But understanding the unique power of mobile as the 7th Mass Media will deliver radical new concepts and new winners.
- The phone is the first truly personal medium.
- The phone is always carried.
- The phone is the first always-on mass medium,
- the phone has a built-in payment mechanism.
- the phone is a creative tool available always at the point of creative impulse.
- mobile captures the most accurate customer information in any medium.
BrandsBrands have realised it is no longer enough to 'push' marketing campaigns at consumers, they need to involve and engage with them to find new ways to create and retain loyalty.
Mobile has given brands a unique opportunity to do this and create a two-way relationship, ultimately building product awareness, driving sales and retaining loyalty. By using mobile as part of a marketing campaign brands can reach a specific target audience, via a time-sensitive, measurable medium.
Rules for SuccessIn addition to permission, there are 4 elements that differentiate mobile marketing from traditional marketing. These are also the key success factors for its use. A minimum of two factors is necessary when planning your mobile marketing effort. It really is back to marketing basics and lots of common sense.Don't get bogged down with the technology, think through your product or service, your audience and what you want them to experience. There's a simple checklist to go through which may help you with this.
Segment, Target, Position.What are the customer segments you want to reach? Which of them are you going to target for this campaign?
How are you going to position your product or service with them, thus affecting brand and key messages?
Who is the audience? What do you know about them? Where do they hang out (in this day and age, you need to go to where customers are rather than 'build it and they will come')? Who are they hanging out with? What are they reading on and offline? What are they looking at on TV, listening to on the radio, surfing on the internet, using on their phone?
What are your key campaign messages? Is it promotionally led (e.g. Special Offer)? Is it ongoing communication? Is it customer service (thank you messages, requests for feedback)?
Why mobile marketing? Mobile marketing isn't always the right tool for the job so where does mobile fit in to your customers' lives and where will it fit in with your campaign? Check the statistics of what your customers are doing on their phone.
Offer planIf you're creating a sales promotion of any description, you need to make sure you have clarity around your offer or competition, regardless of whether the campaign is using mobile or not.
What is the definition of your offer, promotion or competition?How are you going to communicate - text message, MMS, Wapsite, other media?
If you are sending any outbound messages, when are you going to send the message? Do think about what your customers might be doing at the time they receive the message... do you really want to send an offer out to an 18 year old boy at 8am on a Saturday morning or target a Mum when she's busy on the school run?
Who are you going to send this message to and where are you going to get their mobile number?
A quick planning checklistDraw on best practice direct marketing principles
Set objectives
Set a budget
Identify your target audience/s
Are you using your own list of customers or do you need access to someone else's list
What's the creative concept?
Outline the campaign activity and describe the different elements be they push, pull, integrated or standalone
Think through your production and fulfillment needs (customer service, prizes and sales)
Testing program
Measurement and reporting
I have drawn on the writings of leading international authority on mobile, Tomi Ahonen (
www.tomiahonen.com) as well as Aerodean's publication on Mobile Strategy for this piece.
H Trisos
Aug 2011
