Delivering Customer Value Anywhere, Any Time
October 01, 2007
By Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D.
Is mobile marketing finally ready for prime time? Several compelling indicators point in this direction. Even in North America, where most things mobile lag behind Europe and Asia, companies from Proctor & Gamble to Disney are launching initiatives designed to engage customers via this "anywhere, any time" medium.
Mobile communications have become a fixture of our everyday lives—not just for voice communications but also messaging, entertainment and information gathering. And with companies like PayPal and Visa moving into the mobile payments arena, it's only a matter of time before your cell phone truly becomes your wireless wallet.
According to Forrester, 76% of U.S. households now own at least one cell phone and 44% of U.S. mobile phone owners use some form of data service (including text messaging). It comes as no surprise, then, that Nielsen Wireless is launching a new service in July, Mobile Vector, to track the media consumption habits of the mobile consumer—a sure indicator that mobile is coming into its own.
But the very idea of mobile marketing annoys 79% of consumers, and only 3% of consumers with cell phones say that they trust text ads on mobile phones (Forrester, December 2006). While mobile marketing may hold the promise of the ultimate one-to-one communications—highly personal, location-independent, in real time—mobile campaigns can just as quickly alienate customers if they are perceived as intrusive, irrelevant, of little value and in some instances (like fax-spam), actually incur an unwelcome cost.
Here are a few tips on how to optimize your mobile marketing campaigns:
• Let Your Customers Opt-In. Trust is the foundation of any solid customer relationship. To establish trust with your mobile customers, let them opt-in and—just as easily—opt-out of receiving your mobile marketing communications. This is the Mobile Marketing Association's number one rule in its code of conduct. Repeat this process from time to time. Research shows customers actually forget they gave permission, so give them a chance now and then to turn off the switch. If they don't, you can be more confident they want to hear from you.
• Reward Your Customers. Set up a one-to-one exchange whereby your customers are rewarded for receiving your marketing messages. For example, Virgin Mobile rewards customers with free airtime through its Sugar Mama program, in return for providing feedback to online spots or products and brands.
• Safeguard Your Customers' Privacy. This goes well beyond refraining from selling or sharing customer data with third parties. A company that respects its customers' privacy will regard customer information as a competitive asset, using it to build mutual value.
Sales & Marketing Management Magazine
This article is brought to you by Sales & Marketing Management, the leading authority for executives in the sales and marketing field.
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