Mobile marketing blog

The most important part of any mobile marketing campaign is having a long standing subscriber list; there is no value in acquiring a random selection of mobile numbers and spamming them intensively. It is thought that on average you must contact someone 7 times before they show any real interest, so you need to be sure your subscribers want to hear from you before sending any messages. Spend time identifying your target audience and their interests.

Before storing any information with the intent to distribute marketing or promotional material you need to tell them what they are agreeing to, making sure the checkbox is not ticked so they have to opt in.

Here are some suggestions to help you gather and collate subscriber information.

HTML subscription forms
Offer a web based subscription form to all site visitors with as little requirements as possible, I would recommend name and mobile number only.

Opt in opportunities
Whether it's purchasing a product, subscribing to news and site updates or contacting support you should include extra fields on your web forms to allow them to store their mobile number and opt in to your subscriber list.

Offer incentives
Potential subscribers will be more inclined to join in exchange for rewards. Determine what your audience will want and display offers clearly throughout your site and email newsletters.

If your business distributes paper based publications or you sell physical products or services you can offer incentives that are attainable if they text a keyword to your short code. If your customer responds to you, you know they are interested. Viral email campaigns can be even more convenient with either a simple text message or a colour WAP voucher.

Referral schemes and rewards
The ideal scenario is using existing subscribers to recruit others in exchange for affordable rewards. How you do this depends largely on the industry you work in, for example a hosting company could offer free web space that may never be used and is increasingly inexpensive.

Have a meaningful website
If your website is appropriate and has helpful content then other people may read what you have and subscribe to your mobile list on the basis that they are genuinely interested in what you have to say.

Optimise your website
Find a way to make your website content more appealing to search engines and descriptive to encourage searchers to click through when they do find you. This is a very specialist subject and we recommend you speak to your web master or consider employing a search engine optimisation expert.

Listen to your existing subscribers
Customer feedback, surveys and support channels are good ways to build a demographic of potential subscribers. Speak to people in relevant groups on networking sites and use forums openly to learn more about your target audience.

Once you have your subscriptions you can begin your mobile marketing campaign. We recommend at this stage you read about the available mobile marketing services for inspiration.

Profiling is a great way to determine genuine customer interest, and it's automated. For example, after 4 interactions, why not ask the customer if they would like to hear about special offers or promotions. If they respond positively you know they are interested.

Pepsi have revealed recently that they use Mobile Marketing in their promotional strategies and marketing. Ugur Oglu says "The mobile channel allows us to target and reward our customers on a real time basis setting mobile aside from other forms of marketing".

Pepsi will be taking part in the 2009 Mobile Marketing forum in Germany. Others to attend include Coca Cola, Sony Ericsson, Nike, Lufthansa and Auto trader. The event starts on September 9^th and is said to have attracted some of the giants of modern marketing.

Larger companies cannot achieve the same level of personalised support that SME's can, as such smaller companies have the opportunity to use mobile marketing on a personal level and secure a relatively large portion of the market.

Mobile marketing is a fairly new and high impact approach to communicating with an existing or potential audience. With that in mind we thought it might be helpful to write an introduction to do's and don'ts of mobile marketing.

DO: Think about your target audience demographic
There is nothing more annoying than receiving a text message, email or letter that is completely irrelevant and in some cases inappropriate. Know your audience and gather information from people who are likely to appreciate your marketing messages.

DON'T: Obtain a database of random mobile numbers
Such sources won't check that these users are relevant or that the mobile phones are still active. Further these users may well have been heavily spammed by other database subscribers.

DO: Use your messages to link to other channels
WAP/ Web Sites, Vouchers to push people to POS (Point Of Sale), WAP payment sites and Telephone booking lines.

DON'T: Broadcast to numbers which you don't have an Opt in from
If you don't have a Mobile Originating message or proof of terms and conditions from other data collection sources, steer clear of sending promotional messages to these numbers.



DO: Think about how to measure the response
Using unique codes and adding a call to action at the end of broadcasts for example.

DON'T: Lose sight of the value of mobile numbers.
Even running a free to enter campaign can be immensely valuable in terms of number collection. Each number collected can be profiled and used in telemarketing exercises to cross sell.

DO: Send relevant offers
You will get the best conversion from well targeted lists.

DON'T: Send irrelevant offers.
This is the quickest way to lose numbers from your existing customer database.

DO: Make it clear how to opt out of future broadcasts
All broadcasts should make it clear to customers how to opt out from future marketing messages. This involves detailing the short code to which to send the STOP command.

DONT: Just trust industry gurus - do extensive research
Build your own unique strategies and messages, the more personable and innovative your campaigns the more your customers will show interest.

DO: Make your terms and conditions, including pricing for all campaigns clear
Make sure at some point during your campaign that they agree to terms and you exclusively publish prices clearly. Hidden charges and small writing will cause customers to opt out.

DO: Stay alert and be ready to react
Regularly review your customers, competitors and marketing news and alter your strategy to increase its value.

DON'T: Become complacent at the first sign of success
If something works don't rely on it; try new things as well and make sure you don't get labelled as a spammer.

DON'T: Market to minors without parents' permission
This could cause lots of potential issues, make sure you know your audience and avoid offending your existing customers.

If you are new to mobile marketing we highly recommend reading the official Code of Practice before going any further. Good luck and happy hunting.