Did you know 40% of marketers still don’t incorporate mobile promotions into their marketing strategy? Find out how your business can avoid this pitfall
Did you know that the average time spent online by mobile increased from just 31m in 2011 to 2h 26m in 2015 (The Drum)? And that 93% of UK adults have a mobile phone (Ofcom)? It’s hard to believe that with this data readily available, 60% of marketers still aren’t confident in their ability to use this data well (Mobile Marketing Association).
How can you incorporate mobile marketing into your communications strategy?
It starts with the humble SMS. An incredible 90% of text messages are read within three minutes (Mobilesquared), so this is a much more reliable means of getting your messages read than email.
Start by collecting mobile phone data when customers check out, or sign up for your newsletter or loyalty programme, ensuring of course that you’re offering and respecting opt-out preferences.
An SMS message can incorporate the promotion in and of itself, but if you want to really stand out from the crowd, use the SMS as the launching point for a more immersive messaging medium.
The example opposite is a simplified web page that’s been accessed via a link in an SMS. It removes the traditional challenges of accessing website content on mobile by having no distractions, and one clear objective: driving your customer to take advantage of the offer.
Why segmentation and personalisation is so important
The technology exists to allow each customer to receive a unique link within their SMS so that you can target the promotions by location, gender, purchase history, lifecycle etc.
Segmentation can make or break your mobile promotion. The Sr. Director of Relationship Marketing at Groupon, John Becvar, commented in 2011:
“We really began with no personalisation and no segmentation.”
This was causing well-documented problems as customers were receiving offers for products and services in which they had no interest, or were too far away for them to take advantage of.
They overcame these problems with one of the smartest segmentation strategies in marketing, something any marketer can learn from.
Timing is everything
Your business will benefit from knowing what to promote and, just as importantly, when, as usage fluctuates among demographics at different times of day.
50% of people aged 18-24 check their phones within 5 minutes of waking up. If that’s your demographic, mobile promotions, discounts and offers may be more successful when sent in the morning. Sending to adults aged 24+ may be more effective later in the day (Ofcom).
Can Esendex help?
With our Mobile Journeys you can provide a tailor-made channel of access for your customers, enabling them to receive promotions, discounts and deals instantly. Remove distractions by directing them straight to the information they want to see with a dedicated mobile landing page, sent by SMS.
For further information about mobile promotions contact a member of our sales team 0345 356 5758 or take a demo here.
