Using Smartphones with Your Integrated Marketing Efforts
	Posted by at Feb 21, 2013 07:00 AM CST

I recently wrote about adding social media and mobile to your direct fundraising efforts. Today, I have eight additional tips on how you can use smartphones to engage donors through almost all channels: 

1. Most smartphone users view much of their email on their phones,
   so make sure your email messages will render nicely on Apple
   and Android devices.
2. Every page on your website should be optimized for mobile browsers; otherwise, if donors click once and get garbage, they’re not likely to click again from their cell phones. A good rule of thumb is, check your website analytics, if you see that more than 10% of your web traffic is coming from mobile devices then it’s time to create mobile content.
3. Mobile is ideal for getting special event attendees to connect with you in a way that will let you continue the conversation after the event.
4. QR codes let mobile users connect with you after seeing something in print, either at an event, in a publication, or on outdoor or transit media, even your direct mail letter.
5. Mobile users can give via their credit cards on a mobile-optimized donation form. Those gifts tend to be as much as 30% smaller than web page gifts sent from a laptop or desktop computer (but that means they’re 70% larger than the gift you wouldn’t get without such a page).
6. If you believe in the future of mobile communications, get your own vanity short code; don’t settle for a shared short code. (Short codes are the 5-digit numbers to which you can send a text message instead of having to enter a full 10-digit phone number. All vendors of text-to-give services offer shared short-code use for lower costs, but they aren’t yours, aren’t necessarily easy to remember, and don’t offer any exclusivity.)
7. Apps are expensive and generally not productive unless you have killer content (think National Geographic).
8. Don’t forget one of the most powerful ways you can connect with this device: actually speaking one-on-one with donors! Encourage phone calls, since those who do generally become better donors. A brief phone call with a donor is a sure way to lock in their loyalty.