It’s amazing how many businesses claim that SMS text message marketing and mobile marketing don’t work. It’s also amazing how many of the industry “experts” always write about and try to brainstorm why so many text message campaigns fail when the reason for it is so obvious. In fact, if you try to list all the reasons why a particular mobile marketing campaign fails, which many do, it they would all boil down to the only reason most businesses fail when it comes to their SMS text message marketing strategy: most marketers, advertising firms, mobile marketing agencies, and your startup companies just don’t understand the concept of value.
Not dollars and cents value. I’m talking about value as in “I’m willing to give you my valuable contact information and cell phone number in exchange for what you’re offering” type of value. When it comes right down to it, all mobile marketing campaigns succeed and/or fail based on how well you address that point. That’s it! And it’s so obvious.
I’m going to dispel some rumors here. The first and foremost is that people want “a deal”. Just create a keyword and offer some kind of a discount and people will text-in in droves, right? Wrong! Yes, people do want a deal, but the bottom line is that most people don’t want to show a coupon from their phone to a retailer. Some think it comes across as cheap, others don’t like the stigma of a coupon in the first place, and some feel the whole process is cheesy. Groupon? You can have it when it comes to building a successful daily deal campaign from the actual business owner’s point of view. If your sms text message marketing campaign relies on offering a one time standard coupon for an opt-in, you’re going to fail.
The second type of “value added” opt-in technique that everyone seems to think is a no-brainer is the “offer a free report” for the opt-in. Loser! There are two main reasons for this: for starters at this point, everyone pretty much knows “Free Reports” are basically just bait for useless, high priced info that generally helps no one. You don’t have to be a mobile marketer to figure this one out. More and more people have become desensitized to this form of “value”. The second reason the free report strategy doesn’t provide enough incentive for the opt-in is because generally, a link to the free report is generally the text message recipient’s confirmation message – and no one wants to read a free report on their phone. They just don’t.
Finally, you hear about running mobile contests as another sure-fire can’t miss mobile marketing strategy. But are they effective? Yes and no. Yes, if you want a ton of immediate opt-ins. And no if you want an unsubscribe list as long as Florida. Here’s what generally happens: a company runs a text-to-win contest or some kind of promotional sms mobile marketing campaign to win some prize, say an iPad. The contest is over at some point and someone wins, but the business has generated a significant number of opt-ins, so everyone thinks everything’s going great. Then, armed with this “strong” opt-in database, the business sends out a promotional text a week later and everyone opts out, causing the company to lament that “text message marketing doesn’t work”. Even the iPad winner opts out because there’s no more real value. There’s simply not enough consistent value here.
So is there hope in SMS text message marketing and mobile marketing in general? Yes! But you have to understand the value concept, and the ONLY way to offer something of real value to potential customers is to offer them a loyalty rewards program that gives them consistent perks and makes them feel like they have to patronize your brand and they’d be crazy to go elsewhere. That’s value! Rewards programs work in real life in just about every industry and MOBILE loyalty rewards programs work even better since everyone carries their phones around with them at all times. At this point in the text message marketing landscape, if you’re NOT running some kind of mobile loyalty rewards program, YOU WILL FAIL IN YOUR MOBILE MARKETING EFFORTS.
Talk to just about every business who has tried mobile marketing and “failed” and ask them exactly what their sms text message marketing campaign strategy was and I guarantee that not one of them was running a mobile loyalty rewards program. However, there’s just one more slight problem: not many mobile marketing companies out there offer mobile loyalty rewards that actually work and are cost-effective for the merchant to run at the same time. We’ve done the research and have found this program to be the best and most well-thought-out from both the customer and the merchant point of view.
It’s time to stop listening to all the naysayers out there who are down on mobile marketing because they just don’t get it. Start your own mobile loyalty rewards program that gives value to your customers and you’ll succeed and end up getting the last laugh on all these “mobile marketing experts” that have no idea what they’re talking about.
Related posts:
- Mobile Customer Loyalty Rewards Programs: Do “Daily Deals” Work?
- Developing Facebook Fan Pages is Important for Brand Loyalty Rewards Programs
- SMS Text Message Marketing Without Texting Keywords?
- Tips on SMS Text Message Mobile Marketing, the Most Effective Form of Promotion
- Mobile Loyalty Rewards Programs Drive Ticket Sales
