M3 Mobile Marketing e-Newsletter (October 2009)

How to incorporate mobile into your current marketing mix

Top Benefits and Features of Mobile Marketing

By David Skul

Mobile marketing provides businesses with an efficient, fast, and highly cost-effective tool for reaching out their target audience in new ways. It helps companies engage with their customers through direct subscription based ad campaigns and the results are almost immediate.

The Benefits of Mobile Marketing for Businesses

There are several web based tools that are available to help companies make the most of mobile marketing, primarily by helping them to easily set up a mobile marketing system. Some of the benefits of mobile marketing for businesses include:

• The ability to create outstanding and cost-effective promotion campaigns even on short notice
• The ability to reach a wider audience and expand market share tremendously without any additional effort or cost
• The ability to build better and longer-lasting customer relationships
• The ability to retain existing customers while enticing new customers
• The ability to penetrate the cell phone market and build brand awareness without having to spend a fortune on huge ad campaigns
• The ability to reach out to customers on the go and create a highly effective two-way communication
• The ability to integrate new, innovative forms of advertising and promotion with existing strategies without the need for large capital expenditures

 

Mobile Marketing Features

 

• Mobile marketing is easy to set up and manage even without any technical knowledge
• It provides a casual and interactive platform for communication between businesses and their customers
• Delivery of messages is fast and controllable
• Promotional efforts can be launched in as little as 24 hours
• Response times are equally fast and are typically within 24 hours
• Mobile marketing is cost effective, convenient to use, and reaches out to a large, growing market segment
• It provides a means to set up profile groups and target specific groups
• Messages can be easily edited and spell check features help prevent embarrassing mistakes.
• Mobile marketing allows full tracking of delivery as well as tracking of response and sales conversion rates
• Mobile marketing can be easily incorporated with current promotion strategies
• There is a lot of potential for intermixing with several other media platforms. SMS promotions can be combined with radio, billboard, internet and television ads.
• Immediate delivery is possible in case of any urgent announcements
• Mobile marketing can be set up, launched, and managed without any technical assistance
• Subscribers have control over which messages they want to receive and which they do not want to, making them more receptive to the idea of mobile marketing
• Subscribers can choose to store messages and read them later. They can also forward messages easily, boosting viral promotion.

 

These innovative features of mobile marketing make it possible for businesses to reach even those clients that do not have access to the internet. Personalized messaging allows businesses to build long-term relationships with their clients.

There are many and varied benefits and features to mobile marketing. Take the time to learn more about how this incredible opportunity can be incorporated into your current marketing mix.

 

Incorporating Mobile into Your Current Marketing Mix

By Chrissy Sirianni

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that mobile marketing is the latest and greatest way to market your brand.  And although I may be a bit bias, I do believe I have the stats to make a good case for the mobile channel. 

The genius, so to speak, actually lies within your plan of action – how best to integrate mobile into your current marketing mix.  As studies have shown, mobile functions at its best when paired with a pre-existing marketing medium and/or a pre-established campaign.  Because it’s still a relatively new form of marketing, it needs the support of other efforts in order to thrive. 

Based on recent success rates, it appears a large number of big name brands are diving into mobile the right way.  For example, “Coca-Cola is increasing their focus on mobile marketing as a percentage of their overall marketing mix, with 71% indicating that their mobile marketing activities are integrated with their other marketing tactics and media buys either somewhat or extensively,” said Jeff Zabin, Chicago-based vice president and research fellow at the Aberdeen Group.  More specifically, Coca-Cola decided to incorporate mobile into their “My Coke Rewards” program by encouraging consumers to text in a keyword to a short code in order to accumulate rewards points.  On average, this particular program continues to reap a 9% participation rate.

 According to Knexus Digital, “with cell phones used by over 3.1 billion people globally, 89% of major brands plan to market via mobile phones and in 2009 whilst 40% of major brands have already deployed text messaging campaigns.”

Levi’s and JC Penney teamed up to display another great example of how national brands are using mobile to breathe new life into an ordinary sweepstakes.  In order to drive participation and awareness, they ran mobile banner ads in the Today Show iPhone application promoting their “Tuition” sweepstakes, in which they gave away two $50,000 college scholarships.  They also offered SMS as a means of entry into the campaign by encouraging consumers to text the keyword TUITION to short code 36638.  By adding mobile to their existing campaign, Levi’s and JC Penney were both able to reach their demographic and ultimately obtain more entries. 

These are only a few examples of how mobile can be included in your current marketing objectives.  Instead of using an isolated channel, mobile provides consumers with an interactive experience that can be both meaningful and measurable.  With a little brainstorming and the right tactics, mobile can really be an excellent extension to any form of media. 

 

Three Ways to Convert the Mobile Marketing Laggards

By Eric Bader

I'm always disappointed when a brand I like isn't using mobile in its marketing -- not in its merchandising, media, or customer relationships. But the good news is that most brands I work with and encounter absolutely have the intent, but they don't know where to start.

So, in an attempt to catalyze some brands into taking their first steps, here are a three ways to get started:

Brand Advertising

Allocating media dollars to advertising on mobile is an easy first step. Perhaps the easiest advertising play in mobile is to do a brand awareness campaign and measure it pre- and post-campaign using Dynamic Logic or Insight Express. It's the easiest because most available creative units can be converted to mobile specs without starting from scratch, high quality name-brand content sites offer uncluttered and well-targeted inventory, and mobile ad networks such as AdMob, Quattro Wireless, and Millennial Media make reach, measurement, and reporting easy and successful.

If using mobile media for direct marketing or sales is too much to bite off at first -- because the planning or measurement processes are a big deal -- awareness advertising is the place to build momentum. The recent ad effort by Dockers did a great job of raising awareness and getting attention. Its "shakable" iPhone app was fun, unique, worth talking about, and reportedly had the desired impact on awareness metrics.

Integrated Marketing and Site Traffic

Realizing that consumers always have a phone or device in their hands, brands can tag existing media and materials with mobile site URLs and SMS short codes that allow users to interact with the brand at the moment they are exposed to the message. The advantage is that while this method, unto itself, won't necessarily send products flying off the shelves, it will cut down the lag time between when a consumer is exposed to a message and when he acts. Interaction rates and site visits can be tracked directly to the media and can have a big impact on optimization and the proof of engagement marketers need to build up to more investment.

Shift or Complement Existing Functions

Remember printing out a map online to bring in the car or walk around a strange city? It wasn't that long ago, but it was before in-car, portable, and now mobile GPS and mapping became affordable and pervasive. This evolution is great for marketers who choose to use it. Brands no longer have to provide multiple steps and explanations to get consumers to map out how to get to their stores. Brands can now integrate mapping into mobile Web sites and applications, have it refer directly to a person's current location, and provide relevant offers and promotions on a hyper-local basis.

As a first step, plan the role of maps in the brand's drive-to-retail strategy, and invest in making the consumer's mobile mapping process as rich, informed, and beneficial as possible. Multiple functions such as couponing and distributing geographically-relevant offers can be combined into one effort to provide smart maps and can show immediate results.

Many brands stood on the sidelines as online marketing grew because they weren't convinced that consumers searched for products online, did comparisons, clicked on ads, or shared brand content with friends. In the beginning, understandably, it was hard to measure, and processes were complicated and often required resources that brands didn't have. Mobile marketing started largely in the same way, but now the audiences, inventory, activity, and technology are all mature. Brands must take concerted first (or second) steps. Maybe the three ways suggested above will convert that intent into action.

 

How to monetize SMS alerts

By Eric Harber

I do not know about you, but I subscribe to all sorts of mobile alerts – sports scores for my favorite teams such as Seattle Mariners , breaking news from one of my local radio affiliates, airline departure and arrival updates when I am traveling, even weather alerts so I know if the kids need a ride to soccer practice.

Mobile alerts reach me no matter where I am. They are free. They are sent in real time. Best of all, I can customize them exactly how I choose. Mobile alerts represent a great convenience for consumers, but what many do not realize is they also represent a great opportunity for marketers.

These days when so many brands are scrambling to create the hottest iPhone application, it is refreshing to know that simple, affordable, broad-reaching campaigns are still extremely effective methods of mobile marketing.

I include the oft-overlooked mobile alerts in this category. They represent mobile marketing in its most basic form – simple, permission-based, push text messages. Yet when used correctly, they can be an effective, measurable way to reach current and potential customers.

There are many kinds of mobile alerts – school closings, weather forecasts, breaking news and sports scores, to name a few.

If you can create a feed for it, you can turn it into a mobile alert. They are personal, customizable, broad-reaching and measurable – everything a marketer could ask for. They also represent an opportunity for your brand to reach consumers who you may not otherwise have been able to reach.

The opportunity in mobile alerts is twofold.

First, brand owners such as sports teams, airlines, broadcast stations and print media can use them to fully engage their fans, customers, listeners and readers.

If you have got breaking news, adding mobile alerts should be a no-brainer for you. They help you stay in touch with customers anytime, anywhere, even if they are not currently listening, reading, watching or engaging with your brand at that time.

However, the second and less obvious way to use mobile alerts is through sponsorships. Many news and information outlets sell sponsorships for their popular mobile alerts programs.

 

Pay station

A great example of a successful alerts campaign is radio station WSPK in Poughkeepsie, NY. The station has always announced school closings during inclement weather, but recently decided to add a text message system that would alert students and parents via mobile phone if their school was closed.

Gone are the days of kids waiting by the radio all morning with their fingers crossed hoping that they will hear their school’s name announced. Students and parents can personalize their alerts for their school district and automatically receive notification as soon as school has been cancelled or delayed.

As you can imagine, in such a climate, the program has been very successful.

With a very large database of opt-ins, WSPK realized it they could begin selling sponsorships for these alerts. A local furniture store signed on for the entire winter season, netting the station revenue otherwise unavailable.

Obviously, prices vary based on the market and size of the opt-in database, but the message is clear – mobile alerts represent a large opportunity.

Sponsoring mobile alerts can represent a great opening for local businesses, as they often cater toward a specific geographic area and a specific demographic as well.

School cancelled in Poughkeepsie due to heavy snow? How about an ad from a local hardware store having a sale on snow blowers? Or an automotive store which sells snow tires?

Mobile alerts can generate real-time leads and better yet, measure results. Why not add a note saying, “Show this text message at the checkout to receive 15 percent off”?

In an age when marketers live and die by ROI, it is nice to know what works. As the old adage goes – we know that half of our marketing is effective, we just do not know which half.

Mobile alerts allow you to measure opt-ins, total alerts sent, unique recipients and even track conversions/click-through rates.

With mobile alerts, you know exactly what is working and even have the ability to change or update campaigns in real time to improve conversions. So the next time you are planning a campaign, do not forget that sometimes simplicity is the best method.

 

 

Legal Review and Carrier Compliance

By Ray Terwilliger

The immediacy, interactivity and mobility of wireless devices provide a novel platform for marketing.  The personal nature of the mobile device allows you to contact your customers anytime and anywhere.    Like any type of B to C communication, your mobile marketing campaign must conform to a number of laws and regulations and follow guidelines for consumer best practices. 

Our technology was designed to keep our clients compliant with the FTC's CAN-SPAM Act, the Mobile Marketing Association's Code of Conduct, and the wireless carrier’s Operational Playbooks.  Additionally, M3 Mobile employs its own in-house staff counsel to insure the compliance of your mobile program and to protect the integrity of your brand.

Mobile marketing permission and acceptance are core issues that many companies do not fully understand.  We will work with you to insure that your program is advertised clearly and conspicuously and that all of your program opt-in methods are fully compliant and will allow for maximum access to your customers.

Ray Terwilliger serves as General Counsel for M3 Mobile and is available to answer any questions that you might have concerning the compliance of your mobile marketing program.  Ray can be reached by email at rterwilliger@m3mobile.com or by phone at (610) 279-3355 x2260.