Tiptoeing into mobile marketing

October 8, 2008

Jose Villa is CEO of Sensis

When getting into the mobile marketing realm, start small -- well, short.

A short message service (SMS) campaign is a great way to dabble in mobile marketing without taking a huge leap.

Text messaging remains a "must-have" feature for mobile phones, according to a study by Amplitude Research. It is widely used as one of people's prime communication methods.

According to a November 2007 survey from comScore M:Metrics, approximately 100.7 million United States consumers use text messaging.

Other research found that that 73 percent of Hispanic mobile phone users send and receive text messages, making SMS even more attractive for advertisers wanting to reach the multicultural marketplace.

SMS is highly regarded as the safest form of communication from the user's point of view.

Again, people are used to text messaging, so it isn't an unfamiliar form of communication.

Additionally, because of increasing consumer demand, more and more wireless carriers are offering unlimited or high-volume rate plans that allow subscribers to send and receive text messages at will.

These types of plans ultimately make advertisement text messages free in the consumer's eyes.

Text messaging is also by far the most often cited mobile marketing method -- accounting for 70 percent of consumer mobile marketing responses according to the Direct Marketing Association.

However, mobile marketing as a whole remains a relatively untapped marketing medium, thus consumers are not yet inundated with so much advertising that they are turned away.

If you want to take a first step into mobile marketing, SMS is a successful and tried and true method that can make your first experience a pleasant one.

SMS campaigns work well as the activation point to an offline or online campaign and are more successful when integrated with another advertising tactics.

Take an offline campaign for example.

According to comScore M:Metrics, as of November 2007 almost nine million people said they responded to a traditional ad (i.e., radio, print or out-of-home) by sending a text message and more than one million actually responded or purchased based on that interaction.

The reason behind this is that people keep their mobile phones on them at all times.

Thus, no matter if they're online, driving in their car, watching television or reading a magazine, they can easily respond to a call-to-action ad at that moment.

For example, a print ad can direct its viewer to text message a keyword to a short code for a $5 coupon off a car wash.

This doesn't require the person to go to his or her computer to sign up.

All he or she has to do is pick up a mobile phone and send a quick text message asking for the discount.

As more people respond to the ad, you can start to create a database and develop long-lasting relationships with weekly, bi-monthly or monthly advertisements that offer additional incentives to visit your car wash.

But before throwing mobile marketing strategies into your overall campaign, take a step back to evaluate how your target market will use mobile technology and what unique value mobile technology will present your audience.

Throwing mobile marketing in just to have it isn't worth it and can often annoy sought-after customers.

There must be an added value that makes sense to have on a mobile phone.

This is why mobile marketing works well to promote special offers or send event reminders.

A text message reminding a ticket purchaser of tomorrow's event is quick, easy and something he or she will receive immediately -- as opposed to an email that may take days to see.

Even as mobile phones and thus mobile marketing becomes more advanced, the basics are still the place to start.

Don't dive into the deep end when you're just starting out.

SMS works great as an entry to get your feet wet in mobile marketing while still getting the results and ROI that you need.

Jose Villa is CEO at Sensis, a privately held, multicultural interactive advertising agency based in downtown Los Angeles, CA. Reach him at .