Making the Most of Mobile Marketing

By 2013, mobile marketing revenues are expected to touch $24 billion. Nowadays,
almost everyone has a wireless phone and SMS (Short Messaging Service) has more
active users than email. And yet, mobile marketing does not attract as much attention
as email marketing. This white paper outlines some of the best practices you can
employ to harness the full power of mobile marketing.

Mobile Marketing is more than SMS

In the simplest terms, mobile marketing is sending marketing messages to mobile

devices. While SMS is the most obvious mobile marketing method, by no means is it
the only one. Multimedia Messaging Service or MMS offers a richer interface to
include images, slides and short audio or video clips.

Short codes, which are special telephone numbers, are also widely used in mobile
marketing as response devices. Then there are SMS gateways that transform mobile
messages from other media to mobile network traffic. This service lets you send and
receive SMS messages even without a mobile phone. Choosing the right mobile
marketing vehicle depends on what you are trying to market and your target audience.

The Potential of Mobile Marketing

Understanding the potential of mobile marketing helps you when to and when not to
add it to your marketing mix. Since most users keep their mobile phones with them
24X7, you can reach your target audience anywhere and anytime. SMS can be timed
to your convenience. This is particularly useful during special offers or events that are
time-sensitive (for example, eatables during a game or coffee during commute time).
This is obviously not possible with television or email.

Also an SMS is more urgent than email. It is usually read within 15 minutes of its
reception. SMS messages also capture the customer’s attention right away. However,
they have short shelf lives. Interactive mobile marketing campaigns that are based on
voting, surveys and sweepstakes elicit higher response.

Mobile marketing can also be used as a great tool in after-sales support and
personalized customer care by providing time-sensitive up-to-date information that is
of interest to your customers.

Designing a Mobile Marketing Program

Before you kick start your mobile marketing program, you need to have a clear idea of
the program’s strategy and objectives. The medium you use must be relevant to your
target audience. You also need to ensure that the message is appropriate for the mobile
medium. Make sure the text copy conveys the message in a lucid and intelligible way.
Decide how you will obtain the opt-in list for the program and what your opt-in and
opt-out procedures will be.

Book short codes, if required, from SMS gateway service providers. Check if the
ordered codes are sufficient to support testing campaigns, follow-up campaigns and
responses. Then obtain carrier approval for the program. Obtaining vanity codes
usually takes time. If you need to launch your campaign soon, then it is better to buy
random short codes than vanity codes.

Since mobile marketing is largely opt-in, develop an offer that can initiate a high opt-
in rate from your target audience. The success of mobile marketing campaigns is
mostly dependent on the benefit your offer confers to the customers. Text to win,
coupons, polls, chart, games, surveys, donations, subscriptions, product promotions,
downloadable content and periodic info alerts are some of the most frequently
employed offers in the mobile marketing. See what best fits to your objectives.

Since space is limited in mobile marketing, make sure your message is direct to the
point. It should clearly convey its intention and also be identifiable as a marketing
communication. You can also text the URL of your website to direct your audience
for more information.

When subscribers respond to your campaign, ask them if they would be interested to
opt-in for future SMS alerts and messages. Use this data to build-up your opt-in lists
for future mobile marketing programs. To increase opt-in rate and response rate in
general, offer incentives that are likely to resonate with the customers.

If the mobile marketing program is complex and feature-rich, then make sure that the
directory contains an option to let customers text HELP to know more details about a
particular feature or topic. This also increases the interactivity and lets customers
explore all features of your program.

If your message is MMS-based, then it is recommended that it be tested on different

mobile handsets before you kickstart the campaign. This lets you troubleshoot any
compatibility issues and prevent unforeseen problems. Understand that most MMS
campaigns do not retain their effectiveness in some incompatible handsets. They also
take up larger space and can be slower to download. See that the mobile marketing
solution you use renders the messages correctly.

If replying to your messages incurs any costs to your audience, then make sure that the
costs are justified and the customers are informed of them clearly. If your message
contains any downloadable content (such as books, games, caller tunes) then inform
your audience about the compatibility issues of handsets and also about how they will
be charged for downloading the content.
Unless your customer has specifically opted-in or the information is time-sensitive, do
not send any messages between 2200 and 0700. It is also illegal in some states and
countries to send promotional messages in these timings.

Integrate Mobile Marketing with Other Marketing Programs

Mobile marketing isn’t matured enough to be a stand-alone marketing platform.

However, it adds value to your integrated marketing campaigns. It is already a part of
many customer acquisition, customer retention, customer care and CRM applications.

When building a mobile marketing campaign from scratch, use billboards and transit
point displays to offer coupons and discounts. Integrate your mobile marketing
campaign into broadcast marketing programs on TV, radio and web to elicit
immediate response from customers and also to increase the response rate.

When promoting new products and services through special promotions, sweepstakes
and contests, mobile marketing can be an invaluable tool that lets customers interact
with you in an easy way. Use mobile marketing to intimate customers and to keep in
touch with them with alerts, latest news, updates and other happenings such as
podcasts and webinars. Mobile marketing is particularly effective in situations where
‘having the right information in right time’ is very important.

Keeping Track of Your Mobile Marketing Campaigns

Like email marketing campaigns, mobile marketing campaigns can be easily tracked.
A lot of information about your mobile marketing campaigns can be generated and
gathered to measure its effectiveness and calculate ROI. This also helps to make better
decisions about future marketing campaigns.

Some of the metrics you need to track to effectively monitor and control mobile
marketing campaigns are number of messages delivered to SMS service gateway,
number of messages that were actually delivered to mobile phones, number of offers
accepted, response rate to the messages, total response rate by short codes and
keywords and a more detailed response rate by product category and geographic
location.

Conclusion

Depending on your objectives and offerings, mobile marketing can be an effective

marketing platform or a valuable addition to your integrated marketing
communications program. Given the booming mobile density, its potential is yet to be
exploited fully by marketers. Mobile marketing adds that much wanted interactivity to
your marketing mix.