Digital Marketing: Mobile customer keeper

not be underestimated, clients would be advised to approach this most
intrusive of channels with care. It's certainly not of value across the
entire marketing spectrum, asserts Mike Colling, managing director at
media consultancy Mike Colling & Co.

"For acquiring new customers, mobile can be a very effective response
channel, rather than being used as a medium in its own right," says
Colling. "To use it as an outbound channel for cold acquisition is an
absolute travesty."

Mobile marketing stirs up strong feelings among direct marketers, in
part because of privacy issues. "Consumers want to feel in control of
their mobile. It's the most personal space they have," adds Colling. The
potential for abuse of this channel by marketers may be ripe, but few
could deny its value as both a customer acquisition and retention tool
if approached correctly.

Promote a valuable service

The less contentious and more widespread application concerns customer
retention. This embraces loyalty schemes offering member benefits and a
raft of customer service offerings from SMS appointment reminders to
bank balance alerts. Customer service is increasingly seen as an
important brand differentiator, and the mobile channel gives companies
the opportunities to add value to the relationship at a low cost.

But for this approach to be effective, it is vital that the information
provided is of genuine value. A good example is the AA which, in October
2000, launched a text alert service informing customers who had broken
down when they could expect a patrol car to arrive. Working with
Wireless Information Network (WIN), the service quickly rolled out
across all AA call centres, and now more than a third of drivers in
breakdown situations receive text updates.

Pick your moment

Of course not every brand lends itself to service-orientated text alerts
and that's where loyalty schemes can work well. In November last year,
the bar group Pitcher & Piano joined forces with mobile marketing agency
MindMatics to launch its first SMS customer loyalty campaign. Customers
were invited to text in their name and postcode to a shortcode for a
chance to win a prize. Entrants received a message thanking them for
entering, then phase two kicked in, offering a free bottle of wine at
any participating bar if three friends sent in that person's mobile
number.

This simple exercise enabled the bar chain to amass a significant
database of customers. At quiet times of the day or to promote special
events, bar managers now text this mobile community with offers and
promotions to drive footfall.

The key here is not to bombard the customer with texts, but to keep the
content interesting and, crucially, to give customers the opportunity of
opting out of contact. In terms of collecting mobile data in the first
place, the number of customer touch points now available to brands makes
this relatively straightforward. The instore environment is a good
opportunity to use point-of-sale material to give customers an incentive
to text in, ideally using a text-and-win mechanic. For brands with no
direct contact with their customers, a short registration process on the
website can include mobile phone number capture, or agents in call
centres can be briefed to request this information.

There's also the opportunity to collect postal address data,
particularly as the street number and postcode is all a company needs to
complete the full address using Royal Mail's Postcode Address File
(PAF).

Flytxt is currently using this approach for an FMCG client in order to
send out a promotional item to the respondent's address. "FMCGs are one
step removed from the buyer, because they have to go through the
supermarkets, so this is an important means for them to start collecting
data," says Nick Fuller, head of operations at Flytxt.

Link to other media

Stringency is even more necessary when a company embarks on a mobile
customer acquisition campaign. The first question is where to source the
data. The quick answer is to buy opt-in mobile data from a third-party
supplier that has solicited permission to pass this on. But the jury is
out on the value of bought mobile data. Volumes do not tend to be high
and there is the risk of annoying the recipient, even if they have given
permission to a third party.

"Buying third-party data is full of pitfalls and can be suicide for a
brand," confirms Ben King, marketing manager at WIN. Rented data has its
place, but the consensus is that when it comes to customer acquisition,
mobile works best as a response channel linking with other media.

Jonathan Bass, MD at mobile specialist Incentivated says that "at some
point, you won't see a poster or print ad that doesn't invite the
customer to visit a website or text in".

Peugeot has been one of the quickest off the mark in this respect. When
it launched its 1007 model in June, the shortcode 81007 featured on its
TV and press campaign, enabling customers to request a test drive or
brochure via their mobile.

Shortcodes

Simple five-digit shortcodes have been an important enabler for inbound
SMS activity. When the Greater London Authority worked with Incentivated
to launch a mobile phone message service for Londoners, the obvious
shortcode was 62967, which spells MAYOR. If Londoners want to attend any
GLA events, such as the recent annual State of London conference, they
simply send their postcode in a text message and have a ticket posted to
them automatically.

And shortcodes are easy to secure, says Jeremy Wright, co-founder of
Enpocket. "You go through a network aggregator for a monthly fee. It
costs relatively little, a few hundred pounds, so there's no barrier to
take-up."

But the real potential for mobile as a response channel, adds Wright,
will be realised when richer content is delivered to a prospect's
handset. "The penetration of wap-enabled phones is around 70 per cent.
This means that if I text a short code, the brand can send me back a wap
link that automatically takes me to a wap site where there is much
richer content," says Wright.

MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) is another channel that will come
into its own, offering brands the potential to send animations and
videos to a MMS handset. But at the moment Wright says that this channel
is too costly and cross-network MMS shortcodes aren't yet available.

But some technologies are being actively picked up on. This includes
Bluetooth wireless technology, which enables people with a
Bluetooth-chip in their phone to have information transmitted to it. In
January this year, men's retailer Blue Inc worked with agency Folk on a
drive to attract traffic to its Manchester store. As part of the
campaign, customers with a Bluetooth-enabled phone walking past the
store were sent an animation tempting them in with various offers.

"Bluetooth penetration is getting high enough for this sort of campaign
to work," says Simon Jenkinson, head of interactive at Folk.

The technology is smart, but most brands are still on the first rung of
the mobile ladder and would be wise to keep it simple. While it's not
yet a mainstream marketing channel, mobile marketing certainly seems to
be heading that way.

TOP TIPS

1. Never spam! Unwanted messages do more damage to a brand than any
other medium.

2. Data collected from those who have given their permission should be
analysed to use each communication to maximum effect.

3. Timeliness. Make sure your message arrives at the right time of day,
week, etc. Time-sensitive messages have maximum impact.

4. Keep things simple. There are more than 900 handsets with differing
capabilities.

5. Think viral. Word of mouth is the best recommendation. Wouldn't it be
wonderful if your customers did your advertising for you?

6. Don't bombard recipients - less is more. Carefully timed
communication always wins.

7. Txt a difrnt lngage. There are only 160 characters available in a
text message, so get creative - your customers do!

8. Use information wisely. You've put the data in a spreadsheet, but
what does it mean?

9. What's in it for the customer? Don't ask for information if there's
nothing in exchange.

10. Always offer an opt-out. Make it easy for uninterested parties to
stop receiving your messages. It's good practice - and the law.

SOURCE: MindMatics

CASE STUDY: ACQUISITION - ALTON TOWERS

Alton Towers may be the UK's leading theme park, but it still has to
work hard to keep a regular flow of visitors through its gates. This
year it has turned to mobile for the first time as a customer
acquisition channel.

Working with Flytxt, the two-phase campaign kicked off in May this year
with a two-for-the-price-of-one offer. This was communicated through six
radio stations in the Midlands using a combination of advertising and
editorial support.

Listeners were invited to text in to claim the offer and a unique code
was texted back. When this was displayed at the turnstiles, they were
issued two tickets and, importantly, the process of validating the code
ensured that it could not be used more than once.

Nick Fuller, head of operations at Flytxt, says: "Not only did the
campaign exceed the ROI target and footfall beyond the target, but it
also taught the client and ourselves some key lessons, such as the days
for claim and redemption."

This information is now being used to plan further activity to be run
along similar lines.