Mobile Marketing Vs Direct Marketing

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Permalink Reply by Douglas Karr on March 18, 2008 at 10:37am

I think one of the big issues to overcome with mobile marketing is that it really is much more intrusive, even more so than email. Permission is going to be a huge part of Mobile Marketing. Since people pay per text message - or pay for unlimited text messaging, I'm going to guess that there's even some monetary liability on mobile messaging.

The backlash could be more severe than email. Imagine what happens when your phone number gets out to a mobile spammer who is anonymous... there's absolutely no way to block him! My son is currently getting texts from an anonymous sender and we contacted Verizon and they said they have no way to block it.

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Permalink Reply by Alex Conner on March 20, 2008 at 11:13am

I really think that if you're going to send me a text message, you better be giving me something important, like a coupon, school cancelation, traffic information, etc. If you're going to send me text messages as advertisments, I'm going to find some way to return the favor, and I would say that most text-messaging users would just assume cancel their plans and block texting if they are getting lots of spam text messages.

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Permalink Reply by Joshua A Mitchell on March 20, 2008 at 4:11pm

I agree with you on the topic that mobile marketing needs to be permission based.

I believe the Most Effective Marketing Campaigns are:
Permission Based
Relevant to the user and location
Interactive so that it’s two way communication, let them be a part of it

Our phones are a very personal part of our lives—more so than email—and there are a number best practices that should be adhered to when implementing an text marketing campaign.

Text Marketing Best Practices -----------------------------

Gaining Subscribers
• All advertising and promotional material must clearly indicate if the service is a subscription service rather than a one-time campaign.
• Subscription terms and billing intervals must be specified and disclosed to a customer.
• Clearly communicate all material terms and conditions of a program.
• Service pricing information is clearly and conspicuously indicated.
• All advertising, promotional material, and service-help messages clearly display the opt-out information.
• The service is not promoted as "free" when premium fees are associated with the service that the subscriber will pay with a reasonable level of participation in the program.

Gaining Permission
• It is vital to respect a wireless subscriber's right to privacy. Always gain permission from the people you plan to engage by employing an opt-in procedure.
• Gaining permission saves money. Each message sent costs money, so ensuring the customer wants to receive messages avoids any waste of your marketing budget.
• Sending unsolicited messages creates a negative impression and erodes brand recognition, prompting subscribers to avoid the service or file complaints.
• For applications that require payment, create a double opt-in process for subscribers that ensures willing participation.

Get Creative
• SMS and MMS campaigns enable a host of possible applications, limited only by the ability to design and build the mechanisms to support the programs. There are, however, three broad categories of campaigns: promotional, informational and marketing.
• Review business goals and objectives. It is likely that more than one type of campaign will be applicable.
• Creative mobile marketing ensures that the mobile medium is pushed forward as an innovative and exciting marketing channel.

Also I want to note there are other forms of mobile marketing then just text messaging.
As for those interested in all the forms of mobile marketing please read the link below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Marketing

A few examples below….

SMS – send short text messages
MMS – send multimedia files (music, video, flyers, images, events, etc)
WAP Push – push a mobile website to the phone
Bluetooth – broadcast any phone type media to any phone with Bluetooth
Mobile Web Sites – websites made for phones, using phone standards
Mobile Web Marketing – placing ads, banners on mobile websites
Mobile Advergaming – creating fun, interactive content with companies brand
Location Based Services – offering services relevant to the local area also branded

For more info please contact me, and let me know your thoughts.

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Permalink Reply by Erik Deckers on April 1, 2008 at 10:59pm

As a direct mailer, I can tell you that lots of people still do direct mail. Remember, it's the younger generation -- Gen Yers -- who are doing mobile marketing. There are still a lot of people, Gen Xers and older, who don't text, don't opt-in to mobile marketing, and in general, don't do things that the Millennials are doing.

I can tell you that direct mail, done poorly (i.e. without personalization), does only yield a 1.5% return rate. But targeted direct mail with personalization can yield a 20% return rate.

People still receive their bills, membership statements, credit card offers, nonprofit fundraising, new product information, etc. via the post office. In fact, it's more popular than email for all of these things.

Mobile marketing has its own uses, like for restaurants, clubs, and stuff for the Gen Yer that direct mail just can't do. But it will be years before it replaces anything so entrenched as direct mail.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Flener on July 6, 2008 at 10:53am

This is not just a reply to Eric's post, but to all posts so far.

First, 1.5% is generous in most instances for simple targeted direct mail. If you are ever yielding a 20% return on targeted direct mail (whether personalized or not), then you would be one of the top direct mailers in the country!

Now, if you consider mailing "direct mail" type items to current customers or to a database direct mailing, then we have a completely different topic to discuss. Direct mail will not yield 20% on any consistent basis, and to date, I've never come across a single company who can accurate boast that type of return. The highest I've seen is around 9%, and that was a rarity.

With regard to mobile marketing...I can see the case for it, and against it. The reality of the situation is that no matter what the return rate is, you have to know how many you can reach. I saw a statistic up above that 133 Million texts were sent...so what? Do you realize how many direct mail pieces were sent? Even at 1%, the total actual return for direct mail dwarfs mobile marketing, even if mobile marketing is getting a 25% return.

The reason this is important is that most people will not allow you to send them text messages (I know I won't), and many don't have text plans and would be upset if they did get one. That limitation drastically limits who you can reach and the total numbers available. Direct mailing can reach anyone with an address (for the most part).

Other issues will be cost to send. Carriers will not let you send them for free, that's a given. Will the cost for the limited audience and return be worth it? It's hard to say right now because it's still too early. I certainly would not recommend it to any of my clients, and would drive people to other mediums if they asked me to do it for them.

As mentioned above, it's extremely intrusive! I use my text for keeping in touch with my employees, family, and friends, not to hear about some hot spot night club that I would never go to even if they hadn't been so intrusive!

The bottom line is that do to the limitations, the intrusive nature, and the cost/benefit analysis, I don't think mobile marketing will be useful for the overwhelming majority (80% +) of businesses, and the rest will just dabble until it flickers out.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Seidle on July 8, 2008 at 6:47pm

Chris -

I have to agree with you. I've run a SMS alert company and currently own an internet marketing agency. And all the issues you mention come up with SMS. Most markers don't understand the cost constraints (all carriers are over $.20 per delivery for clean free to the target SMS now) , and will struggle building their lists because people don't want the perception they are paying for SMS.

The debate between permission and direct marketers is stale, too. You just look at the metrics (cost per lead, cost per sale, cost per whatever) and evaluate. Usually permission based lists are too small to yeild big enough results, so you end up having to do some direct marketing to get people on the list anyway.

There are three places I've seen SMS work very well:
1. Teenagers. They love SMS because mom and dad pay for it.

2. Bars/Restaurants. You can make people leave one bar for another when you text stuff like: $1 beers at __________!!! Show this text to get in!!!111!!11

3. Events: Put this on the scoreboard: SMS 12393 for a free meal at SOMWHERE! This is a list build/capture move, not a drive sales move...

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