By Adam DeGraide

If you have ever been a regular at a mom-and-pop restaurant, you know there are perks to being one of the owner’s best customers.

If you always order General Tso’s chicken with an extra egg roll, it may be sizzling in the wok before you finish placing your order. If you bring all your friends to your favorite diner every week, free pie and extra fries just seem to come your way.

Even if they have never run an SMS campaign or set up a Facebook page, savvy restaurant owners already know an underlying principle of mobile marketing: cater to your power users.

Power tip
A recent Forrester report outlined the six types of mobile users: Spectators, Talkers, Communicators, Connectors, Entertainers and the SuperConnecteds.

The largest group (48 percent) of adult mobile users – the SuperConnecteds – is the group that mobile marketing executives covet most.

As you would expect, this group has a high-tech IQ, and they use their mobile devices for multiple functions, including searching for products and services online, interacting with people on social media, banking and anything else that can be done on a mobile device.

Since the SuperConnecteds are the users you need to reach in any mobile marketing campaign, they should demand the most attention when designing campaign messaging and outreach.

The following six tactics will ensure your message reaches this coveted group:

1. Design a mobile-friendly Web site. If your Web site does not look clean and is not simple to use on a mobile device, then you have lost a major opportunity to interact with the SuperConnecteds.

Your Web site must be optimized for mobile, and it must be device-agnostic, meaning your site looks virtually the same on both iOS and Android devices.

2. Be present on all platforms. Your business must have active Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts if you want to be taken seriously among the SuperConnecteds.

Depending on your business, you might even want to integrate other social networks such as Pinterest, Instagram or Vine into your mobile marketing efforts.

Give this audience the tools to offer feedback, ask questions, or spread company news on your behalf.

3. Use email marketing. To get the attention of the SuperConnecteds, do not forget about email, which is perhaps the most effective marketing tactic you can employ to communicate with customers.

Send promotions and sales offers via email, and consider using push notifications to advertise special offers.

With push notifications, your message will immediately appear on your customers’ mobile devices and alert them to take action.

4. Use geolocation. SuperConnecteds use their devices to interact with the world around them. Geolocation works because it captures their attention in a time of need and often succeeds in getting them in the door with a special offer or interesting event.

In its “Light You Up” campaign, Adidas targeted all mobile users within a three-mile radius of New York’s Penn Station and drew thousands of onlookers to the launch of its new shoe. At the event, users interacted with the Adidas Facebook app to see their name in lights.

5. Develop applications that enhance the experience. SuperConnecteds love apps, but they are quick to uninstall a useless or poorly designed app taking up valuable real estate on their devices.

AMC knew most viewers used a second screen while watching television, so the cable network developed an app to enhance the viewing experience for “The Walking Dead.”

The app allows users to guess which characters will kill the most walkers, and the app tallies the actual kill score and weapons of choice during the show.

6. Integrate your campaign. When your mobile initiatives do not align with the rest of your brand messaging, this creates friction that can confuse or distract the consumer.

Starbucks does a great job integrating its mobile marketing campaign with SMS, augmented reality and mobile advertising to engage consumers with special offers, discounts, easy mobile payment and incentives.

WHEN DESIGNING mobile marketing campaigns, it is important to remember not all mobile users are created equal.

SuperConnecteds are the people you want to reach because they use their devices for everything from checking the weather to applying for loans.

These consumers live and die by their devices, so it is important to create great brand experiences and offer your power users something special on the house.

Adam DeGraide is founder/CEO of Astonish, Warwick, RI. Reach him at [email protected].