Having a mobile site is not a luxury anymore — it’s a must

When it comes to mobile marketing for small business owners, the easiest way to get started is to focus on five simple pillars.As you learn and apply mobile marketing, you realize it’s a pretty simple and flexible marketing media, and these pillars are no different. So let’s explore:1. Mobile websites: The best practice is to have a real “mobile version” of your site that gets shown to mobile visitors. I have tracked several opt-in leads to the “mobile version” of one of my websites. The key with your mobile site is to keep in mind three important rules.Use a vertical navigation and be “one with the thumb.” Remember people will be moving around your site with their thumb, and not a mouse.Have your click-to-call number really clear so a prospect can call you with the touch of a finger.Lead with your best three products/services/content. Ask yourself: “What is most relevant to the on-the-move visitor?”2. Mobile lead/Landing pages: Say you’re doing an event or running a promotion or want to give prospects a quick way to respond or register. You add a mobile landing page with lead capture to your campaign. Mobile landing pages are a great complement to any form of print marketing.3. QR codes: You’re now seeing them everywhere, but the key is to link them to a mobile page because QR codes bring print marketing to life. More and more business owners are claiming to “know about” QR codes, but too many are still committing the No. 1 QR code sin — linking them to non-mobile websites. If you’re going to use QR codes, please use them properly.4. Text message marketing: Think email marketing, but shorter and less frequent. If you hustle too slowly (or quickly), build a list of folks who have given you permission to send them text messages, and you’ll be way ahead of your competition. To get prospects to opt in to your text marketing list, you need to be sure you give them some “instant gratification” as an incentive.5. Mobile pay per click: Do you use Google AdWords, Facebook Ads or Bing’s Pay Per Click program? No matter which one is your favorite, they are a must if you’re going to exploit every angle in your Internet marketing efforts.Mobile pay per click is simply targeting only mobile devices for your keywords and terms. If you log in to your Google AdWords account, you can see the option to target smartphones and devices. You’ll also note in Google’s instructional video about AdWords, they want you to send the searcher to your mobile website. The good news right now is costs per click are still pretty low so you can really increase your ROI.Pick one or all of these five pillars and make your marketing mobile. Don’t just read, implement!Mike Dolpies, co-owner of CyberspaceToYourPlace.com, also is co-creator of “Mobile Marketing CMS,” a do-it-yourself mobile website, landing page and QR code generator.