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How to use mobile marketing in a tourist town

By Becky McCray

Today’s idea is how to use mobile marketing for your small business to reach tourists.

Small towns are frequently tourist towns. Small businesses are looking to market to anonymous crowds who arrive for a short time. We need a method to give customers an incentive to go out of their way to stop in at our business.

Reader Greg Harris of Mobile Marketing sent me a note about their launch of Mobivity, a service targeted at small businesses to market on mobile and cell phones. Customers can opt in, and you can send coupons, messages, or connect to an SMS app in exchange.

You advertise your opt in keyword or code in all your traditional marketing (and your non-traditional marketing). Put it on your billboard, on your signs, in your radio ads, on your bumperstickers, and your website. Customers can text you for an immediate coupon. That gives them a reason to visit your business.

What do you think? How else might you use mobile marketing for your rural small business?

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About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
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  • Video: How to fill empty car dealership buildings for the holidays - November 6, 2020
  • How has 2020 changed the challenges rural small towns face? Tell us here - October 20, 2020
  • The Idea Friendly Method to surviving a business crisis - October 6, 2020
  • Join me for the Rural Renewal Symposium online Oct 13 - September 26, 2020
  • Cheap placemaking idea: instant murals - September 11, 2020
  • Refilling the rural business pipeline - July 7, 2020
  • Huge vacant buildings: grants to renovate? - June 9, 2020

February 27, 2007 Filed Under: marketing

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Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    August 31, 2008 at 4:46 am

    It’s cheezy. Consumers are sick of all forms of advertising, and advertising is generally becoming less effective. Cell phone marketing would have to be the most fustrating, receiving spam txts and calls from other jerks.

    Why would anyone want to opt in to more junkmail?

  2. Becky McCray says

    August 31, 2008 at 1:01 pm

    You’re on vacation, in an unfamiliar or barely familiar town. Would you not text for an immediate coupon to a restaurant? Or buy one, get one free from the ice cream place? I think I would.

    It is then incumbent on the small business to NOT spam those customers.

Trackbacks

  1. Rural entrepreneurship news – global trends says:
    May 1, 2013 at 4:14 am

    […] we just told you about marketing on mobile phones with […]

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