Last-minute mobile efforts before Christmas

December 22, 2009

Steen Andersson is cofounder and vice president of marketing at 5th Finger

By Steen Andersson

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone. You have this week left to convert more shoppers to buyers and meet holiday sales goals before Santa and you call it a day. For quick, efficient engagement, think mobile.

Research shows that more and more people now use their phones as a research tool when in retail environments. Price checking tools, the Amazon iPhone application and others are all opportunities to target consumers and provide them utility throughout the purchasing cycle.

Mobile’s edge. Take a look next time you are in a busy store: many shoppers are looking and talking on their mobile phones.

Buying and talking go hand-in-hand these days. You can bet that everyone who has waited this long to shop wants shortcuts, discounts and other offers to make the process easier.

Use mobile, in conjunction with other digital efforts, to lighten the holiday shopping burden, and you have got a winning combination. Why?

Mobile offers quick solutions to nimble brands that understand how to get in touch with their customer base.

You have been building your mobile database throughout 2009 and now is the time to tap into it for short-term holiday traffic drivers such as coupons for in-store or online purchases.

Mobile messages are instantaneous, and have a significantly higher open rate than those of email: most are viewed within four minutes of being sent. 

Customer database. Even if you have not built your mobile database, fear not. Your existing email database is a great platform off which you can launch a quick mobile campaign. Why not use it as the call to action?

Invite people to enter their phone number in exchange for a coupon sent immediately to their mobile that can be redeemed in-store?

Here are some other simple ways to get the biggest bang for your buck via your email database: Plan your email campaigns to help develop the desired consumer behavior – increasing basket size.

Rather than send straight mobile SMS coupons to simply drive purchasing, offer coupons that spur shoppers to increase their purchase quantity. For example, spend $50 and get $5 off, spend $75 and get $15 off.  

• Use friend referrals and other viral tools. For instance, design an offer that becomes more valuable when both the recipient and his friend redeem it.

• Promote the “hero” items for the holiday season in the SMS alerts as teasers to get people hooked. Provide a mobile landing page that people can click through to view more on the products and offers.

Shopper buying process. Most consumers research and plan for their holiday shopping at home, often from the comfort of the couch. A few suggestions to engage with consumers during that couchtime: 

• Many people surf the mobile Web from their phones when watching television. Why not target them with ads on relevant mobile sites? Day parting can help with targeting the audience.

• Forward-thinking retailers such as Target have led the pack in providing utility to consumers via an iPhone application and mobile site.

Consider adding functionality to your mobile site and iPhone application that includes useful features such as recommended gifts for different family members and shopping list trackers, as well as gift registries, promotions and vouchers that will elicit desired behavior.

IPhone applications are especially helpful if they can cover off a number of different gifts from a single store.

One benefit of updating your iPhone application during the holiday shopping season is that the new application will pop up the update window on the consumer’s iPhone. This provides another chance to reach consumers during the shopping crunch.

And to meet last-minute shoppers’ needs, have them opt-in through all mediums to be advised on upcoming price reductions.

Finally, never forget about the tried-and-true attention getters, such as sweepstakes that “give your family an extra special Christmas.”

On-the-go engagement. Once your customer has left the house and is en route to the mall, try these stocking stuffer tips to keep them focused:

• Integrate mobile calls to action in existing offline media as well, to close the loop for the consumer and drive them to your mobile utilities.

Some media, of course, have longer lead times, but with an increasing amount of digital signage, there are often chances to change out media with additional calls to action quickly.

Consider offering specific coupons via these traditional out-of-home media so that consumers can interact with the ad and then get a coupon they can take on that specific shopping mission.

• Put the retail environment to work not only visually, but audibly as well. Add Bluetooth zones at the front of the stores that lure passersby into stopping and shopping, with offers of coupons and discounts. The lead time on this is a little more of a challenge, but can be done for the flagship stores.

• In the store, leverage the elements of your mobile programs that translate into calls to action, such as the shopping list tracker feature on a gift recommendation engine. This is media you control and can expedite if you need to.

Transform the days before Christmas into a sure-fire financial success. Easy to implement campaigns make mobile a winning medium to convert shoppers to buyers and meet sales projections this holiday.

Steen Andersson is vice president and account director at 5th Finger, San Francisco. Reach him at .