by anton | Sep 22, 2014 |
Do you want to make sure you get your money’s worth from your Mobile Advertising campaigns? We can give you 4 tips to put you on the right track! Decide what you want from your ad partner First you should decide if you want to do your campaigns on your own or team up with an advertising partner. If this is a completely new ball game for you, it would be wise to get expert help and advice. Companies that offer advertising services don’t all operate the same way. Some might offer to do everything for you from A to Z, while others have a self-service approach that will require you to be more hands-on. To incentivise or not? Are you going to reward customers for interacting with your mobile advertisement or not? (In other words, offering users a reward for their participation.) This isn’t a “must”, but it will help to drive traffic. On the other hand, you might get users who interact with your ad just to get a reward, but who have no intentions of becoming a customer. If your budget is tight, this could be a very important decision. Choose the right payment model There are different price structures for mobile ads. You can pay per click, per impression, per install etc. Your marketing goals (and product) will determine which method is better suited for you. For example: if you offer a mobile app, you rather want to pay every time a user downloads your app instead of paying every time someone simply clicks on the app. Don’t start your target market too small Why? If...
by anton | Sep 19, 2014 |
Mobile usage is on the rise, as is mobile payments and shopping. But what if you don’t have the type of product or service that is fit for e-commerce? Does this leave you “out of the game” so to speak? Not at all. You can still attract customers to your bricks-and-mortar shop with Location Based marketing. Most smartphones have geo-location technology that allows the user to know the geographic location of his/ her phone. While it doesn’t necessarily give an on-the-dot pinpoint of where the user is, it is still pretty accurate. Marketers are using this geo-technology to do Location Based Marketing. In other words, if they know the geographic location of the customer, they can time their marketing messages to reach customers at the ideal moment. If your customer is in the vicinity of your shop, you can send him a message about your current specials. The power of this marketing method lies in the fact that you are basically giving the customer a reason to enter your shop. You can either use Location Based marketing to play defence or offense. E.g. target consumers in your own vicinity or “hijack” customers in your competitor’s vicinity. It can also provide insight into consumer behaviour – for example what time of the day/ on which days your customers are doing their shopping – that will lead to highly targeted marketing campaigns. How do companies know where to “draw the line”? This is what is called geo-fencing. You can define a geographic region – big or small – that you want to target with your marketing. This type of marketing is...
by anton | Sep 17, 2014 |
What can you do with SMS Shortcodes? Pretty much anything! Let’s take a look at five practical uses that are suitable for just about any type of business. Competitions Who wants to fill out a competition form by hand and then drop it into a box that looks suspiciously like the handiwork of pre-schooler? It might work at an informal event, but it is definitely not suited for a professional business. Entering a competition via mobile simply makes your company look more legit. Making donations If you are hosting a charity event or taking donations for a worthy cause, you want to make it as easy as possible for participants to commit. SMS Shortcodes can make this an instant process. After all, you want people to commit on the spot while they are “feeling” your message – not later when they are at home and have forgotten all about it. Getting information Customers don’t want to jump through hoops to get the answer to a simple question. Let them text their questions using a Shortcode. This will give the consultant ample time to get a satisfying answer for the customer and then text or phone them back. Less time wasted, more efficient customer service! This can also work for recruiting new clients. Instead of calling them up and intruding on their privacy, you can simply text to ask if they are interested and they can reply back using your shortcode. Less money wasted! Instant feedback Conducting marketing surveys can be quite the chore – not only for the marketer, but the customer as well. Consumers don’t want to answer...
by anton | Sep 15, 2014 |
Are you new to Mobile Advertising or simply stuck in a rut? Don’t stress! These seven simple tips will get you your motor running no time. Know your audience: Even though it is supposed to be your starting point, some marketers still get it wrong. Know what your customers want from you. What phones they are using? How are they using it? Remember, consumers behave differently when reading messages on their phone compared to reading viewing info on their desktop computer. Knowing this could be the difference between mobile marketing success and failure. The less clicks, the better: Make your ad interactive. The more your customer has to click, the less inclined he will be to follow through. Something like an in-ad sign-up is a great way to counter excessive clicking. Mobile Advertising is for now: Mobile communication is immediate and interactive. Placing an ad for an event that is happening a year from now, simply won’t make sense. Time your ad in such a way that your customers are able to take action at the appropriate time. Location, location, location: It is important to place your ad in an appropriate location. You want your ad to be seen quickly without being disruptive to the user. People generally don’t like to pause what they are doing because of an ad! Have a strong call to action: What do you want a consumer to do when they see your ad? Email you? Phone you? Buy a product on your website? Tell them! And give them a very good reason to take action – like a free gift or discount. (P.S...
by anton | Sep 12, 2014 |
Customer loyalty is a corner stone of every thriving business, however, keeping consumers coming back for more is easier said than done. Agreed? Not if you have a SMS Platform! Mobile is an excellent tool for driving customer loyalty programmes. The secret behind being successful in this endeavour is knowing what your customers want. What works and what doesn’t work for them? The top three rewards offered by companies are: discounts, free products and loyalty points that can be redeemed at some point. According to an article on Bizcommunity, the majority of customer votes went for discounts and savings (39%). Free products/ premiums followed closely on its heels with only 5% less votes. Loyalty points received the least of the votes – most likely because it takes too long to accumulate enough points to redeem on something worthwhile. Okay, now that we have a better understanding of consumer preferences, how do you tie it into your SMS Platform? You start with the biggest factor: value add. You are in the ideal situation to customize your loyalty programme. By looking at your customers’ behaviour, you should be able to take your texting (and rewards) to a more personal level. This way you are truly adding value to the lives of your customers – something that 32% of customers say is not happening. Also, allow your other communication channels to assist your SMS platform. It doesn’t have to be a stand-alone platform. For example: encourage your customers to check-in on Facebook at your restaurant (via their mobile) while they are having a coffee. Three things that customers regularly complain about (and...
by anton | Sep 10, 2014 |
Airtime Vouchers can take the pain out of rewarding your customers. Every person owning a cell phone has to use airtime – whether by contract or pre-paid. It is hard to go wrong with such a simple incentive! It isn’t limited to age: You don’t have to worry that only certain age groups would be interested in such a reward. It will obviously appeal to a young crowd because they are constantly busy on their phones and, hence, are always short on airtime. But it can be equally appealing to an older target market who are limited by a strict financial budget. It is a good idea though to adjust the amount you reward according to your customers’ needs. An older market might not be interested in a small R5 voucher while younger customers might not be too worried about the value. Your environmental conscious customers will love it: Because Airtime Vouchers can be sent and redeemed without the use of paper material, it is much more environmentally friendly. If your business sells “green” products this reward system is a must-have – it sends a pretty clear message that you care about the planet. New and old customers will give it the thumbs up: You can use your vouchers to either attract new customers or to reward loyal ones. Give it away as: A competition prize Part of a limited marketing campaign (e.g. buy a product on a certain date and receive a reward) A set reward (e.g. customers get it every year on their birthday or anniversary of their account / every customer who opens an account receives...
