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1 Mobile Marketing: Best Practices and Applications This paper explores how mobile marketing can enhance advertising response rates, increase buying traffic and build an opt-in community. Topics include: Increasing response rates of traditional TV, radio, outdoor, print and online marketing Differentiating products and services from competitors Increasing buying traffic from an existing customer database Building an opt-in community to enhance brand loyalty Improving customer service and CRM

2 Background With today s highly mobile lifestyles, recessionary prone economy and mass infiltration of media into both our personal and professional lives, it s no wonder that the results of traditional marketing methods are rapidly dwindling. Regardless of whether your audience fits into the B2B or B2C category, or both, we as a global audience are becoming numb to the outpouring of pithy broadcasts, online intrusions, inundation of spam and barrage of generation-specific print advertising campaigns. It has also become obvious that there is one thing that we all Baby Boomers, Generation Y, Generation X and Generation Z ers alike have in common. We don t leave home without our mobile phone! It s become our identity. The type of phone people carry, the carrier they subscribe to and the services they use reflect who they are. A 2006 Nielson study showed that over 144 million people in the U.S. (85%) ages own cell phones. It s over 230 million today. Another recent study confirmed that over 1.3 billion people used text messaging (SMS); making it the most used data application on the planet, far surpassing . I don t think there s any argument that mobile has become today s pervasive form of communications. It s an Opt-in World One of the best things about mobile communications today is that it is still virtually spam-free. The carriers have made it a point to become guardians of the cellular air waves, to protect their own interest in customer retention and to enhance loyalty. That s not to say that there aren t occasional rouges pilfering our precious service plans with unauthorized text messaging, but the carriers, when alerted, move quickly to shut them down. The lack of mobile spam adds to the effectiveness of mobile marketing. Most of us have seen it on shows like American Idol when asked to vote on your favorite performer, text XXX to to place your vote. This activity usually includes an opt-in mechanism allowing them to send you results and other related messages. In one easy step, American Idol has built a huge community of followers that includes their phone numbers and the ability to communicate with them via their mobile phone. Because this form of communication supports our lifestyle, it s easy to build an opt-in or permission-based community through special incentives, offers and information. Mobile marketing has already proven to be extremely successful in increasing B2B and B2C marketing results today by many early adopter marketing organizations, both large and small. Incentives range from discount coupons to free products and services, to entrance into contests or sweepstakes. They all have two things in common; their target audience grants permission to be contacted and they break through all the marketing noise. They have their undivided attention, and they ve succeeded in differentiating themselves from their competitors. This relatively new technology has proven itself to be a true competitive advantage and is why mobile marketing has been flying under the radar. It s also why companies are reluctant to discuss their employment of this tactic.

3 Making Mobile Work for You When integrated and executed properly within a traditional communications campaign, incentive based mobile marketing can have an extremely viral effect. Gold Mobile, a mobile marketing service provider, has seen clients experience a 10-20% increase in response rates or floor traffic, and those that have experienced a 500% increase in response. The better your understanding is of the demographics and lifestyle needs of your target audience (See figure 1-1); the tighter you define your objectives, the better you connect your messaging and offer, the better the response your program will generate. With mobile marketing, it s important to think out of the box and clearly define your objectives. A major benefit of a fully integrated campaign is that you get multiple touch points with your audience. Figure 1-1 Two examples of highly targeted ads that integrate demographics as part of their text-back response mechanism. For example, a B2B (business to business) program might integrate mobile marketing into an event, webinar or tradeshow outreach or on-site strategy. The company can promote its mobile (text-in) offer within its traditional online, , outdoor or print programs. The text mechanism can register them to be entered into a drawing, receive a prize, a discount or attend a company sponsored event. The responses back can be customized by each outreach vehicle with a keyword differentiator, whereby different keywords will deliver different return messages. An enter a drawing offer response may include instructions to stop by a booth or visit a micro-site. An attend our event offer response may include an invitation, RSVP or contact details. The point here is that it s extremely easy to customize the mechanism to align with your objectives and obtain your desired results. The ability to generate on-demand reports, allows for real-time campaign change management. If one response doesn t pull, it can instantly be changed out for another. It s quite similar to A/B testing online, only with real-time change management. Because this capability can greatly enhance success, it makes sense to work with a vendor that has its own mobile platform, combined with in-house developers and campaign managers.

4 Other B2B campaigns allow manufacturers, for instance, to create specific programs, such as sales or pricing updates for their distribution outlets, global sales forces, or consumer base. A service organization, for example, can develop a program for its field personnel, customers, or partners. The flexibility mobile offers, allows for the capture of a great deal of useful demographic information (see Figure 1-2 below). Figure 1-2 Sample custom text opt-in screen used to capture consumer demographic information. Because most people carry a mobile phone, mobile marketing works as well for B2C (business to consumer) sales, service and brand building applications. Adding a timed promotion, discount or contest to your traditional marketing campaign, also works extremely well for retail and online companies. Mobile marketing works equally as well, whether you have brick and mortar outlet, online or both. An important item to keep in mind is that because mobile typically supplements traditional advertising or marketing campaigns, the additional incremental costs or adding a mobile touch point, are relatively nominal. A typical mobile marketing program may include the following capabilities: Lead capture Consumer engagement Additional touch-points to traditional advertising campaigns Pre/during/post event marketing Promotions, sweepstakes & contests Coupons & discounts Lifestyle, loyalty & community brand building Mobile CRM Multi-media content creation and distribution Mobile videos (education, training, brand extension) Location based marketing Mobile polling and voting Sales and distribution programs Segmented broadcast messaging Online and Web integration

5 Segmented Marketing Increases Outcomes Another benefit of mobile marketing is the ability to subsegment marketing message(s) and response(s) by multiple tiers within a target audience. Segmented messaging allows for great flexibility in supporting base marketing objectives. There may be several identifiable groups within an audience or community. For example, an outreach program may be targeting several functional areas within an organization (i.e. sales, marketing and business development). While high-level messaging may be the same to all, the value proposition may be SalesLeads US To receive a sample list of Sales VPs text SVP to To receive a sample list of Marketing VPs text MVP to To receive a sample list of Alliance Mgrs text ALM to Text now to receive your free leads today! Figure 1-3 A simplified illustration of how to better target your audience by sub-segmenting messages and responses through mobile marketing. different to each function (i.e. margin, ROI or partnership). Within the same marketing program or ad campaign, you can offer a different custom keyword for the different groups (see Figure 1-3 above), each with a different return text message. The same program or ad + different delivery mechanisms + segmented messages = improved outcomes. From: To: Sent: 4/28/08 10:03AM The most updated database anywhere. To download your free list of Sales VPs, visit: From: To: Sent: 4/28/08 10:03AM The most updated database anywhere. To download your free list of Marketing VPs, visit: From: To: Sent: 4/28/08 10:03AM The most updated database anywhere. To download your free list of Alliance Mgrs, visit: From a consumer product or service perspective, your community might be dissected by location, preference or product. Each sub-segment would be offered a different keyword to text back, which can be customized specifically for each audience. An example here might be an automotive dealership with a service promotion targeted to customers who have purchased a Ford, Chevy or Toyota. The service offer might be the same for each customer but the discount or time period might vary by make, model, or location which would be delivered to each customer in their text back response. Segmenting can be applied to any industry, product or service and because segmenting delivers better targeted offers, results have shown to increase as well. Keys to Mobile Marketing Success The most enticing aspect of mobile marketing is how quickly and easily it can be integrated into all types of traditional and digital media. To be successful, marketers must condense well targeted messages based on an established value proposition. Objectives must be clearly defined and conversion formulas extrapolated out of existing industry norms of the media that it is to be integrated with. Real-time Change Management From a strategic perspective, having multiple versions of message responses can enhance results as long as the technology and platform vendor has the bandwidth and expertise to perform real-time change management and reporting.

6 Reliability of Mobile Platform Once your campaign or program is ready to be launched, you only get one shot to get it right. Of course, a temporary technology failure will have less of an impact with a long timeframe offer, than one with an immediate or short-term program. Mobile marketing has been used successfully for years across Europe. Once you have implemented a successful mobile marketing campaign, you may find that it becomes a mandatory element in future programs. About New Media Institute (NMI) ( The New York-based New Media Institute is a research and fact finding organization whose mission is to improve public understanding of issues surrounding the Internet and other forms new media communications. About Gold Mobile ( Gold Mobile designs, develops and implements mobile marketing and business solutions, enabling corporate clients and marketing agencies to integrate mobile campaigns and enterprise solutions (including mobile text, video, voice, Web and call centers).