What is a QR Code?

Quick Response (QR) codes seem to be everywhere. They can be a great tool in mobile marketing if you use them correctly.

In the latest video in Sonnhalter’s Marketing Minute series, Matt shares some ways to use QR codes effectively to reach a mobile audience.

To view other videos from Sonnhalter, visit our YouTube channel here.

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Big Data, Mobile and Social Media Dominate the Conversations at the 2014 BMA Global Conference

By Matt Sonnhalter, Vision Architect

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I recently attended the Business Marketing Association (BMA) global conference which was held in Chicago May 28-30, 2014. The largest B2B marketing conference in the world, BMA14 was attended by a record 950 B2B marketers from 450 firms, 33 states and 12 nations.

The 2014 BMA conference also deployed two digital platforms—Livecube and ISEBOX—to enable speakers to take polls and attendees to ask questions, follow tweets, share photos and access conference content. If you are in charge of planning live events/conferences, I would suggest checking out these two resources.

The 3-day conference was jam packed with content – featuring 79 speakers and presenters leading 41 sessions—three pre-conference programs, nine panels, 12 keynotes and 17 firestarters. These sessions covered a wide array of topics and trends of critical interest and importance to B2B marketers today. Someone at the conference referenced the amount of information presented was like drinking from a fire hydrant!

Here are a few themes I saw throughout the entire conference:

Big Data

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It’s becoming more and more difficult for marketers in today’s environment and I thought one illustration that did a great job of representing our challenge was the Marketing Technology Landscape graphic by ChiefMartec.com. We are surrounded by data, but starved for insights; that is, data does not automatically equal insight. Today’s marketers need to solve both analytical and creative issues as we continue to trend toward extreme personalization…segments of one.

Mobile

Since mobile devices are the predominant way people globally access the web and information, mobile is a critical factor when planning future marketing efforts. Here are a few stats from the conference that help reinforce the importance of mobile:

  • Mobile data usage doubled in 2013
  • In the US, 1 of every 5 minutes spent on mobile are on either Facebook or Instagram
  • More Facebook users globally now engage the site via their mobile device compared to their desktop
  • 78% access Twitter via a mobile device

Social Media

Social media continues to be a key component of the B2B marketing mix, with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube still being the main ones utilized by B2B marketers. There was a great session by Tim Washer from CISCO on “How to bring humor to B2B storytelling.” Just because you work in B2B marketing does not mean you need to be devoid of humor…check out some of these examples shared by Tim:

You can view/download videos and documents from the entire conference here: http://bma.isebox.net/.

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Mobile Marketing to the Professional Tradesman – What are you Doing?

The professional trades are no different from normal consumers when it comes to using mobile. There have been a few articles in eMarketing.com about both time spent on mobile devices and what’s being used to open and read emails. Both are significant when it comes to reaching contractors with your messages.

Email remains one of the most critical marketing channels—if not the most exciting. And as more consumers access on mobile, there is a growing imperative to make sure emails are smartphone- and tablet-optimized. However, that doesn’t mean marketers can forget about the desktop just yet according to a recent article in emarketer.com. That coupled with the fact that the US now spends more time on mobile devices than desktop should send up a red flag for those of us who haven’t addressed the mobile market.

The shift includes watching video, checking social media and reading emails. So what does this mean to the B-to-B market? It means if we want to effectively communicate with our audiences, we need to be doing it in a format that is easily read.

Matt Sonnhalter, in another post on mobile, indicated that by 2015, mobile will be the first screen that people will use. That’s not that far away!

A recent survey by Equipment World Magazine on those contractors that had smartphones:

  • 85% view emails
  • 81% use it to text
  • 71% connect to the internet
  • 52% use apps
  • 24% visit social sites
  • 20% watch videos
  • 4% don’t use it for any of the above

Bottom line is, if you don’t have your website optimized for mobile, you’re going to miss lots of opportunities.

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Why Mobile Marketing is Important for Professional Tradesmen

Recently, our President, Matt Sonnhalter, was part of a webinar and he’d like to share some highlights of what’s to come in regards to mobile. Enjoy.

I was recently a co-presenter for a B2B Mobile Marketing webinar sponsored by CFE Media. During the course of my research and prep for this webinar, I was overwhelmed by some of the mobile stats I came across…here are just a few:

– Mobile will be the “first screen” for all Web usage sometime between 2013-2015 (Gartner/Morgan Stanley) – which means mobile devices will finally overtake PCs

– 5.3 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide (ITU) – more than the combined penetration of PCs, landlines and TVs

– 50% of American adults own a smartphone as of February 2012 (CTIA)

– 29% of US adults own a tablet/eReader as of January 2012 (Pew Research Center)

There also continues to be tremendous growth in pretty much all aspects of mobile marketing tactics:

– Revenues from mobile apps will reach $46B by 2016 (ABI Research)

– Mobile video views increased 958% from Q2 2011 to Q1 2012 (Millennial Media Study)

– 20 million QR code scans were recorded alone in Q3 2011 – a 440% increases year-over-year (ScanLife)

– Almost 40 million US mobile users access social media sites daily (comScore)

So why is mobile relevant for B2B marketers trying to reach the professional tradesmen? Smartphones are an integral part of today’s professional tradesman toolbox. These guys are always “on the go;” on the job site and in the field…they need to be able to access information whenever and from wherever they want…these guys are not sitting behind a desk in front of a computer screen. And I’ve got news for you; if your company has a website…you are already playing in the mobile space! So how can you make sure your brand/company is represented well? Here are two simple steps to help get you started with mobile marketing:

1)      Optimize for Mobile – make sure all of your Web content is “optimized” for the mobile environment; look-and-feel for smaller size requirements (e.g. easy to read text; no Flash; images that load quickly); but you also have to make sure your content is transformed into: quick answers, bite-sized units (e.g. 100-200 words) and easy-to-digest formats (e.g. audio podcasts and/or video)

2)      Integrate – before you run out and develop a completely separate mobile marketing strategy and plan, take a look at your existing marketing programs and determine how you can start integrating mobile components; such as QR codes on print or collateral pieces or optimized e-newsletters so they are legible on mobile devices

I think it is fair to say that “mobile” is certainly here to stay, so make sure it is part of your overall marketing program moving forward.

Click image below to access the archived webinar.

If you like this post, you might want to read:

Reaching Contractors via Mobile. See What Grainger is Doing.

Are you Targeting Emails for Your Mobile Marketing?

Why a Mobile Strategy is so Important to Reach the Professional Tradesman

What’s your Mobile Media Strategy for 2012?

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Webcast: Mobile Marketing

Our vision architect, Matt Sonnhalter, will be presenting on CFE Media’s webcast, “Mobile Marketing: What Impression Are You Making and How Will You Measure It?”

Matt, along with Kim Dushinski author of The Mobile Marketing Handbook, will discuss how B2B marketers can make a good mobile impression. Whether you’re ready for mobile, or not, it’s here. If you have a website, you’re already being viewed on mobile devices.

Join Matt on Tuesday, June 19 at 2 PM EST for this free, informative presentation. You can register here.

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