Mobile Marketing Best Practices

No matter your business category there are certain factors that make a mobile marketing campaign a success.  At a recent restaurant trade show we spoke at an attendee kindly remarked they tried mobile marketing and it didn’t work. After inquiring why this was, we discovered a host of factors that contributed to this business owner getting a less than ideal return on their marketing campaign.  For one, they didn’t integrate their call to action into their existing marketing material. In fact, the only way their customers could lean about the campaign was from a  small sign in their window. Even with this they built a small list which they sent a few text blasts too. These blasts resulted in redemption rates of 2%. About the same for email or direct mail. The reason?

For one the offers send were very weak and could be found in direct mail offers and an email sent the same day. There was no exclusivity to being on their list. The timing and expiration times of the text blasts also contributed to the low redemption rate.  This business sent out an offer at 4 in the afternoon telling subscribers that only the next 10 customers would receive a discount. If you are like me, you don’t want to drop what you are doing and fly to  business to save $0.50. I would assume also that 10 people would beat me anyways to redeem no matter how strong the offer is.

What goes into a great mobile marketing campaign?

• Text Blast Timing: Send offers at times that make sense. Lunch offers at 10am, dinner offers in the afternoon.
• Expiration Date: Give realistic expiration times but make them short. Don’t limit redemption to the first 10, 100 etc…Allow everyone to redeem but allow enough time so people may take advantage of the offer. Long expiration dates, up to a week will drive redemption rates down to email and direct mail levels.
• Long Term: This isn’t a one and done marketing plan. As your list grows, the cost decreases and ROI rises. Commit to promoting your call to action, building a list and giving your mobile marketing campaign enough time to grow to a self sustaining level that will pay you for months and years.
• Integrate: Every where you have existing marketing and a presence is an opportunity to promote your call to action. Think social media, email list, print marketing, in-store. The fastest opt-in rates involve your employees telling every customer about the SMS marketing campaign.
• Mix Up Campaigns: Don’t send the same offers every week. You must test different offers to find the highest redemption rates. Test BOGO’s, Spend to Get Offers, Free with Purchase Of. Also use contests and voting to increase opt-in rates and interaction.
• Exclusivity: Offers sent to your mobile list should be different from other coupons and discounts. Reward your subscribers for giving up their mobile number with offers that can’t be found elsewhere and are above and beyond what you have done before.
• Analytics: Test, Track and Calculate. Test different offers and compare redemption rates and profits with cost and expenses.

Mobile marketing can be a great tool for your business if used correctly. Don’t neglect any one step and you will create an asset in the form of an opt-in list that will pay your business in the months ahead. For more mobile marketing tips download our free guide from the opt-in box on the top right.

Related posts:

• 5 Mobile Marketing Tips to Help Your SMS Campaign Be a Success
• Strategy and Consistency with Mobile Marketing Pays Off
• New Carrabba’s Italian Grill Mobile Marketing Campaign Achieves 68% Redemption Rate
• Integrating Mobile Marketing with Print Advertising
• Mobile Marketing Couponing vs Traditional Paper Coupons

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