The study found few marketers understand their customers’ mobile behavior such that they could not confidently craft a strategy for targeting them.  That basic research is absolutely essential.  The resolution?  Study a representative sample of your customers, how they engage yours and other businesses while “on the go,” and how their experience might be better served.  That seems logical based on these stats:

“63% of marketers told eROI they were not measuring how many of their email subscribers were viewing messages on mobile devices.”

“…just 23% of marketers reported having a mobile-optimized website. The vast majority of those sites were limited versions of the full company website designed to include information relevant to mobile customers.”

The barrier for social media, I think, is much lower for marketers.  Social is about injecting your business into the social universe, an audience of “fans” and “followers” who you engage with within a system controlled by a third party (Twitter, Facebook).  The rules of participation are much clearer in social networks, which are driven much more by the audience than the business.

To market effectively to customers directly via mobile or other channels, the business must FIRST create a personal network of sorts with its customers tailored to their preferences.  That’s a wholly different challenge that I think explains why mobile trails social at this point.

Funny enough, an article posted by eMarketer a day later titled “Why Email Metrics Are in Decline”  suggests otherwise.  The challenge, it would seem, is that stand-alone email marketing is struggling against the tide of list fatigue and competing channels.

All signals are pointing to the question none of these articles asks – which is “how do marketers leverage digital channels in unison to meet their business objectives.”  As ExactTarget’s research points out, channels are not cannibalizing one other, but co-exist in the eyes of consumers.

The reason the title of this post asks how the audiences are the “same” versus “different” is because any consumer who opts in or follows your brand is a customer or potential customer. The key then is realizing it’s all about relevance, or how you approach the consumer, that determines success or failure. ExactTarget’s research suggests as much. Consider:

“The report suggests using Facebook for both informative and entertaining communications would be most effective.“

“Twitter appeals most to consumers who want to feel up to date and in the know, suggesting information about new products and services or other brand initiatives would be of interest.”

So it would figure that smartly marketing across these channels is a winning formula.

Emerging cross channel marketing solutions are purpose built for this challenge.  Recent research into cross channel marketing by Forrester, and reported on MarketingProfs.com, illustrates the need:

“35% also cite integrating traditional marketing with social channels (as key).”

The business case for investing marketing dollars in social media is a work in progress, with the outcome likely similar to that described in the Technorati article.  Businesses simply need to close the loop on their social community marketing efforts by offering anyone interested the chance to participate in a promotional relationship with a brand or business.

The “viral coupons” cited in the eMarketer.com article don’t help foster closer individual relationships with customers.  A focus on customer service or preventing a public relations disaster certainly have value but long term those are just not meaningful contributors to revenue.

This isn’t to suggest “spamming” fans or followers with irrelevant messages – what it does suggest is that there are customers who express positive views of a business or influence others in positive ways that marketers focused on loyalty should attempt a one to one relationship with.

To do so, you need some identifying information, such as an email address or mobile number along with opt-in permission.  It’s really that simple.  Less simple is the system which monitors the social universe, detects and segments the audience and helps connect the loyalty marketer with those “socially loyal” customers who deserve special treatment.

My colleague, Amanda Gilmore, worked with lifestyle alcohol brand VeeV to connect its customers with the nearest store offering their product using the simple effectiveness of SMS text messaging.  Texting VEEV to 75309 prompts you for your zip code, after which the nearest store and address is returned in real time.  It’s a perfect example of how integration — in this case with a database of distribution points and location data submitted from consumers — is made easier with a technology such as our Engagement Platform, and drives real value in mobile marketing programs.  Imagine other possibilites, such as embedding a web link in these messages to redeem a scannable mobile coupon or pointing customers to drink recipes.

Just like another client Amanda acquired for Interactive Mediums, the Chicago Housing Authority, VeeV is providing an immensely valuable service to its customers that is both a convenience and direct revenue contributor/cost saver.  More brands that sell via distribution channels like VeeV need to take advantage of solutions like our new Location Campaign and make the interaction a centerpiece of any and all promotional materials.  Customers cannot consume your product if they can’t find it!  Contact Amanda to learn more if you’re interested.

Q – How are mobile projects typically sourced by agency clients?  Do clients come to them, or are agencies pitching projects?  If it tends to vary, what does it depend on?  As opposed to how it’s done today, do you think there’s a more ideal approach that agencies and clients alike should take?

A – They do tend to vary, however agencies, especially those with strong digital capabilities, are definitely being more proactive in pitching mobile ideas to their clients.  The more successful of these efforts tend to focus on using mobile to solve client problems, not specific mobile tactics.  So however mobile can reduce costs, sell more product, build customer loyalty, etc. is the way that successful proactive efforts are often being led.  This type of outreach is most well received when a client has some mobile experience under its belt.  Ironically, those clients without a lot of mobile background tend to align their efforts less with business problems than with point projects such as a standalone mobile application (e.g. iPhone app) – it’s the “shiny object” effect.  Clients with apps in their rearview mirror have typically evolved to a point where they realize the next steps are not just about apps, but rather how their apps and other mobile marketing efforts align with an overarching business and marketing strategy.

Q – When a project depends on technology, be it mobile, email, social media or another, how do agencies bring the right blend of capabilities to ensure projects succeed?  How important is it to consider integration with a client’s internal systems and data or does that vary based on the type of project?

A – The agencies and clients that do it right usually take a “top-down approach,” that starts with having a cross-functional team identify a client’s objectives and mapping some success metrics.  Doing so helps ensure  that the recommended approach reflects a solution tailored to solve a client problem versus trying to push a specific channel and/or tactic just for the sake of getting something into the market.  Once a plan is in place, the cross-functional team is then tasked with bringing the best technologies and technology partners together to bring a recommend solution to life.   With regards to your last question,  integration requirements will always vary, but the important point is that agencies and clients alike should always be thinking about how mobile technologies could be integrated with existing systems to help them better understand and/or better service their existing and potential customers.

Q – It’s hard to talk about mobile without mentioning social media or other digital channels like email or the web.  How are agencies dealing with the cross channel coordination among these channels that marketers appear to be wanting more and more?

A – Very soon, I think you will see emerge what are effectively “blueprints” for how digital channels best work with one another to meet various marketing challenges.  We are at a stage right now in the digital market space where there is a lot of testing and learning going on in various channels and best practices are starting to slowly emerge for different types of industries.  To get there faster, the more progressive agencies are doing all they can to understand these different channels and more importantly how consumers use them, hiring smart people with strong backgrounds in each and working with clients to map out approaches that lead with strategy and objectives versus standalone tactics.

Q – Large brands, who tend to be consumer goods manufacturers and among an agency’s blue chip clients, seem to fixate on mobile applications as a keystone of their mobile strategies.  Conversely, businesses that serve their customers directly, like retailers and large restaurant chains, appear to take a broader brush approach that could include apps but also a variety of other technologies like text messaging and the mobile web.  Aside mobile applications, are there other more direct consumer engagement strategies large brands can take advantage of in the same vein as retailers?

A – Yes, many brands have certainly launched their share of mobile applications as a first step into the mobile space.  Launching an app is a fairly low-involvement and low-cost exercise when compared to  pulling together multiple internal team resources and outside vendors to perhaps launch an integrated mobile couponing initiative.  While many brands are still testing to see if their branded app or mobile website can serve as a utility or destination that further deepens their relationship with a consumer they are all ultimately interested in learning if the mobile channel can be used to help them sell more product.

That said, there are branded goods companies exploring new approaches to leveraging Mobile.  These buyers are usually receptive to testing and learning about new ways to help drive their businesses forward.  Areas such as couponing, mobile media, CRM, mobile/social combinations, paid mobile search and to some extent mobile commerce are all being discussed at these types of companies.

Retailers on the other hand, as you point out, have a lot more control over their customer relationships by virtue of having the physical stores and point of sale systems (customer data).  Thus, most retailers are pretty much on board with mobile – at least with its promise of driving more foot traffic and sales.  They can and are experimenting with a variety of mobile initiatives such as couponing, location-based services and loyalty programs all of which are designed to help them build a better business.

Q – I’ve read articles suggesting that brands are frustrated by the lack of mobile smarts among its agency partners and that gap threatens the relationship.  What are agencies doing or could do to close that gap?

A – Mobile is still a relatively new and more technical marketing channel compared to others.  When you couple this with the fact that the channel is still rapidly evolving and doing so within a highly fragmented ecosystem you can see why some clients and agencies are scrambling to keep pace.  The smarter agencies have sought out experienced mobile professionals to help them build their expertise, some have forged strategic alliances with pure-play mobile marketing firms and others are investing the necessary time and resources to quickly scale their mobile in-house experience. 

Q – As is common to all our interviews, I conclude by asking the “year of mobile” question.  What do you think needs to happen between now and the end of the year for businesses and consumer alike to recognize 2010 as the year mobile became a significant marketing and interaction channel?

A – Depends on who you ask.  For many businesses, it’s already happened.  Consider the millions of dollars eBay has processed with its mobile efforts, or how financial services companies have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars by deflecting phone calls to their call centers by using text alerts.  For these companies and many more, mobile has become a key and meaningful component of their businesses and will be years to come.  For other companies that are just beginning to take their initial steps into the mobile space it still comes down to the question, “what’s it worth to my business?”  It’s thus incumbent on agency and technology providers alike to help clients answer this question by proving that mobile can impact their business in meaningful and measureable ways.

The report echoes comments made in this blog post (Price Tops List of Retail Loyalty Factors; Makes Mobile Engagement Essential) where we describe the loyalty challenge facing retailers and manufactured goods companies.

Data summarized in the SymphonyIRI report is just the latest validation for the value of mobile-centric digital marketing.  The nature of today’s shopper, always “on the go” and often armed with a smartphone places a premium on targeting the mobile channel customer experience with timely and relevant messages, offers and calls to action.  Consider the following excerpts from the report:

“In an environment marked by intense competition, rapidly changing media, and fragmented brand loyalty, CPG marketers are faced with the fact that the “old way” of marketing is simply not bringing the desired results.”

“On any given day, 3,000 marketing messages reach the average consumer. As technology advances, this number will only go up. Information overload has become all too common.”

“Only 5% of shoppers are loyal to a single brand, and store brands have posted sizable growth, particularly over the course of the recession.”

“Old marketing tricks, it seems, just don’t work anymore. It’s time for a new playbook.”

“CPG marketers must quickly adapt, exploring new media and developing competencies which will allow communication with consumers at the next level.”

 “According to Colloquy, the average U.S. household participates in 14.1 loyalty programs. Such a crowded marketplace leaves competing retailers feverishly working to “out-do” one another. The result is definitely not customer loyalty. In reality, many of today’s “loyalty programs” are truly discount programs.”

The report also touches on the customer service aspect to shopper marketing, an attribute of digital channel marketing software described in this recent Technorati post.  Technology enabled Customer Relationship Management, inclusive of sales, marketing and service, will soon be as commonplace among retailers and CPG makers as it is in the b-t-b world.

“And, of course, customer service is essential. One-third of shoppers feel that additional staff would simplify the shopping experience. Certainly, it is not all about quantity of staff, but rather quality. Team members must be visible and engaging.”

“The largest social media advertising network
The 4th largest social media property*
The 2nd largest blog media property*
248+ million unique visitors**
500+ influential blogs and niche social networks
Online properties that introduce blog content to millions of consumers”

Check back here for announcements of new Technorati posts.

Q – Since you come from the device side of mobile, you probably have a unique perspective on the “device as a marketing platform” concept.  To what extent, if any, do device makers consider the needs or desires of marketers when evolving or creating new mobile device experiences?  Or stated another way, how important is it for device makers and their software engineers to consider the viability of their platform to marketers?

A – The same steps required to make a mobile platform attractive to application developers applies to marketers.  By that, I mean supporting end user scenarios that delight consumers and keep them coming back for more, whether it’s opening and reading an email, sharing a photo or participating in a social network.  The better these are implemented the stickier the device will be with consumers.  Those same attributes allow marketers to craft equally compelling experiences to target their customers.

Q – Mobile applications got a shot in the arm with Apple’s integrated approach to distribution and device but the mobile web seems to be rising quietly as a better and more universal alternative to proprietary platforms.  How do you see the debate between proprietary apps versus the mobile web playing out, especially when it comes to mobile marketing?

A – What you’re getting at here is the emergence of HTML5 as a basis for web applications that appear and behave in some ways like native device applications.  I believe there’s really no substituting a rich native application experience with the mobile web; and while I expect the number of really innovative web applications to continue to grow, the best user experiences will be achieved with a blend of rich client-based apps running on the local device and cloud services.

Q – How do you think the device makers view text messaging as a peer to peer communication method and as a marketing channel for businesses?  Do you think it will still play a role in the super-rich smartphone world of the near future?  Do you think there’s any further innovation to be accomplished around text messaging?

A – I think the ubiquity of text messaging technology above all else makes it viable for the foreseeable future.  The fact nearly every mobile device is text message enabled means it won’t go away anytime soon.  For marketers, any alternative mobile technology requires a trade off.  Regarding innovation, there are limits to what text messaging can accomplish.  I think where innovation will be happen is in how customers employ text as part of their business operations.  Any use case where a timely and responsive interaction is merited is one potentially well suited to text.

Q – Social media is hot right now among consumers, marketers and device makers.  Can you envision the optimal way that marketers should tap into social to reach and develop relationships with their customers?

A – Like any mobile experience, you want to make sure you do social “right.”  You don’t want users trying out your application once, only to be disappointed and abandon your application or service.  The key is balancing the needs of a mobile user, the capabilities of the mobile device and the value promise of the particular social network.

Q – What do you think the key trends will be among the various device makers over the next 12-18 months?

A – It’s an exciting time in our space for sure, although it’s hard to foresee the future given the pace of change.  I do think two innovations you will soon see will be around mobile gaming and video; both will be bolstered by the availability of 4G.  Companies with gaming assets will be able to tap into a new distribution channel.   Video will have many applications including video conferencing.  Tablet computing is hot right now, but the right blend of hardware platform, operating system and services must be available to see that market really scale.

Q – Many pundits are predicting that 2010 will be the elusive “year of mobile.”  What do you think needs to happen for the remainder of this year for that to happen?

A – I think for this to happen, smartphones will need to achieve the same ubiquity as feature phones.  Right now, smartphones comprise around 10 percent of devices globally, so we are not there yet.  For consumers and marketers alike, mobile devices need to achieve a level of sophistication such that compromises around user experience and bandwidth no longer constrain innovation and great user experiences.  When that shift occurs, exciting things are bound to happen.

For those unaware, Apartments.com is probably the leading online rental property search brand (the name alone is “golden” in terms of their target).  They are a part of Classified Ventures, which consists of a group of advertising properties including Apartments.com, Cars.com, AparmentHomeLiving.com, and HomeGain.com.  Classified Ventures itself is owned by five large media companies, so reading between the lines you can see the vertical integration going on here.  I point out the chain of players involved because publishers, media companies and consumer online services are collectively leading the way with innovative mobile engagement strategies.

With text message integration and a popular iPhone application version of its service under its belt, Apartments.com clearly sees the mobile channel as a valuable extension of its core, proven online business model.  Note that these are Tim’s thoughts alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the company.

Q – Unlike a retailer, consumer online services would seem to view mobile almost exclusively as a fulfillment or service channel as opposed to a platform for marketing.  How does that impact such a business’ approach to mobile?

A – I think, in a best case scenario, both retail/e-commerce and service channels leverage mobile both as an extension of their core business and as a way to message to new & existing customers.  In my opinion, any business with an existing web presence and some level of transactional goals should start out their mobile efforts aiming to extend their existing service/fulfillment channels there.  This isn’t to say the outreach component isn’t important – it is.  To me, however, it would be backwards to start developing an elaborate SMS notification or couponing program before ensuring your existing web content is fully accessible to mobile users.

Q – Social media like Twitter and Facebook are probably on your radar screen.  How do you see social networking fitting into a consumer online business generally and in terms of the mobile channel specifically?

A – The phrase “mobile is social” is en vogue these days, largely due to the success of Foursquare and other location-based services.  While that statement strikes me as a tad hyperbolic, I do agree that the two concepts are heavily intertwined.  For consumer online businesses, I view social as requiring a two-pronged strategy: socializing the product and brand storytelling leveraging social tools and channels.  Mobile can be powerful in both efforts.  For most consumer online businesses, content sharing and collaboration among consumers are key opportunities to socialize the product experience.  Making content more portable and tapping common sharing methods like SMS, email, Facebook messages/status updates, tweets etc. to pass information to trusted advisors is a great example of how mobile plugs into the social ecosystem.

Q – The iPhone seems to be the “go to” platform for mobile applications for all businesses.  What about the iPhone makes it good for connecting with customers and how should online services approach mobile application development?

A – A heavy focus on the  iPhone is definitely a double-edge sword for marketers and online product folks.  The amazing level of innovation by developers on the platform opens up an array of unique opportunities to engage consumers, hence the boom of native application development, but it’s easy to forget that most Americans don’t own one.  In my experience, online businesses should view iPhone app development as an opportunity to evolve their existing products to leverage experiences only feature-rich devices like the iPhone can offer.  If your experience is search driven, how can layering in GPS or use of the phone’s camera add value to this process?  Don’t simply build an iPhone that does exactly what your website does.

Q – For consumer-facing online businesses yet to embrace mobile, can you recommend some ways they get started?

 A –The clear place to start for an online business new to mobile is to ensure you are not providing a degraded experience to mobile web users.  Don’t be seduced by the improving quality of the WebKit browsers used by iOS, Android, etc.  Your website doesn’t work on mobile, period.  Determine what core features your users will need if they visit your site on a mobile device and deliver that as elegantly as possible within the browser.  You will immediately see returns in your key metric performance by doing this.

Beyond that, I’d encourage online businesses to think about how features unique to mobile devices can deliver value to the bottom line.  Would your customers be willing to pay more for a premium version of your product that sent them an SMS message when a product they love went on sale?  Can you charge for a mobile application that offers a powerful (and unique to mobile) search experience that leverages mapping or photo search or bar code scanning?  Mobile commerce isn’t the only way to monetize the space and I’d encourage online brands that aren’t strictly e-commerce to find ways to add value both to users and their balance sheet in mobile development.

Q – My last question is a bit cliché, but gets the heart of what’s needed for mobile to succeed as a business and marketing channel: What will it take for 2010 to be considered the year of mobile among consumer online services businesses?

A – At a recent conference I heard someone say that we should stop trying to pin down whether this is the “year of mobile” and embrace the idea that this is the “time for mobile.”  From my vantage point, I think online businesses have reached the point where they know mobile is important and that they need to invest in a strategy there.  The Google/Apple arms race that has emerged in the past few months has certainly helped raise the mobile profile, but I feel confident in saying that the tipping point has already been reached.  The challenge moving forward is more or less one of education.  Marketers, product professionals and developers at these online businesses do need to avail themselves of all resources possible to help them navigate what is a complex landscape.

I am referring to this blog post I came across from March of this year, in which the author cites his experience with Target’s mobile couponing program.  Target is often cited as a mobile marketing innovator so they are setting the pace for others to a large degree.  March 2010 for Target may be the same for less progressive retailers in June, July, August or any other month remaining this year.

I stumbled across the post while researching how retailers are adopting mobile – either directly from providers such as Interactive Mediums or through agency partners.

If you are not in retail, you might be surprised to learn many such businesses are creating jobs with the word “mobile” in the title.  These newly created roles are being tasked with bringing mobile competencies to their businesses in the most logical ways (usually couponing or offers).

In describing the untargeted SMS text message offer sent to him from Target, the author implies that the way retailers are sourcing mobile may in part be to blame for such ineffective marketing practices.  He claims that large retailers approach a mobile technology purchase the same as they would in choosing a marketing agency — but the criteria should obviously be very different for each type.

Without saying so, he suggests agencies are winning mobile business based on “how well it makes a product or brand look and feel,” which doesn’t address critical technology considerations.  Software providers, on the other hand, “must be selected based on campaign performance and execution.”  While Target may not have gotten it right out of the gate, I suspect retailers hiring dedicated “mobile talent” are more likely than not to evaluate mobile technology options appropriately.

I recently blogged about how the ease of engaging consumers in the mobile channel often conflicts with the need to integrate with other data sources and systems to deliver the personalized experience consumers expect on their mobile devices.  Perhaps that dichotomy was in part responsible for Target’s early struggles.

The author of the post mentions segmentation, personalization and preference centers as crucial for retailers to engage their customers in the most relevant ways.  We prescribe the same, and our platform today offers all of these capabilities.  Retail mobile buyers interested in getting it right with their “on the go” customers would be wise to evaluate technology options with an emphasis on these CRM-centric features.  If you would like to see how we do it, shoot us an email.

My colleague, Amanda Gilmore, worked closely with the CHA to ensure all their needs were met – no easy task when working with a government agency unaccustomed to sourcing technology enabled marketing services.

CHA administrators cleverly employ our platform to register anyone via text message interaction to receive updates via text as they become available.  Simply texting INFO to 75309 is all that it takes.  This call to action is being advertised across the city and is a completely hands free method of creating a list of families to later communicate with quickly and easily using our platform’s Alerting engagement action.  Hundreds of thousands of messages are expected to flow through our system during the registration period.

Speaking of registration, CHA was able to meet another objective virtually hands free using our platform – driving actual website registrations for the wait list.  Embedded in each text message is a short URL that links off to the CHA registration website.  These links are tracked with our platform so CHA will be able to observe a funnel effect – of the universe of text message recipients, some portion will link off to the registration site on their mobile phones, and some portion of that group will register right then and there.  Closing the gap between observing a call to action and following through to the desired end result is a unique value offered by text messages that provide a gateway to next steps.

That’s why I call this a “rich” alerting application.  There’s a lot you can do in a text message beyond sending a brief communication.  Embedding trackable short URLs, text advertisement footers, personalized messages and more are just some of the ways our clients are creating high performance interactions with our platform.

Some of the best and brightest minds in mobile are among our customers.  Many such folks also subscribe to our blog and one in particular seemed a great candidate for the first official Hello Mobile! Q&A.  Greg Janssen,  Manager of Mobile Products with Sears Holdings, sat down virtually with me to share his viewpoint on the mobile marketing opportunity within retail. 

Q – There seems to be an almost limitless number of ways mobile marketing can help retailers. Where do you think retailers stand to gain the best bang for the buck given all the possible approaches?

A – I think the best thing retailers can do is test and learn about all manner of mobile marketing approaches.  Right now we are at the start of what is sure to become a primary channel for consumers to engage with brick and mortar stores, and retailers’ web experiences as well, and the ones to learn fastest, and adapt to get it right fastest, stand to lead the pack.  Apps are great when focused on a specific task or the targeted problem requires a deep level of engagement, but there are still trade-offs to be made among the different smartphones out there.  Text messaging, on the other hand, offers universal reach and although limited in terms of interactivity, it’s a great channel for distributing offers like coupons, soliciting feedback from customers and getting customers engaged in promotions in other mass media, and it’s also very measurable.  Wireless web is growing as predicted, and I truly believe it will overtake the wired web sooner than we even think possible – if the carriers can figure out the bandwidth issues.

Q – We live in a multi-channel world.  Where do you think mobile fits with the other channels retailers offer such as physical stores and online?

A – The biggest mistake retailers can make is envisioning mobile as a channel unto itself.  A mobile application can serve to facilitate a stand-alone purchase, but the most powerful mobile programs fit into the existing retail business model, or adapt that model to give the customer unique value through a mobile device. Whether it’s offering another and more convenient means of distributing offers or providing a real time source of customer service feedback, text messaging in particular plays a hugely value added role with retail. 

Q – We prescribe that marketers employ mobile as part of CRM efforts, not one off tactics.  Do you see that value proposition playing in retail and if so, how?

A – Absolutely.  Retail is a tough business where the customer experience often defines the difference between success and failure.  The mobile channel, by virtue of it being such a personal thing to consumers, offers retailers a unique opportunity to connect on a deeper and more meaningful level with consumers to help create that compelling experience. It’s all about the seamless experience between initial browsing, active shopping, sharing info with your friends and then, of course, buying!

Q – Exactly!  Speaking of sharing, social media like Twitter and Facebook are all the rage.  In what ways do you think mobile marketing methods and social media can complement one another?

A – Twitter was conceived as a mobile centric service and Facebook users I think check their accounts on the go in a more intimate way on their mobile devices.  So there is a really strong correlation between social and mobile.  The key for retailers is taking advantage of the unique attributes of each to create a new value proposition.  For example, mobile approaches such as coupons can be aligned with a retailer’s most valued customers by connecting POS/data warehouse data with mobile subscribers obtained as part of a mobile loyalty club drive.  At the same time, social media monitoring can identify a retailer’s most vocal or influential clients and critics in the social universe.  It’s all public information, so if people are willing to share, they also, I think, can receive some surprise and delight when other people, even merchants, actually listen to what they are saying!  Correlating unique offers, loyal customers and key social influences offers a chance to fine tune a CRM strategy that leverages internal customer knowledge, mobile channel marketing approaches and social media.

Q – Have metrics yet emerged to help retailers gauge the success of mobile marketing efforts?  If so, can you cite a few and also explain how they map into broader corporate objectives such as customer acquisition, loyalty, customer service, merchandise mix, and others?

A – That’s a really big question.  The most simple metrics to track around mobile are focused on acquisition and execution, such as how many subscribers you were able to obtain or the number of times your smartphone application was downloaded.  A level below that, you have metrics around your ability to retain your mobile subscribers (an attrition measure), which can be a really useful indicator of engagement or loyalty in the retailer’s brand promise.  On the apps side, it’s all about usage; as you know most apps are downloaded, used a few times, then never used again or deleted – it’s all about creating utility, or even harder, a unique app experience or feature that you just can’t get otherwise, like on a mobile web site.  Where things get trickier, but more interesting, is relating all this mobile centric stuff to the metrics most important to the business, such as share of wallet, product mix optimization, customer satisfaction and simply multi-channel sales.  There is room for innovation there for sure, and looking for ways to track what is happening, and where the influence points are across channels will be key as things evolve.

Q – Lastly, everyone is saying 2010 will be the “year of mobile.”  What has to happen between now and December 31st to make that happen?

Well, in retail, we do typically have till the end of January on our fiscal calendars…….so we get a little extra time!  It’s hard to say yes or no to a statement like that – certainly, it’s a good conversation starter that can be argued either way.  The “year of” anything usually isn’t anything much, other than a good marketing buzzword.  I think mobile is an evolution — consider that it’s the mix and interaction of widely available technology, “always on” connectivity, and even the slow pace of generational change, and you really don’t see things hitting a tipping point until you look in the rear view mirror.  So, let’s get together a year from now, and we’ll continue the conversation!

Titled, “Top 3 Opportunities/Challenges Ahead for Apartment Buildings,” the article immediately brought to mind Apartments.com, the online and mobile rental property search business that came to us to create an iPhone version of its service.

The topmost item on the list shows that competition among rental properties will escalate in coming years as more properties become available.  That would spell good news for a service such as Apartments.com, who provides a valued connection between renter and property that will be even more essential than it is today.

The second item caused pause, as it suggests that saltwater pools are becoming a table stakes feature of attractive rental properties.  Aside being another attribute renters may wish to identify while searching, it’s hard to envision how this impacts a service like Apartments.com.

The final item actually seems the most important by far; the emergence of online apartment ratings and the effect of negative reviews on occupancy rates.  Apparently many property owners are taking proactive steps to monitor their online reputations and addressing complaints directly.  That would seem to represent a significant opportunity for Apartments.com to create another value added aspect of its business.

As we have mentioned previously in our blog, social media is on the Interactive Mediums’ radar screen in a big way.  The most recent example is Hovewall, used to engage greater than 50 percent of the addressable audience in real time Twitter commentary at Mobile University 101, a conference held recently in Chicago.

The same applies to mobile or smartphone applications, such as the iPhone application we developed for Newser.com.  Today, Newser’s Ben McInturff was in our offices working with a couple of our mobile technology gurus on the next evolution of the application, which is no novelty but rather another platform for the company’s content distribution.

So much publicity is focused on the launch of limited life mobile apps that marketers forget that iteration applies just as much to an applications strategy as it does customer engagement around SMS text, email, social media or the web.

Pictured (right to left) is McInturff in the foreground, followed by Interactive Mediums’ Lead Architect Doug Barth and Director of Engineering Dave Farkas.  What’s in store for the next version of Newser for the iPhone?  Stay tuned newsfans.

As I blogged about recently, mobile technology firms have the potential to cut agencies out of the loop as more businesses become comfortable and able to work direct with point solution providers to execute their mobile marketing plans.

Why more agencies don’t adopt the viewpoint of mobile as a means of collecting data about their client’s customers, and use that insight as a basis to pitch new business, is beyond me.  Without much thought, imagine:

• Client wishes to employ a mobile sweepstakes as a novel means of driving interest in their products during a slow period.  Client measures an improvement in sales correlated to the client’s locations by virtue of collecting customer zip codes as part of the process.  This data could be obtained easily via SMS text message interaction or via a web form which feeds the same datamart.
• Result?  Value proven, but apparently many agency clients stop there.  Instead, imagine:
• Agency strategists analyze information captured during the promotion in the datamart and discover distinct segments of customers.  Entry into the promotion required customers to provide some very simple demographic and preference details such as gender, marital status, and product affinity.  The agency’s client is constantly striving to increase same store sales by creating offers and promotions that align with their targeted customer but these tend to be very broad brush efforts which often take the form of a mass media effort.
• Agency strategists pitch the idea to re-target the identifiable segments with “buy one/get one free” offers aligned with insights from the datamart.  Client wonders how redemption will happen at the point of sale, how value will be tracked.  Unable to currently capture these offer codes at the point of sale due to technical and operational limitations, the agency prescribes a novel solution – simply inform store managers to expect the offers to be presented and instruct cashiers to honor them.  Post promotion, month over month sales per location can be analyzed related to the distribution of the offers by zip code.  In this way, an indirect yet very strong correlation between the promotion and sale can be established.
• Result?  Value indirectly proven yet the client must certainly be happy having taken a data driven approach to marketing as opposed to a “pray and spray” mass media method.  The client also now has a good sense for its most engaged customers.  Having seen the power of mobile centric marketing, the client decides next to implement a loyalty rewards program:
• The client, now on board with the notion of mobile marketing, calls the agency team to create a loyalty program that initially targets customers by zip code where sales increased the most during the “buy one/get one free” promotion.  These customers are invited to join via SMS text message, and do so by visiting an online web form on the client’s website where more details about their preferences and interests are captured.  These in turn trigger unique initial offers designed to drive more frequent visits and greater market basket value based on business rules established (e.g. mother with two children gets offered product X, single guy age 25 gets offered product Y).  Wouldn’t you know it, but the client recently upgraded its POS systems and the field operations team is no longer averse to extending the checkout process with mobile offer code redemption.  Now, redemption by these very loyal customers can be tracked directly.
• The client advertises membership into the club on its website for anyone to join at a cost – the free offer was only extended to those who participated in the earlier promotion.  These new customers who pay to join, are similarly presented with offers aligned to their interests.

I could go on, but hopefully agency readers and their clients get the point.  Mobile marketing is not about a one-time campaign – it’s a unique opportunity to reach your customers with their personal devices in ways that drive sales and loyalty.  To take any other approach is wasteful, shortsighted, and spells death for any agency hoping to compete for mobile budgets.

The only realistic solution to the “one and done” approach to mobile widely reported, is to help mobile marketers actually learn something useful about their customers to more effectively engage them again in the future.  Having a strategy — prescribed by many in the agency community as key to ongoing usage — is but one piece of the puzzle.  The technology has to be “there” to enable marketers to make use of their initial investments in mobile to reap even greater rewards down the line.

This requires not only capturing data in line with mobile interactions, but providing the means of using such information in the ensuing execution of smarter and higher performing programs.  To that end, the Interactive Mediums Customer Engagement platform features many capabilities marketers might associate with traditional CRM technologies, including profiling, segmentation, personalization, event triggers, and data collection to include any attribute capturable during a text or online interaction.

The diagram included in line with this post illustrates the promotions roller coaster in a way that shows how capturing and re-using interaction data should improve targeted business outcomes over time — generally speaking, either increased sales lift or greater reach.  Nearly every business has revenue generation and increasing the pie of available customers as top line goals, and helping them achieve them is the driving force behind our Customer Engagement platform.

My Coke Rewards only recently added a mobile component, but was initially designed around a website whereby consumers registered and submitted codes on bottle caps and cans as a means of collecting points that could be redeemed for merchandise — and not just Coke-branded hats and pens, but lifestyle products such as concert tickets.

At first glance, this sounds like very standard stuff.  The secret sauce which made this program so successful were a complex mix of business rules and predictive analytics that, when applied to customer profile data, customer preferences, and rewards redemption history, would suggest a reward the customer would actually want.  Essentially offer optimization, or as we called it “predicting passions.”

Assembling this solution was expensive so why bother?  Coke could correlate lift in sales by region, city or household with patterns observed in the frequency and quantity of codes submitted by consumers through the website.  They called it “consumption” and although indirect, the closed loop insight was very real to Coke such that the program continues.  Having access to POS sales data for its products was key.

You could imagine that with the advent of smartphones and widespread adoption of text messaging, the mobile channel probably trumps the online experience here, especially for registering codes.  In that manner consumers can simply log points and discard the trash rather than carrying a plastic cap or can with them until they sit down in front of a PC.

Mobile marketers who don’t see the value in providing a similar program to their customers need not be put off by the cost and complexity of what Coke has done.  The Advanced Edition of our Customer Engagement Platform has been built from the ground-up to make these types of interactions extremely easy to manage with limited staff and resources.

To make this possible, we extended the core mobile campaigns of the Platform with features more commonly found in traditional CRM software — profiling, segmentation, personalization, event triggers, and of course data collection to include any attribute capturable during a text or online interaction, not just the mobile number.  Note I said online interaction, as the Platform now includes the ability to power engagement strategies rendered on the web for times when that medium makes more sense (such as registration forms to capture detailed consumer information that may underpin targeted and more brief text messages around offers).

With retailers having access to their POS sales data by location, you can see how simple it would be to correlate increases in sales with the implementation, monitoring and ongoing improvement of offers delivered using a system such as our Engagement Platform.

This short story comes courtesy of observations made during last week’s Mobile University 101 event here in Chicago, where the blanketing theme was: mobile needs to be thought of strategically, not the basis of a “one and done” program like a sweepstakes to be conducted for the sake of novelty.  You can be assured Coke does not view the mobile channel in that manner.  Our mission at Interactive Mediums is to help every other business embrace the same viewpoint.

To address the first question, imagine a typical b-to-c marketer who’s job it is to create demand for his or her products. At their disposal are in house and third party resources, internal customer data and applications, pre-existing segmentation schemes, sales and distribution channels and of course, the mandate to drive revenue. How does a mobile marketing campaign appeal to this marketer?

With an eye on revenue generation, any outsourced marketing service needs to provide some means of proving an impact on sales. Closing the loop and seeing that activity in a timely and easy to use format is an absolute necessity. Integration on some level with back office transactional systems is necessary (or a third party working on behalf of the customer). Integration can be complicated and expensive, and is an IT centric problem not easily solved by agencies, interactive or otherwise. This is a hard problem to solve, relative to providing a means of developing an opt in database of mobile subscribers and developing that base as an island unto itself.

Of course there is tremendous value to creating a mobile relationship with your clients, but most businesses already know something about many of their customers. Surely, tying data obtained via mobile programs to internal customer knowledge helps inform mobile strategy, yet that “integration” word comes up again. Customer data integration is a hard problem to solve, one best left to technology pros. Social media, as “hot” a topic as mobile and projected to be funded at even higher rates than mobile, faces the same challenges. At some point, businesses will need to connect the actions and activities of the social universe with the bottom line – otherwise it’s an exercise in presumed value.

Lastly, consider the channel from which many marketers source their initial mobile marketing projects, at least those that tend to involve a variety of elements such as media buys, creative design and execution and general project management. Yes, agencies, interactive or otherwise.

We love working with agency partners to help them deliver high impact mobile marketing programs on behalf of their clients. Yet, the agency business model and integration issues so critical to creating sustainable long term value beg for a different approach. As I blogged about recently, mobile technologists like Interactive Mediums should be sitting right alongside agencies in client meeting rooms as mobile projects arise. If not, the “one and done” mentality will persist OR wise marketers will begin coming direct to technology firms who possess the products and know how necessary to integrate mobile into business in a meaningful way. A good example is the work Interactive Mediums has performed around mobile applications, whereby we tapped into APIs developed for the web to bring unique functionally to the mobile channel.

While much of the early event content focused on the magnitude of the mobile marketing opportunity, this session was all about what marketers should expect, in terms of hard results, based on real world experience.

The presenter is a consultant focusing mostly on the quick serve restaurant (QSR) and multi-location retail markets, but the insights presented here should provide valuable targets for anyone new to mobile or more experienced practitioners looking for something to compare their results to.

I’ve summarized the content I found most valuable, and suspect would be as well to any mobile marketer.

Start Simple

• Create and grow your mobile subscriber base FIRST: Use events, point of purchase incentives, email, and integrating calls to action into existing media buys.
• Understand your customer: Implement tracking, build analytics, poll your members, begin mining the database for trends.  Engage in creative ways to uncover more than just a mobile phone number, such as short surveys.  A maximum of 4 questions is about what the average consumer will answer via SMS text message interaction.  Good survey oriented campaigns yield 43 percent response rates, and of those who do opt to participate, completion rates exceed 90 percent.
• Market One-to-One: Marketers make the mistake of focusing here initially. The benefits of one to one marketing accrue based on establishing solid practices around the preceding two activities.  Sending individually targeted offers, creating profiles of customers to deliver content they want is what happens here.

Mobile Ads are Hype/Lack Reach

• The mobile ad ecosystem is too complex for the average marketer.  All display advertising, the kind that is very engaging, is all happening on the iPhone and Android, both of which pale in comparison with the market share of phones capable of sending and receiving text messages.

Advice to Mobile Marketing Services Providers

• Talk to the market thru SMS, lead with it, because all marketers are drawn immediately to promises of expansive reach for reasonable cost.  If alternative mobile marketing approaches are desired, such as applications or mobile web, so be it, but these offer far less reach than SMS.

5 Flavors of Engagement

• Banner and display ads
• Text messaging
• Mobile search
• Commercial Applications
• In Application/Games Ads

Engagement Metrics

• Member growth rates
• Opt in and opt out rates
• Viral growth rates per engagement
• Redemption rates
• Average sale per redemption
• Average engagements per month
• Cost per redemption
• Cost per engagement
• Cost per member
• True ROI for the overall program

Media Buy Effectiveness in Supporting Mobile Programs – From Worst to Best

• Billboards
• Radio
• Sports venues/events
• On site ambassadors
• TV
• Festival or parade
• Print
• In store signage (posters, table tents, etc.) – 90 percent success keeping subscribers opted in who are acquired in this manner

Use Email to Create Mobile Fans, Not the Other Way Around

• Use your email list to promote mobile campaigns, achieve a 20 percent join rate

What to Expect in terms of Results

• 250 members per location (retail/QSR) in 90 days is average
• 500 members per location in 90 days is exceptional
• 700 members per location in 12 months is average
• 1200 members per location in 12 months exceptional

And remember, even if the total universe of subscribers appears small, these represent your most loyal customers.

For context, consider that average QSRs generate approximately 20,000 unique customer visits per month, exceptional cases like McDonald’s obtain around 40,000.

Houston, We Have a Problem

If opt out rate exceeds 10 percent, you have a problem with the program.

Typical Offer Redemption Rates by Medium (i.e. coupons)

• Mobile 7 percent
• Email 1.12 percent
• Paper Coupons 1.18
• Direct Mail 1.12

Promoted via an in-bag insert, the Hoverwall is a novel solution that allows participants to engage with the event in never before ways.  The Hoverwall offers a visual, running commentary dedicated to happenings at the event.  The audience has two ways of engaging with the Hoverwall, via their Twitter account or SMS text message.

Twitter integration is seamless.  Visiting http://ix.ly/mobiu101 via either a desktop or mobile optimized website, users are prompted to login to their Twitter accounts then are returned to begin “tweeting” their comments and thoughts on the event.

Alternatively, direct to Hoverwall interaction is enabled via SMS text messaging.  Simply texting mobiu101 to 50101 begins a session allowing text messages to be posted to the Hoverwall.

Look for more about the Hoverwall from Interactive Mediums.

Gary described the utility of siloed campaigns such as sweepstakes but that the effort required to execute one in the mobile channel is no less than projects marketers undertake around longer lived work, such as websites.  The upshot was that marketers waste the effort by not planning to use the mobile channel more strategically, a part of which could be limited life programs such as contests.

To help marketers to that end, Gary underscored the importance of tying mobile programs to business results such as actual product sales.  This is as of critical importance for marketers to get out of a “churn and burn” cycle.  The onus is on mobile marketing product and services providers to help their clients see the value of mobile to achieving their daily objectives, not just executing a one time campaign.  We could not agree more.

Essentially a back/forth interview between a text messaging provider and MobileMarketer staff, the article attempts to convey the value of blending location-based data with data obtained from panel surveys often conducted by brands and market research firms to understand trends among targeted customers.  If you are not paying close attention, you might say “yep,” but think about this for a second and maybe like me you say “uh, yes,  but, you seem to be co-mingling several different ideas here:”

• First off, survey panel questions can include a request for geo details such as zip code or phone number area code, to connect survey data to location, so where is the mobile value add?
• Secondly, the article describes obtaining opt in permission from survey participants – which alone yields some pretty hard to believe benefits including “Increase the value of their marketing panels by having travel patterns, shopping preferences and lifestyle patterns, Strengthen value of existing customers by knowing proximity to stores and when they are likely to shop, Obtain competitive insights – consumer visits to competitive stores and how often, Use location as a media planning tool – armed with travel and work patterns, advertisers can create an optimal mix media mix.”

The article fails to prescribe exactly how benefits like these flow to brands and researchers.  Readers similarly confused would be wise to view their options as follows:

• Obtaining mobile opt in permission during panel surveys is a great idea but a plan of action for how to use that permission should be a key consideration.  What’s the goal — provide targeted offers or coupons, or pose follow up questions via multi question SMS text message survey capabilities like those offered by Interactive Mediums?  How does the researcher mitigate the risk of inaccurate answers from mobile survey participants?  One best practice is to present a call to action matched to survey response data that yields a relevancy-based offer (such as one based on age or product preference).  What if the client’s channel preference is email rather than mobile?
• Market researchers owe it to themselves to take advantage of mobile-enabled Crowd Sourcing, or the ability to attract an audience on demand to achieve their research goals.  It is becoming commonplace to promote a strong mobile call to action such as a sweepstakes across various media segmented by keyword in an effort to learn more about customers, including their location.  A text messaging survey instrument such as the one architected by Interactive Mediums offers a very flexible way of posing multiple questions in a single session and feeding these into a database for later retrieval and analysis using common tools like Excel.  Survey responses can be instantly segmented by mobile number area code, or to be more accurate, questions can be posed around zip code or home town location.

Consider the typical agency business model in light of the realities of the corporate marketing department, as reported in research cited in the article.

Agency: Focus on low overhead, little technology ownership, lots of outsourcing on demand as required, focus on creative and relationships, and retainer-based revenue.

Corporate Marketing Departments, per the article:

“… businesses have access to more digital tools and are using customer data integration processes to build better relationships directly with customers.  This, in turn, allows them to design and deliver ‘market-ready product and services.’  Because agencies lack access to the customer data, they cannot play a role in the important emerging fields of customer analytics, predictive modeling or performance measurement.”

“Traditional agencies often lack capabilities to execute viral and mobile campaigns, especially on a national level.”

Add in the reported ease by which marketers are coming to manage multiple outsourced marketing relationships (a reversal of a recent trend), and you have a situation that promises to push agencies even more to the periphery when it comes to mobile marketing.  Adding fuel to the fire are emerging customer data capture, reuse and analytic capabilities becoming foundational in services such as those offered by Interactive Mediums.

As marketing departments become more customer data focused and less averse to working with multiple third parties to meet their business objectives, you will likely find mobile technology experts sitting at the table with their traditional agency peers when it comes to mobile strategy.  Agencies who create value added relationships with mobile technology firms are likely to be around for the long term as marketers look for innovative approaches to customer engagement.

Today on MobileMarketer.com an article titled, “Rolex taps mobile to make print ad more interactive,” describes not a 2D bar code, MMS or text messaging call to action, but rather something much more simple.  The article describes a magazine ad program which allows readers to photograph any advertisement in the publication, then send it via email to a third party service that somehow recognizes the photo, ties it to the advertiser, then sends value-added content back to the reader and enters them into a promotional sweepstakes.

The key distinction between this approach and others we have talked about before is that email is the transit mechanism as opposed to mobile messaging techniques like SMS or MMS, and the provider somehow is able to recognize programmatically images sent via email and trigger relevant content to be sent back to the reader.

The benefit to advertisers is no need to modify existing ad creative to incorporate bar codes or require their readers to have smartphones equipped with software to interpret such images.  Negatives include a more narrow demographic accessible than with messaging techniques as opposed to email, but is probably immaterial in this instance since Rolex consumers probably have among the most advanced mobile devices available.

As mentioned yesterday, you just can’t beat the ubiquity and reach of a text message interaction as a call to action.  For magazine advertisers in particular, who should be interested in offering insight into the response rates of ads by factors such as geographic distribution or variances in issues based on local market considerations, text message keyword segmentation is an easy approach to proving the value of print ads for use in direct response programs.  The Rolex example offers no such targeting or tracking.

JagTag Creates One Of The Most Successful 2D Barcode Campaigns To Date, Over 100,000 Mobile Engagements

If you were to view reach or ubiquity offered by various mobile calls to action on a scale, from massive to less so, it might look like this:

SMS Text Messaging –> MMS/Camera Phones, Smart or Feature –> Truly smart phones with still/video cameras and the ability to download and use rich applications via network or Wifi.

What JagTag has tapped into (rather smartly, I must say begrudgingly), is the greater reach afforded by MMS/Camera phones than smartphones, as well as the current buzz around 2D or Quick Response Codes as a high-po direct response mechanism.

Marketers looking for unique mobile engagement methods surely view this solution as bridging the gap between the casual magazine browsing experience and spurring an audience to action in an engaging manner.

Yet, I can’t help but imagine the results reported around the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue program could have been even more successful with an SMS text interaction requiring only a short keyword to be sent to an equally short numeric code.  The user experience would have been much the same – a return message pointing to more swimsuit content.  With response rates for strong SMS calls to action reportedly as high as 30 percent, you should expect far greater than 100k interactions given the popularity afforded this high demand magazine issue.

This leads to the headline of this post.  Considering the audience and content in question, could there be any doubt response would have been strong given a quick and easy method of obtaining more eye candy?  The lesson here is to balance hype, your audience and the strength of your call to action when considering mobile as part of a broader marketing campaign.

The article, titled “Multichannel Retailers Upgrade, but Not to Mobile,” describes e-commerce retailers as planning upgrades around site design, search engine optimization and social media capabilities – but strangely not mobile.  The chart included in the article shows scant evidence that retailers who sell online (which ones don’t?) are not engaged in a great deal of mobile marketing.

Therein lies the opportunity so many forward thinking retailers are taking advantage of – creating the mobile customer relationships which will surely determine the difference between success and failure among retailers in all segments.  Confidence in network capacity appears to be a leading cause for many to hesitate:

“The report suggested that retailers could be put off investing in mobile by carriers’ failure to keep up with consumer demand for mobile data service.”

Establishing a database of mobile subscribers using compelling engagement actions such as sweepstakes and coupon programs is a low-risk and minimally bandwidth intensive mobile marketing tactic proving useful on a daily basis by many leading retailers that others would be wise to follow.  Having this data asset as a basis for creating a deeper understanding of mobile customers that underpins an insight-based approach to creating sales via more timely and relevant messaging is emerging as a retail marketing best practice.

This article attempts to clarify the landscape for marketers by identifying a specific, best of breed provider such as Interactive Mediums, who specializes in mobile channel interactions.  Many long established companies lacking experience or focus in mobile are entering the fray with the might of their sales organizations and marketing dollars.  Marketers should not be distracted from identifying providers with the credibility and track record to ensure mobile marketing success.

With marketers more accountable that ever, many are drawn to the built-in measurability of mobile channel interactions – as illustrated in this recent post where we outline mobile metrics tracked by our Engagement Platform.  We state these in terms all marketers identify with because they are at the foundation of marketing measurement:

• Stickiness – A measure of retention
• Acquisition – Permission indicator
• Loyalty – Propensity to engage
• Response Intensity – Relative measure of engagement
• Reach – Indicator of scale
• Engagement Mix – Relative engagement contribution

Viewing mobile metrics in this way helps marketers relate the mobile channel to stakeholders in other aspects of business who don’t want (or need) to understand intricacies around opt in/opt out rules, keyword campaign segmentation or the differences between Mobile Terminated (MT) and Mobile Originated (MO) messages.  The Forrester Report includes a diagram — included in this post – into which these mobile metrics fit quite clearly.

Mobile marketing can be about text messaging or smartphone applications, but for mobile to take hold as a strategic component of business, marketers need to work diligently to relate channel-centric concepts to mainstream marketing metrics to communicate value.

“…stats…show it’s (apps) still a plaything compared to text messaging, which continues to deliver impressive year-over-year growth across all demographic groups.”

“only 18 percent of all phones in the U.S. are smartphones. Further, Juniper Research forecasts that smartphones worldwide will account for just 23 percent of all new handsets sold per annum by 2013, hardly representing the mass market for general consumer goods and services.”

“Strategy Analytics confirmed…with its October 2009 report that showed only four to six mobile apps are used on a consistent basis. Brands need to be aware that there’s intense competition for share of the mobile phone desktop. It stands to reason that consumers are not going to continue to download and use an unlimited number of mobile applications, and there are many questions over whether we have reached the saturation point already.”

Before abandoning your mobile app project, consider this statement:

“These are hardly mouth-watering statistics unless they’re your specific target market.”

This remains the sole reason to pursue an application on a particular mobile platform, iPhone or otherwise.  If the user demographics match closely your customer base, then it makes sense to consider a mobile application – only should one be pursued if the customer experience can be improved in a way that benefits the business.  This gets the heart of targeting the Mobile Customer Experience, which the article points to as THE point at which all mobile marketing efforts are converging.  Interactive Mediums thus to date has focused on helping its clients in this exact manner:

“Despite the relatively small user base, what is interesting from the known behavior of those who do download mobile apps frequently and own smartphones is that they’re massive users of text messaging and mobile Web sites. This shows that those on the leading edge of the technology curve are continuing to grow their engagement with texts, not reduce them, which is where the rest of the market will follow.”

Metric: Stickiness
Within the context of SMS text message mobile marketing, stickiness refers to the ability of a campaign to hold onto its opt in subscribers, such that customers may be targeted repeatedly over time.  The utility of a call to action has a great deal of influence over how many customers elect to opt out of your list.  Marketers want to see the trend in this analysis track positively over time as an indicator of stickiness.

Metric: Acquisition
Marketers need to view as a significant “win” the permission provided by customers to engage in text message interactions.  At-a-glance, marketers can instantly view the magnitude and trending for acquiring subscribers, by campaign.

Metric: Loyalty
Although referred to as “Retention,” this measure offers insight into the “mobile loyalty” of your customers.  Opting into communications is different from subscribing to receive messages proactively.  This view offers insight into the relative number of customers who have opted in that also elected to subscribe to a campaign.  Marketers can interpret this as an indicator of consumer receptiveness to mobile engagement, much as loyal customers engage in repeat purchase behavior.

Metric: Response Intensity
The ratio of messages a marketer sends versus those responded to by customers can be used to evaluate calls to action as contributing to mobile engagement.  MT, or Mobile Terminated messages, are those sent by the marketer.  MO, or Mobile Originated messages, are those sent by customers.  The greater the number of MOs for a given MT indicates superior engagement for a campaign.  Viewing MOs in isolation quickly across all Engagement Actions provides instant insight into the campaigns working best to pull customers into mobile interactions.

Metric: Reach
The value of SMS text message marketing is often described as offering universal access to consumers.  This is realized by analyzing the number of subscribers to a particular campaign, which is shown by keyword.  Keywords are how marketers connect their customers with mobile interactions and so viewing the aggregate number of subscribers per keyword illustrates the reach afforded by a campaign and its call to action.

Metric: Engagement Mix
Increasingly, mobile interactions are becoming “multi-mobile” in nature, inclusive of both SMS text messaging and the web (both mobile and desktop).  It is therefore crucial for marketers to have a single view into the interplay among these channels as part of mobile campaigns.  This analysis provides insight into the mix of distinct interactions stemming from text and web, which illustrates customer engagement channel preferences.

Competing for customer loyalty strictly on price is a losing proposition unless you’re Walmart, who pairs with price the equally powerful message of value.  Both rule the day in a down economic climate:

“Our 2008 index showed that loyalty marketers worked within a significantly diffe5rent retail landscape,” Colloquy partner Kelly Hlavinka said in a release accompanying the latest research. “Customer service, store environment and a wide product selection were the underlying factors for customers’ self-professed loyalty [in the 2008 study.] But our 2010 index proves that the Great Recession became the great equalizer. Low prices have stepped up to become retail’s strongest loyalty lure, according to consumers.”

One of four recommended actions retailers should take is an especially strong fit with mobile engagement strategies such as text message promotions:

“Be data-driven, using loyalty programs to collect information that can make your communications, pricing and inventory more relevant to your best customers. Hlavinka points to the examples of Kroger and CVS as two brands using customer data effectively to win the loyalty contests in their categories and regions this year.”

With price the leading decision factor around loyalty, mobile comparison shopping enabled consumers need incentives to visit and remain in-store long enough to discourage leaving for a better deal elsewhere.  We’ve blogged recently about ways marketers can meet this challenge using mobile: 

• Marketers’ Priorities All Screwed Up with Respect to Loyalty
• Marketers Striving for Loyalty Should Make Mobile Engagement the Target
• Brand Marketers Break through the Engagement Barrier with Mobile Promotions

You can also download a paper on a similar subject.

Dunkin Donuts’ Twitter efforts:

“…include tracking customers that sign up for the company’s rewards programs and sweepstakes offers via Twitter, and assigning a dollar value to those customers that can then be tied to an actual ROI.”

The ease by which this is possible using solutions such as Interactive Mediums’ Customer Engagement Platform across SMS text messaging and the web makes these practices an essential component of any social media strategy.  As shown in the attached recent “Tweet” from the Dunkin Donuts Twitter page, broadcasting a contest to followers which incents them to purchase can also be used to collect valuable information about followers otherwise unavailable to marketers.  The opportunity for engagement encompasses both action (purchase) and knowledge (follower demographics).

In case you doubt the mobile nature of Twitter users or the value of understanding the audience, consider research into the Twitter user base:

“Since Twitter is pushed as a service that can (and should) be used from mobile phones, it also comes as no surprise that Twitter users are more likely (by fairly significant margins) to use their cell phones to go online and send text messages than the overall online population. In fact, Twitter users tend to use and consume all sorts of media more than the rest of the population; they’re more likely to read a newspaper on a smartphone, regular cell phone, and even online than everyone else, while “regular” Internet users are more likely to read a print newspaper. Twitter users are more engaged in blogging and reading other people’s blogs as well.”

Research into Twitter users from mulitple sources is consolidated in a post here, where it’s noted that: “Twitter are notoriously guarded about user information and Twitter usage statistics,” placing the onus on social media pros to develop creative ways of understanding their fans.

One sign in every store pointing consumers to text their comments to a shortcode could act as a highly effective and efficient feedback collector – especially when paired with entry into a loyalty program.  Response rates for text message programs have commonly been reported as high as 30 percent.

According to the article Wendy’s staff will be able to:

“…analyze nearly half a million text-based customer comments per year collected from Wendy’s Web-based feedback form, call center notes, e-mail messages, receipt-based surveys, and social media sources. The chain’s customer satisfaction team currently uses the combination of spreadsheets and keyword searching to review comments in a slow, manual approach.”

Notably absent that list of collection points is text messaging.  Not only are barriers like 160 character limits broken with multi-question survey capabilities such as those offered by the Interactive Mediums Customer Engagement Platform, but data can be collected via web form and feed the same database as well.

Quick serve restaurants of all stripes should leverage once obscure analytic technologies like text mining, and would be wise to tap into the immediacy of text messaging as a key data source.

From Yankee Group:  “Nearly one-third of apps downloaded are purchased, up from 18% a year ago. Further, individual app prices have risen. The average paid app costs $2.85, compared with $1.99 last year.”

Contrast this with research from an apps analytics firm, which found “prices of iPhone apps worldwide have decreased by 15% during the period from Dec. 1st, 2009 through the end of February, with Australia having the largest relative price decrease of 27% overall…The most popular applications are the most expensive in Europe, the report suggests, with an average of $3.86 per app, and the least expensive apps are in North America, with an average of $2.43 and Asia, with an average of $2.69.”

No matter if prices are increasing or falling, the market for mobile apps is growing rapidly.  If anything prices will fall as more consumers are presented with greater choice and developers can monetize their apps instead by tapping into ad networks, as is planned by Apple.  You can be assured that viewing apps as a siloed revenue opportunity as opposed to a part of a larger mobile engagement strategy will soon be a thing of the past.

Today on MarketingForecast.com a posting titled “Businesses and Brands Allocating More Funds to Mobile” cites recent research into mobile marketing budgets for different categories of business:

• Agencies – “…the average client allocated $143,000 in mobile ad spending in 2009 and expected it would increase that amount to $260,000 in 2010.”
• Brands (or more generally, businesses other than agencies or publishers) – “Companies that are already using mobile to promote their brands expect to more than double their spending. Average spending will increase from $269,000 in 2009 to $679,744 in 2010.”
• Publishers – “Mobile publishers receive nearly half (49%) of revenue from ad money. These publishers sell their mobile space as a separate property nearly 2 out of 3 times. However, up to 2/3’s of mobile publishers also bundle the space with ‘other media sales’.  This ad space is growing but, to date, “only 25 percent of mobile publishers sell out more than half their inventory.” Participating in ad networks is a popular way for publishers to bring in revenue. Nearly 6 in 10 (58.2%) are in a mobile ad network and  publishers count on 60% of ad revenue from this source.”

These number reflect businesses already engaged in mobile marketing.  Many clients we speak with are taking their initial steps and may identify more with others new to the medium.  The post contains useful data around budget for those getting started as well:

“Up to 20% of newcomers plan to allocate at least 10% of 2010 marketing spending to the mobile effort.  In addition, nearly 1 out of 3 businesses say the funding for the new mobile efforts will be incremental.”

As noted, mapping out a strategy is crucial to determining how best to allocate marketing dollars.  Moreover, when considering mobile marketing investments, be sure to understand the distinction  between advertising networks and customer engagement, as noted here.

It’s becoming cliche to say couponing is a killer application of mobile marketing techniques, due to the ubiquity of text message enabled phones and the ease by which numeric or alphanumeric codes tied to discounts for various products can be generated.  Often overlooked, however, is the fact that by its nature, mobile is a very location centric medium that forces marketers to think about geographic considerations when developing programs.  After all LBS, or location based services, is becoming a term understood by nearly all those involved in the mobile ecosystem, and collecting zip code via text message interaction is becoming a standard procedure for many.  Email marketing, on the other hand, doesn’t really create the same impression.

In the case of Kmart, an email coupon offer designed for certain markets was instead presented as valid at any Kmart location.  The result was confusion and disappointment at the point of sale, with store staff placed in the awkward position of assuming fraud in some cases:

“Cashiers and managers in stores where the coupon was not valid refused to accept the coupons and, in some instances, went so far as to accuse customers of trying to cheat the retailer.”

Had these coupons been electronic rather than paper, store employees may have been less inclined to presume fraud, the accusation of which is more harmful to customer relationships than simply saying “sorry, but that coupon just isn’t valid in our store.”  Add in the speed by which unhappy customers can communicate this experience via Twitter and Facebook, and it’s a public relations disaster.

As described here in a recent MobileMarketer.com article, another leading retailer, Sears, has mitigated coupon risk by tying coupon offers to specific customers and particular stores:

“Sears has consistently used SMS to drive cross channel store traffic, with customer specific coupon offers delivered via SMS and redeemable at physical point of sale in stores.”

Social media integration is also on email marketers’ radar:

“Social connections are also becoming bidirectional: Marketers are not only encouraging users to follow or fan their brand within e-mail messages but they are also including e-mail marketing links within their social media presence. Close integration between the two channels means more opportunities for consumers to interact with brands they way they choose.”

There is little about email that is truly bidirectional, unlike SMS text message marketing programs such as sweepstakes, contests, polls and surveys where strong calls to action pull consumers into interactive and engaging dialogues.

Moreover, offerings such as Interactive Mediums’ Customer Engagement Platform already possess many advanced techniques which maximize the value of every interaction marketers have with their customers, including email, mobile web and social media integration – to say nothing of advanced segmentation, personalization and message triggering capabilities.

Email marketers seeking to employ advanced marketing techniques should broaden their horizons and recognize a new breed of provider is emerging – one that is not explicitly focused on email but rather customer engagement inclusive of all the ways businesses can interact with their customers while on the go.

For retailers in particular, it’s important to separate engagement from advertising; the former is interactive by definition, the latter more static/one way communication, even when targeting a particular demographic.

With respect to mobile ad acceptance by consumers, the research found:

“…we saw consumers were most interested in receiving grocery coupons (36 percent), scanable barcodes (29 percent), offers to save and pursue at leisure (26 percent), movie theater offers (26 percent), and ads via SMS when going by a retailer with a promotion / coupon (21 percent).”

The means by which these “advertisements” are delivered to mobile consumers is typically via SMS text message interactions initiated as part of customer engagement strategies.  Engagement itself is the real opportunity presented by mobile channel marketing, which the research also highlights as shown in the chart included earlier in this post.  The research dovetails with a diagram we have been using (at right) to illustrate the personal nature of the mobile channel relative to other advertising and marketing methods that also present fewer opportunities for engagement.

Be it coupons or special offers, these calls to action should be viewed not as advertisements, but rather part of engagement strategies targeting consumers receptive and available to receive them in ways not possible in other media.

This article today on AdAge.com presents some generalizations to describe typical smartphone users:

iPod Touch: “The Touch user is young — according to AdMob, 65% of iPod Touch users are under 17 — and likes to game and listen to music.”

Blackberry: “The BlackBerry user is still very much a business user who uses the phone primarily for e-mail, instant messages and viewing attachments.”

Android: “According to Nielsen, 33% of Android users are single and, by Ad Mob’s count, 73% are male. Millennial’s Mr. Startzel calls it the ‘tough, terminator-like robot phone…’”

iPhone: “The iPhone user is tech-obsessed, wealthy and is less likely to have kids than other smartphone users… iPhoners are also using the device for much more than e-mail or messaging and are very active web surfers. They’re also more likely to buy things from their phones, download apps and content, according to Nielsen.”

While certainly good to know, such information doesn’t paint a full picture.  No matter what the generic user profile for a particular smartphone device looks like, it’s important to also consider whether or not consumers perceive a particular device as a viable application platform.  Although Google Android device shipments have been strong and are capable app platforms, the available market for applications pales in comparison to Apple’s App Store for the iPhone.

Right or wrong, currently the iPhone is perceived as the mobile app platform for consumers, due as much to its features and capabilities as the hundred+ thousand applications currently offered.  Some marketers invest in iPhone apps to reach their target demographic, others for the publicity which can accompany novel or interesting apps regardless of how well they are aligned to buyers.

Where trade-offs are not required is with SMS text message marketing programs.  These not only offer universal reach, but provide marketers the unique opportunity to learn more about their customers via direct engagement.  Marketers are not afforded the luxury of knowing who downloads their applications.

If not familiar with the movie reference, futuristic billboards presented personalized ads based on your actual identify as you walked by them.  The trial taking place in Japan is similar in that it features facial recognition capabilities to understand age and gender, and use these as inputs into personalized advertisements.

Although an interesting, if not very exciting marketing advancement, the article raises logical privacy concerns that arise with anything which consumers have little control over.  In this case, identities remain private and the scans are not saved following delivery of personalized messages.

Whatever form this takes in the U.S. or elsewhere, you can be certain that it will be followed by integration with location aware smartphones so that consumers may opt into being recognized and presented with personalized offers and messages based on actual identity, not just age or gender.

Preparing for this future now, marketers would be wise to develop mobile relationships with their customers using commonly available SMS text message marketing capabilities as offered by companies like Interactive Mediums.   Doing so successfully is equally a function of adhering to opt in standards which will not likely change even in the face of advancements like intelligent billboards.

As you can see in the accompanying chart, others in the list – from ROI to customer satisfaction – are attributes of marketing’s charter.  This supports what we have written about many times before – that mobile marketing applied strategically can underpin, power and drive results for a variety of initiatives.  With ROI the topmost concern, the measurability of mobile marketing programs surely contributes to its prominence in the list, even above social media.

Since every business is unique we find it helpful to perform a simple exercise designed to highlight the most immediate way mobile can create the highest value, as quickly as possible.  You can read about it here.

I thought this was worth highlighting to show that mobile is not an “all or nothing” proposition, but that a phased approach to engaging customers in the mobile channel often makes the most sense.

Within the casino itself, mobile gaming is being introduced via proprietary mobile devices from a firm called eDeck.  These will provide on the go access to a variety of traditional games such that patrons can enjoy gambling wherever they may be within the property.  It’s an example of “micro mobile marketing,” in that customers are confined to a particular space that lends itself to mobile enablement in this fashion.  The upside for the casino will surely be more revenue while offering another channel of interaction with its customers.  Those two objectives are common among leading mobile marketers, whether their customers are more or less confined to a particular space or not.

While the article does not say so, this statement suggests the casino’s prior efforts around SMS text messaging programs to create an opt-in database of mobile subscribers will be used to help promote the new offering:

“Hard Rock will target its existing database and create eDeck awareness throughout the property.”

Other casinos will probably follow suit, or perhaps develop smartphone applications offering a similar experience in order to reach a greater number of potential customers than with a limited number of proprietary devices.

From SMS text messaging, to mobile application to a mobile website, Wet Seal has implemented a program which stitches these mobile marketing tactics together in such a way to engage their customer base and drive sales.  SMS has outperformed email in direct marketing tests by the retailer, who uses text primarily to engage customers with in store contests and promotions geared toward learning more about them and drive other mobile interactions.  A mobile website simplified relative to the full online version and optimized to facilitate purchases as well as an “outfit” configurator smartphone application round out the current approach.  Planned projects include mobile purchases paired with in-store pickup scheduling, mobile gift cards and social media integration.

Key lessons others can learn from cited include:

“First, get started early to benefit from early interactions and then fine-tune strategy and tactics.

Second, customers like to choose the way they want to shop. So offer them as many options as possible.

Third, extend the mobile experiences across channels – online and in-store – and optimize. Mobile is often the bridge between other channels.

Fourth, focus on core competency and technology to create excitement within the target customer base.

Finally, integrate customer feedback.”

Wet Seal is among the most progressive users of mobile marketing and their aggressive approach may intimidate those less experienced.  Paired with the urgency to begin competing for consumer mobile mindshare, and you have a recipe for stress.  Interactive Mediums’ platform and professional services are geared around helping customers move rapidly into mobile in a “right sized” fashion and grow over time.  Mapping your business and marketing strategy to the mobile channel is a good first step.

Moreover, should the network connection be lost, a user must re-start the browser session, which does not occur with native mobile applications.  HTML5 apparently has the ability to stage data in memory on a device such that the user cannot perceive the data transfer usually associate with web browsing.

Drew points out HTML5’s ability as well to access device functions that historically were the domain of native apps, such as the built in GPS capabilities of the iPhone.  What this all means for marketers, agencies and others considering mobile application development projects is that the mobile web offers essentially a “write once, run anywhere” experience that alleviates the need to create unique applications for different smartphone platforms.   At least for those devices with browsers supporting HTML5.  Of course, were it that simple, demand for iPhone applications would not be so strong, which Drew correctly identifies as a strength Apple brings to the table via the App Store.

This article I came across yesterday on InternetRetailer.com titled, “Apps versus sites,” doesn’t discuss recent developments aimed at closing the gap between the mobile web and applications, which illustrates how important maintaining touch with the technical community is so critical to success in the mobile channel.  Things are happening so fast, that once defacto stances around what works/what doesn’t are constantly being revised.  For example:

“M-commerce sites and apps differ in four fundamental ways: reach and discoverability, which favor sites, and experience and performance, which favor apps.”

In reality, apps are probably as “discoverable” as mobile websites given the visibility of the App Store.  Their point is that just like SMS text messaging, smartphones of all varieties have web browsers.  But with “experience” and “performance” becoming an immaterial aspect of the debate, it will be interesting to see what decisions marketers make with respect to mobile web and application projects.

Here’s a suggestion:  If torn between smartphone application development platforms due to the demographics and reach associated with each, why not create a rich web-based application that is universally accessible.  Then, in order to leverage the marketing-might of the App Store and other smartphone application stores, simply create small applications that offer a gateway to the mobile web app.  In this way, you lower your costs, ensure access to the widest audience possible while tapping into the demographic niches associated with different smartphones.  Don’t be surprised to see more than a few retailers and other industries begin taking this approach as HTML5 becomes more mainstream.

In her new role as Account Executive, Amanda Gilmore will be responsible for our inside sales operation where she will identify sales opportunities, conduct proactive outreach and handle in bound demand requests, and ultimately work with prospective customers to help them understand how mobile marketing solves business problems.  Amanda brings an extensive background in business development for high tech organizations as well as a wealth of experience working with direct clients and channels such as agencies.
 
Before joining the Interactive Mediums team, Amanda was a Business Development Manager for The SAVO Group.  Prior to that, she served as Media Sales Associate for VisualCast Media where she presented and sold outdoor advertising outlets in Chicago to national advertisers.  Amanda graduated from Loras College in Dubuque, IA with a Bachelors of Arts in Communications.

Also joining us today is Julian Rockwood, who as Account Manager assumes responsibility for the day to day tasks associated with ensuring our clients are satisfied and realizing the value of mobile marketing.  He came to Chicago this past July from the rust belt city of Toledo, Ohio, where he served as an account manager with a marketing strategy firm specializing in package design and building materials channel strategy.

Julian brings competencies in account management, marketing strategy, social media, analytics, and B-to-C thought process, and is very excited to bring his experience and enthusiasm to helping customers make the most of their mobile marketing efforts.  His hobbies include soccer, sound design, and running along Lake Michigan.

An internet radio network has supposedly created an advertising product allowing marketers to target listeners with audio commercials in line with station content, according to geography, demographics and device.  Radio advertising tends to be a mass market medium, so this appears to offer marketers the chance to target different audio messages to various listener segments.

Keep in mind, however, that the opportunity for marketers is limited to whatever content the network provides.  The use of mobile devices for audio in general is on the decline and audio messages lack the direct response element of a text message that incorporates a live link to a mobile website or application.

Radio stations have the opportunity to offer a platform for one to one marketing on a completely different scale via text messaging, as outlined in this recent Interactive Mediums paper titled, “Transforming Listeners into Dollars.”  Radio stations can use text message interactions as a means of building out profiles of their audience to offer highly segmented ad units which can drive more revenue.

With respect to the mobile channel, radio stations and their advertisers alike need to separate the notions of offering the usual audio commercial on a device from targeting relevant offers and calls to action via text messaging.  No matter how targeted audio ads become, they cannot facilitate the capture of audience demographics and lack the direct response component of text messaging.

• Identity a project that aligns especially well with mobile marketing techniques such as SMS text message promotions.
• Help define success metrics to gauge the program’s success.
• Show just how easy our Customer Engagement Platform makes it to configure and execute effective mobile interactions.

To learn more before the official launch of Zero to Engagement, contact us at info@interactivemediums.com.

These expectations include richer, more interactive ad formats necessary for when the “novelty” factor contributing to high response rates for simple text links wears off.

“…mobile will only convince marketers to make serious commitments if it moves beyond the focus on scale with standardized, run-of-the-mill units.  The risk is mobile will follow the same path as the PC Internet and become dominated by direct marketers rather than advertisers used to creating demand via TV ads.”

That statement stands out among all in the article as pointing to a reality advertising professionals should adjust to sooner than later to ensure a seat at the mobile marketing table.  And that is mobile already is an extension of the PC internet, especially on smartphones, and is perhaps the ultimate direct response platform ever conceived given immediate, “on the go” integration with location based services and the mobile web.

Even if, and when, ad units become more standardized, traditional views of interactive advertising will struggle in the face of strategies geared toward calling consumers to action in-line with their behavior.  Today and for the foreseeable future, that has less to do slickly produced, screen hogging visuals and more with relevant messaging integrated wisely with other mobile channels.

Each of these options today represents a compromise over traditional printed coupons that most point of sale systems recognize.  Coupon codes requiring manual entry lengthen checkout time and can be error prone while mobile device displays cannot always render codes compatible with POS scanners.

Despite these limitations, retailers are pressing forward to take advantage of the value presented by location-based marketing.  Yet to really unleash the value of mobile couponing, it must be ubiquitous and require a minimal change to retailer operational processes in order to be cost effective.  That’s the thought which came to mind when I read a February 19, 2010 item at DMNews.com, titled “Provision Interactive Technologies teams with Ping Mobile for in-store mobile campaigns.”

The article describes a new offering as follows:

“Marketers can create an out-of-home/mobile campaign in a mall, airport, stadium or other public venue, and consumers can respond to the call to action on the signage by texting in. Coupons, tickets, vouchers and other printed items then become available from Provision’s 3D Media Centers, which consumers can print the coupons at the kiosks and redeem.”

Rather than focus redemption around legacy POS systems, this approach represents a value added intermediary that could be positioned in retail environments in a standalone fashion – the quantity of stations limited only by space and budget.  The solution is described as optimal for “malls, airports and other public locations,” but should have equal or greater value when resident in a single retail environment — especially for large retailers with hundreds or thousands of locations unable to upgrade all POS systems en masse.

This solution also alleviates the need to worry about technology and compatibility issues, and focus instead on creative ways of engaging customers with the most relevant offers.  Interactive Mediums’ Customer Engagement Platform features a variety of pre-packaged engagement actions designed just for this purpose.

The article outlines how Visa used 2D bar code technology as part of a sweepstakes promotion conducted at the recent Mobile World Congress in Spain.  You can read the specifics but as we mentioned recently here and here, 2D bar codes tend to find the greatest success in highly localized and controlled environments where there is some certainty around consumer handsets capable of reading the codes.

What Neustar wishes to do is offer a “clearinghouse” service so marketers can employ 2D codes without restricting their potential audience.  They plan to do this by standardizing previously incompatible codes across devices and operating systems.  It sounds like a lot of work to enable consumers a “short cut” to redeem information on their mobile devices.

2D bar codes appeal to our visual nature and longtime experience with traditional bar codes such as those scanned at the grocery store.  These codes imply ease of use, as well as data — lots of data about who purchased what product and when.

Marketers considering building sweepstakes or other promotions around 2D bar codes like Visa should consider the ease by which consumers today text a keyword to a shortcode to redeem information or be pointed to a mobile website – the exact same use case as with a 2D bar code.  Not only are you assured universal reach but even more data about the consumer can be obtained since a text interaction is bi-directional and can include a question and answer component in real time.

Marketers should focus less on the technology employed to engage their customers, and more on creating a compelling message or incentive which calls their customers to action — and then evaluate options for packaging and delivering the offer.  Right now marketers appear blinded by the “sexiness” of 2D bar codes, and Neustar is betting a new line of business on it.

Those benefits include ease of interaction; simply point your camera-equipped device at a code to have information immediately presented and/or be pointed to a website.  In localized programs outside the U.S. 2D bar codes have proven successful.  However, as pointed out in this very good post, standardization among devices and software (or more accurately, a lack of it) is a gating factor to widespread accessibility by consumers in the U.S.

“…2D barcodes…are pretty cool solutions for specific applications, such as mobile airline boarding passes or advanced inventory management, but not exactly the best of what’s out there for mobile consumer marketing in today’s rapidly changing world of mobile media and brand interaction.  The name of the game is to get as many high-quality customer interactions and conversation engagements as possible with your targeted demographic.  Severely limiting the potential response pool by applying restrictions will simply decrease the success of the campaign.”

Articles like this on ChiefMarketer.com present a different picture that marketers would be wise to balance against the facts on the ground.

The universal nature of SMS text messaging has created an impression that mobile marketing can access anyone, anytime and anywhere but until technologies like 2D bar codes and augmented reality are as “standardized” as SMS, text messaging will remain the defacto method of reaching as many of your target demographic as possible.

In the meantime, hybrid services requiring a consumer to snap a photo and send it via MMS are emerging that ultimately lack the instant gratification of real 2D codes and the universal nature of SMS.  Marketers be warned.

With competition for mobile consumer mindshare reaching a fever pitch, marketers will increasingly face an engagement barrier, even around SMS text message programs.  To break through and achieve their objectives, marketers should evaluate offerings such as Interactive Mediums’ multi-channel mobile customer engagement platform.

When you add to this mix that many businesses are reaping mobile marketing benefits, as shown every day on MobileMarketer.com and other sites, marketers in all industries sense urgency to at least try mobile marketing – be it developing a mobile optimized version of their website, an iPhone application or trying to employ SMS text messaging simply due to its reach.

I think this is the landscape documented in research covered today on eMarketer.com, in an article titled, “Mobile Marketers Demand ROI.”  Results of a survey suggest marketers will pursue mobile marketing efforts in 2010 – even allocating budget – but obstacles remain (as shown in the diagram included in this post).

“It appears that 2010 will be a year of experimentation and education on mobile marketing as marketers struggle to come to terms with its practicality and ROI.”

The greatest challenge – not surprisingly – is uncertainty around building the business case for mobile marketing, followed closely by a lack of ROI metrics and mobile not a part of the “strategic roadmap.”  I’d argue all of these issues fall under the heading of simply “I don’t know where to start, given my business, my product or service and customer base.”

For this reason, Interactive Mediums developed an exercise called “Mapping Mobile to Your Marketing Strategy,” that when complete identifies the best candidate projects that align with your existing marketing plans and channels.  This is based on our direct experience and observation of the ways leading companies are going to market with mobile as strategic elements of their business.

Taking time to experiment and educate is simply not an option for marketers given the pace of advancement among leading mobile marketers.  Even trialing various approaches will leave you behind the curve as competition for consumer mobile mindshare escalates.  Taking a thoughtful approach to mapping out a strategy can ensure your business plays a role in the mobile customer relationships that will surely separate the winners from losers.

On one hand you have this February 4, 2010 post on MobileMarketingWatch.com citing expert commentary from a recent event, where the consensus view was that mobile advertising was “harder than ever…citing extreme fragmentation and a plethora of new devices sporting varying technical aspects as the main culprits.”  The situation sounds intimidating to say the least, begging for a wait and see approach.

Juxtaposed with this is research cited in a February 5, 2010 article in MobileMarketer.com titled, “Mobile ad campaigns 5 times more effective than online: InsightExpress study.”  Based on the title alone, you can imagine the article describes how much more effective mobile advertising is today than its online counterpart.  And that is the case.

You can read about the differences in effectiveness but it all comes down to “engagement and context” according to the study, both of which we describe as central to mobile marketing’s value proposition, be it a focus on advertising or direct engagement via SMS text messaging, email and mobile web.

I think the disconnect between “experts” and the facts on the ground is due to control; advertising networks are the gateway to this value while many experts working on the boundaries are left struggling for relevance with end customers who have cash to spend.  Marketers would be wise to quickly discern the quality and subjectivity of viewpoints they consider when prioritizing mobile marketing efforts.

“…a pilot SMS reminder solution…ended with unprecedented results – saving Kaiser nearly $150 per appointment and over $275,000 at a single clinic.”

Efficiencies and costs savings were at the heart of the value in this example, which is apparently driving consumer acceptance of text message alerts – the post’s title is after all, “Survey: Consumers Want SMS Alerts.”  The study was conducted in the U.K., but you can expect similar attitudes prevail in the U.S.

While these numbers are impressive, I would argue that marketers need to keep their eyes on the top line/revenue growth “yin” to the cost savings/efficiencies “yang” offered by text messaging.  That’s the theme behind the diagram included in line with this post.

As marketers in any segment – healthcare or otherwise – approach the mobile channel, they have a variety of options for getting started, as we have previously discussed around mapping strategy to the mobile channel.

Many organizations will approach text messaging from a non-marketing perspective, which can yield impressive cost savings and efficiencies among an entire customer base – which tends to be dominated by customers served at a loss or break-even.  Thus the utility of text messaging as a cost saver.

Those companies that leverage mobile marketing techniques in a parallel fashion to target the revenue side of business should experience even greater results by increasing the pool of highest value customers – the 20 or so percent which generate the greatest value, be it profits or revenue.  The key to unlocking that added value is employing mobile engagement techniques such as promotions and others that call consumers to action.

The article doesn’t call this out per se, but does strongly imply that engaging in-store strategies such as SMS text message promotions are an absolute necessity to address the potential threat to retailers offered by comparison enabled mobile shoppers:

“…when it comes to consumers, nearly 65% acquired information about the programs in retail environments at the point of sale, compared to only 2.8% who did so on social media networks.”

The article is based on results of a study released today by the Chief Marketing Officer Council and conducted by IBM and Ricoh.  Its key finding is that although marketers are focusing spend on social networks to communicate loyalty programs, consumers are unreceptive to this channel as opposed to strong calls to action in and around the point of sale.

A similar focus on email marketing is also cited as a disconnect between marketer priories and consumer preferences.  Speaking of preferences, relevancy is found to be at the core of effective loyalty programs regardless of how an offer is delivered.  Certainly, data is crucial to developing targeted offers, the kind of which can be efficiently collected also via text message programs such as customer surveys.

Marketers need to as well be aware that even relevant offers may struggle against the tide of comparison shopping enabled consumers expected to change the retail landscape this year and beyond.  Successful retailers will build relevancy into their loyalty programs, but also recognize that engagement strategies such as SMS text message promotions advertised in store can prevent customers from leaving for better deals, addressing key challenges threatening to make loyalty a mythical concept.

The survey finds product recommendations accessible via mobile devices as a huge opportunity for retailers, with 65 percent of those surveyed saying they would make purchases were it easier to find products of interest.  Retailers heeding this advice will implement mobile-accessible product reviews and recommendations based on factors such as real time inputs by a consumer (looking for a plasma screen TV, what are my options?) and historical transaction data if available (purchased TV in the past, suggest a DVD player).

A potential battleground retailers need to keep eyes on is the mobile product reviews/recommendations/comparison space.  On one hand, retailers can develop branded mobile experiences for their customers that are essentially “closed” environments by virtue of product selection limited to that one retailer.  Combined with clever engagement strategies such as mobile promotions, this can effectively combat third parties that aggregate product information, prices and reviews across retailers.

These services could render retail store environments as mere “pick up” spots for products browsed, reviewed, and compared by mobile shoppers.  The retail sector may be in store for a complete shift in power unless mobile engagement strategies rise to the top of marketing plans and priorities.

“According to DM2PRO and Quattro, 15% of advertisers and agencies spent more than 60% of their app budgets on promotion in 2009, but more than one-third spent less than 5%.  Promotional budgets will need to increase along with overall investment for apps to find their way to users.”

Marketers would be wise to consider the immediacy of text messaging to communicate mobile application availability and directly link consumers to download and install it.  Consider the ease by which signage in store can point customers to a text interaction that includes a direct link to download the application.  Convenience is key to entice consumers to take action and matching their behavior (out and about) with a device in hand is a recipe for success.

At the same time, marketers have the chance to create or build upon their opt in database of mobile subscribers, and learn more about them using engagement techniques like surveys and others that collect information about mobile consumers (like their zip codes or product preferences).  This data can in turn be used to segment the mobile audience in ways aligned with unique offers and calls to action.

Standing out from the crowd is already key to app success, so hoping your effort is discovered in the App Store can no longer be considered an effective strategy to ensuring ROI.  I say “App Store,” because the article points to the iPhone as the platform of choice for the time being, well ahead of Android and others.  Remember, when it comes to budgeting for the promotion of your application, among the most effective means to do so is to connect consumers with your app via creative use of text messaging programs.

Just the other day we blogged about the hype around mobile advertising created by recent acquisitions.  We’ve also covered issues surrounding mobile ad metrics.

We’re keeping close tabs on developments in this area for our customers so they understand where to prioritize mobile advertising alongside their broader customer engagement charters inclusive of SMS text messaging, mobile optimized websites, smartphone applications and social media.

An integrated approach to mobile channel marketing – akin to creating more effective mobile ads – is an innovation which greatly increases the likelihood your mobile marketing efforts won’t suck.

Mobile advertising, just like traditional web ads, is an exciting area because of the reach and audience segmentation possibilities.  In parallel with significant investment moves by Google and Apple to get involved via acquisition, the hype around mobile ads is at a fever pitch right now.  I’m afraid customers and investors who fixate here are in for some disappointment down the line, however.

Click through rate, or CTR, is the measure by which mobile and traditional online ads alike are gauged, and the article highlights global research showing that the unlikely Symbian platform is the leader in offering high CTRs, even in the U.S. where it’s not as dominant in terms of market share.

Clearly, a lot of advertisers are thinking “I have to be on Symbian” yet the hype and press would never point an ad buyer at this platform as opposed to the iPhone or a Google Android device.

Advertisers need to remember as well, where are those who click through going to?  A mobile optimized landing page or website?  A smartphone application download?  A coupon or bar code for redemption at the point of sale?  If the answer to any of these is “none of the above” and instead “we’re just happy to have lots of eyeballs seeing our message,” a huge opportunity to drive sales, engender loyalty, or cultivate brand affinity is wasted.

Viewing mobile as an engagement channel that allows businesses to create highly personal interactions that induce action on the part of customers is the real opportunity represented by mobile advertising.  It needs to be viewed as just one part of the value equation, which is why marketers are increasingly coming to Interactive Mediums to leverage our mobile customer engagement platform and expertise around creating effective mobile dialogues with customers across SMS text messaging, mobile web, apps and social media.

Both attendees and exhibitors alike were apparently personally armed with the devices and reportedly had either iPhone apps already in the market or were preparing them.  Large technology vendors in attendance also had iPhone apps to talk about, from Oracle and Sterling Commerce to Intel.  Funny that Apple itself was absent.

The observations reported in the article highlight just how powerful a marketing platform the iPhone has become yet retailers should not forget about text messaging as an effective mobile marketing method that can reach almost any mobile phone user.  Although applications are popular, engagement via text messaging is being used by retailers to overcome challenges around loyalty and comparison shopping behavior.

The best strategy is a balanced one considering the impact but lower reach of a rich smartphone application as opposed to the almost universal reach offered by SMS text messaging, especially those facilitating promotions such as sweepstakes and contests.  Targeting the mobile customer experience first, then determining the blend of approaches to achieve your goals is becoming the standard of excellence for successful mobile marketers.

This January 7, 2009 post on MobileMarketingWatch.com describes an offering by a new company called JagTag that offers a very similar service to SnapTag (which we blogged about here back in October of 2009).

These services appeal to marketer’s fears about the limited reach of smartphones capable of reading bar codes.  This is due to the somewhat real issue of handsets often needing special software to interpret the codes.  When marketers think about bar codes on mobile devices, they should break down the options as follows:

• As a coupon delivery and redeeming method.
• As a replacement for plastic cards (like your grocery store loyalty or video store cards).
• As a means of communicating information and/or pointing consumers to rich mobile interactions.

What Jag and Snap Tags do is imply that by using relatively ubiquitous MMS-enabled camera phones, consumers can be called to action as follows: take a picture of a code, send it via MMS, then receive of something of value – pointers to websites, a text message, offer, coupon code, etc.

I fail to see how this adds value to an interaction in the mobile channel versus even more common SMS text messaging.  The only case I can identify is when a brand wants to create an arguably fun activity for a consumer whereby they have a chance to use the camera feature/MMS sending capability of their phone.  That is a very weak scenario in my view.

Although it doesn’t say so, this post yesterday on eMarketer.com suggests that providing incentives designed to keep your mobile savvy customers in store is closely tied to ensuring they don’t bail and visit another store for a better deal:

“The threat comes from in-store shoppers using their phones to check sales prices at other retailers.  Compete found that 41% of iPhone users and 43% of Android users do just that.”

“You could argue that every retailer on the planet is an off-balance-sheet showroom for Amazon.  So if you go into a retailer’s store and you see something you like—type in that manufacturer’s SKU number and check the price on Amazon. You’ve looked at it, you’ve touched it, felt it, and now you’re getting the benefit of potentially getting the best price on it too.”

To meet this challenge, the post recommends “A retailer’s best defense for maintaining customer loyalty is to develop a mobile offering that allows in-store shoppers access to customer reviews and other product information on its Website.   This is where the opportunity lies for retailers.  By providing mobile access to their extensive online product information, they help customers feel more comfortable about making a purchase.”

This is a logical recommendation, yet it will not prevent price sensitive, mobile enabled customers from comparison shopping and potentially leaving the store.  It also ignores reseach suggesting that loyalty not be the target, but rather engagement.

To keep customers in-store and increase the probability of purchase, retailers should build engagement strategies into their mobile plans such as text message promotions like sweepstakes and other contests.

Consumers value their time as much as their money, which is why many are excited at the prospect of instantly performing a price comparison quickly then moving onto another store.  Retailers who create engaging mobile programs that keep customers in-store such as promotions lessen the likelihood that they will take the time to visit another store.

Yet read between the lines and you could imagine each company’s approach complementing one other very well, providing marketers with a variety of effective and measurable approaches to reaching consumers.

While there is nothing to prevent Google from developing a large screen tablet mobile device such as is expected of Apple shortly, a larger screen should serve as a higher value advertising basis than handheld devices.  This January 4, 2009 article about Nexus One on The New York Times website says as much:

“…some surveys show that users are wary of ads that could clutter the precious real estate on their small cellphone screens.  And phone users seem more willing to pay a few dollars for applications or content than PC users, potentially reducing the importance of advertising.”

Handheld devices lend themselves much better to simple advertisements akin to those seved by Google in association with its search engine or even by recently acquired AdMob.  This article speculates:

“(Apple) could develop ad units and formats that it thinks are way better than the tiny banner ads already on the mobile web.”

Apple’s reputed tablet device may be the ideal basis for such higher value ad formats.  Marketers will soon be faced with having to decide among different approaches for reaching their customers via mobile advertising, but should not neglect the need to engage customers directly using mobile marketing techniques such as those offered by Interactive Mediums.

With advertising focused almost entirely on acquisition and loyalty a constantly moving target, marketers require compelling engagement capabilities to rope customers into fulfilling experiences that encourage consumption.  That’s what Active Customer Engagement is all about.

The pace of innovation in mobile and urgency to begin engaging customers in mobile interactions demands we pay attention to news of the day.  More importantly is that we have a relevant point of view.  Hello Mobile! is our forum for communicating these views.  Others are listening as well, such as MobileMarketer.com which today recognized our article “9 Steps for SMS Marketing” among the “Top 15 industry-expert columns of 2009.”

As 2010 begins, look for further insights, commentaries and directives from our blog.  Before we look forward though, here are the top 10 most popular posts of 2009 – I wonder what this list will look like next year, the key trends and topics?  Stay tuned.

• Is Apple the Mobile Walmart?
• The Key to Mobile Customer Data
• Acxiom Clients Seeking a Differentiated Mobile Offering Should Look Elsewhere
• Advice to Marketers: Don’t Confuse Mobile Advertising with Mobile Marketing (or Active Customer Engagement)
• Establishment Converges on Active Customer Engagement
• Lessons From Less Than Successful Mobile Apps
• Thankfully, More about Active Customer Engagement
• Vendor Lines Blurring but One Thing is Clear: Active Customer Engagement
• Insight into Apple’s App Store approval process
• Best in Class Marketers to Focus on Customer Engagement in 2010

The article concludes with this statement, making it sound as if retailers attempting to create engaging shopping experiences raise their hands in surrender:

“Consumers will care less about where they shop and more about satisfying their purchase requirements.”

I bet you could find similar statements made about 10 years ago around how e-commerce websites would put brick and mortar stores out of business.  Yet that didn’t really happen, as brick and mortar stores such as BestBuy and others created complementary online stores.  Late to game retailers like Toys R Us paid a heavy price, however.  Why would it be any different if consumers can research and compare products while “on the go?”

One way the article suggests is that retailers will be forced to match lower prices if consumers can prove it by showing their mobile device to a cashier, or worse lose the sale as the customer leaves for another store.  Loyalty, already so hard to engender among customers, is literally out the door as a means of creating a steady flow of business.

In reality, I don’t think the situation will be this dire, but retail marketers have a new mandate to create engaging shopper environments to encourage customers to remain in store and make purchases.  Especially for considered purchases versus impulse buys, consumers will likely perform online research in advance of venturing out to stores.  Items such as plasma screen TVs or washing machines, for example.  In these instances it’s highly improbable a consumer will even perform a comparison price lookup in store because they did so already.

There will be exceptions, but I just don’t see retailers hurt too much by this trend, especially if they work hard toward creating highly engaging – and branded – mobile experiences for their customers.  Those who do will be more akin to the BestBuys of the mobile realm as opposed to the Toys R Us’.

While that sounds like a terrific step or opportunity for consulting firms, as I point out in a comment on the post I don’t see many marketers taking advantage of APIs to this end.  Instead, I see:

• Marketers partaking in mobile advertising across multiple networks without any expectation at resolving the metrics across them, at least not at first.  All forecasts predict that mobile advertising will explode in the next few years, suggesting marketers are either unconcerned or unaware of the issues described in the blog post.
• Because marketers generally are drawn to mobile because it is among the most trackable and accountable channels, they soon may bump into the metrics integration issue.  Those marketers who do will fall into two camps: those who lack the resources or business case for integration regardless of API availability and those who will integrate because mobile advertising directly supports sales.

Let me explain: Many businesses utilize mobile advertising for awareness, branding and demand generation.  If resolving metrics across networks becomes an issue, I expect many marketers to narrow their network partners to one or two that offer access to the most targeted group of potential customers – to undertake an integration exercise is simply not worth the effort.  Other businesses that can drive sales via mobile transactions, however, will find it imperative to integrate metrics and tie these back to sales since the advertising directly supports the business.

With awareness/branding and demand generation representing arguably the largest mobile ad market opportunity, it suggests that mobile networks as a segment will narrow to 1-3 leaders with others either acquired or rendered irrelevant.  Thus, pretty quickly a consistent view of mobile ad metrics should happen almost automatically.

When it comes to engaging customers in the mobile channel, there is a strong analogy.  A single system which allows marketing objectives to be tailored to the mobile channel, executed and tracked, should be high on marketers’ priority lists in 2010.

Technology-wise, I am talking about SMS text messaging, mobile optimized websites, mobile applications, mobile email and social media.  In practice, marketers enabled with a solution that stitches each of these together will have a significant advantage over those who don’t.

For example, imagine engaging your customers via SMS text messaging, let them forward the invitation response to their Twitter followers, send text responders a thank you email, point them to a mobile website to redeem a coupon or to download a mobile application designed for their handset to enhance the shopping experience.  And, track this activity across all these mobile channels in a single system that easily integrates with the only system that matters — the one registering sales.

Instead, marketers need to consider ways of driving consumption of their products across all kinds of customers, be they classified loyal or not, in the most efficient manner available. SMS text message sweepstakes contests promoted at and around the point of sale, and offering many rewards versus one, are a proven tactic that could be packaged and presented to customers as a loyalty program.

Such promotions can be executed quickly and largely in “hands off” mode for the marketer when using a mobile campaign management system like that offered by Interactive Mediums. That benefit came to mind as I came across additional research into customer loyalty that underscores the importance of an effective engagement strategy, more so than one designed to create “loyal” customers, who many in fact be a mythical concept. Consider the following from an article titled, “The 30 major factors behind a successful customer loyalty programme,” from TheWiseMarketer.com (registration required):

Focus on data value, not just repeat business: “The smarter operators used loyalty programmes not to buy repeat visits but to garner information from their customers in order to learn more about them: who their most profitable and least profitable customers were, what they wanted, and what changes or offerings would be most likely to make them truly loyal.”

Spend more time on engagement strategy, less on selling to customers you don’t want: “In Philip Kotler’s version of a Pareto Principle chart, the top 20% of customers generate 80% of the profits, while the bottom 30% of customers eat up 50% of the profits that the others produce.”

Paradoxically, attempting to sell to past customers is a distracting exercise: “Customer win-back expert Michael Lowenstein (of Harris Interactive) says that the success rate in approaching ‘lost’ customers can be three to four times as high as it is when prospecting for new customers. For example, the rate for converting prospects might typically be 5%, while that for reactivating inactive customers might be as high as 15% – 20%.”

These are just three of 30 different points, but were especially notable given the fit with mobile marketing tactics such as sweepstakes promotions. Interactive Mediums’ Customer Engagement Platform has powered effective promotions for many marketers who didn’t likely approach the project with the facts in hand regarding loyalty.

Marketers yet to embrace mobile marketing tactics such as sweepstakes as part of a broader engagement strategy need to get started now; because if you don’t your competition will, making it that much harder to break through the engagement barrier.

Homefinder.com drew a similar conclusion when analysis of mobile website traffic showed most browsers used iPhones (that’s a photo of Reuters’ ticker in Times Square displaying the news).  Leading with a focus on the mobile customer experience is no longer emerging as a best practice – it just is.

That’s what marketers should take away from this news today about Target, a retailer ahead of the curve when it comes to mobile channel marketing.  As we have discussed here before, mapping your strategy to the mobile channel identifies the most logical first steps into mobile marketing.  Target has done that across all elements of the mobile customer experience; SMS text messaging, mobile smartphone applications and the mobile web.

It is equally important to ensure ongoing analysis of these efforts.  This can take the form of metrics around specific programs, such as response rates and transactions, but forward thinking marketers like Target take it a step further.  Target integrates a feedback step into many elements of its mobile marketing programs to see what works, what doesn’t – and uses this qualitative and quantitative data to drive better mobile marketing decisions:

“ To overcome these challenges (of getting into the mobile space), we are focused on understanding our guests’ needs by creating mechanisms that allow them to provide us with feedback.

Then, we use this feedback to inform our decision-making and to optimize and improve our mobile tools.”

In practice, marketers need to consider partners that offer this capability in a manner that closely relates to the mobile interactions being evaluated, and offers the greatest reach possible.  Interactive Mediums’ Engagement Platform offers SMS text message based survey capabilities that allow multiple questions to be posed to consumers and answered in real time – using common feature phones carried by virtually every consumer.

Yes, that’s a UPS truck snapped today outside the local Starbucks, in all the glory of Chicago winter weather on the company’s busiest day – some 20 million packages according to Donna.

Yet, the Blackberry application, like an iPhone version preceding it, is designed to enable business and consumer customers alike to find a drop off location, receive shipping quotes, order pickups and check on package delivery status.  Dig beneath the details, as we did with Donna, and you gain a greater appreciation for what was involved:

• UPS employs an Information Technology group 5,000 strong, who possess deep mobile application expertise and were responsible for creating applications which interact with UPS’ massive global network of package and delivery data.
• Considerable research went into creating the new mobile application, to understand how best to serve their customers and offer a differentiated user experience from competing delivery services.  To these ends, UPS discovered customers wanted a fully native application as opposed to be directed to a mobile website.  Why?  Because application code can be fully loaded on a handset.  From the user’s perspective, this offers a more natural responsiveness consumers associate with desktop computer applications, with time taken only to bring new data across the network.  Navigating a website, even one optimized for mobile, can often seem more cumbersome and of course in the event of a network lapse the session will end abruptly.  Moreover, the UPS app allows consumers to log into the application once, and automatically upon launch relate any packages to their account to view instant status – no keying in of lengthy tracking numbers are required.
• Some UPS business customers are beginning to request the ability to have text messages sent to recipients and/or senders, providing notification of package delivery.  Even greater reach could be possible were UPS to enable customers to text their tracking numbers to receive instant updates – all of which are capabilities available in Interactive Mediums’ Engagement Platform.

Few organizations have the staff, funding or internal systems to execute a mobile strategy to the extent UPS has; for those who lack any of these critical pieces firms like Interactive Mediums stand ready with a flexible Customer Engagement Platform optimized for mobile interactions as well as a wealth of experience developing mobile applications which map to the way consumers want to engage with a business.

As UPS says “What Can Brown Do For You?” we say “How can Interactive Mediums power more effective mobile interactions for your customers?”

In 2006, Budweiser partnered with Interactive Mediums to power a similar SMS text message sweepstakes at the point of sale.  As both established and smaller brands alike take their initial steps into mobile marketing, sweepstakes are a proven approach to engaging customers in the mobile channel to drive sales, improve loyalty or build a brand.  As 2010 is about to open, marketers and promotional services providers in any discipline – branding, demand creation, or loyalty – owe it to their companies and clients to investigate this powerful promotional tactic as part of their plans.

Budweiser’s news is especially timely given recent posts about why mobile sweepstakes and contests are an absolute necessity for brand engagement and best practices for executing winning promotions.

• Half of your loyal buyers this year will not be loyal to you next year (Catalina Marketing’s analysis of tens of millions of shoppers).
• The 20% of buyers who account for 80% of sales includes super-heavy category users who might even prefer another brand and purchase that brand more.
• On average, 30% of loyal buyers do not have attitudes about your brand that support their loyalty and are the ones who are most likely to defect.
• For most brands, only a single-digit fraction of your customers connect to you via social media.

So despite so much emphasis on developing loyalty programs and the hype surrounding social media’s influence on consumer behavior, the facts suggest brand marketers are struggling against a tide they cannot overcome.  The article also raises interesting statistical research showing that successful brands connect not only with frequent, loyal customers, but all potential consumers:

“…you must find more people to become loyal, but you also must increase your share of purchases among those who buy your brand less than half the time.”

To achieve this, the author suggest marketers focus on “activating” their brands with consumers, which entails “imaginative shopper marketing, visibility, packaging (which is your ‘ad’ that every buyer sees), the right configuration of features, the right price, findability as people search and pre-shop digitally, and buying ads in special-interest magazines… just to mention a few ideas.”

I suggest that marketers identifying with these challenges look to mobile marketing tactics such as interactive text message promotions and sweepstakes that can pull consumers into perpetual dialogs with brands.  Promoting such programs at and around the point of sale is one approach brand marketers can use to influence less loyal consumers to consume their products.

The statistics and statements like the following suggest it’s imperative for marketers to look for ways of engaging as many consumers as possible with their brands.

“The marketing approach that calls for building brand engagement isn’t wrong, but it’s incomplete.  It doesn’t help you figure out how to grow the half of your sales that comes from less-loyal buyers who find multiple competing brands are acceptable.”

Given the reach offered by text message-enabled consumers and proven response rates in the 20-30 percent range, mobile promotions are a logical solution to this challenge.  Engagement platforms such as that offered by Interactive Mediums provide marketers a multitude of approaches to suit any promotional requirement.

We have previously written about this capability here in a recent Point of View and here in a Success Story, but I came across a great article on PromoMagazine.com that outlines some best practices which marketers should heed as they look to engage their customers in revenue producing and brand enhancing ways in 2010.

Titled, “Offer Multiple Prizes Instead of Just One,” the article describes the use of many individual prizes as incentives in a contest promotion, versus one large one.  The advantages include:

• Higher probably of engagement since consumers perceive a greater chance of winning.
• The opportunity to create a positive brand experience with more than a single winner.
• Consumers simply are drawn to the opportunity to win something of value and given the current state of the economy, more consumers are looking for such chances.
• A focus on many individual prices allows marketers to brand those awards with logos and messages.  That is harder to do with a car or other large hard goods prize.

Executing promotions in this manner ensures greater participation and a higher return, or as stated in the article:

“The hundreds of thousands of contacts…garnered can now be used for future, cost-effective, one-to-one, brand-to-consumer dialogue — which is typically the end-goal of any sweepstakes.”

Marketers or the companies who develop promotions for them should align themselves with technology solutions that allow such multi-dimensional contests to be designed, deployed and measured quickly and cost effectively.

A partner such as Interactive Mediums stands ready with an easy to use offering that will not box you into a single type of contest or one isolated to a single channel.

The news content appears driven by Whole Foods, and underwhelmingly describes the move this way:

“The site basically provides customers with the features of wholefoodsmarkets.com while on the go.”

I am a huge proponent of targeting customers while “on the go” – we blog about it all the time.  However, it’s equally important to consider how your customers’ on the go experience with your brand can be enhanced by a mobile web presence.  Simply scaling your website to the mobile form factor is a shortsighted strategy that can have negative consequences.  Failing to impress the first time makes it that more difficult to approach mobile consumers in the future.  As well, the expected explosion in mobile browsing by consumers means that it will soon be challenging to stand out among the crowd, just like on the “regular” web.

Much attention is paid to mobile applications for platforms like the iPhone, yet research cited in a recent article titled, “Mobile Internet is 450 million users strong and doubling in four years,” suggests businesses in any segment need to develop a solid mobile web strategy, and soon:

“In October, Gartner reported that smartphones accounted for 14 percent of overall mobile device sales, but would grow to 37 percent by 2012.”

“Gartner forecasts 180 million smartphone sales in 2009, exceeding notebooks for the first time. From 2009, Gartner predicts that consumers would spend more on smartphones than notebooks.”

Bottom line is that millions consumers will be armed with quality mobile web browsing devices and drawn to those sites which offer a valuable experience while “on the go.”  Surely scaling down a website to a small screen is insufficient.  Comments posted on Retailwire.com echo this sentiment:

“Perhaps they could integrate some sort of coupon or loyalty program in the mobile app that will get more people to visit.  ‘Flash the barcode on your phone for a discount’ type of thing.  I suspect the average WF customer has some sort of smart phone or is technologically savvy so marketing this way makes sense.”

“No ‘perhaps’ about it…the mobile site should incorporate coupons, loyalty offerings and other ‘do it now’ type features that are unnecessary on the main site.”

“Whole Foods in particular is challenged in today’s value-oriented world.  The company is losing its cachet, for a variety of reasons. It needs to do more than just sell expensive stuff and expect shoppers to assume high quality.  By making an investment in its customers’ shopping experience, it can re-elevate itself to some extent.”

Just keep in mind that fixating on apps as your entre into mobile marketing is not the right approach.  Instead, you need to consider your objectives and how they can be met by available mobile marketing approaches, including apps.

The paper cleverly outlines a hypothetical conversation between a marketer and his executive team.  The marketer mentions that mobile presents a unique opportunity for deeper engagement with their customers (true), but the conversation quickly identifies a mobile app as the means (and many questions emerge).

The paper mentions the following:

• What devices, operating systems and handsets allow us to reach the target audience?
• Where does the transaction with the audience occur?
• Why would our audience seek brand engagement though the mobile channel?
• How will success be measured from both internal metrics and external user perspectives?

These are absolutely the right questions as they don’t imply an application is the answer; instead, they speak to mapping your objectives to the mobile customer experience.  Unfortunately, the paper poses them in line with the assumption that an app is in fact the answer.

The paper includes the same diagram we highlighted in this recent blog post where we commented on research into the types of applications most often retained and used.  Applications can be the centerpiece of many mobile marketing strategies, but certainly not all as highlighted in the research. 

Text messaging and other mobile interactions, as well as the mobile web are equal partners in executing mobile customer relationship management strategies.  All or only some may form the basis of winning mobile marketing strategies.  Partners like Interactive Mediums stand ready to prescribe and deliver the right mix for your business.

“Customer engagement is seen as being about creating relationships which result in value both for customers and for organisations.  Company respondents are most likely to indicate that increasing long-term customer value (37%) and increasing value delivered to the customer (35%) describe their interest in customer engagement most appropriately.”

Surprisingly, the study finds tactics like email newsletters and Twitter are top of mind among many of those marketers surveyed.  It’s therefore not surprising that:

“Marketers are benefiting more from the relationship-building aspects of customer engagement rather than being exclusively focused on the more directly financial benefits such as sales.”

With marketers under more pressure than ever to deliver quantitative results for their investments, it is hard to imagine CMOs authorizing significant investments in engagement strategies which cannot be measured.  The beauty of Active Customer Engagement is that by definition, it’s measurable and maps to business objectives.  It was encouraging therefore to read that:

“Mapping the customer experience across all touch points has a tangible impact on the ability to engage with customers.  Of the companies who said their customer engagement strategy has been successful, 46% say they are ‘very advanced’ or ‘quite advanced’ at mapping their customer touch-points.  For the companies who have not been successful, only 14% are quite advanced and none are very advanced at this kind of mapping.”

We prescribe this same process to help marketers hone in on the mobile marketing strategy that will create the greatest impact to their business.  Doing so can yield results such as these, where a casino implemented a three tiered mobile program that is a fundamental part of its customer engagement strategy.

Following is an excerpt from the study regarding the mobile channel – marketers who embrace mobile as a foundation of their engagement strategies will achieve better results than those who do not. Firms like Interactive Mediums make it easy to get started.

• A large proportion (41%) of companies are not planning any investment at all in the mobile channel in 2010, and a further 49% are planning only limited investment. Only 11% are planning to invest significantly but this increases significantly for the largest companies.
• Only a small number of organisations (6%) say they have a customer engagement strategy which seamlessly embraces mobile marketing. The majority of companies who are using the mobile channel at all are using it just for the occasional, ad-hoc piece of marketing (18%).
• When it comes to building customer engagement, companies have been quickest to use the mobile channel for increased dialogue with customers. A fifth of company respondents say they are doing this and a further 36% say they plan to do this.
• One-third (34%) of companies are planning to create applications for mobile phones, in addition to the 16% who say they are already doing this.
• Nearly two thirds of companies (62%) have no plans for mobile commerce. Only 10% of companies are using transactional mobile activity to build customer engagement. A further 28% are planning to do this.
• Companies who are either using or planning to use mobile as part of their customer lifecycle marketing, for broader CRM, for user-generated content or location-based marketing are also in the minority.
• Companies generally attribute their lack of inertia when it comes to integrating the mobile channel to a lack of resources (51%), although there are other widely cited reasons including lack of skills / experience / understanding, and lack of a sound business case.

• Does Relevance Indicate Mobile’s Superior ROI?
• Are Mobile Marketing Providers Paying a Price for their Early Success?
• Others See the Light: Mobile is About the Experience, Not the Device
• Should Mobile Outperform Email as a Marketing Channel?
• Getting CMOs to Turn their Frowns Upside Down Key to Mobile Marketing’s Future

This article today on eMarketer.com cites research into mobile coupon redemption (chart pictured in this post) suggesting real “hockey stick” growth after 2011.  The article also mentions consumers tend to be less interested in couponing than in using their mobile devices for product research “on the go” – such as “scanning images or bar codes with their mobile phone to get more information or coupons for a product.”

That quote is interesting in light of another article, this one about Google again making a move into QR, or Quick Response codes.  QR codes are two dimensional bar codes that when scanned with the camera function of a Smartphone present a variety of information about the code – the company or store it represents, links to a website or any number of details helpful to a consumer, including special offers or coupons.  Google’s strategy is to place 100,000 QR code stickers in businesses across the U.S., all of which do not require specialized software – a limiting factor in prior trials of QR codes which often required proprietary reader software.

Google’s efforts are well aligned with trends suggesting consumers are more interested in product research than coupons – even if QR codes can serve both purposes.  Widespread QR adoption may be just what retailers are seeking, based on this article today from Retailwire.com.  Although coupons are a logical mobile application, this viewpoint reveals the “necessary evil” aspect to couponing:

“The downside of mobile coupons is the back-end cost of redemption, which makes a successful promotion increasingly expensive.  Coupons are also the most basic of triggers for shopper engagement, with little long-term loyalty benefit.”

The article poses the question, “what’s next?” and goes on to suggest retailers build mobile strategies geared around an enhanced shopping experience, in and outside the store.  It’s apparent that retailers will benefit most from strategies geared around creating positive mobile customer experiences for their customers.

Widespread QR codes are just one element that will help connect consumers with retailers in value added ways – including couponing – but the greatest value will stem from targeting customers at the point of device to drive sales, cultivate loyalty or increase brand affinity – otherwise called Active Customer Engagement.

Both pieces of information contain useful insights for marketers, even those outside the realm of broadcast communications.

Like many companies, NPR jumped on the mobile apps bandwagon by first building an iPhone application that has thus far experienced a lot of success (millions of downloads and 15 minute average use times).

Although the iPhone made sense initially, NPR found limitations which has led to a revamped mobile strategy that greatly increases the population of listeners who can access NPR content on the go.  What’s interesting about their new strategy is that it is as much about reaching more listeners across a variety of mobile devices as getting its member stations to benefit from mobile.  To achieve this, Google’s Android platform was the ideal choice:

“With the Android app, we can let the stations incorporate their own apps into ours.  Some stations are more advanced digitally than others.  We’re working with them about becoming more robust providers of local news, which will keep them relevant. And we can share our programming and theirs on one app. That expands the opportunities for all of us.”

A much more robust mobile web presence is also part of the equation, and is apparently based on technology from that Finnish firm I mentioned.  Yet it’s the greater flexibility offered by Google Android, relative to the iPhone, that appears central to NPR’s mobile strategy.

This is the first example I’ve seen where the discussion is not about the reach (or lack thereof) offered by the iPhone.  Instead, NPR chose Android because it fit their business model better by offering its member stations a more relevant marketing platform.  That is the kind of logic and thoughtful approach which should help make 2010 the year of mobile.

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.

The article describes the oft-cited displeasure that developers have with Apple and its policies, and how it may cause defections to other platforms.  Yet the article also says this about the iPhone:

“…for most consumers, their mobile device of choice is a lifestyle decision, a personal, ever-present extension of themselves…”

With the exception of the words “mobile devices,” this statement could apply equally to the clothes a consumer buys, car they drive or restaurant they frequent.  For those products, does it really matter what their makers think as opposed to what consumers want?  That seems like a question that answers itself when you consider as well that products require distribution channels.

The “developer versus Apple” debate so pervasive right now is missing the big picture; most developers drawn to mobile come from traditional b-to-b development organizations where for years they have become accustomed to a model “all about them,” more or less.  When taken into the realm of consumer marketing, that is a dangerous point of view for anyone interested in creating successful mobile applications.

The situation reminds me of Walmart’s long-standing reputation as being difficult with its suppliers, squeezing ever smaller margins from them in exchange for access to millions of consumers.

With Apple’s App Store expected to grow three fold in 2010 to 300,000 applications, the iPhone will remain the go to platform for marketers despite the emergence of Google’s Android.  When you consider the reported difficulties developers are having with Android and projections of perhaps 70,000 Android Apps in 2010, the situation isn’t likely to change.

Marketers would be wise to align themselves with mobile application developers who recognize success means taking on the perspective of the mobile customer.  Such firms are more likely to possess both the technical expertise and distribution channel know how necessary to build apps that stand out from the crowd.

A December 1, 2009 article on BrandWeek.com titled, “iPhone Apps Put Brands in Hands,” is a cleverly named piece describing the bandwagon that is the iPhone and highlights a number of successes.  More interesting, I thought, were observations about less than successful apps that others should keep in mind as they approach mobile application projects.

By industry, the article highlights the following less than successful examples:

Retail: Gap’s StyleMixer was a terrific idea other retailers are employing or considering; the ability to create outfits based on clothing item combinations.  Gap’s app failed to resonate because there were too few options for customers to create their custom fashions.  Lesson learned: Understand how your customers want to use your application and interview a representative sample if necessary.

Banking: MasterCard’s Priceless Picks relies on user generated content which is moderated.  Users panned the application, which appears to allow customers to post their “priceless” moments, per the well known advertising campaign.  Users complained of censorship of posts and heavy advertising.  Lesson learned: If the intent is to promote a “fun” application with a social element, be certain that you don’t disappoint customers by building an overtly ad supported and patently restrictive forum.

Consumer Packaged Goods: Budweiser built an application designed to help consumers find the nearest location their product could be purchased.  While at first seemingly useful, the ubiquity of their product makes such an application seem unnecessary, which is how users reacted to it.  Lesson learned: “Finder” style applications are popular but be certain such apps have utility for your targeted customer.  In Buds case, it may have been w(e)iser to create an app which ties in store purchase promotions and a loyalty program designed to drive consumption.

Apparel: This one was out of left field.  Puma created an application which allows users to track the financial performance of their portfolios against the backdrop of a model who removes clothes as the market falls.  The sheer size of the application was its downfall, meaning it took too long to download.  Lesson learned: Even if this app were easy to download, there appears to be no connection between the application’s intended use and the company’s products, to say nothing of its tastefulness.

Media: The Wall Street Journal app requires users to pay a weekly subscription fee, even if one is subscribed to the traditional online version.  With so much news content freely offered online and in apps alike, charging a nominal fee such as this would seem to prevent widespread use, which has been the case.  Lesson learned: If you charge for content that is similar to what others provide for free, reconsider your strategy and think about incorporating advertising to support the investment.

Restaurant/Food: Burger King created an iPhone application that allows customers to place orders, but only from one area of New York.  The company has not yet rolled out the capability nationally, which is expected of a brand with locations everywhere in the U.S.  Lesson learned: For national brands, ensure that if you create a geographically limited application you plan to either kill it or roll it out widely within a reasonable timeframe.  From my POV, Starbucks, are you listening?

Similar to what we described in our Point of View on Active Customer Engagement and this actual customer example, email, web and mobile communications work together as part of a larger effort consisting of media buys supporting a promotion.  It isn’t apparent that the retailer had access to a system encapsulating all the components required to configure, execute and measure the program, but you can be certain if it did, ROI would have been greater.

A tidal wave of buzz is building around Active Customer Engagement, as illustrated by another recent article outlining the solution here on the Illinois Technology Association website.  Today as well, we were featured in a brief article titled, “Time to market with mobile” at brand-e.biz in which we say the following that gets to the heart of what Active Customer Engagement’s value is all about:

“What should drive mobile marketing investments is a strategy which focuses on the customer experience, what you want to achieve with your customers.  Developing ideal mobile paths for your customers to follow to achieve your goals should yield the best results…And in practice this will almost always mean some combination of text message interactions, mobile applications, mobile optimized web and even e-mail.”

The article describes three “divides” that will make it difficult for 2010 to be the vaunted “year of mobile.”  I propose a fourth divide but first the three cited.   One is a knowledge and resource gap facing marketers; both in terms of best practices but also how to gauge success.  The second is the delta between consumers with multi-media savvy Smartphones versus those without.  The third is potentially most troubling for marketers; a gap between consumer preference or responsiveness to mobile advertising and the amount of dollars and efforts flowing into a form of mobile marketing especially in vogue now given Google’s high profile acquisition of AdMob.

“As consumers’ usage of mobile devices has grown more sophisticated, their attitudes toward mobile marketing have become more negative.  BIGresearch’s ‘Simultaneous Media Usage’ study indicates that relative to last year, more consumers now dislike receiving text ads, video ads, and text voicemail ads, and more feel that mobile ads constitute an invasion of privacy.”

It is for this reason a fourth gap exists which will challenge the mobile marketing industry in 2010 – confusion between advertising and Active Customer Engagement (or more generally targeting customers in the mobile channel).  Although mobile and online ad networks will garner much press over the coming months, marketers who approach mobile as an interaction channel and map their marketing strategies appropriately should achieve the best results.

It’s easy to buy a keyword or place a banner in a mobile application or website, but it’s an entirely different challenge and likely more rewarding one to call customers to action at the point of device.

More interesting than the recommendations were references to an earlier November 24, 2009 article on MarketingVox.com citing Direct Marketing Association (DMA) ROI research for email and search marketing:

“…commercial email now returns $43.62 for every dollar spent on it in 2009…”

“…search advertising..is the next most effective channel with an ROI of $21.85 for every dollar spent.”

A simple conclusion would be that email’s return is about 100 percent that of search.  Consider as well that, with respect to email, “41% of consumers find that promotional offers are irrelevant, according to a study by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).”  That means despite nearly half of those subject to email marketing rejecting those offers, ROI is greater than 4,000 percent!  It isn’t clear if ROI was calculated based on direct sales driven by email promotions.

Even so, you could argue that relevance is a key determinant of return for email and search marketing investments.  Paid search may help connect consumers with relevant results, yet search by its nature is rather broad, pointing consumers to some destination rather than calling them to action.  An email communication pushed to a consumer by a business should be more targeted, relevant and contain a compelling call to action.

Considering mobile — especially SMS text message interactions – by its nature must be relevant, ROI should exceed both email and search.  Extrapolating figures cited in the article, ROI for mobile marketing could be another 100 percent greater than email, offering upwards of $80 for every dollar spent.  Even if it’s no better than email, mobile’s ROI is highly relevant to marketer’s interested in making the most of their budgets.

You might not think mobile marketing has a role in purchasing behavior involving workers shopping online from their desktop computers at work.  Unfortunately for employers concerned with productivity, mobile can – and will – play a significant role driving online transactions in a couple of days.

First, some statistics illustrating how important Cyber Monday is for retailers, from this November 23, 2009 article titled, “Retailers Power Up Cyber Monday Promos.”

“…87.1 percent of retailers will have a special promotion for Cyber Monday, up from 83.7 percent last year and 72.2 percent in 2007…”

“This year, 53.5 percent of workers with Internet access, or 68.8 million people, will shop for holiday gifts from work.”

This November 24, 2009 post titled, “New Partnership to Deliver Mobile Deals on Cyber Monday,” describes an online portal where retailers can promote offers associated with Cyber Monday.  Here, consumers may register to receive text message alerts for “a Deal of the Hour mobile marketing offer.”  This is a great example of how Mobile marketing techniques can add value to an otherwise static shopping activity.  The post, quoting from a press release on the topic, sums it up as follows:

“The brevity, immediacy, and mobility of the text messaging channel makes it ideally suited for communicating CyberMonday.com’s Deal of the Hour.”

• Vendor Lines Blurring but One Thing is Clear: Active Customer Engagement
• Retailers Succeeding with Active Customer Engagement…Even if they call it M-Commerce
• Establishment Converges on Active Customer Engagement
• Active Engagement Comes to Life for Mobile Marketers!

Continuing with this theme, radio stations are looking beyond text to other mobile marketing techniques to bring their content to “on the go” consumers.  Radio as an advertising platform no longer is limited to the airwaves, as more stations bring content online via real time streaming.  Even so, this recent post on MarketingForecast.com titled, “Brighter Outlook for Radio Advertising” suggests the opportunity relative to overall ad revenue may be small.

“Research concern SNL Kagan predicts that online radio revenues, which should reach $441.4 million or 2.7% of the industry total this year, should grow to $827 million by 2013.  At that point, online revenues would comprise close to 5% of the industry total.”

Yet, the post mentions as well that the future of radio is closely tied to a consumer behavior similar to what we are seeing in mobile applications.

“In 2009,  consumers said 19.4% of their media consumption related to radio, an increase of nearly 3% from 2008…U.S. consumers say they find TV to be the most credible information source.  However, radio ties with newspaper for second place with each media form claiming 6.3% of the total share.”

Obtaining news and information is probably among the most used mobile applications so it’s not surprising to see as well researchers suggesting mobile applications are on radio station radar screens as much as online investments:

“…they’ll be embracing online streaming and mobile apps to drive their local base to their multiple platforms.”

As radio marketers provide access to their content in convenient ways that map to the mobile customer (across online, text and mobile apps), they should continue to attract a strong audience ripe for ad messages, as pointed out in the post:

“Marketers who want to broaden the reach of their messages  may continue to find that radio represents a unique and effective way to deliver consumer attention.”

Before reading about something like that I expected to see Acxiom instead enter the mobile marketing fray like its cousin in the marketing services market, Experian.  So it was not surprising to see this headline today: “Acxiom, Partnership Infuses Consumer Intelligence in Mobile Channel.”  What was surprising is that the company is partnering with a third party to provide mobile marketing capabilities to its clients as opposed to developing something itself.  Moreover, Acxiom is partnering with the exact same firm as Experian to provide the service.  Sadly for their clients, even the benefit is the same, down to the quote in the announcement: mobile as an enabler of effective “customer life cycle management (CLM).”

That bit of déjà vu was not in the announcement, no doubt because Experian and Acxiom often compete for business.  While the news highlights the importance of the mobile channel to large, established marketing services companies, it also shows they don’t exactly know what to do with mobile (other than tack it onto their services as a means of ensuring their clients don’t look elsewhere).

Marketers who use these companies for services need not be locked into using a commodity third party for mobile messaging.  The beauty of many offerings in the marketplace are their openness and ease of integration with third party data sources to help segment mobile customers and inform more relevant dialogues.  Firms like Interactive Mediums also offer services encompassing the entire mobile customer experience, which is fundamentally the focus of marketers looking to achieve real business results at the point of device.

“Interactive Mediums provides next generation customer engagement solutions designed to facilitate high value interactions with today’s increasingly on the go consumer.”

A focus on how we help our customers achieve their business objectives is at the very core of this value proposition.  It is not about a specific technology or method.  It is about “bringing the heat” to however a client is best able to target their mobile customer – via messaging, applications or mobile web.  The article says it this way:

“Mobile marketing includes many ways of delivering targeted communications to a mobile device, and each tactic has a predominant audience that requires a specific strategy to maximize reach.”

For marketers taking their initial steps into mobile marketing, this is an important point as it influences who they should partner with.  Options are aplenty, from the boutique ad agency to interactive marketing services company to dedicated mobile technology firm.  It made me wonder how Interactive Mediums’ simply stated value compares with other companies offering mobile marketing technology products and services – many of whom can be found here.

Following are snapshots of what some of these companies lead with in describing themselves:

“(Company) drives revenue and increases listenership, viewership and loyalty for clients by tapping into the behaviors and interests of more than 136 million Americans who use text messaging on a regular basis.”

“We provide a turnkey, hosted mobile and email marketing platform backed by world-class support and expert advice to help businesses make money.”

“(Company) offers its services and technology under an On Demand Web-based software license that empowers companies with the ability to create and manage mobile initiatives themselves.”

“(Company) pioneers easy-to-use technology for scalable mobile marketing campaign management.”

“Providing robust, easy-to-use mobile marketing tools is our passion.”

“we help you achieve breakthrough marketing results by using ground-breaking technologies in mobile marketing, voice marketing, IVR and product recall.”

When an idea fails to resonate, we here at Interactive Mediums like to say “I’m not feelin’ in,” and that applies to most of the above statements.  Not so much for what they say, but what they don’t – that it is about targeting customers in the mobile channel, not text messaging, on demand software or even campaign management.

Some marketers are looking for those things, no doubt, yet I suggest that marketers who aspire to what Aberdeen Group calls “best in class” mobile marketing results are taking on the point of view of their mobile audience as a means of developing a strategy.  When it comes then to selecting a partner to help execute, those well versed in creating mobile customer experiences should be shortlisted before any others.

I call out email specifically because of a few different things I’ve read over the past week which suggest certain marketing tactics make it too easy to be ineffective – or less relevant to consumer needs.

Although mobile email use is growing, email as an interactive channel by itself has hurdles to overcome in my view which hurts its ability to serve a marketer’s objectives.  Today, for example, on eMarketer.com an article titled, “Relevance Remains a Challenge for E-Mail Marketers” cites statistics which suggest email for many consumers is very much like traditional snail mail – for the bills:

“Promotional e-mails were the most common thing for respondents to find in their inbox, with 60% saying they received such e-mails most. E-newsletters were the next-most-common type of messages.

But it was the least common messages that were most likely to be opened—monthly bills and bank statements. Only about four in 10 recipients said they “always” opened promotional offers or newsletters.”

It’s the consequence of this mismatch between consumer preference and marketer practice that marketers need to be wary of:

“Web users also complained of receiving too many to manage and getting tired of all the clutter.  In many cases that clutter can have consequences for marketers: 22% of respondents have decided not to purchase from a company because of irrelevant promotions, either via e-mail or direct mail.  A further 41% said they would consider doing the same.”

Another article, a November 20, 2009 item titled, “Yesmail talks strategy behind mobile email, SMS features” quotes the email marketing firm’s leaders regarding their move to offer mobile marketing services to its clients:

“Yesmail is already starting to early stages of mobile marketing evolving from an acquisition channel to a retention channel.  We expect to see SMS campaigns being created with the same level of sophistication as many email marketing campaigns – both in terms of segmentation and in terms of staged triggering over the next two years.”

In fact, some mobile marketing providers are already offering the ability to create triggered campaigns based on customer segments – no need to wait two years.  It’s illustrative of an undercurrent of FUD (fear/uncertainty/doubt) from email marketing services companies scrambling to extend their offerings into mobile in order to hang on to their customers, many of whom increasingly view email as a commodity.  Wise marketers should recognize the difference and not get fixated on mobile as an add on to an email campaign.

When it comes time to creating a relevant message flow, offer or call to action, it’s logical to segment your customers into groupings which lend themselves to the task.  This was the topic of a great October 22 article on ChiefMarketer.com titled, “Lock and Load: The Basics of Triggered E-mail Campaigns.”  The article is all about email as a means of crafting an interactive dialogue with customers to achieve business goals – a task that email may be ill suited to given the recent statistics cited in this post.  It concludes with a quote that marketers should take to heart, but with a view toward mobile as the means – not email:

“The beauty of event-based triggered messaging is that you can make it extremely relevant to the person receiving the e-mail.”

Problem is, email may not be the right approach to delivering those messages.

“Mobile may be the killer tool for testing the effectiveness of marketing messages and various media before a full scale rollout. Text message interactions are often used to this end, and also serve to measure return on investment for advertising across media such as print, billboards, radio and television.”

An article today on MobileMarketer.com brought this to mind, with a list of tips for testing your mobile strategy before executing holiday marketing plans.  I thought the tips were excellent, but marketers should not view testing as a single threaded activity; take the opportunity to test multiple approaches simultaneously against similar populations of targeted customers to see which one represents the greatest potential return.

Strictly speaking, champion/challenger testing is about comparing results of new ideas with those already in production.  So, in a marketing context, this would be akin to testing different discount offers as incentives for signing up for a mobile loyalty program, and comparing the effectiveness of different discount levels at attracting sign ups with those associated with a pre-existing non-mobile program.  The net result offers two benefits: a focused effort you can be more certain will meet your objectives and a direct comparison with non-mobile marketing efforts which should help align marketing budget more wisely.

So when reading the article’s suggested steps to creating a test plan, do so with an eye toward multiple scenarios and comparing results at the conclusion.  For reference, I have paraphrased the prescribed 10 step process:

• Identify the testable “entity” – For example, an SMS text message offer for joining a holiday discount club, the attractiveness of a dedicated holiday shopping application or new e-commerce enabled mobile website.
• What is the metric you are trying to measure?  # of responses, # of new sign ups, conversions between text message interaction and receipt of a discount?  Identify one or multiple attributes which can be measured and compared.
• How will you determine success?  If you are relatively new to mobile, it may be difficult to establish a target for your metrics beyond “finger in the air” guessing.  This is why the champion/challenger concept is especially suited to mobile given you will be able to compare results — ideally with past programs — to use as inputs into creating realistic targets.
• What criteria is necessary to identify when a test should be stopped?  If your test runs several weeks, you may want to cease testing if you observe little to no material difference in measures, or if one idea is simply generating far greater results than the others.
• What measures will you want to monitor for your targeted segments, independent of success metrics?  Migration among value segments/tiers would be one example.
• What other factors could affect the test, such as concurrently running marketing campaigns/promotions or those of your competitors?
• What resources are required, both technical and creative, to execute the test?  Consider both your internal staff and their potentially competing priorities as well as agency and technical third party partners.
• Be sure the proper stakeholders are aware of your plans; sales in the event demand generation is affected, brand marketing in case new messaging, visuals or brand-attributes are components of the test.
• Who is the “test sponsor” – basically the most senior person who signs off on the program.  Have this person identified – be it you or someone else – so you can quickly address any escalations that may occur.
• Time horizon for having the results: have this in mind from the beginning and back off this date to create a testing plan.  With Black Friday just a few days away it’s too late to implement these ideas now but keep them in mind to start off strong in 2010.

Although the move hasn’t been confirmed by Google, the article notes that “the carriers won’t love this,” no doubt because doing so subverts their immense sunken costs in traditional cell networks.  Even so, AT&T has supposedly lined up to provide data network access, because if they don’t surely another will.  With Google Voice offering phone service over data networks, Google will effectively have a tightly controlled alternative to any other mobile phone, and one that could be given away free if supported by built in advertising – that Google also happens to provide.

Long term, moves like this could render voice networks irrelevant.  On the device side, should Apple and Google move toward free, ad supported devices, traditional makers like Motorola will struggle to manufacture hardware at anything approaching a profit, no matter what operating system is used.