Mobile : Look Before You Leap
Good direct marketing leads to better mobile marketing ROI
June 2009 By Jay B. Wilson
|
This approach—leveraging promotions to build express opt-in databases of customers and prospects—is an effective way to harness the power of mobile and integrate it into your direct marketing communications.
With more than 213 million SMS users in the U.S., and mobile penetration expected to reach 93 percent by next year, mobile marketing has begun to play a key role in acquiring and retaining customers across industries.
Major retailers successfully have used the mobile channel for several years, building databases through sweepstakes and promotions and then generating significant ROI through ongoing couponing and drive-to-retail campaigns.
The results, within the framework of direct marketing metrics, have been impressive. Mike Romano, co-founder, managing partner and EVP of SmartReply, a mobile marketing provider, reports that clients have seen open rates exceeding 95 percent and coupon redemption rates of as much as 26 percent. With a cost per delivered message around 10 cents, the ROI can be significant.
It’s easy to blindly jump into mobile marketing simply because you want to get into the game—and to do so is ripe with pitfalls. Following best practices, rooted in direct marketing principles, increases your odds of success.
Building a Direct Mobile Marketing Database
How best to integrate mobile into your communications stream? Gaining express consent from your existing customers is a good starting point. Assuming you have an accurate database of your current customers, those individuals should be the foundation of your initial mobile efforts.
A good way to do this follows the Obama model: Offer a tangible, short-term benefit of providing content, and then leverage that interest to obtain opt-in for your ongoing mobile communications. If presented with a tangible benefit, consumer SMS opt-in rates can approach 80 percent, particularly now that more people are joining unlimited data and text plans.
Additionally, you can acquire new opt-ins through targeted SMS ad network buys. This involves buying space—usually a 40-character “ad tag”—on subscription-based SMS services. Targeting can be done based on traditional direct marketing demographics and is a cost-effective way to expand the size and range of your mobile marketing database.
Messaging—First Steps
Don’t reinvent creative simply because you’re venturing into mobile. The same principles that have proven successful in your DRTV, print, direct mail, telemarketing and e-mail efforts hold true here. The key constraint is space; most carriers and devices restrict SMS message size to 160 characters or less.
Before focusing on creative, take a step back and envision how mobile will play a role in your overall branding and direct marketing efforts. Will SMS reinforce your annual holiday push-to-retail efforts? Can SMS be used as a precursor to direct mail to increase open rates? Can it reduce your live operator telemarketing expenses? How will you reinforce your branding? How will mobile serve as a differentiator from your competitors?
Another consideration, as with traditional direct marketing, is voice. Creative should be on-brand and reinforce other channels. Language and tone of voice also are key. A campaign for a hip brand with a younger target can leverage the “cu-l8r” economization of instant messaging, while such abbreviations should be avoided in other instances. Again, reinventing the tone of your creative isn’t necessary, so stick to what currently works in other media.
Messaging—Next Steps
Only once these strategic questions are determined can you begin to build the messaging itself.
The first “creative” element of an SMS campaign is the “SmartCode,” the unique five-digit combination that serves as your “address.” As SmartCodes are gobbled up by marketers, NeuStar, the industry clearinghouse, will expand code length. While the opportunity exists to use “vanity” SmartCodes—as Coca-Cola is doing with “36569 (Enjoy)”—bear in mind that with the proliferation of smartphone QWERTY keyboards, the alpha-numeric association of traditional phone pads eventually may disappear. That said, a smartly considered vanity SmartCode can enhance recall, particularly in broadcast media.
SmartCodes can take up to 12 weeks to procure. Thus, it is beneficial to start this process in tandem with your database-building efforts. Your SMS vendor can procure these codes on your behalf, or you can go directly to the Common Short Code Administration at usshortcodes.com.
The inbound “creative” element of a direct mobile, or SMS, campaign is the keyword—the initial hand-raising message from the customer. This should be kept as simple as possible, such as instructing consumers to “Text ‘Win’ to 23456.”
One of the key attractions of SMS to users is its simplicity, so don’t overengineer your campaigns. While the industry is moving toward richer applications, including video and mobile quick response, or QR codes, a text-only approach is the best for your early efforts and will help you avoid carrier and device-specific errors.
Focus on a simple activation process, and provide your audience with a clear and immediate benefit of engagement. Leverage your initial interaction, whether it’s a sweepstakes, one-time discount or other promotion to communicate the benefits of, and obtain express opt-in to, future communications. Collect a single data element from your customer, if that information is actionable. In Obama’s case, respondents’ ZIP codes were captured and used to target supporters for local events and volunteer opportunities. As with other channels, make sure opting out of future communications is easy.
Testing Pointers
Direct mobile offers an efficient platform for testing, which should be a key element of your initial and ongoing campaigns. Due to the low cost of message versioning, testing—whether based on segmentation or of the pure A/B variety—is easily built into mobile marketing. Results, including open, opt-out and response rates, are readable nearly instantly. Testing can be done within direct SMS customer communications or in the ad tag acquisition environment.
Moving Forward
As you fine-tune your creative, offer and segment testing, you can continue to optimize the channel and maximize your ROI. It’s a great tool for addressing time-sensitive marketing and public relations needs, as a message typically can be delivered within hours of an identified need, such as a product recall or competitive counterstrike. Because you’re targeting an “always on, always with you” device, SmartReply reports that in many instances, more than 80 percent of SMS messages get opened within an hour of delivery.
As you become savvier with your direct mobile efforts, begin to think about mobile commerce. According to Nielsen Mobile, 33 percent of consumers are open to the idea of purchasing directly through their mobile devices, and that number is likely to grow. Whether directing your customers to a toll-free number or a WAP site, direct transactions are becoming more viable as customer perception and technology evolves. Keeping an eye on these opportunities now will allow you to capitalize when you’re ready and ensure that mobile continues to be an innovative and valuable asset in your direct marketing mix.
Jay B. Wilson is director of customer dialogue at Wunderman, a global, full-service direct marketing agency with headquarters in New York City. He can be reached at jay.wilson@wunderman.com.
Companies Mentioned:
 |
|
