by anton | Mar 25, 2015 |
In South Africa and the African continent where Smartphone adoption is slow, USSD is a perfect way for brands to reach their customers instantly. Brands often find it hard to reach customers in rural areas through digital marketing. These customers are often consumers of more traditional marketing channels like newspapers, brochures, television and radio, and they don’t have access to laptops and computers. Cell phones are relatively cheap, thus the vast majority of these consumers own feature phones. The problem with feature phones is that they have limited capabilities. They might not always receive images or display them properly, and browsing the Internet can be a huge challenge as well. Luckily, this is where USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) comes in. Vodacom commercialized USSD in 2004 and since then many brands have reaped the rewards of this type of mobile service – like Boxer superstores and AVBOB. According to Mobitainment, Boxer stores were able to use a USSD driven competition to increase their sales from 300% to almost 1000% on selected products. Why? Because this form of mobile interaction worked like a charm for their target market. USSD Push and Pull messages works on every GSM capable handset. It is straightforward text – no glitz and glamour. Also, consumers are all very familiar with the working of USSD menus as most of them use these services to top up their airtime. Please Call Me’s are also USSD driven. It creates a two-way conversation between a customer and a brand in real-time – unlike SMS messages that are sometimes delayed. It also adds a personal touch to brand communication that...
by anton | Mar 25, 2015 |
If you are completely new to Mobile Advertising, making mistakes is inevitable. But don’t worry; we will let you in on eight common mistakes so you can easily avoid them in the future! No clear call-to-action: Don’t assume that your customers understand exactly what you want them to do after they have read your communication. Should they visit your website? Sign up for a newsletter? Participate in a survey? Tell them in no uncertain terms! Links that aren’t working: This is a very sloppy mistake to make, but it happens. Make sure that any links you put in your Mobile Advertising are working correctly and takes the user to the correct website or web page. Lengthy/ complicated forms: Typing on a mobile device is a lot harder than typing on a computer keyboard. Never give a mobile user a complicated form to fill out – it’s not going to happen! Not knowing who your target market is: Sometimes marketers try to do a generalised approach; a “shot in the dark” if you will. Don’t try to market to “everybody” in the hopes of reaching “someone”. Using too much text: Users don’t want to click, zoom and scroll to be alble to read all of your text. This is a very frustrating experience. Make your content powerful without trying to write a page-turner. Not knowing the rules, regulations and laws: Yep, all forms of marketing have rules that protect consumers. For mobile, one of those rules is that customers have to opt-in to receive your direct marketing messages. Sending a message “just because”: Never send a SMS because you haven’t...
by anton | Mar 23, 2015 |
Easter is a great time for promotions via Bulk SMS. The biggest question? What do you put in your messages to make them appealing to your customers? Not all brands have the kind of products or services that are directly related to Easter. For such brands it can be very hard to configure their content. If you don’t sell chocolates or offer holiday accommodation, what on earth can you do? Start by thinking about how people normally spend their time during April. You know that the schools are closed and we have a few public holidays as well. This means that people are spending time with family, buying treats, going on holiday, attending religious events or concerts and having a good time overall. The secret? Using a play on words and events related to Easter in your Bulk SMS Campaigns. Try one of these lines: Our products are better than chocolate You don’t have to go on a Easter Egg hunt to find prices like ours Our deals are egg-stra special Give your customers something extra that isn’t necessarily related to your products. Include links in your Bulk SMS message to valuable content on blogs and online articles. During this time, people usually want to know about: Recipes for family meals Fun activities for the whole family. How to keep the kids busy with arts and crafts – painting eggs, making bunny masks etc. Interesting events that are happening in their vicinity – e.g. Easter Egg hunts, Easter plays, exhibitions etc. What to do if they can’t afford to go on holiday – e.g camping out in your own...
by anton | Mar 20, 2015 |
While both traditional and digital marketing methods have their time and place, Wholesale SMS messaging is hard to beat. It can bring something more targeted and specialised to your business. Why? It’s less “spammy” As a consumer, you can’t choose which ads should appear on the television, radio, billboards or in the newspapers and magazines. The same is sometimes true for email as well – somehow companies you have never heard of get hold of your address and send you a bunch of irrelevant emails. Ugh! But this is where marketing through Wholesale SMS is different. Because consumers have to opt-in to get a brand’s mobile messages, these same consumers are much more tolerant of your texts. They know they can opt out at anytime, so even your direct marketing attempts won’t be seen as spam. Clients WANT to hear from you As we have mentioned, because clients subscribe to your SMS marketing, you know they actually want to hear from you. While they might overlook the everyday traditional stuff that the media throws at them, they won’t ignore your texts. Your brand won’t get lost in the white noise. This is also means that you will get value from engaging with your clients through Wholesale SMS. In other words: this medium is just as effective as it is inexpensive. A win for both you and your clients! It is trendy Sure, it is not like consumers have stopped paying attention to traditional marketing channels, but the younger target market especially is much more interested in mobile technology. The same is true for working professionals. These people are always...
by anton | Mar 18, 2015 |
Consumers are finding your brand on the web through Mobile Advertising. Hooray! But that’s not enough. You don’t just want to be found, you want to sell your products and services. How can you make that next step possible? Target specific stages of conversion Consumers who search for you on their mobile device, isn’t necessarily looking for an aggressive sales pitch. Sometimes they simply want to learn more about who you are and what you do. Thus, always having a “call us now or else…” call-to-action isn’t necessarily the best idea – it makes people wary of clicking. Have different types of calls-to-action so you can target consumers in different stages of the buying process. Keywords should reflect consumers’ needs Mobile searchers have a specific need – that is why they are searching the mobile web in the first place. This also entails that they are searching for specific keywords e.g. “diamond wedding rings.” Your job is to identify these keywords and use it in your Mobile Advertising so consumers can find you first. Take your calls-to-action for a test drive There is more to a call-to-action than simply saying: “Call us.” There are other elements you can experiment with as well – remember, not all consumers react the same way to all advertisements. What might be appealing to one target market or work for a certain type of product, might not work for others. Give the following a try and see if it works for your brand: Include your business hours Experiment with different phrases that have the same meaning A phone icon that the user can just...
