Mobile Marketing and Effective Follow Up

When we think of mobile marketing, we are usually thinking in terms of two primary areas of concern.

1) We are thinking about whether a company has a mobile optimized website, and

2) We are thinking about whether or not the company is suited well for a text messaging campaign.

In the case of needing a mobile optimized website, it doesn’t really matter what your business sells, your location will benefit on a local level from having a mobile optimized website.  However, in the case of the most popular use of SMS text messaging, some business types benefit more than others.   Businesses that are based on the setting of appointments; restaurants and businesses based on periodic customer visits, all tend to be good candidates to benefit from SMS Marketing.

The reason for this is that the marketing cycle occurs at every step with some use of SMS.   Here is a typical scenario for example:

1)      A prospect comes in to your establishment and based on some prompting from one of the staff or signage in the store, they are directed to text code in order to receive a special discount or prize of some kind.   Executing the instructions puts the prospect in the business’ contact database of mobile phone numbers.

2)      The business owner strategically chooses a day and time when additional traffic would benefit the location and then offers everyone in the mobile database a special of some kind.

3)      Some buyers come in to shop on days that they would ordinarily not have done so.  This is possible due to people’s response rate to SMS Messages (90% are opened and read), as well as the cost to send them.

So the attraction of the prospect, entry into the contact database and purchase come as a result of the follow up with SMS.  However, Mobile marketing can be used along side of more traditional follow up program in order to encourage even more prospect visits.  “More traditional”, in this case, can be further defined as email.

Once a business has a person in their mobile phone database, management can make their objective to get the prospect to commit to entering an email database.  Obtaining the email address from the buyer still allows for the business to contact them while on their mobile device.  In a recent study completed by the analysis company Knotice, indicated that about 20% of all emails world-wide, were read and opened while user had a mobile device.   A comScore Survey noted that about 67% of people in the UK, had accessed email using their mobile device.  Email, when used effectively is still viable.

E-Mail follow up allows for certain benefits that text messages do not have.  It allows for longer messages to be sent from the business to those receiving the message. It allows for a meaningful reply from the receiver, in order to gain clarity.  It allows for effective forwarding from the receiver and multiple links from the sender.  And since the buyer is just as likely going to be at home when viewing it, a longer message in an email format can be better received.  Owners need to seek to have both the mobile phone number and email address in their database. Both serve separate purposes in follow up, and provide unique benefits.

Our company designs follow up campaigns with one purpose, and that is to build loyalty with your buyers and prospects to help them exercise a desire to buy.  We work with you to understand your basic customers and suggest methods that motivate them to take action.  Call us today at 574-780-2162 or send us a message from our contact page so that we help you to do the kind of follow up that generates both income and loyalty from your customers.

Diane Fisher

Phone: 574-780-2162

E-Mail: diane.mobilewebmktg@gmail.com