Take as an example the burgeoning mobile advertising market.
The options of how to dip your company toe into the mobile marketing world are increasing quickly as everyone figures out the best way to leverage the very device that we never leave home without along side our wallet (or purse), and keys...our cell phones. While my wife continues to fight against the movement, there is a rapidly approaching critical mass where getting a "Smart" phone will not just be a choice, it will be the singular norm and with it will come a bundled data plan. As this becomes our reality more and more of us will do more mobile web surfing, search engine utilization, info research, social media updates and yes, mobile shopping and saving. With all that said the more time passes we are getting some real feedback from current and future mobile using consumers and they are telling us what they REALLY want as the tools to shop and save are being developed right now, we just need to listen to them and we can hone very effective products that meet their needs when getting YOUR products and services into their hands and at the top of their minds. Here are a few things to consider:
- Beauty is in simplicity. This seems like a no brainer, but the less hoops I have to jump through to use my mobile device the more apt I am to start and continue to use it. Make it easy and fast for me to gain benefit from the offers on and through my phone, don't make me register, only to then have to recieve an email with your coupon which I then have to send to myself as a text to take advantage of your offer in a mobile fashion. You get the picture because you probably have seen these types of programs. Keep it simple, keep it clean and get me savings right away when I want them.
- Don't ask me for name, rank and serial number. There is a real blow back from people that have been enticed with a tantalizing "special offer" but only if you surrender your name, email address, phone numbers, and the latest, your cell number for texting. The issue has become that while we have all learned to turn our spam filters up as high as they can go on our email accounts, we are now in danger of being buzzed, beeped and bombarded with unwanted text message offers on a regular basis. Mobile marketing should be centered around the life and convenience of the consumer, influencing their purchasing dollar when THEY ARE READY to make a purchase, and some plans and programs become the equivalent of text spamming, annoying and soon dropped.
- Mobile marketing should drive new business and increase loyalty, not cannibalize revenue already in the door. Here is the scenario: I am already in your restaurant ready to buy my food, and I see the photocopied paper on the wall telling me to text the key word to the short code for an instant coupon. I do so and in so doing you give me an offer that just took money out of your pocket for a product that I was already planning on buying from you. You may think you have won because you now have my texting code, but when you start sending all of your other offers see the previous point above. Mobile marketing can be effective in influencing my buying decision, it should get me in your establishment the first time because I was going to spend somewhere but your offer convinced me to come to YOU instead of a competitor.
Doug
