What should top CMOs' mobile marketing to-do list for 2011?

By Giselle Tsirulnik

January 7, 2011

CMO's to-do list

The holidays have come and gone, 2011 is here. So, what should be on the agenda for brands and retailers in terms of mobile marketing and commerce for the year ahead?

With the explosion of smartphones – 35 percent of subscribers in the United States are using one – there is no two ways about the importance of having a mobile presence. Thank goodness, most brands and retailers have something they launched in 2010. So what now?

“Smartphones and tablets like the iPad are becoming common place which will only accelerate the adoption curve of activities like mobile shopping,” said Bob Cell, CEO of MyBuys, New York.

“More importantly, consumers expect their favorite brands and retailers offer a personalized mobile experience, so for those willing to make the investment, they will benefit from increasing consumer traffic and sales from their mobile site,” he said.

Personalization
Personalization will be a key advancement this year. Since most brands and retailers have a mobile Web site in place, they should focus the next year on finding ways of improving the mobile Web experience for site visitors.

There are different ways to do so. Following and tracking a consumer throughout there activities on a branded site is one way.

For example, Jane Smith is browsing the Steve Madden mobile site. It is winter, but she is going to Hawaii on vacation and needs to buy some sandals and beach shoes. Jane is not interested in the boots that are displayed on the homepage due to her location.

Jane clicks on the sandals section of the site and all of a sudden is served a coupon code for 30 percent off of flip flops. Now that is a deal that Jane will not pass up.

Social integration
According to Webster Lewin, senior vice president and director of digital innovation and strategy at MSLGroup Digital, Atlanta, brands need to find ways to become a regular part of consumers’ mobile lives.

Therefore, fully leveraging the mobile services of social networks like Facebook and Twitter will also play a key roll in the chief marketing officer’s planning in 2011.

Mobile applications, Web sites, SMS promotions, everything a brand or a retailer does on mobile, should somehow tie into social media.

“The bar for success in mobile applications will rise steadily as consumers demand more usability and innovative features, while app discoverability issues continue to grow,” Mr. Lewin said.

“In general, we would encourage brands to invest in the mobile Web and mobile messaging services first,” he said. “Gain an understanding of how the brand’s customers use mobile services and grow those services based on results.

“Each brand has unique aspects and mobile may offer great ways to support their existing customer base, or to grow a new base of customers.”

Multichannel will be key
Steve Timpson, president of Siteminis, Atlanta, said brands should focus on creating a truly robust mobile strategy.

“Mobile is the most transformative technology to come along since maybe the telephone to create the one on one opportunity to engage your customers,” Mr. Timpson said. “Don’t just check the box that your company has done mobile.

“This space is a living-breathing entity that needs constant attention as a most critical arrow in your quiver to increase sales,” he said. “It may not seem like that now, but it will be.”

Recommendations
1. Make sure your organization has a mobile evangelist and that person has some authority to work and impact the verticals of your company.

2. Understand the requirements, goals and needs of the enterprise.

3. Do not let IT rule your mobile strategy execution; it could be a deathblow if the competition gets to market first with something better.

4. At the very least, if you have not done so already (shame on you) do something in mobile: texting, coupons or email. Your customers are already using the device, don’t wait another year.

5. For those that do have a mobile [presence already, work hard in 2011 to better the mobile Web experience.

6. Make sure mobile threads through all the verticals of the organization, meaning that when developing any marketing strategy, mobile must be included not just a one-off experiment.

7. If building an application, define how to utilize the native operating systems of the mobile device to give the customer a more useful experience, beyond just that of a mobile Web.

8. Budget mobile appropriately.

“Keep in mind that multichannel in the sales world by definition is offering customers more than one way to buy something,” Mr. Timpson said. “To translate that to mobile multichannel is to define more than one way for a retailer or brand to interact and transact business with a mobile device or form factor.

“A multichannel mobile strategy will be key for 2011 and beyond,” he said.

View Original Article: Mobile Marketer

New Report On The State Of Mobile Communications Says Be Mobile Or Be Dust

B.L. Ochman | Jan 12, 2011

Now is the perfect time for businesses to jump into mobile communications, says “The State of Mobile Communications,” a newly issued report by Burson-Marsteller and Proof Integrated Communications (where I am Managing Director of Emerging Media.)

The report provides recommendations based on the implications of a range of key mobile research reports, including:

• Companies who are not already engaging with stakeholders via mobile are missing infinite business and revenue-generating opportunities created by exponential mobile growth. And, once mobile is even more pervasive in a few years, businesses who are not in the mobile space risk being squeezed out by competitors.

• “Mobile” includes voice, data, and video – basically any type of consumer or business content that can now be communicated via the Internet. Businesses must think about how to channel all types of content through mobile , not just one. Developing a website optimized for mobile browsing on a variety of devices is the first step.

• Mobile users are not passive. They seek information, manage personal finances, interact with others and shop.

• Mobile is not just a channel for businesses to push out information. As “search” is the top mobile activity, consumers are seeking content and tools relevant to their needs. Companies must position their brands and mobile offerings so they can easily be found via search and are aligned with consumer expectations.

• Mobile is not just for young people. Eighty-two percent of seniors use their mobile phones for information and learning.

• Location-based targeting is the a critical distinction that makes mobile communications more powerful than other channels. Knowing where a mobile user is – whether if be in a store, with friends, at a restaurant or at the office – can help businesses know which content is most relevant to deliver to the consumer at that moment.

• Optimize your content for multiple devices. Ensure that location-based mobile tools have high utility and privacy. Consumers are more comfortable sharing their location when they see a tangible benefit to providing their location information – so give them a reason to do so.

• Offering applications or mobile media in several languages or with local nuances may be worthwhile.

• QR Codes, long pervasive in Asia and Europe, are moving to the West. They provide enormous opportunity to engage with consumers and to deliver content previously limited by constraints of channels and space.

The complete report can be viewed at SlideShare

View original article: B2C

With the Verizon iPhone Coming, Is It Time To Re-Think Mobile Marketing?

by Arnold Tijerina on Jan 11, 2011

With today's announcement of the iPhone coming to Verizon, you have to analyze the mobile market and wonder if it's time to embrace mobile marketing (if you haven't already).

The facts are that 85% (264 million) of the US population (307 million) has a cell phone.

Smartphones accounted for about 30% of all phones as of Oct. 2010 but that number is projected to overtake non-smartphones in 2011 per Nielsen. That would take the number of smartphone users to 132 million across all cell networks - almost 1/2 the population of the U.S.

Android and iPhone users account for about 1/2 the total number of smartphones in use but the iPhone accounts for 65% of AT&T smartphone subscribers. I'm expecting that the chances that the percentage of Verizon smartphone users who have an iPhone will approach, if not eclipse, the percentage that AT&T has. Assuming this holds true, the iPhone will end up accounting for 86 million smartphones with the Android comprising 30 million.

A large percentage of the US population will have, and be using, smartphones. According to Morgan Stanley, mobile internet usage will overtake desktop internet usage within 4 years (by 2014).

Getting the picture? This isn't even accounting for web traffic originating via iPads, iPod Touches and Android-based tablets. It also doesn't account for traffic generated through apps.

Bottom line is that you need to have a mobile website and/or make sure that you're existing website is mobile-friendly, at the very least.

It's time to seriously re-visit a mobile marketing strategy if you don't have one. Don't play catch-up later.

View original article:

Are You Going Mobile With Your Inbound Marketing Strategy?

John McTigue | Dec 03, 2010

Did you know that…

• 250+ million Americans carry mobile phones – over 80% of the nation’s population
• Cell phone subscriptions will top 5 billion globally before 2011
• Mobile Web users were expected to increase to 69.9M by mid-2010
• 68% of Americans get news and current events information on their cell phone
• Mobile phones to overtake PC’s for web surfing by 2013
• Revenue from mobile apps set to quadruple from 2010 to 2013
• The global mobile advertising market will be valued at over $16 billion by 2011

Source: Mobile Marketing Trends

Can there be any doubt about the immense marketplace awaiting early adopters of mobile marketing? But where does inbound marketing fit in? What steps should we take now to capture a share of this emerging market in the next couple of years?

• Learn about the options for mobile inbound marketing
  • Mobile Website
  • Apps & Advertising
  • Text messaging
  • Location-based Services
• Learn about the devices and their requirements
• Develop a marketing strategy
  • What’s my target market?
  • What content are they consuming via smart phones?
  • What value will my mobile website provide?
  • Do I need an app, and if so, why is it useful?
  • Can I leverage location-based services? How?
• Start implementing your strategy now

The technology and rapidly growing market for mobile content will not wait for you. If you assume that there is no place for your company in the mobile marketplace, you are probably making a big mistake. If you adopt a wait-and-see approach, you will be left behind by your competitors. Don’t take my word for it. Do a little research and you will discover that all kinds of companies are going mobile. Can you afford to be a late-comer?

In the next few weeks, I will explore each of the available mobile options for inbound marketing in more detail. I will discuss the strategy and technology available and recommend a course for inbound marketing for each. We are working on transitioning to mobile ourselves and will give you an insider’s look as we develop our own strategy. Stay tuned!

View original article: B2C Marketing Insider

Four Ways The Mobile Web Will Affect Marketing

Mobile Momentum

The mobile web and app market is going to explode over the next couple years. The growth of smartphones and tablet devices are what will fuel this growth. What many don’t know is that Canadians are quite prevalent in the mobile development space; Toronto alone has over 200 mobile development companies and our country ranks in the top ten for mobile innovation. Closer to home, recent Saskatoon start-up, CollegeMobile, has received national media attention for the iPhone application they built for the University of Saskatchewan (iUsask on iTunes App Store) and they now have schools from around the world calling them to build apps.

There’s an App for That

Everybody and their dog seems to be interested in mobile applications and for good reason – The burgeoning area of mobile will have significant implications on how people access the web. Having access to the web at home and at work is not good enough anymore, people want to take it with them wherever they go. For example, I recently took my iPhone on a trip to Europe and, international roaming charges aside, my iPhone was a blessing to have – I posted blog entries, took pictures, made free international calls using an app, coordinated accommodation using text messages, accessed boarding passes for flights, researched points of interest, and kept abreast of emails. I barely used the guidebook we brought. The iPhone worked great but I would have preferred to bring an iPad since it would have been even better.

The Tablets are Coming!

I must admit, when the iPad first came out I didn’t see the point. It’s just a bigger iPhone but without a camera, right? Then I got to use one. Like many people, most of my time spent on a computer is comprised of surfing the web, checking email, consuming media (music, photos, video), and checking my social networks. You don’t need a $1000+ computer do this. An iPad is perfect for 75% of the tasks I carry out, it’s user experience is much more fun than using a regular computer, and it’s highly portable. I’ll still always need my laptop since I use a number of office productivity tools and applications to run my business, but for most people I bet an iPad would cover 95% of your computing needs. In the next 12 – 24 months there are going to be a number of tablet style computers hitting the market and they will likely cannibalize a lot of the existing market for personal computers.

Marketers Must Mobilize

So, what does this mean for communications, marketing and your organization’s web presence? Well, first off websites will need to be optimized to display better on mobile devices since smartphones and tablet computers have smaller screens than the typical computer. In addition, most new devices will utilize touch screens and surface interactivity, so websites and applications will need to be designed for fingers rather than mouse clicks and keystrokes. Integrating geo-location features will become increasingly important so that you can deliver messages to people at the right time AND place. If you’re a publisher, the implications will be even greater since paper back books and publications are already experiencing a decline and the migration to digital readers has barely started. Overall, those in charge of their organization’s digital presence will need to start thinking about how they will be able to best service an audience that is growing increasingly mobile. It’s time to mobilize; the future is wireless. We need to start putting mobile first.

View original post: B2C

Apps getting more face time than mobile Web browser: study

By Giselle Tsirulnik

January 6, 2011

Mobile Web versus apps

A recent study by research firm Zokem found that application and mobile Web usage goes up in the evening and night time, whereas traditional communication services capture more user attention during the day.

For advertisers, this indicates that the most lucrative hours for ads is in the evening, when people are at home after a long day of work. The study also found that applications are actually taking more face time over the course of the whole day than the mobile Web browser.

“In the past, all analytics and mobile advertising has been centered around mobile Web browsing,” said Dr. Hannu Verkasalo, CEO of Zokem, Helsinki, Finland. “This study provides evidence that people actually spend more time with apps.

“The other key finding is that in the evening time, when people spend lots of face time with their mobile device, is lucrative for advertising," he said. "It seems that apps are particularly strong in terms of the attention and engagement from subscribers."

Targeting ads
There is a great opportunity in understanding how to target ads, when and where to advertise, and to whom, per Zokem.

Mobile is everywhere and on all the time, so the possible contexts in terms of where to advertise and engage with consumers are numerous.

As there are various ways to deliver ads through mobile devices, choosing the best channel, such as the mobile Web versus an application, the right application category or ad network at the right time of a day have to be decided.

“The implication is that apps should be a key part of a mobile advertising and marketing strategy,” Mr. Verkasalo said. “The same Web browser-based world that emerged in the PC world is not so strong in mobile, and app stores, in-app advertising and marketing messages delivered through apps are all changing the playground, and emphasizing that there should be an app-based strategy in place.”

Trends uncovered
Voice and messaging dominate day-time mobile usage. However, these communication methods fall towards the night as people communicate less through calls and messaging.

Voice drops quicker than messaging, most likely because it is a more business-oriented service.

Zokem found day-time mobile usage is still higher than evening-time usage for all categories, but interestingly mobile applications and Web browsing are stronger in the evening and night time.

“Our recommendation is to evaluate the touch points with the mobile subscribers, take a holistic view on the user engagement and find the right way through which to efficiently reach the subscriber,” Mr. Verkasalo said.

“For this, a rich 360-degree view on the user behavior is needed, so that the marketer can understand how people really use the smartphone to access content, engage with advertising, read marketing messages and to do business,” he said.

Check out the AutoMotionTV Dealer App.

View original article: Mobile Marketer

Toyota provides in-vehicle mobile applications via Entune multimedia system

By Dan Butcher

January 6, 2011

Toyota Entune features popular mobile apps and voice recognition

Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. has unveiled the in-vehicle Toyota Entune multimedia system featuring mobile applications such as Microsoft’s Bing, Clear Channel’s iheartradio, MovieTickets.com, OpenTable and Pandora.

Toyota Entune leverages the customer's mobile phone to create an in-vehicle experience that offers integrated and upgradeable entertainment, navigation and information services. By using conversational voice recognition and in-vehicle controls, the driver does not have to touch their mobile phone, enabling safer connectivity.

“We’re seeing the popularity of applications among consumers, and our current objectives are to bring the app world to the vehicle,” said Jim Pisz, corporate manager, Advanced Technology Department, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. Inc., Torrance, CA. “We want to provide a richer and more robust multimedia experience for the vehicle.

“With this new strategy we’re able to provide a much more robust experience, Entune introduces apps such as Pandora and iheartradio, which all have unique features compared to our existing platforms, which all blend together seamlessly,” he said. “We bring in location information using Bing, and most of our Toyota customers go to movies and eat out, so MovieTickets.com and OpenTable will also be initial launch applications with Entune.

“We tried to simplify the process as much as possible, so when a customer buys an Entune-equipped vehicle, they can go to Toyota.com, enter the VIN number of the car and theytype of phone they have, and we will tell them where and how to download Entune.”

Is that Larry David in there?

Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. is the marketing, sales, distribution and customer service arm of Toyota, Lexus and Scion.

TMS markets products and services through a network of nearly 1,500 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealers, which sold more than 1.77 million vehicles in 2009.

Entune with mobile
Toyota Entune is designed to simplify the interaction for customers and will be available in select vehicles this year.

Toyota Mobile Shopping Tool

After downloading the Toyota Entune mobile application and pairing a Bluetooth-capable phone with their Toyota vehicle, customers can begin accessing a wide variety of personalized content and services.

Toyota Entune is wirelessly upgradeable, so in-vehicle applications are never obsolete.

Ensuring that nearly all customers can take advantage of this new technology, Toyota Entune is compatible with a wide variety of mobile phones with a data plan.

The key features of the multimedia system include mobile applications, music and voice recognition.

Toyota Entune debuted with Bing, keeping navigation continuously up to date with more than 16 million points of interest, as well as OpenTable, letting users make a reservation at one of 15,000 restaurants.

The MovieTickets.com application lets Toyota customers buy movie tickets and read reviews.

All destinations can be seamlessly sent to the navigation system.

Toyota Entune also delivers customizable real-time traffic, fuel prices, weather, stocks and sports.

The multimedia system also features iheartradio's 750-plus hometown stations, personalized stations with Pandora, XM satellite radio’s 170-plus channels with coast-to-coast coverage and HD Radio, digital broadcasts of terrestrial music.

Toyota Entune also offers USB connectivity for portable media players and traditional terrestrial radio.

Featuring a conversational voice recognition system, Toyota Entune eliminates the need to memorize thousands of voice commands. The interface is designed to help the driver to focus more on the road ahead.

The platform also includes support for read-back and replay capabilities for text messages.

Toyota Entune will be available as an option on select models this year.

“We’re very concerned with driver distraction and the safety of our customers, so we have a comprehensive strategy for providing safety for our customers,” Mr. Pisz said. “One real key advantage that makes this better than our competitors is the way we’ve been able to manage consumer products lifecycle, which is less than a year, compared to a vehicle’s life cycle, which is many years.

“It is all managed via a server in a cloud-based environment, so we can add new applications on the server,” he said. “Customers that bought previous products will all get the same updates and replacement apps.

“Over-the-air updates are a critical difference that sets Entune apart.”

View the original post: Mobile Marketer

Aston Martin aims to differentiate brand via iPhone application

By Elizabeth Zelesny

---

December 30, 2010

British auto brand Aston Martin is targeting tech-savvy consumers with a branded iPhone application that delves into its unique manufacturing process.

The application is available for free in Apple’s App Store. The application, titled Aston Martin Explore, is designed to bring the exclusive world of the luxury brand to owners and enthusiasts via their iPhone.

“Affluent consumers locate every brand on their mobile device,” said Ryan Peterson, director of marketing at Ubermind, Seattle.

“Mobile has become the window for which luxury consumers engage. Having a presence in that window through which the consumer engages is very important,” he said.

An Apple iPad version of the Aston Martin application will be available earlier next year. The company’s next application, Aston Martin Experience, will also be debuting in 2011.

Aston Martin is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars.

How it works
The application homepage lets users virtually start the car with the in-car ignition sequence.

After users rev the Aston Martin engine, a menu appears with options that link consumers to different functionalities within the application.

Aston Martin iPhone application menu

The options are as follows: Latest News, Exclusive Films, Gallery, Heritage, Virtual Tour, Accelerator, Ignition, Social Networks, Enquire and Information.

Consumers can tap on one of the options and it transfers to the desired category.

The Latest News section directs consumers to press releases from the luxury brand.

Aston Martin Explore allows users to see exclusive videos and images featuring One-77, DBS, DB9, Rapide, VS and V12 Vantage via the Exclusive Films and Gallery sections.

In the Gallery category, consumers can hear the evocative sounds of the V12 and V8 engines.

Users can explore the heritage of Aston Martin via a timeline in the Heritage section. Simply scroll from left to right to browse with ease.

In the Virtual Tour category, consumers can take an exclusive tour inside Aston Martin’s global headquarters.

Aston Martin's global headquarters tour

Rev James Bond’s car of choice, the DBS, by using the iPhone as an accelerator in the Accelerator category.

In the Social Network section, users can see updates via the brand’s social presence on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Logistics of the mobile strategy
Luxury automakers should take advantage of the increasing usage and downloads of smartphone applications.

“The iPhone is an ideal canvas for an automotive brand,” Mr. Peterson said. “That canvas is so slick and it enables brands to really showcase what they showcase everyday via TV.

“It brings that experience right there in front of you,” he said. “If I see something really cool on my phone, odds are there is some place I can share it via Facebook or email. The sharability is huge.”

The demographic matches up, since smartphones are more expensive and require pricey data plans, users with higher incomes are more likely to purchase luxury automobiles.

By incorporating the brand’s social media presence via the application, Aston Martin draws awareness to itself, which in turn, generates traffic to the dealerships and Web site.

“From a luxury brand’s standpoint, the point is to get that piece of information in front of as many eyeballs as they can,” Mr. Peterson said. “Why would you want to put something in a magazine or TV and can’t do anything about it?

“The ability to have that message with the engaged consumer is so huge,” he said. “With a luxury automaker’s mobile application, users play with it and learn. Then they have a reason to go visit the showroom.”

View the original article: Luxury Daily

Why marketers should use QR codes in their campaigns

Alex Palmer

December 30, 2010

Quick response codes seem to be popping up everywhere, from billboards to magazines to grocery stores. Direct Connect spoke with the marketing firm's CMO, Jason Pinto, about the potential of QR codes and what marketers should avoid when launching a campaign using them.

Direct Connect: What do QR codes offer that a URL doesn't?

Jason Pinto: The No. 1 thing is convenience. Even if I'm at home and grab mail from mailbox and I'm interested in an offer from a dealership or restaurant that they sent, for me to go upstairs, turn on my computer and type in the URL takes a number of minutes. But I always have my smartphone in my pocket. I can scan the code, and am already making reservations at the restaurant or seeing the specials they are having almost instantly. That convenience carries over even more when the person is not near a computer.

DMN: What should marketers consider when deciding where to place their QR codes - whether on billboards, in stores or in print advertising?

Pinto: It's definitely about picturing how people will see them and interact with them. Billboards are cool because they are huge and people see them, but if they're flying by them in their car, that's a problem. For example, make sure there's a parking lot nearby where they can get out and scan it. More practical might be putting it inside a store, where you know there is going to be significant foot traffic. We are seeing realtors in our neighborhood put QR codes on their signs, which take you to a YouTube video that gives them a virtual tour of the house when the realtor is not there to show you around.

DMN: What sort of content works best?

Pinto: It's all about keeping it simple. Remember there is a huge difference between what people see and experience on a smartphone and on their computer. This might mean cutting down on the words on the page, the size of the images, or knowing limitations across different phones, like knowing that many smartphones can not run flash images. A specific call to action works well, like asking them to watch a video or add their e-mail to your mailing list or database.

DMN: How can marketers attract users who are unfamiliar with QR codes?

Pinto: We've used QR codes on every one of our print ads this year, and at first we got just a few scans but it's gone up each time. You have to keep at it, and as more people use smartphones, they will get more comfortable with scanning the codes. After running our campaigns for several months, we had a call to action where they could get a free white paper. More people scanned the QR code to get the white paper than typed the URL in. That growing comfort with scanning the codes will continue in coming years.

See the original article at: Direct Marketing News

AutoMotionTV Mobile Marketing Series: Kevin Frye with Jeff Wyler Automotive

In a video interview with Kevin Frye, E-Commerce Director for Jeff Wyler Automotive, Kevin shares his thoughts on the future of mobile and a few ways Jeff Wyler Automotive has been using mobile as a marketing tool, along with some insights on mobile strategy within the dealership realm.

Ben Anderson: Welcome back for another installment of the AutoMotionTV Mobile Marketing series. I’m pleased to be with Kevin Frye the E-commerce Director from Jeff Wyler Automotive. Kevin thanks for being with us today.

Kevin Frye: Thanks Ben

Ben Anderson: Let’s jump right into Kevin. In general, on a broad perspective, what trends have you seen regarding mobile marketing in the dealership realm?

Kevin Frye: Well, without question I think it’s been the biggest concern of Fortune 500 companies this year. There was a great study that went out this past summer by Adobe and it showed that projections are mobile commerce is going to grow by 65% compound each year to be about a 24 billion dollar market in 2015, so I don’t think much more needs to be said as to how important companies are looking at it.

Ben Anderson: When is the right time, when should a dealer consider a mobile marketing strategy? In other words, what metrics should they look for and when is it too soon?

Kevin Frye: I don’t think it’s ever too soon but I think within our industry it’s pretty common that you see there are some leaders and most of the other dealers will follow. From what I’ve seen mostly so far there are some dealerships out there that are being aggressive and clueing around and getting mobile friendly sights, tracking the traffic that’s coming in and trying to get ahead of the curve. I think at this point in time though Ben, most of the dealers are probably behind and theirs a good chunk of them that don’t even have mobile sites up at this point.

Ben Anderson: So let’s expound upon that. What strategies have you seen dealers use specifically in the mobile marketing arena to try to help capture those mobile device users?

Kevin Frye: In my mark I gotta tell you not a whole lot, we’ve been very active and I can tell you some of the strategies that we have used. Probably the most successful is just having some contests built in with the text function such as with a local radio station or a giveaway… some giveaways at a local fair, or whatever the case may be; to do two things, to build up a database of people that are hitting us on the mobile platform. In the same respect we’re trying to send out a message that we have mobile friendly sites. So the other part of what we’re doing with that is we’re trying to brand within our market that we do have mobile friendly sites for people that want to utilize that method.

Ben Anderson: Specifically for you Jeff as well as other, some of your observations I guess, how are you seeing others promoting the mobile website and mobile app side of things? What metrics are they using? What strategies to push that to the consumer?

Kevin Frye: Well, I can say for ourselves, because I haven’t seen a whole lot from our competition, we’re doing it in several different ways. One of the simplest things we are doing is in our traditional marketing we’re utilizing QR codes. We might not get a lot of click-throughs on the QR code, but just that visual sends a message to our shoppers that this dealership is mobile friendly and technologically there and being able to work with someone that wants to surf it via iPhone or Droid or whatever the case may be. We are also, we’re finding success in marketing on the top mobile traffic sites, and for most dealers in the country that’s going to be their local news station that has a mobile site where people are going for traffic, sports, weather, things to that nature. We’re buying banner ads in those sites where people can see that we’re mobile friendly as well.

Ben Anderson: That makes a lot of sense. Specifically on the traffic side of things, what are you seeing? Are you seeing an increase in mobile base device traffic as a percentage of the whole is that growing is that stagnant?

Kevin Frye: It’s growing and I would say, we carry fifteen different brands, it ties into the demographic of the shopper you have. We’ve seen the greatest traffic and the greatest growth, in our case, with Honda and Toyota shoppers. In the same respect if I look at like a Buick or a Cadillac shopper they’re going to be lagging behind, but that makes sense in terms of the type of shoppers for those cars.

Ben Anderson: Yeah, sure it does. Let’s move on to maybe internal operations. Anything you’re doing with mobile based devices whether its websites or apps in internal operations?

Kevin Frye: Yeah, the primary thing we’re doing on that side is our CRM tool does have a mobile platform, that’s VIN Solutions, so we have a lot of sales people as well as service managers that are responding to leads, utilizing their Smartphone. Or on the sales side, what they’re doing is they’re utilizing it on the lot to search inventory.

Ben Anderson: Great, and the final question. This is kind of a summation of what you’ve chatted with us today on, Kevin, but how has your company really used mobile, in maybe thirty seconds, to help shoppers look for new vehicles or used vehicles at Jeff Wyler Automotive?

Kevin Frye: It’s very simple. You’ve gotta stick to the fundamentals. Inventory, inventory, inventory is the number one concern. Make it easy for them to get there, and then from there it’s typically hours, directions, and the ability to find out how to schedule service.

Ben Anderson: Great Kevin. Thank you so much for your time. My guest has been Kevin Frye with Jeff Wyler Automotive. Kevin again, thanks for your time.

Kevin Frye: You're welcome Ben thanks for having me.