Tag: mobile commerce

Mobile Marketing

Mobile #101 – Essential Guide to Mobile Marketing (Series post)

Post 1 of a series of 12 – Introduction to Mobile Marketing

This blog and everything I talk about here should provide company owners and senior managers with simple steps that they can take before investing in a mobile channel strategy, either independent or as part of a multi channel plan.

Consumers are now truly mobile in their browsing and shopping habits. They increasingly expect companies and brands to deliver mobile – enabled services that meet their needs regardless of what device they are connecting on.

All customer focused businesses need to be aware of the many challenges that come with the development of mobile strategies. These can include mixed and confusing messages, claims of astonishing achievements, a lack of technological understanding and the added complication of where to turn for expert guidance.

The starting point for all businesses is to understand that the rush to engage with consumers using mobile technology involves more than the development of an App or loyalty program. As I will explain throughout this post series, its important to develop a fully considered mobile strategy before starting any technical development and companies that take a considered long term approach tend to out perform in the increasingly important mobile space.

Mobile is ubiquitous, it has taken less than 20 years to revolutionise the way we communicate with each other. It offers instant gratification, constant contact and an immediate payment system.

However utilising its fantastic power to gain brand loyalty from your new and old customers alike is a tricky business. Get it wrong and you will struggle to ever get it right again. Get it right and you will grow revenues, gain brand loyalty and acquire new customers.

Over this series you will learn the types of questions to ask prospective mobile partners, questions a senior manager should ask their sales and marketing or commercial teams and questions that senior management should ask before adopting a new mobile channel strategy.

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I hope you enjoy and learn from this series

Thanks

themobileexpert

Mobile Marketing, Mobile Supplements

6 SMS TIPS FOR THE HOLIDAYS

The holidays are fast approaching, so it’s more important than ever to keep your digital marketing program running as smoothly as Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve. Over the course of nearly two decades in marketing, 10 of these in Mobile technology businesses I have been witness to the rise of mobile as a major force in the digital communications landscape.

Yet less than 50% of British businesses give more than 5% of their marketing budget to mobile communications. (Source: Forbes)

There are a number of factors in a business not taking full advantage of the mobile channel, from reluctance of senior management to take the leap through to internal infrastructure issues that ultimately need fixing before a mobile strategy can be fully realised.

However, it’s easier than you think to judge the success rates of mobile over other more traditional channels, it’s even easier to track the effectiveness of SMS in increasing open rates of an email for instance.

Mobile Messaging via SMS is proven to increase interaction, engagement and promote faster buying decisions from your customers.xmas sms

 

So… Its Christmas… and if you’re not using Mobile as part of your strategy already, then your behind your competition… the question is… what are you going to do about it…

Want some ideas to get you started?

Take a look at my six benefits to SMS Marketing this holiday season….              

Source: IPSOS Survey

 

6 Ways to gain more revenue this Holiday season through SMS marketing…

  1. Notify your customers of special offers, low prices, instore sales etc..

People respond to mobile, the average text message is read within 90 seconds of hitting a handset and is the number one channel for making purchasing decisions whilst on the move.

  1. Reminders for appointments

Run a leisure business, restaurant or salon? Use SMS as an appointment booking service and remind your customers when an appointment is due. Get the customer to respond to your reminder or booking SMS and opt them in to receiving marketing texts going forward.

  1. NEWS FLASH! Let your customers in on your secret… notify them early of pre-sales activity.

Send your customers an SMS giving them vital information on a pre-sales event in your store or online business. Make them feel special and offer some good deals or offers and you will gain not only price based loyalty but customer brand loyalty too.

  1. Competitions

SMS is a great way to gain instant buy in for a competition or an offer linked to a competition entry. Collect data by adding in a mobile web page as part of the sign up process. Make it a Christmas themed competition for extra interest from your customer base at this time of year.

  1. Gift Card Sales

Not sure you’re going to sell enough gift cards this year? Mobilise them by offering gift cards via text messaging…send your customers a message to get them to visit the website or go in store to purchase a gift card for a loved one this xmas. Give them a small discount code in the message that they can use at the till point to get some money off their gift card purchase.

  1. Footfall Driver Offers

SMS marketing is fantastic for driving footfall into bricks and mortar stores especially in the holiday season. Offer customers a free glass of Mulled wine with a purchase over £5 for instance or a free mince pie when they order a coffee etc..

The holidays are just around the corner and consumers are starting their quest for the perfect gifts and bargains. A well worded and timely text message to a consumer giving value can entice shoppers to buy your products or services.

“85% of shoppers are highly likely to buy from brands that offer highly personalised discounts.”

 

Good Luck

themobileexpert

Mobile Supplements

Is M-Commerce the future of mobile interaction – Part Three

Growth of Mobile Commerce – Retailers

Also, many companies have yet to be convinced that they need a mobile strategy; a recent 2ergo survey found that over 70% of companies surveyed outside our customer base were yet to be convinced they needed a mobile strategy for their business.

This is of particular significance to well-established bricks and mortar stores, especially those who will be seeing a good number of smartphone-using shoppers coming through their doors over the next couple of months.

Now is the time to be embracing mobile and all the things it can do for the retailer, from appointment confirmation, check in, offers, footfall drivers etc…

Within the 30% or so that do have a mobile strategy, the retailers are benefiting from their use of mobile rendered websites, strong product or service placement within mobile sectors and strong offers available via mobile and they are increasing sales as a result.

More than one third of smartphone users made a purchase through their mobile device in the last 6 months and nearly two out of three shoppers use at least one device to research and purchase while shopping, and 28% use two devices at a time.

Within the 10% of mobile users who have made a mobile purchase in the last six months, 84% look for local retailer information, 82% find online retailers, 73% find a specific manufacturer or product website, 71% learn about a product or service after seeing an ad, 68% find the best price for a product or service, and 63% search before purchasing in a store or from a catalogue using their mobile device.

Combine these kinds of statistics from the mCommerce ready audience with 56% of consumers believing mobile can make the shopping experience more enjoyable and you can understand why many marketers believe that there is a consumer payments revolution on the way with retail at the forefront of it.

Both sources mentioned here look into the numbers of people who are still hesitant when it comes to mobile commerce. The Intersperience research highlights that 37% of UK adults are not keen to buy via mobile, compared to just 11% who remain hesitant to purchase via PC.

According to Google’s stats, 69% of smartphone users who do not buy via mobile simply prefer to use their PC or laptop for shopping. Other concerns included ‘doesn’t feel secure’ (34%) and complexity (9%).

It’s quite clear that paying over your PC didn’t take off immediately in the late 90’s but the advent of payment providers like Paypal and the emergence of the banking sector into online payments has made paying over your PC an everyday “chore” almost, with people more than happy to pay over the internet.

Whilst mobile is going through that indifference and security concerns phase now, it’s clear than in the future as more and more banks and financial players like PayPal come into the market with industry leading products and services and as more security concerns are addressed that the future of payments via mobile as a “chore” is very, very near.

In the final post in the M-Commerce series we will look at future predictions in this sector.

Thanks

themobileexpert

Mobile Supplements

Is M-Commerce the future of Mobile Interaction? – Part Two

Growth of Mobile Commerce ….. the Consumer

As devices become smarter and the user experience becomes faster, easier and more secure, so UK shoppers are beginning to make more purchases via their mobile devices.

Data published in October 2012 from a new tracking initiative by IMRG highlights the growth of the mobile commerce sector in the UK.

During Q2 2011 visits to e-commerce sites from mobile devices accounted for 7% of overall traffic, up from an average of 1.4% in Q1 2010.

The research also shows that UK mobile shoppers are buying more and are now making 3.3% of e-commerce purchases from mobile devices. This is an increase from 0.4% at the beginning of 2010.

UK mobile owners are making more purchases from their devices and are also using them when visiting offline stores.

According to Intersperience, 8% of UK adults buy through their mobile phones, while 21% intend to in the future. Comparatively, a smaller percentage (7%) of under-18s currently make purchases via mobile but 33% plan to in the future.

Mobile is also clearly playing a big part on purchases made in shops. Our Mobile Planet data sees 24% of UK smartphone owners taking their phones shopping with them in order to compare prices and inform themselves about products.

Additionally, mobile devices are on the cusp of becoming more than an in-store information source, with the release of apps and features allowing users to make payments through their devices instead of using cash or card.

Despite 24% of UK adults being in agreement that mobile phones are more likely to be stolen than wallets, Intersperience data shows that 17% would be keen to use their devices for payments. Again, youngsters are more eager, with 25% of under-18s keen to replace their wallets with mobiles at the cash register.

From a marketing point of view however, there is still a significant amount of catch-up to be done for mobile commerce to become as trusted as PC-based mobile commerce.

Look out for part three of this 3 part post when we look at the role the retailer plays in the growth of m-commerce.

Thanks

themobileexpert

Mobile Supplements

Is M-Commerce the Future of Mobile interaction?

This is a three part post. In it, we will try and show why m-commerce is the future of mobile interaction from a consumer perspective and a retailer engagement one.

Mobile Interaction – Introduction – Part One

“By 2014 more people will use a Mobile Device to get online than PC’s..  (Gartner Research 2012)”

In terms of the technological age, mobile has been quickly adopted in comparison to other great inventions of equal or more significant importance. It took Alexander Graham Bell nearly 30 years to see his telephone invention of 1875 becoming widely adopted in America when AT & T created the first transcontinental telephone service in 1915.  John Logie Baird’s TV invention first built in 1925 took over a quarter of a century to be even 70% part of consumers general home life, due to costs, early development issues, the 2nd world war etc..

Mobile has become the fastest adopted technology ever seen, in less than 15 years since the first heavily commercialised mobile phones were released for public consumption many countries have mobile penetration levels well over 100%, meaning in most cases people have at least 2 devices.

The types of consumer facing mobile programs you can run has advanced to a level where you can register for a program as a new mum and receive texts each week for the duration of your babies infant years detailing how your baby should be developing and how to deal with certain issues as they occur, like nappy rash for instance.

You can use your mobile device as a communication method, to blog your friends, to access the internet, to switch on your heating at home, to talk to your Sky box and record your favourite programs, as a TV of sorts, play games, as a payment device for small purchases and in ever increasing regularity as a redemption device against larger purchases.

It will only be a matter of time before you can carry your phone and pay for everyday purchases almost as you would with a debit card.

It would seem the only thing you can’t do yet with your phone is open your front door and even that won’t be the case for much longer!

Look out for our next post on this subject when we look at the role the Consumer (thats me and you!) plays in the growth of m-commerce.

Thanks

themobileexpert