New York City Tourism in a Blink

By: William Kisse
Part 1: Using Mobile Phones To Sell Pizza

Selling Pizza Through Mobiles Phones Can Be A Great Restaurant Point of Sale Marketing Tool!

As of today, more and more people depend on their cellphones to access the internet. From coffee house tables to New York subways, many people are using their iPhones, Blackberries and other mobile devices to locate places they wan to visit, from laundry cleaners, boutiques to sweets shops.

Because an online presence is very important for most businesses, most of them are unaware of the potential market reach they can get from mobile internet. Throughout the world, small businesses that have created mobile Web sites experiences a competitive advantage over those still in the dark ages of mobile marketing.

However, it is not as simple as creating a mobile web site. The small size of a mobile phone's screen and the expensive cost of transmitting data, for instance, create a number of stumbling blocks to transacting business by mobile phone.

But it is really easy and affordable to establish a mobile internet presence to attract busy customers on the go. And what's the best of it is that it doesn't cost much so you don't have to waste money. Below here are a few guides to help you get started:

Create a mobile site

A mobile website is a browser based web service that can be viewed on small screens of cellular phones or PDAs. If you're going to create a mobile website, ease of access and usability is very important to successful create one.

Unless you are a skilled multimedia programmer, you'll be needing a simple but quick solution. A good online tool to start with is Ubik.com, a free-to-use online service which allows anyone to publish compelling mobile Web sites. With a simple step-by-step approach, Ubik.com leads you through the process of setting up a mobile site in less than 15 minutes.

By simply removing the mobile-unfriendly components of your traditional web site, your mobile web site can conform to the parameters of a mobile phone browser, thus enhancing user experience. If you're thinking of coding mobile web sites for hundreds of mobile devices with varying screen dimensions and resolutions, it'll be a hole load of stress and headache. Now with Ubik, you only need to supply the text, images and menus and the rest is taken care of!

Dozens of scenarios could be used to demonstrate the usefulness of having a mobile Web site. Here's one good example: A group of friends exit a movie theater one night with an urge to splurge on a pepperoni deep dish. Wondering how late your establishment stays open, someone flips open a mobile phone to find out. Here, having your mobile site ready to reassure them that they can satisfy their cravings until 11 p.m. is key to closing the sale.

Keeping it simple

Keeping it simple means removing unnecessary texts and images that can slow down the loading time of your mobile web site. Mobile shoppers are looking for simple solutions that they can act on quickly, so keep your messages short. Even today with the "all you can eat" data plans, many users are still paying for every byte they download.

Mobile customers need something far simpler than the average PC Web site. Let's say these people are too busy and only has time to use their cellphones with a few key strokes. You can adapt your mobile web site to highlight information that's key for hungry and busy people on the go, such as this weeks specials, menus, establishment location, store hours and contact information. Make it simple, consistent with your brand, while keeping the navigation simple and directly provide the right information. If you choose to focus on creating a mobile web site with clear, easy to access and navigate controls, you'll be be filling your pizzeria with loads of customers and not your competitors'.

Marketing through text messaging

Your customers are your community. SMS marketing is designed to generate an immediate response from them. People carry their mobile phones all the time, so keep in touch with them by offering an opt-in text messaging system to let them know about special deals and menu items.

Send them electronic coupons. Most people are more likely to respond to a text message than any other forms of communication. You can use this advantage to increase your sales, send them notifications of an offer that's about to expire and tell them the if they act now an even greater reward awaits them.

According to Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), an international non-profit industry trade group representing over 600 agencies focusing on marketing via the mobile channel, There's an 89% of companies that used multimedia messaging in order to reach their audience in 2008, using nearly 1/3 spending 10% above their budget just for advertising in the text message marketing medium.

To give their business a boost and an edge over their competitors, many restaurants are now offering mobile ordering service through text messaging. Typically, the customer creates an account on your Web site which activates the text message ordering service by entering their mobile number and setting up a list of favorite orders, such as “large cheese.” The favorites list corresponds to an online customer account, giving you a buzz when to cook that large cheese when the “FAV” text message arrives.

Map your way to success

The latest handsets come with location-based capabilities and mapping software. How to tell if your pizzeria is listed and searchable when someone nearby search for what you offer? One answer is Google Maps for mobile, a very popular application used by smartphone users.

With this free to download application, your business listing can be mapped and searchable by mobile phone users. With Google's local search engine, people can search for business establishments by name like "Joe's Pizza Shop" or by type such as "pizza parlor" or "pizzeria." People searching for what you offer will be able to view your business listing, your address, products, hours of operation, mode of payment, contact info, some pictures of your establishment and even be able to text or call you with just a single click on their mobile phones.

You can also link directly to your Google listing from your Web site.

To be continued... watch out for Part 2: Using Mobile Phones To Sell Pizza