The other day I came across a July 2009 report titled, “SMS Marketing: Direct Route to Consumer Engagement” from a firm called Opus Research. The paper contains a lot of useful ideas on marketing applications of SMS text messaging, including actual examples.
Notable was a reference similar to one made this past week during MobileMarketer.com’s webinar, “Mobile Marketing in 2010: Up, Down or Flat? Experts Offer Strategic Advice for Campaign Planning and Management.” During this live discussion one of the panelists mentioned a practical application of SMS text messaging was as both a call to action and media buy effectiveness measurement tool. The very same is described in the analyst report this way:
“Beyond customer acquisition short codes allow marketers to ‘close the loop’ between ads, media and the point of sale. Given these advantages, we expect short codes begin to replace (or supplement) URLs in most traditional media ads.”
Such applications are a great way to prove the value of SMS text messaging as a step toward taking greater advantage of the channel to develop customer relationships. Segmenting media buys by text keyword allows responses to be tracked by dollars invested in different mediums. ROI — as a function of response rate and cost — thus can be calculated and the results should inform a more efficiently allocated media spend in the future.
Ironically, the report also cites the example of Wetseal using a text promotion as a means of building a loyalty program database. We highlighted the retailer in this recent post due to its expanded mobile strategy inclusive of text messaging, mobile applications and mobile web – the mobile customer experience.
If not already, marketers and their trusted agency partners should have plans for taking advantage of mobile in 2010. Getting started by proving the value of text as a media buy measurement device is a logical way toward realizing the even greater benefits of targeting customers at the point of device.
