In December, The Partnership at Drugfree.com ran what it claims was one of the biggest public service campaigns in mobile history to help prevent teens and tweens from abusing medicines.

The nonprofit organization tapped ChaCha to power the mobile advertising campaign that included both text messaging and mobile video advertising, as well as content additions to ChaCha?s database that lets users get answers when they ask about drugs, medication, alcohol and related topics.

Through ChaCha?s mobile advertising platform, targeted messages were sent to teens and parents based on age and topic that helped educate them about the health risks posed by teen medicine abuse.

SMS user response rates averaged 4 percent, while the best performing text ads achieved a 9.8 percent response rate.

The Partnership at Drugfree.org is a nonprofit organization that helps parents prevent, intervene in and find treatment for drug and alcohol use by their children.

ChaCha is a free, real-time multichannel answers service that is ad-supported. Consumers can get answers online at http://www.chacha.com, via the SMS short code 242242, Twitter (@chacha), Facebook, applications for iPhone and Android and voice (1-800-2-ChaCha).

Mobile Marketer?s Dan Butcher interviewed Cat Enagonio, vice president of marketing and client care at ChaCha, Indianapolis. Here is what she had to say:

What is The Partnership for a Drug-free America?s strategy behind the partnership with ChaCha and the launch of the SMS/MMS campaign?
The Partnership for a Drug-free America?s strategy for working with ChaCha was multidimensional.

The organization was looking to launch a cross-platform campaign with significant, targeted reach and also superior engagement to promote its free and invaluable educational tools, resources and available community support at Drugfree.org.

ChaCha provided Drugfree.org with the ability to introduce their brand to the exact audience it was after, drive traffic to its Web site, as well as to provide ChaCha?s 63,000 guides with access to its robust research and resources to share and answer the thousands of daily questions related to drugs and alcohol from our ChaCha user community. 

What is the target demographic? Why is mobile the best vehicle to reach and engage that audience?
The Partnership for a Drug-free America sought to specifically reach teens and young adults as well as their parents in this important initiative to help aid in drug awareness.

The essence of mobile is based on personal interaction and two-way dialogue.

As any parent or brand can attest, there are a range of barriers and challenges when it comes to communicating with teens and young adults.

This tough-to-reach young audience has fully embraced mobile more than any other demographic segment.

The average teen is sending and receiving more than 3,300 text messages per month, which makes this the ideal channel for impacting them right within their comfort zone.

And, ChaCha has grown to be a trusted friend for millions, where they can turn for questions about anything at anytime.

And, to bridge the gap between the mobile-friendly young audience and their adult counterparts, an online component was executed on ChaCha.com, creating the perfect complement to the campaign?s mobile aspects.

ChaCha?s online site skews a bit older, with the majority being 18?34 years old.

This integrated media approach kept Drugfree.org?s initiatives at the forefront, as young people were out and about on their mobile devices - while also providing vital conversation-starters in the home through strategic online messaging and resources for adults.

What challenges does ChaCha address for Drugfree.com?
Three very key challenges were overcome by tapping ChaCha as a partner:

Reaching the right audience at the right moment when they are seeking answers quickly?youth and parents alike?providing scale by leveraging ChaCha?s millions of users and providing personal engagement in a way that would be memorable, valuable and cause users to respond.   

Nearly 75 percent of ChaCha?s mobile users are in the 13-24-year-old age range, making ChaCha the dominant mobile marketing leader for engaging with this highly-coveted audience that ignores most forms of traditional media.

Much of this success is owed to the high level of trust ChaCha?s been able to build within this impressionable young group, often fielding questions they are too embarrassed or afraid to ask even their own parents.

The average ChaCha mobile user engages with us about 17 times per month on a wide variety topics, and we get over 300,000 ?thank you? or ?you rock? kinds of messages monthly, which highlights the very unique social and personal kind of interaction the free service fosters.

Brands such as Drugfree.org are able to insert their targeted, individualized messaging into the ideal conversation with millions.

The true test of this campaign?s success lies in the results.

With an overall mobile response rate of 4 percent, and top-performing ads achieving 9.8 percent, it is pretty powerful stuff.

Both ChaCha and The Partnership for a Drug-free America are excited for what lies ahead in 2011, as we continue to make the most of our collaboration. 

Final Take
Melissa Gilbert