Optism™

Note: Optism is republishing our five most popular blog posts of last year, this was number #1  for 2012 and was originally published on September 21, 2012.

Our crackerjack staff reviewed a bunch of mobile marketing campaigns over the past few years and we picked 50 of what we thought were the best. We chose innovative campaigns that used mobile advertising, SMS, QR Codes, Mobile Apps and Mobile Commerce from companies including Starbucks, Macy’s, Target, O2, RedBox, McDonald’s and a couple of our own. We salute these companies for their ingenuity and hard work in creating these campaign that delight and inform us as mobile consumers. Stay tuned for next year’s picks.

Click here to download Optism’s 50 Best Mobile Marketing Campaigns.

Note: Optism is republishing our five most popular blog posts of last year, this was number #2  for 2012 and was originally published on January 27, 2012.

Not that long ago, people bought everything from local shops. Shop owners had personal relationships with their customers. They learned through conversations with these customers what types of products and services suited them. With mass marketing, this all changed. We gained a lot in efficiency and economies of scale, but sometimes we lost that all-important human relationship. Today, we can get up close and personal again by using a mobile marketing strategy that employs permission-based techniques.

Using permission-based mobile marketing strategies such as asking people for their permission first before engaging with them on their mobile phones, provides mobile operators, marketers and their brands unprecedented access to a potential customer’s attention and an opportunity to build their trust. As marketing guru Seth Godin has made clear, attention is a scarce resource in today’s world of mass marketing overload. To make the most of this unique opportunity, you need to recognize the very “human” nature of connecting via a mobile phone. And you need to demonstrate very quickly that what you are offering – your content – is worth paying attention to.

Here at Optism, we have developed six “best practices” to help you maximize the value of your permission-based, mobile marketing initiatives by thinking human to gain attention, build trust and  drive engagement from your audience.

1. Be transparent

Permission-based mobile marketing begins with you obtaining someone’s consent to on-going communication on their mobile device. Make sure customers understand what they can expect if they opt in. Also, be very clear about how they can opt out at any time. This is no time for “small print!” Being up front and honest with your customers goes a long way in building trust and loyalty.

The more you learn about your mobile audience, the better you can tailor your messages to suit their interests. So ask what interests them instead of assuming what they like based on their actions. Be transparent by making sure people understand and are comfortable with how you are going to use their information. Reassure them that you will respect their privacy and that you will only use the information they provide in the manner you have specified. (Of course, then make sure you do just that!)

2. Don’t try to bribe people

It makes sense to reward people who opt-in to your mobile marketing program, but be creative with that reward. Don’t try to bribe people with a glitzy prize. Offering a huge “prize” as a way to collect opt-ins isn’t an effective way to begin what you want to be a long term engagement. People will opt-in solely to qualify for the contest or prize and then opt-out. You want to attract people who are genuinely interested in your product or service.

Remember, rewards also don’t have to be monetary. If you provide valuable information, advance notice of special events, compelling developments about products or services that fit the recipients’ lifestyles, they will recognize that as the reward.

3. Use simple language

With mobile, you really need to be economical with your language: messages should be short and to the point. Choose words and concepts that are easy to grasp and unambiguous. Of course you also want to be true to the voice of your brand, but demonstrate your understanding of your audience by using language that resonates for them.

Mobile is a one-to-one communication. Use the kind of natural language you would use when communicating with your friends and family. Avoid “marketing speak” and clever turns of phrase –you’re talking to an individual on their personal mobile device. Speak human and build trust.

The words really do count. We find that opt-in rates are noticeably lower when the opt-in message is long and confusing. Starting with your very first message, keep it short and simple.

4. Don’t try to do too much at once

Don’t try to collect everything in one exchange. As you would in any human interaction, count on the relationship to grow and deepen over time. Ask for something small to start, reward the person that gives it to you, and then ask for something more. Permission marketing is like dating and you don’t want to propose marriage on the first date.

Use the first conversation to collect key information like age range, gender and primary interests. In subsequent exchanges, refine your understanding of those key elements. For example, in the first exchange, you may learn that a person is keen on sports. In subsequent conversations, you can narrow that down to specific sports and then favorite teams. Each exchange should contribute to your understanding of the customer and the customer’s appreciation for what you have to offer. Conversations need to be constructed in an intelligent way. In essence, less is more.

At Optism, we have found that when completing a profile, people stop interacting after having answered three consecutive questions – typically going from a 90%, 75% and 65% completion rate for the first three questions, and then dropping to a 30% completion rate for the fourth question. Optism best-practices show that these completion rates can significantly be improved – simply by thinking human and not interrogating your audience.

5. Expect the unexpected

People don’t always act the way you expect them to, or even the way they say they will, so it pays to be ready for anything. You can run focus groups that tell you people will respond if you frame your message in a particular way, but be ready to make changes quickly if things don’t go according to plan. This goes beyond simply collecting statistical results. If you don’t have the expertise to undertake this kind of analysis, consider hiring experts who do. The insight you gain can be invaluable and greatly increase the ROI for future mobile campaigns.

6. Think local

There are no universal rules that apply to all people in all cultures. Permission mobile marketing is about reaching out to the individual, engaging at a personal level. You need to consider local customs, preferences and habits. Communities may have different preferences in terms of days of the week or time of day. In some communities, it is not acceptable to ask someone what gender they are. In order to achieve positive results with permission-based, mobile marketing, you need to be particularly sensitive to local nuances since you are reaching out to people on such a personal device.

Of course, you also need to talk to people in their language of choice. In many markets, this means that your mobile campaign must be available in multiple languages and you need to know the message recipient’s preferred language.

We believe that interactive SMS messaging – texting – is an ideal mobile marketing channel for reaching the widest possible audience. Texting also enables you to reach out to people with a natural back-and-forth, dialogue-based engagement. People carry their mobiles everywhere and they react quickly when a message is received. Using interactive messaging and adhering to our best practices, you can increase the likelihood that your permission mobile marketing campaigns gain people’s attention, build trust and increase audience engagement.

Visit Optism’s solutions for mobile operators and advertisers to see how we can help you drive results for your company.

Note: Optism is republishing our five most popular blog posts of last year, this was number #5  for 2012 and was originally published on April 4, 2012.

Recently, I discussed that the wrong questions were being asked about the development of the mobile wallet – namely, that that there was not enough industry focus on the needs of the consumer. This week, I focus on the privacy of the consumer and how much personal information a consumer is willing to give up for convenience.

The practice of gathering Big Data by marketers will impact the consumer on two fronts; their privacy and the ability for brands and businesses to deliver a better shopping experience for them. Marketers have always had data on consumers, except the amount of data was not as big and it was fairly anonymous. The data was more about an average person’s behavior over a specific period of time within a certain demographic. For the most part, marketers could blast advertising messages and expect fairly consistent results.

Now that has all changed.

The internet, social media and mobile have changed the equation. We are not passive customers anymore. We validate product claims on Yelp, Consumer Reports and Facebook. We pose questions to others and get almost immediate feedback. We make “individual” decisions that can’t always be predicted or calculated. We are opting-out of traditional marketing and opting-in to programs from brands and businesses that are asking us for our permission and respecting our privacy choices.

In an article last week in Marketingland entitled Give It Up For Mobile Data, Rachel Pasqua of Organic discussed the battle over “big data” between consumers and marketers. She starts off by making an excellent point about the Myth of the Average Consumer.

• “So I’m actually not the average consumer. But then neither are you. No one is. The average consumer is an urban myth– which makes the traditional tactics we use to target them semi-effective, at best. They didn’t coin the phrase “banner blindness” for nothing. I block out a good 95% of the ads I see because they are meaningless to me.”

Pasqua dismisses the concept of the average consumer because privacy comes down to the decisions each individual makes and each decision is different. Every second, a consumer is faced with the choice of whether to give up their privacy in exchange for information. There are three values; the consumer’s desire to protect his or her privacy, the value of the offer and the level of trust the consumer has of the business. If the value of the offer is greater than the value of privacy and the level of trust does not impact the offer then the transaction is completed. If not, no deal.

Pasqua says that Google Maps is good example of this. The service has completed millions of these “privacy” transactions, as the value of not getting lost is more valuable than the desire to keep your location secret from Google. Now that the consumer is aware of the privacy equation, he or she can decide what information to provide, changing us from average, passive consumer to active, aware consumers making individual decisions.

Mobile takes this even farther because it increases the number of privacy transactions we are faced with every day. The weather app wants to know where I am. The travel app wants to know if I want to monitor flights to a certain city. The clothing retailer wants keep my shirt size and my kids’ size.

Brands, businesses and mobile apps have a responsibility to inform the consumer about the data they are collecting and how they are using it. And provide this privacy information in a way that consumers can truly understand – not pages and pages of small print and complex language.

At Optism, we call this behavior Thinking Human and we have outlined best practices about how being transparent with consumers pays off in the end. By being clear about the ramifications of the privacy decisions one makes, it lessens the chance that the consumer could become disappointed by the experience. Additionally, giving the user some control over their profile and how their information is being used improves the experience and customer relationship. This thinking helps to build trust, increasing the likelihood of additional transactions and fosters loyalty which ideally leads to more business.

Take our Facebook poll, What information are you willing to give to a company for making your life more convenient?