THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -

In a recent study called “Women + Mobile: The Unbreakable Bond,” Time, Inc. and Nuance Digital Marketing discovered that women are incredibly reliant upon their mobile devices — in fact, 60 percent of women say their smartphone is the most important device they own, and 88 percent of women say their phones give them something to do during their “empty” time every day.  If you're not properly taking advantage of your presence in the mobile realm, you're missing out on a core avenue for marketing to women!

Mobile Marketing to Women: Text Reminders and Alerts

If you're not taking steps to go paperless, now is the time to begin. Not only is paper becoming increasingly cost-prohibitive (if you don't believe us, just take a look at how much you spend each year on printing invoices), but women are also very responsive to “green” directions in any business, particularly the automotive aftermarket. 

Using email invoices, Web- and mobile-friendly newsletters and communication, and even utilizing text messaging for service reminders and more will help your business stay front-of-mind for your women customers not only for its fresh, green approach, but also because it reaches her through the conduit via that which she gets all her other important updates: her mobile phone.

Mobile Marketing to Women: The Mobile Web

Of course, you also want to use the mobile space to reach women who aren't already your customers, and the mobile Web is where you do that.  Smartphone and tablet users are threatening to overtake the population of desktop PC users on the Web, so if you're still using a website designed for desktop viewing, it's time to give that site a face-lift and retrofit to fit inside the mobile space.  It'll make your site cleaner, simpler, and easier to navigate from a smaller screen, with some added benefits on the back-end as well: mobile SEO.

Giving your website a mobile makeover is a great time to revisit your SEO practices, ensure your entire website is “crawlable,” that you're still targeting the right keywords, and most importantly, that you're capitalizing on SEO geared at the mobile user.  Mobile searchers are on the go, and looking for a business who can help right now, so if you've got a mobile friendly website inside and out, you're more likely to be the one she chooses to “click-to-call!”

Mobile Marketing to Women: The Pitfalls

When it comes to advertising on the Web, mobile or otherwise, most women don't mind ads as long as they can control the experience.  Location-based offers are very effective right now; 41 percent of women saying they prefer ads that are relevant to where they're searching from.  Fifty-two percent say they prefer ads that are relevant to what they're currently doing on the Web, and the number one negative?  Intrusive ads — 91 percent of women say they hate ads that pop up, take over, or otherwise distract from her browsing experience, so stay away from that! 

Simply make yourself visible, mobile friendly, and allow your business to become part of her mobile web space, and when she needs your help, she'll find you.

Jody DeVere is the CEO of AskPatty.com. Contact her via email at jdevere@askpatty.com