If you’re in the business of music lessons, either as a primary source of income or a hobby, then you know that one of the most challenging parts of being an independent music instructor is finding new students. There are many ways that a music instructor can use technology to advertise their lessons and reach a whole new audience. Music instructors have to get creative so that they can market their lessons effectively.  Mobile Marketing with a mobile site, QR Codes and SMS Campaigns are smart and effective ways to go about doing this.  And as time moves fwd, with each day that passes people are searching, browsing and being engaged through their smartphones more and more.

Using Online Classifieds Listings

The online classifieds are the best possible method for marketing music lessons locally. It’s usually one of the first places that anyone will look for a music lesson. When making an online classified you should focus on your skills and current students, because there will be a lot of competition and you will need to distinguish yourself from the pack. Pictures are a great idea, and a link to a professional website and portfolio will have a good impact. The contact information you provide in the classified listing should be accurate and timely.  Keep in mind that online searches and web browsing are more and more mobile and it is wise to make sure your site is ready for mobile visitors.  Miss this and you could loose acquiring potential new students.  You may want to even direct them to your mobile site with a QR Code or SMS Campaign within the classified ad as it brings them closer to you in a personalized mobile way.  Once a potential student or parent browses your mobile site with your info, pricing, videos, mp3′s ect… they are one step closer to calling or emailing you right from their smartphone.

Using Offline Flyers And Posters

Flyers and posters can be another great way to market music lessons locally without the internet. Flyers can be posted around neighborhoods that have a lot of kids, and high school and college campuses. An instructor should be sure to consult the relevant authorities before putting posters on school property. These posters should have accurate contact information and QR codes. QR codes are useful because they allow the prospective students to get a lot of information within a short amount of time. A QR code should go right to your mobile site which could have a video of you playing, teaching etc…, your pricing, location etc…   You could have a QR Code act as a Vcard, instantly putting your contact info, how you want it, right onto their smartphone without much effort on their part.  Those days of making bullet point/resume style paper flyer with the bottom of the flyer tabbed with your phone number ready to be ripped off are gone.  You could still have some key points listed to get them to scan your QR Code but it’s all about engaging them on their smartphones. A multimedia rich user experience via mobile devices is much more effective.

Using SMS Marketing Campaigns

SMS marketing is yet another way to market music lessons locally but it can also be effective. If your campus regularly broadcasts SMS alerts it may be possible to pay for advertisement through the SMS broadcast system. There are also many other ways that you can pay for SMS marketing and get new students into your class. SMS is also a great way to manage your current students’ appointments and to communicate effectively with your students in general.

Using Email Marketing Campaigns

Email marketing campaigns can also be highly effective if you have a relevant email list that is local to the area. You can send out mass emails to the student body or to any organizations that you are a part of, provided that you have permission. You can also contact local universities and ask if their music department would mind sending a mass email out to their music majors, and you can have high schools send emails to the parents. Because you are a resource, many schools will be more than willing to help as long as it is clear they are released from any liability regarding your classes.

Using An SEO Marketing Campaign

Once you have your professional website up it will be time for SEO. Many people will use search engines to search for local music lessons, so it’s important to make sure that your website is the top result for this type of search. A search engine optimization company can use keywords and marketing strategies to make sure that your website is always highly visible to those looking for music classes in your area. They can also run specific advertising campaigns targeted towards locals who are interested in music. An SEO marketing campaign can be just as valuable as any local campaigns because so many people rely on the internet today for information.  Once again, keep in mind that we are already using smartphones and tablets for online searches over %50 of the time.  This % is growing every day.  Sooner than later a mobile site that also works on desktops and laptops will be the only type of site that you need.  QR codes and SMS Campaigns are the tools of now and the future in order to expand your student base.

 
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Using QR codes and SMS campaigns can help the business in many ways as they can be integrated with almost all existing marketing efforts. Marketers and business owners can choose among the QR code and SMS marketing providers while taking their budget into account. However, they can always be sure that there will be something that fits into their available finances.

moblap4.biz has just released pricing on its services. Premium cloud hosting for a mobile web app is $27 a month. The QR Marketing Platform is $10 a month. The SMS Marketing Solution starts as low as $10 a month providing users 100 text messages a month and 3 free keywords.

“Start-up and existing businesses that want to create mobile website while integrating SMS and QR codes into their mobile marketing mix now have a cost effective solution with moblap4.biz. These strategies are among the most effective ways to drive brand engagement and boost return on investment. Businesses that were skeptical about adopting these mobile marketing strategies because of their price now have an economical solution with moblap4.biz premium services.” – Joe Vecchio, Mobile Marketing Consultant

SMS marketing is a relatively new and exciting marketing tool that works both online and offline. With this, customers are more likely to send a message to a short code to take advantage of perks as opposed to traditional forms of marketing. Generally, these text messages are sent to shortened numbers that customers find easy to remember. If customers do so, they may win discounts, free movie tickets and more. Mobile users will have to opt in to receive promotional messages. Then, businesses can send messages straight to their phones at any time.

With moblap4.biz mobile coupons are built right into the SMS Marketing Platform. There are many other things that can be delivered through SMS. This includes contests and polls, payment notifications, tips, alerts and useful feeds for map links, event invitations and reminders. On the other hand, mobile coupons can also go beyond SMS. They can be sent to mobile users in the form of QR codes, in-store advertising, apps or email.

Business owners who want to opt for mobile couponing via SMS should ensure that coupons can be redeemed in both offline and online stores. In addition, they should make sure that they include promo codes if they opt for bar codes. With this, they can be sure that customers get the rewards if the bar codes can’t be read.

New businesses may not know about GPS Location QR marketing for mobile websites. These codes are actually referred to as quick response codes and with the GPS feature enabled the scanners location is tracked to better give the business info about which QR campaigns are more effective than others. QR Codes with moblap4.biz can also go to a businesses Facebook page. Wen utilizing this feature, the QR marketing platform actually tracks GEO graphical data from Facebook.

Article originally professionally written for moblap4.biz, necessary revisions made by Joe Vecchio (Mobile Marketing consultant)

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Desktop computers and laptops will never disappear, but they are becoming secondary to mobile devices when it comes to web access. What should really be alarming is that mobile device usage is becoming the preferred method to access the web while at home.

Desktop computers are likely to be always needed because of their economical computing power. Laptops are great because software necessary for school/work projects can be utilized while still allowing for couch computing. But mobile devices are the go to gadget when it comes to modern day web access. Web browsing and online searches are done increasingly by mobile devices. By 2014-2015 mobile web access will surpass traditional web access.

The following statistics should be convincing that an online presence needs to be optimized for mobile devices:

- 50% of local searches are done with mobile devices and growing.
- 95% of people who own mobile devices have used them to search local info.
- 79% of mobile users will go back to the search engine and look elsewhere if a site is not mobile.
- 52% of mobile users said that a bad mobile experience made them less likely to engage with a company. (this % will grow)
- Redemption rate of mobile coupons are 10 times more than traditional print.
- 84% of purchases in the U.S. are influenced by online searches.

With 50% of searches online being done with mobile devices one may think of a scenario where someone is on the go or out and about, needing to see something on the fly. Sure this most definitely happens everyday, and a lot. But it so much easier to grab an iPhone, Android or other type mobile device and start tapping away while lounging around at home. It’s a big production to boot up the computer and wait for the anti-virus software to load before accessing the web online. Even the thought of having to go through that is defeating. Nowadays people just grab their smartphones in order to immediately access the web, and increasingly, while at home.

More frequently today, smartphone users are clicking away from websites only to find themselves searching again because the site wasn’t optimized for mobile devices. And contrary to the Native App phenom with resulting TV commercial wars that contain smartphone manufacturers bragging about the number of apps in their app stores, most businesses do not need a native app in the app store. In fact, pretty soon, HTML5 and mobile web app development may make that an obsolete phenom. If not to that extreme, it should be noted that already, most businesses and website owners are choosing wisely to go with a mobile web app.

When comparing a Native App against a Mobile Web App, a few things become apparent. There is a common misunderstanding that a native app will increase brand exposure. The truth is that over 60% of native apps are never downloaded. It is just as difficult to rank a native app in the app store as it is to rank a website for online searches.

But because 50% (and growing) of online searches are done by smartphone users, a mobile website is a more effective solution as it potentially will show in search results, whereas a native app will not.

As a result of this, it has been found that Mobile Web Apps go viral more effectively than Native Apps.

Mobile Web App Premium Features have the ability to tap into a mobile devices native features. They already look and feel the same as native apps. jQuery Mobile, CSS3, and HTML5 with Mobile Web App development is gaining momentum and already becoming the preferred choice for many.

Lastly, it may likely take 2 months for Apple to approve a native app into their app store. It may even be rejected. If changes need to be made to the app then it needs to get back in line to be reviewed. These are the reasons Mobile Web Apps are becoming the more intelligent choice.

Thank you,

- Joe Vecchio
Mobile Marketing Consultant

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