Top iPhone Apps for Online Marketing

Online marketing is primarily about getting prospective customers exposed to your product, service or cause. Once you have made it simple for these prospects to find and see your business online, then online marketing comes to be about converting those visitors into leads / sales. One step past the conversion stage is to keep your newly acquired customers happy, satisfied and wanting more. Although this all may sound a lot easier than it actually is, an effective online marketing strategy, from initial touch to retention, can actually be quite complex.

Fortunately, online marketing feeds off of the technologies that continue to drive increased sales and higher customer retention rates. Business owners can now market their business, sell to their prospects and retain their customers – all from the palm of their hand. The booming smart phone market has completely changed how businesses interact with prospects and customers. Whether or not Steve Jobs of Apple had the foresight to know that his most innovative creation to date, the iPhone, would change the way that we all communicate with each other, it is obvious that his powerful hand held creation has quickly become an essential tool for any business owner.

Market Your Business…With an iPhone

Running an effective online marketing campaign can be a full-time job, let alone running a business as well. Luckily, there are numerous tools available that continue to make online marketing more convenient than ever before. One of our favorite tools is the iPhone. Apple’s iPhone, with its selection of over 1 Million applications, allows business owners and marketers to dynamically advertise and promote their business right from their mobile phone. With the amount of functionality that the iPhone has, it is possible to manage almost all of your online marketing initiatives from just about anywhere.

Here is our list of some of the most useful and effective iPhone apps to market your business online.

NOTE: This list will quickly become outdated so make sure to check back frequently for our newest additions

Best iPhone Apps for Social Marketing

Facebook – FREE

With hundreds of millions of active users, Facebook is an essential and integral piece of any online marketing campaign. The multiple features and vast network of potential prospects makes Facebook a fantastic medium for any business looking to market their services online.

Here are some effective ways to use Facebook’s iPhone app to market your business online:

  1. Keep your Facebook Fan Page updated with useful information, tips and promos relevant to your business
  2. Befriend prospective customers and listen in on conversations about those that may be interested in your services.
  3. Keep your profile updated with relevant, entertaining and resourceful posts to keep your Facebook friends interested and intrigued

TwitBit – $2.99

With every Facebook account there is a Twitter account. Ok, not really, but that seems to be the case as most business owners who are spending time on Facebook are also investing some effort into Twitter. Although we find Facebook to be much more effective and far-reaching (once a network has been built up), we think that Twitter is a necessary social media marketing tool for any business.

We selected TwitBit as our preferred Twitter app as it has the most comprehensive set of features, including Push Notifications which are extremely vital for timely responses. There are tons of other greater Twitter apps available like Tweetie, HootSuite and SimplyTweet, but we have tried them all and so far prefer this one…for now.

Here are some effective ways to use TwitBit’s iPhone app to market your business online:

  1. Tweet photos, videos and updates about products, services and promos that your business is offering
  2. Search “Nearby” tweets to engage and converse with prospective customers
  3. Use Twitter search to find trending topics relevant to your business and post relevant updates to start conversations with other users

LinkedIn – FREE

Although LinkedIn does not have the massive following or Twitter or Facebook it is still an extremely useful tool for marketing your business online. Much like other social networks, LinkedIn allows users to post updates and connect with other users to expand their social networks and business contacts. As LinkedIn continues to add more features to its platform it is quickly becoming one of the most essential social networks for every business owner and marketer.

Here are some effective ways to use TwitBit’s iPhone app to market your business online:

  1. Post status updates with links to recent blog posts, videos, or other media that talks about your business, product or service
  2. Participate in “Discussions” to prove your authority on specific topics relevant to your business
  3. Connect or re-connect with other LinkedIn users to maintain professional relationships to realize the benefits of maximizing your networks

Foursquare – FREE

Localized marketing has become a staple for just about any business. Local search marketing and ge0-targeted applications are making it easier for prospective customers to find exactly what they’re looking for right in their own backyard. Foursquare, one of the top geo-location apps, allows people to explore their city and get rewarded for frequenting certain businesses and places – all from their iPhone.

Here are some effective ways to use Foursquare’s iPhone app to market your business online:

  1. Promote rewards for frequent patrons of your business
  2. Assure that your business listing is available and accurate in Foursquare
  3. Converse with patrons of your business or those nearby

Yelp – FREE

Much like Foursquare, Yelp allows users to ‘check-in’ at local locations and businesses. What makes Yelp useful as a marketing tool is that it allows threaded conversations to be held for specific venues and businesses. Business owners can and should interact with their reviewers as much as possible to generate interest and participation. These interactions can ultimately lead to a loyal customer who may not have returned to your establishment past their initial visit.

Here are some effective ways to use Yelp’s iPhone app to market your business online:

  1. Chat with local users via the “Talk” feature to answer questions and help users find the best products, services, business (i.e. Your’s)
  2. Check-in to spots that you frequent and leave good reviews (if applicable) as this creates a domino affect and often times leads to people leaving them for your business
  3. Stay on top of notifications of patrons that visit your business frequently and reward them for their patronage

Best iPhone Apps for Blogging

WordPress – FREE

Having a website and/or blog is a necessary tool for just about any business, especially if that business is looking to find prospects online through trusted, conversational channels. Making blogging even easier than before, the WordPress iPhone app allows business owners and marketers to keep their WordPress blogs updated right from their iPhone.

Here are some effective ways to use WordPress’s iPhone app to market your business online:

  1. Add new posts relevant to your business, product(s) or service(s)
  2. Moderate comments from blog readers to provide prompt and informative responses to pending comments
  3. Add new static pages to your blog to help readers find useful content easily and to help your blog search engine visibility

Tumblr – FREE

If you’re like many business owners that do not have the time or expertise to setup a professional WordPress blog, then luckily there are other, more simple options for you. One of these options is the micro-blogging platform provided by Tumblr. A Tumblr blog makes it very simple for anyone, novice or expert, to post useful content online and the Tumblr iPhone app allows you to do so right from the palm of your hand.

Here are some effective ways to use Tumblr’s iPhone app to market your business online:

  1. Post multimedia content (i.e. photos, videos, and audio clips) about specific products or services you offer
  2. Add new posts about specific products, services or specials
  3. Use the “Quote” tool to post testimonials from happy customers who have used your products or services

Best iPhone App for Web Analytics

AnalyticsPro (Thomas Blackburn)- $6.99

Tracking the analytics and web stats of your website and / or blog is just as important as writing content, building links and marketing your business on the top social networks. Knowing your website’s traffic and trends at all times will help you to make the necessary business and marketing decisions to maximize the amount of opportunity that exists online. The Analytics Pro iPhone app allows you to stay on top of your stats at all times.

Here are some effective ways to use AnalyticsPro’s iPhone app to track your online marketing:

  1. Check daily, weekly, and monthly website traffic data to discover trends for future marketing campaign ideas
  2. Stay on top of your website’s top content pages to recognize opportunities for conversion optimization
  3. View the key phrases that are sending your website the most traffic for blog post or content page ideas

Are we missing any iPhone apps that you currently use to market your business online?

If so, let us know in the comments below and if they prove effective, then we will add them to our list above.

The Future of Online Marketing

This short list of the most handy iPhone apps for online marketing is just a taste of what we can expect for the evolution of marketing for just about any business. Soon enough the better part of an effective marketing campaign will consist of strategies that can be carried out right from one’s handheld device. As the iPhone evolves and competitors continue to push the envelope of what a smart phone can do, business owners and marketers will also mold their online campaigns to appeal to the millions of users relying primarily on their mobile devices.

So, if you’ve been holding out on getting that new smart phone you’ve always wanted, then it might be time to pull the trigger. The earlier you become familiar with these technologies, the better positioned you and your business will be going into the future. Technology moves extremely fast and younger generations, many of whom will be your target demographic if they are not already, will be using these technologies even more so. Don’t miss these great opportunities to market your business in as many places as possible.

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