Hot on the heels of reportage that, for the first time, online ad spending is passing print ad spending, cell giant Ericsson announced at the CTIA Wireless show this week that mobile data usage is surpassing mobile voice usage.  In other words, people are beginning to use their mobile devices for texting and surfing the Web more than they use them for talking on the phone.  What does this mean for you as an online business owner?

Coverage of the announcement online is tending towards speculation about how this development will affect mobile pricing schemes.  Others are reflecting on what it means for society that people are holding their phones out in front rather than up against their ears.  People are texting rather than talking.  People are in touch with their friends via Facebook and Twitter rather than through speech.  What does it all mean?

It’s all very interesting, I’m sure.  I’m more interested, though, in the implications it may have for marketing and online business.  As with the earlier news about online ad spending, I suspect the news is all good.

The thing about online marketing is that it works best when you approach it from several directions at once.  Using your email autoresponder, Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking, your keyword research tool, blogging, and other tools, you can reach potential customers a number of ways.

And the thing about smartphones and other mobile devices is that they are generally aimed at bringing all the different parts of your online world together on one screen.  People using these devices generally don’t log in and check Twitter, navigate to Facebook and browse status updates, nor go to Gmail to get their emails.  Instead, a decent smartphone will gather all of these feeds automatically and display them whenever the phone is on.

People spending more time looking at their phones than talking on them is like a guarantee that they’re going to see your marketing.  Your occasional tweet about a new discount sale, your Facebook page update with links to new inventory, your blog answering questions about your products and their use, and your regular email newsletters are all delivered onto your customers’ smartphones and laid out for them to see.

The only downside  is the burden it puts on you to advertise well.  To build relationships with your clients.  To make them part of your business’ online community.  To create compelling ad copy and great promotional videos.  To keep your blog going and your newsletters attractive and interesting.

I don’t know about you, but, for me, this is all the fun part of advertising!  I’d rather linger over how things look rather than worry about the best way to deliver a message to my customers.

So have fun!  Make great promotional materials and enjoy social networking with your clients.  Chances are better than ever that they’ll see what you’ve created for them.

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