Fast Facts:

• Average Number of TVs per U.S. Household: 2.5
• Percentage of Americans with 4 or more TVs: 31%
• Number of Mobile Phone Users (13+): 228M
• Percentage of U.S. Mobile Subscribers with Smartphones: 31%
• Number of mobile phone web users: 83.2M

The question is, how are you communicating to get your message across to those who whose smartphones quickly and easily?  The newest and easiest way to provide your contact data, information, directions, coupons, etc. is through 2D QR barcodes.

A 2D QR barcode are a particular implementation of 2D barcode, designed for quick decoding – QR stands for Quick Response. QR Codes can be printed on business cards, encoded with contact cards, or included in advertising such as print or electronic (email) and used to deliver a web address to interested parties via mobile phone. QR Codes can also be delivered digitally, on the internet or television. QR Code reading software is available for most modern mobile phones which feature cameras, and comes pre-installed on many newer models.   You can visit your smartphones app store and download barcode scanners both free and paid.

The benefit of having the scanner is that retailers and advertisers are using the QR codes more and more in magazines, billboard advertisements, retail shops, and online to present coupons, directions and updates to their companies and offers.

Having a QR barcode yourself is also a great idea so people can easily load your vcard (contact information), easily connect to your social media outlets or provides you with a creative opportunity to pass along a discount to members or users via email marketing.

Think about sending an email marketing message out to new subscribers or members that has a QR barcode included.  The subscriber/member can scan the barcode and receive a coupon code that that they can use online to purchase a product or discounted membership or they can bring the coupon into a store with them for a discount.  You can print QR barcodes and place around your business for users to scan and bring into your location or scan and map your location.

The possibilities with the barcodes are endless.  If you need help creating a barcode, let us know, if not the tools are available via the internet and start creating and passing along barcodes to speed up socializing with your peers!!

Here are some barcodes for you to try out:

Contact me via Twitter

Contact me via Facebook & become a Fan

Internet usage, smartphones and social media have become more popular and show a steady increase in popularity not only from personal use but from business marketing as well. The below graphic displays B2B and B2C companies Social Media profiles and the popularity of social media in business marketing.

The emarketer.com reports that Social Media Marketing spending for B2B and B2C businesses is projected to increase over the next several months and years.  Customer Relationship Management and Brand Building will be the focus of business social media marketing practices as these play key roles to a company’s success.

Technology, internet and smartphones are the content delivery mediums today and your marketing needs to adjust to reach your target audience. Not quite sure where to start?

1. Start with a plan, who is your target audience and what is your message?
2. Make sure that your website is up-to-date and relays your company message.  Is your web site smart phone readable and friendly?  Can users interact with your website via their smart phone and current web browsers easily?  These are important as trends show that 83% of adults have cell phones or smartphones and, among them, over 35% have access the internet via their phone.
3. Create a Social Media Strategy – see related post with strategy and social media sites information found at: http://www.isisinternettechnologysolutions.com/social-media/social-media-adventure-continued/
4. Initiate Marketing Plan – how are you going to reach your target audience with your message? Social Media is certainly an item that will be used but there are also alternatives such as Personalized Email Campaigns and Personalized URL’s. These provide an alternative to customary print marketing and are personalized and targeted to that specific person or persons vertical market, enabling you to target your marketing message.

The key is to plan your marketing strategy, ensure that your message is reaching your target audience and engage your audience with your brand and customer relations.   Getting involved in Social Media is more than just posting, but involves interaction and getting to know/responding to your consumers.

With this in mind, technologies are evolving to include group activities for your cell phones. Group activities will include creating groups (i.e, family group, marketing group, new prospect groups, etc.) and then being able to either send a text to that group, leave a phone message for each individual within the group, email the group, or schedule a conference call for the entire group to attend directly from your cell phone.

This ability presents itself with endless possibilities and ideas on how to stay in contact with your members, prospects, family, etc.  Business will be able to use this ability easily for quick messages to members, updates, and meeting information. Small businesses will be able to connect to their sales and prospects with marketing items, etc. and staying in touch with family and friends will be more efficient.

Which cell phone carriers and when will this be available?  Unfortunately, this hasn’t been released as of yet, but the idea and concept presents itself with ideas and opportunities that will be beneficial to those who embraces new technologies.

1. Recognize and Reward – Offer employees incentives to take that extra step in customer service.  Offer awards and/or prizes based on customer feedback or product satisfaction.
2. Staffing – Ensure that your staff is well qualified and skilled to lend themselves to reinforce your brand.  During employee training, make brand identity a key component.
3. Employee Feedback – Share your ideas/brands and plans with your employees and offer them with the ability to ask questions and provide feedback.  Feedback is a great way to open communication, ensure that employees are working for the same goal and provides employees with a vested interest since their feedback is being sought and acted upon.
4. Measure Performance – Reach out to customers, media and vendors to check to ensure that your message and brand is being conveyed appropriately.

Building your brand isn’t something that is only done externally through Social Media, Meetings, your website, etc., but comes from within as well through employee interaction with customers, vendors and the general public each and every day.

These are powerful results and only proves that networking is the key to any successful person or organization.

Networking does take time and effort and can be done using a few different mediums. These could include:

Social Media – Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.  Get your name and organization out there in the mainstream and interacting with clients, consumers or people with the same interests;

Blogging/Website – Keep your website content updated and have a blog where you provide your users with relevant and useful information;

Groups – Join Groups and interact. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn all provide Groups that you can view/join and meet and interact with people within the group;

Organizations – Join Organizations that are of interest to you or your organization. Take some time and attend the events that they offer and meet/mingle with the other members;

RSS Feeds and Blog Updates – Subscribe to your favorite websites or blogs RSS feeds so that you are kept up-to-date with the latest and greatest news.  Comment on the posts and interact with the other subscribers when able.

The key to networking is creating friends and fans that would recommend you to their fans and friends.  Meeting these friends/fans does require time, but worth the effort.  Take a minute and say hello.