What businesses should consider about mobile social networks
Posted by Manuela Barreto @ October 21st, 2009 in Mobile Marketing
Mobile social networking is taking off and many businesses are beginning to analyze the potential business opportunities mobile social media have to offer.
This evolution has made way for the emergence of new applications such as FourSquare, Yelp and GoWalla, as pointed out by Jeremiah Owyang. So what can these mobile social networks do to tap into this new market that’s harnessing these new tools?
FourSquare, the local-based social network, for example, has been offering discounts based on people’s physical locations, and therefore, serving up ads on businesses and shops nearby the identified location of the person.
“We should expect FourSquare to evolve and eventually offer advertisements based on your friends’ interests — John, Amy, and Allen all like Los Taqaritors, invite them now for a 20% off discount,” commented Owyang. “Location-based ads will soon connect with social information.’”
Another good tip Owyang mentioned was that consumers should consider using RedLaser, a tool which provides users with the cheapest prices on products by allowing consumers to scan the product’s barcode. In other words, consumers can run a price comparison on the product of desire and make up their minds as to whether to get it at a different store or online depending on the offer.
Owyand then leaves businesses and marketers with a set of recommendations to consider in order to be prepared for this evolution of the adoption of mobile social networks by consumers. And they are the following:
* Listening In For Free Research: Local businesses should immediatly montior their brands on mobile social networks like Yelp and FourSquare. Use this information as free research: find out the perception of customers opinions both good –and bad to learn about their market.
* Responding To Reviewers: Use negative information as a way to improve products and services and let your community know you’re listening to their feedback. Although there are always two-sides to any complaint use these same tools to respond to customers in public, but be sure to abide by the terms of service.
* Rewarding Top Customers: Customers that frequently patron your store and tell others on these mobile social networks should be rewarded. Build both in person and online relationships with them so they’ll continue to advertise and market on your behalf. Free drinks anyone?
* Preparing for pricing impacts and positioning: With disruptive tools like RedLaser appearing, customers can quickly find pricing of products and find them at nearby retailers. Retailers like CVS, Walmart, Target, BestBuy, Safeway should take heed as consumers continue to become empowered through instant information. Companies will need to respond by: making product pricing more competitive, or offering other deals such as bundling, speed, time, or other value-based offerings.
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