Optism™

This week, we have several examples of recent mobile marketing campaigns that take advantage of our favorite channel.

Signaling the growing importance of the mobile marketing channel, UTalkMarketing.com featured a series of mobile-focused articles in its Hot Topic Week. One report in particular caught our eye, “Assessing the options – The case for mobile barcodes.” The article looks at three key mobile marketing tools – Near Field Communications (NFC), SMS and mobile barcodes. In her assessment of SMS, author Laura Marriott notes, “SMS…is a reliable work horse in mobile marketing and is an easy, low cost means of consumer communication for brands via the mobile channel. It has broad reach and is easy to understand and use.”

Marriott provided an example of a successful campaign that relied on SMS and mobile barcodes. “By embedding both a mobile barcode and SMS shortcode in all creative elements, consumers were able to directly access and download the application needed to create e-postcards on their mobile device, achieving significant click through rates for the brand, while also allowing for maximum reach to the Austrian Post’s audience.” As she points out, each tool can be very useful for brands, and “The key to success lies in using mobile for what it does best – creating an interactive, two-way communication based on relevance and consumer opt in.” Read the rest of this entry »

This week we look at permission marketing from several angles. We explore the always-hot topic of targeting, location-based advertising and the implications for privacy. We also check in with an author who has developed a whole new respect for the SMS.

To start us off, we get advice on how to protect those valuable opt-ins.

In “Mobile Opt-In Retention – Rules of Engagement,” MobileMarketingWatch guest writer, Paul Faherty, provides some excellent advice on how to hang on to a consumer’s opt-in and avoid the dreaded opt-out. For starters, he suggests, make sure you adhere to the message frequency you outlined in your initial exchange with the customer. He also cautions marketers to recognize the personal and immediate nature of their SMS messages and avoid sending messages at inappropriate times. He reminds us that abusing the permission granted to contact customers on their mobiles will likely lead to swift opt-outs – and a damaged relationship with customers.

For some interesting musings on where location-aware ads and targeting for relevance are headed, check out Street Fight’s interview with Placecast President, Anne Bezancon. Bezancon believes, “If you can manage location information and attach advertising and marketing information to that, at scale and in real time, then you can really provide a service both on the marketer’s side and the users.” What we’re seeing today is just the beginning. Location technology is going to make it possible to increase the relevance of ads for people. She also believes that instead of people searching for information, they will “configure a service” to do the searching for them. Read the rest of this entry »

As the first article in this week’s roundup makes abundantly clear, the success of a mobile marketing campaign is highly dependent on the relevance of the message for the recipient. Nurturing trust is also essential if you want to keep growing the relationship with your audience.

In a series on emerging mobile marketing trends, TalentZoo’s Ted Curtin warns marketers that “Relevancy Isn’t Optional Anymore.” Curtin notes, “As a brand, you no longer own the media or the channel and you barely control the message.” Furthermore, because mobile devices are so personal, you could easily be perceived as intrusive. You can combat this, Curtin advises, “By complete channel integrity, an open and transparent Statement of Intent, a firm security commitment, and a clear, concise declaration of data-sharing policies” and by making sure your message is relevant to the consumer. In return, mobile “opens up new possibilities to drive sales, provide assistance, engage customers, obtain feedback, and drive repeat business.”

This is a solid article and includes some interesting stats that demonstrate the growing importance of the mobile channel. We particularly like Curtin’s argument that permission-based preferences should be seen “not as a potential barrier, but as a tremendous opportunity to engage and interact with clients more deeply and successfully than ever before.” Read the rest of this entry »