Mobile Marketing

By Jeff Taylor 

The use of text messaging, also called SMS (for Short Message Service) has exploded in the U.S.  According to CTIA, the wireless industry trade group, 3.5 billion text messages are sent daily – more than actual calls made.  57% of U.S. cell phone subscribers use text messaging, with 43% of them using it daily.  The median age of a person who uses text messaging is 38, however the 45-64 year old age group is growing 7 times faster than those 18 & under.

Text messaging allows businesses to reach customers in a completely different kind of way.  Since people need to ask to receive your text message, your marketing message is not seen as intrusive.  When you consider that 97% of text messages are opened (83% in an hour), you can begin to understand the potential power of this tool.

I have put together several different types of text campaigns for clients, but they essentially fall into 4 categories:

“Text For Offer”:  Text in to get a mobile coupon sent directly to their phone.

“Text To Win”:  Text in to win a prize.  Creative ideas with this option are endless.  One recent creative example was with Jiffy Lube.  They ran a campaign that gave radio listeners a chance to win free oil changes for a year.  Everyone who responded received a $5 coupon via text.  The results were very strong and 50% of those who redeemed the $5 coupon were new customers.

“Text for Information”:  Text to get information on a certain area of interest, products, insurance / mortgage rates, real estate, event information, location information, etc.

“Community”:  People join your businesses community to receive updates, coupons, specials, etc. on their phones.

A few tips for a successful text campaign:

· Combine your text campaign with your other marketing strategies

· While short term campaigns can work, the best results are a part of a long term strategy

· Avoid slang and shorthand

· Limit the messages you send to your text community to 5 per month

· Offer something free in the beginning if you want people to sign up to receive updates from you

· Extend the life of your customers by offering an occasional high value coupon