Should Your Brand Pursue a Text Messaging Campaign?

We’ve all seen the stats regarding the proliferation of text messaging. According to Pew Research, 72 percent of cell phone owners send or receive text messages. The Wireless Association reports that during 2009, 1.5-trillion text messages were transmitted by wireless carriers.

That said, ubiquity alone does not necessitate inclusion in the marketing mix. Television, despite its saturation in our society, may not be the most appropriate marketing vehicle. If you’re a marketer, how can you tell if a text messaging campaign would be useful in achieving your goals?

In her book, The Mobile Marketing Handbook (a must read for anyone looking to learn more about mobile marketing), Kim Dushinski argues that any brand whose target market is primarily under 30 should employ mobile as a marketing vehicle without hesitation. The statistics to support this, particularly in teens, are staggering. Pew Research reports that two-thirds of teens are more likely to text a friend than talk via cell.

Even if your target market isn’t primarily under 30, a text messaging campaign may still have merit. According to Dushinski, if your target market is likely to have a corporate cell phone with data plan, text messaging campaigns may be effective. Dushinski also states that text messaging campaigns may be an option if more than half of your target audience is likely to use their cell phones for more than making telephone calls.

Why are text messaging campaigns effective? According to the Direct Marketing Association, 70 percent of mobile phone users responded to a marketing text message. In contrast, only 30 percent responded to email offers. This difference in response is likely attributable to the medium’s lack of clutter and noise. Only 10 percent of mobile text messages are spam compared with 65 percent for e-mail.

The first key to developing a text messaging campaign is to understand that it resides completely in the realm of permission marketing. While consumers have been somewhat conditioned to accept junk mail and spam in limited quantities, their relationship with their phone, mobile or otherwise, is considered to be far more sacred and inviolable.

The Mobile Marketing Association’s (MMA) Code of Conduct spells out explicit guidelines that ensure any text messaging campaign, regardless of goal, budget or design, will operate in accordance with privacy regulations. The MMA requires the consumer expressly consent (or opt-in) to all text messaging campaigns and states that this consent does not carry into any marketing initiatives beyond the initial program. In addition, the MMA requires simple, easily discoverable termination (or opt-out) capabilities throughout the entire campaign.

As with any marketing expenditure, explicit outcomes and goals should be designed. Luckily, the goals of a text messaging campaign don’t differ significantly from other marketing campaigns. Text messaging campaigns have been used to acquire new customers, increase product usage, retain existing customers and build brand awareness.

When designing a text messaging campaign, adding value to a customer’s life is paramount. Even a single text message that fails to add value to a customer’s life may be perceived as spam and a violation of his or her opt-in agreement. Once this pact is broken, consumer opt-out is the best-case scenario – long-term damage to brand equity is equally likely.

There are many ways to use a marketing text message to add value to a customer’s life. In her book, Dushinski suggests the following:

* Offer timely knowledge relevant to your customer’s needs
* Provide a financial incentive in the form of a coupon or special offer
* Provide entertainment such as jokes, trivia questions or other forms of engaging content

@NeilAndrewJames

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Tags: mobile marketing, sms, text messaging

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 9:20 am and is filed under Digital Marketing, Trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.