Optism™

We start off with a look at how SMS continues to offer retailers an effective means to engage with their customers. As you’ll read in several other articles we’ve collected for this week’s Permission Marketing, some of us are even going to be able to pay for our holiday purchases using our trusty mobiles.

Mobile Marketer had advice for retailers on how to incorporate SMS into their mobile commerce activities this holiday season. Author Giselle Tsirulnik notes, “The personal nature of SMS makes it a great recommendation tool. Consumers trust their friends and family, and will likely open a text message with product information from a loved one.” Tim Miller of Sumotext in Arizona agrees, adding, “SMS is inherently viral because it’s inherently unobtrusive.” Companies like Gilt Groupe, Amazon, Best Buy and Target are taking advantage of this by including a feature on their mobile sites that lets people easily send product recommendations to friends.

According to Wilson Kerr of Unbound Commerce, SMS can also be combined with short codes to drive traffic to mcommerce sites. And SMS is an effective tool for encouraging people to sign up for loyalty programs. Kerr adds, “If a shopping cart is abandoned, SMS can be used to ping the customer who did not complete their transaction, to remind them that their cart is full and they forgot to check out.” Read the rest of this entry »

This week, we’re serving up great permission marketing news from Coca-Cola, Jamba Juice, Dominos and Chipotle. For dessert, you can read about the new mobile privacy guidelines from the MMA and a cool new mobile data tool from Google. Bon appétit!

We start with Mobile Marketer’s coverage of the Mobile Shopping Fall conference in “Coca-Cola exec: Mobile does not work as an island.” Several executives participated in a “Getting Your Mobile Campaign Off the Ground” panel discussion. Coca-Cola’s Tara Scarlett understands the importance of SMS and how it enables marketers to reach the widest possible audience. Commenting on Coca-Cola’s marketing strategy, Scarlett notes, “For us to not be using SMS would be silly.” What’s most important, she says, is that marketers use the best tactics for the specific audience they are trying to reach – including permission-based mobile marketing. “We want to make sure that we are able to be where our consumers are and that they want to engage when they want to engage with us.” With SMS marketers can reach the widest audience possible. Scarlett also notes that the marketing landscape is constantly changing and marketers need to stay agile to maximize the benefits of mobile and social marketing. Read the rest of this entry »

This week, we have the latest from the Mobile Marketing Association about two key markets: Europe and North America. We also have reports on several interesting mobile marketing campaigns, including a first-of-its-kind SMS campaign launched by the United Nations Foundation.

This week’s announcement from the Mobile Marketing Association highlights that organization’s ongoing focus on consumer-centric marketing: Consumers Take Centre Stage At The MMA Forum London. According to their press release, “The theme for this year’s event is the increasingly dominant role of the mobile consumer in marketing strategies, and what that means for brands and agencies.” As usual, the London Forum, taking place October 4 and 5, will feature a broad range of speakers representing different levels of the ecosystem, including major international brands like Unilever and Coca-Cola, and some great newcomers, like the National Hockey League. Paul Berney, CMO & managing director of the MMA in EMEA notes, “We created the forum as an arena for sharing best practice, showcasing the value of mobile, and to bring about a shift in marketing that will benefit not just brands but ultimately deliver consumer communications that are perfectly in sync with the way they live today.” Optism’s Thomas Labarthe will be speaking at the event. We highly recommend the MMA Forums — they are a great way to keep up in our fast-moving industry. Read the rest of this entry »