make and receive calls. And click on that restaurant app to see what’s on the menu tonight and then make a rezzie on OpenTable because you were notified via text that said restaurant is offering a special Porterhouse for Two and be lead there via Google Map.

Ta-dah! Welcome to 2010.

Question: In a rapidly changing media landscape - let alone a brutal economy - how does a business owner know if their marketing program is effective? Answer: if you can’t afford to pay for measurement, it’s hard to know; but there are indicators.

Standard thinking is that a minimum of 4% of your gross revenue should be allotted for marketing. Let’s hope that you are monitoring that program on a quarterly basis. Now, more than ever, is the time to: 1) market yourself, 2) experiment. It has been said that a successful program combines advertising (radio, TV, print) and public relations. But now, in the 21^st century, with technology leading the way, an online presence is vital – if not necessary – for any program. That online presence can take the form of banner ads on websites, having a social media program (Facebook, Twitter – even YouTube) or email blasts. Smart operators are utilizing all these tools as traditional media outlets shrink in size and effectiveness. Crain’s New York Business recently noted that the New York Post’s circulation has declined by 20% since last year, the Daily News is down 14% and The New York Times and Newsday both down around 3%. We think they’ll survive – because they, too, will adapt. They’re all scrambling, but who isn’t?

Get Ears.

Measuring return on investment (ROI) is an exact science. Most small companies can’t afford measurement programs done by professional measurement firms that charge a minimum of $20,000 or more per year for that service. Therefore it’s imperative to have your frontline people – those who interact with your customers/clients – ask the all-important question, “How did you hear of us?” in order to track your marketing investment. And you may want to ask that question too if the call or customer comes to you directly. Coupons or “mention this ad” are always reliable but not necessarily in line with your concept. Sometimes a large piece of press – a feature article or review of a product or business – will have the phones ringing the moment it runs. When that happens, recognize it for what it is: powerful. Now the onus is on you as an operator to deliver. Online marketing also has its advantages: metrics are somewhat easily available to monitor a spike in engagement – whether it be increased fans to a Facebook page, or number of unique visitors to a website. As well, an increasingly recognized merit of Twitter is its search capability, enabling one to monitor one’s brand.

Take a Chance.

Now would be the time to stick a toe in the water of online marketing; it’s where marketing is headed because it’s relatively less expensive and it appears that customers are spending a lot of time online – whether it be at home, office or elsewhere. The other night, I was watching a ballgame that was broadcast from a small-market Midwestern city. As the cameras scanned the crowd, I noticed how many people were fiddling with their Blackberry’s or iPhones. Maybe they were checking their email, their Facebook page or checking out their favorite local website. I wonder what marketing messages were imparted to them in-between pitches?

Are you monitoring your marketing program? Have you embraced Internet technologies? Are you speaking regularly to your communication specialists? Do you feel the media . . . shift? What do you think? Comments welcome.

For the last several months we’ve all witnessed – if not personally experienced – upheaval and change. We have downsized, made painful cuts, seen our savings account dwindle and made personal and professional sacrifices that we wouldn’t have imagined making a year or two ago. The actions we took were necessary for the survival and strength of our businesses. But now what to do? Do we simply hold on, try to ride out the storm, a storm that has no foreseeable abatement?

Perhaps.

But we cannot afford to congratulate ourselves, stand idle or even exhale. Because we have one other problem/situation (whatever you want to call it): the ever-changing forces of THE MARKET. Through this economic malaise, know this: the market changes ever day. The market – the all-encompassing word I’m using to describe your customers, trends, consumer patterns – is a pulsating organism that never dies, that lives and breathes, that makes decisions that affect us. It’s up to us to adapt – or die. Whenever there’s a push, there’s a pull; a cause, an effect. These market changes are rapidly taking place in the world of media.

Because The Media is Dying

In fact, it’s been dying. There are at least three market forces contributing to this funeral march:

1) The rapid advances in technology that has your customers tethered to laptops, iPhones and Blackberries. They no longer wait to get the morning paper, they log on. They no longer send letters, they email. They Google for information instead of using encyclopedias, and they use OpenTable to make restaurant reservations. They trust Zagat or TripAdvisor (both feature user generated content – NOT editorial) more than they trust Food + Wine or Conde Nast Traveler. They bookmark certain blogs. They want instant answers; they want convenience.

2) The tsunami called social media (Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Twitter). These online communities are just that – communities. And they are now sources where people get their information; it’s where they are influenced, where messages are sent and received – in many cases, marketing messages.

3) An imploding economy that has paralyzed print advertising spending, let alone newspaper and magazine sales, let alone increasing the costs of printing. Paper costs money. Printing a paper does too. Having desks and offices for editorial staff costs money as rents rise.

So how bad is it? Is the media really dying? On Long Island, Distinction Magazine, Long Island Weddings and Parents & Children have ceased publishing. Ditto Builder/Architect. Nationally Domino, Lipstick and dozens of smaller magazines have folded. The Wall Street Journal, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Newsday, New York Observer, Denver Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Newark Star Ledger have all cut staff and eliminated sections – so have scores of others.

It is the smart business owner – you who have already survived – that needs to now completely rethink your marketing approach. Is your ad buy really effective? How about your entire marketing program? The media may not be dead, but it sure as hell is changing. You, like them, must adapt – or die.

Have you adapted? Are you willing to adapt? Have you seen changes in yourself as per how you get your news or information? Does your company have a social media marketing plan yet?

Tell me what you think. Your comments are not only welcome, but necessary for this conversation.

A business associate from England sent me this YouTube video on the speed of the technological revolution. In it is stated that if MySpace.com (over 200 million registered users) was a country, it’d be the fifth largest country in the world, somewhere between Brazil and Indonesia . . . that 31 billion searches are made on google every MONTH  . . . and that it took Facebook only two years to reach a market audience of 50 million!