O So-Lo-Mo Mio.
No, we’re not talking about the sun in your face, (although, after shivering through the first cold snap of the season in an unheated office, a few more days of warm summer sunshine sounds pretty great right about now).
Rather, we’re here to talk Social + Local + Mobile (“So-Lo-Mo”) marketing. It’s been around for years, as a way to describe how content is best delivered to an audience. Like most successful trends, So-Lo-Mo rides on an ever-changing wave of best practices. Your brand’s ability to serve up the perfect one-pot-meal of social networking + geo-location targeting + responsive mobile communication to your hungry consumers is what ultimately yields increased business, better consumer engagement, more loyal brand advocacy, and consistently positive reviews. Engaging customers digitally and in-person are equally important ingredients to this 5-star marketing recipe.
Consider the last time you went out for dinner….you might have checked into the restaurant on Facebook, got pinged via geo-location text message with a promotional coupon for your appetizer, took a photo of your envy-worthy meal, gave it a witty hashtag, posted it to Instagram, and finally, left a Google review for the great service afterwards. Bingo → So-Lo-Mo.
Social
When you’re considering a new purchase, or even just buying into a new idea, what’s the first thing you do? You ask around, getting testimonials from friends and family. These trusted reviews from “experts” in your social media circle are how many of us prescreen before we make a decision, big or small. The Chicago Tribune published an article a few years ago, reporting nearly 70 percent of consumers, and 82 percent of millennials, seek online opinions before buying. Fast forward a couple years, and Digital Information World shared a great infographic addressing the 97% of people who use online media (like search engine and social search) when researching local products. The numbers are only going up – social search is here to stay, friends.
Local
According to the Pew Research Center, 65 million Americas use mobile, location-based services to check in at different events & businesses, get served up coupons and special offers, and leave public testimonials. Social media provides even more local ways to connect, refer and promote with tweets, tags and reviews. Fine-tuning your messaging allows you to speak directly to your local audience to take action at the local level. This location-based engagement gives consumers exactly what they want, when they want it, and right where they need it. Now that’s how to keep your audience interested and engaged with you.
Mobile
If you laid out all your techie gadgets on one table…I bet you’d need another table. Today’s consumers are arming themselves with countless devices to simplify their lives (the dichotomy of the concept is almost comical). We have tablets on our bedside table, laptops on our desk at work, and smartphones in our pocket when we’re out & about. Your audience is consuming content in many different ways, on many different platforms. Making sure that you can deliver optimized content on a responsive platform is of utmost importance these days.
Jessica Lee, founder of boutique content services company, bizbuzzcontent, shares some interesting stats about mobile decision making: Up to 60 percent of consumers used mobile exclusively to make a purchase decision in the categories of telecom, restaurants, auto, and entertainment, according to the latest research from xAd and Telmetrics.
To leverage that audience, you need to take a good look at your current So-Lo-Mo footprint – from the eyes of a target consumer. Do you like what you see? Does it leave you wanting more? Is there any area that can use a little more attention? Really think about why a consumer would make the decision to do business with you, and make sure you’re meeting each of their needs with the wealth of So-Lo-Mo resources that are out there.
Bottom line
Embrace the So-Lo-Mo trend. It’s a past, present, future marketing strategy that sets you up for 360 degrees of success. And that’s something even The Three Tenors would be happy to sing about.
