Regardless of what type of photography business you operate and who are your primary customers, they are on the move– and the one device that is sure to be with them wherever and whenever they go is their mobile phone.
According to a March 2013 IDC Research survey of Android and iPhone users 18–44 years of age:
·80% of them check their smartphones within 15 minutes of waking.
·79% keep their smartphones on their person or within reach for all but 2 hours of the time they’re awake. This number is 63% for 1 hour of the time they are awake.
·Being connected was the most important reason survey respondents gave for having a smartphone, followed by excitement, curiosity and productivity.
These statistics and many others prove that if you want to engage with your customers and do so virtually instantly, then mobile marketing may be your most essential communications channel. The best mobile marketing method to reach your customers and maintain a conversation in real time is SMS (Short Message Service), known popularly as text messaging.
According to the TIME mobility poll, Americans 18–29 receive an average of almost 88 text messages, but only 17 phone calls every day. Even adults, 65+ receive more text messages, 4.7, than phone calls, 3.8, daily. In addition, text messages are considered vital communications, as they are read within 5 seconds of being received.
Using an SMS service to market your photography business is more than simply communicating. It’s a highly reliable, flexible and easy-to-use system to generate maximum revenues by putting mobile coupons, product promotions and samples of your latest work in the hands of your customers. You can also increase engagement with instant polls and contests.
More importantly, SMS mobile marketing allows you to build customer relationships by sharing Facebook content, your latest blog post, a YouTube video of an assignment, what you like to do during your off time or sending birthday or anniversary greetings.
SMS also has many practical uses that make your job easier as well as the lives of your customers, with appointment reminders, a mobile booking form and making payments through PayPal. Instead of sitting at your desk with your computer and taking the time to create a long email and send it, you can relax after a long day of shooting and quickly create and send a special offer, coupon or other customer engagement method with a just a few words and a link with your mobile phone. Plus, SMS messaging is a direct connection with your customers. There is no spam or similar filters to delay or waylay your message, as often occur with emails.
An oft-overlooked benefit of an SMS mobile marketing program for your photography business is that it identifies you as someone who understands and uses the most-advance technologies that so many people prefer. It’s one of the reasons why many consider email marketing old-fashioned and cumbersome.
Various studies and surveys also reveal how well consumers respond to SMS marketing.
·70% of Americans welcome the opportunity to receive offers on their mobile phones.
·SMS marketing has a very low opt-out rate of only 5%.
·The average click-through rate for SMS messages is 19%, compared to just 4.2% for emails.
·When it comes to making an actual connection with people, they are 6 to 8 times more likely to engage with your SMS message than an email.
·Compared to mail or newspaper coupons, people who receive your SMS marketing coupons are 10 times more likely to use them.
·Talk about building customer relationships that are lasting! Implement an SMS loyalty program and you’ll benefit from the 90% of people who say they gain value from being a program member.
As if SMS mobile marketing wasn’t easy enough, there is a company that specializes in helping photographers create a comprehensive program– and it’s a name you can’t forget – Ubookoo. The people at Ubookoo understand photographers and have focused all their attention on developing mobile marketing tools, such as SMS, that will not only connect you with your customers, but also make those connections as strong and as lasting as possible. Plus, you’ll find SMS and Ubookoo’s other mobile marketing services to be much more affordable than virtually all other marketing and advertising methods available to you.
Rely on Ubookoo to put the power of mobile marketing in your hands today, so you’ll have more customers– and repeat customers –tomorrow, and into the future. Visit ubookoo.com today for complete information.