February 15

Have you heard of SoLoMo? It’s not exactly new but all the cool kinds are doing it. You might have heard of big businesses like WalMart dipping their toes into the SoLoMo pool and popular apps like Shopkick that reward consumers for buying stuff. But, I’m here to talk about how SoLoMo (Social Local Mobile) is putting the power back into the hands of the little guys. And by little guys I mean the small business owner, the moms and pops. How you ask? Read on.

It’s 2013. Smartphone ubiquity is here. Everyone has a mobile phone. Some people have two. We’ve been talking about this time for ages now and its finally here. And its turned business on its head because consumer are using the tiny devices in their pockets to inform their purchasing decisions. You can see them on any given day in Best Buy looking up reviews for the flat screen TV’s before they make the purchase. And sometimes when they buy that TV, it ends up in your feed on Facebook. (Annoying huh?) That’s Social and that’s mobile.

But, the big winner here is Local…why you ask? Because as it turns out, 80% of those searches that are conducted via their mobile devices are local searched. Makes sense right? Sure it does. People want to find out what’s near them. And when they do, they ACT on that. They call, clicik to visit the site and as it turns out, they also visit businesses.

And that’s how the little guy is poised to win again.

But not so fast, don’t sell the farm just yet; the search is the beginning of the sales cycle. What happens when a user clicks on that link? Well, if that little guy doesn’t have a site that’s optimized for a mobile device, then as it turns out, nothing happens. Mobile users are notoriously impatient and unforgiving. They will disappear and never return of a site doesn’t load within 5 seconds on their mobile device.[Google]

But what if they call, you say? Well, if they call, what can you offer them other than directions? Are you gonna keep an impatient mobile customer on the phone reading this week’s sales items? No. You’re not.

Here’s what I recommend:
Get a mobile site. Now. It doesn’t have to be fancy. It doesn’t even have to cost anything. If all you have is your logo, an address and a phone number, you’re in the game. Mobile users are ready and willing to act! So get them your address and they’ll plug it into their map app and come see you. Or they’ll call. Once they do that, the rest is in your hands. And that’s SoLoMo for the little guy. Simple, easy and straightforward. The power is yours! Go forth and conquer!