Upward Mobility

To help spur mobile list growth, SmartReply acquired mobile ad network mSnap in March and is advertising there on behalf of clients. For example, a person who has signed up for daily mobile weather alerts may be presented with a percent-off promotion from a retailer at the end of the weather alert. Respondents are then asked if they would like to receive similar offers on a regular basis.

“We had one client where it took two years to get 40,000 customers in their [mobile] database,” says Romano. “Using mobile advertising, it took eight weeks to get another 40,000.”

Romano adds that mobile marketing initiatives can be stand-alone efforts, but they don't have to be. “You don't have to recreate the wheel using mobile,” he says. “You can use it with existing promotions.”

For instance, he says, if you have a 10%-off coupon in the newspaper, you can put it on a mobile phone, as well. “So you can have a stand-alone effort, but you can also make it part of the multichannel mix of what you've already got going on.”

MERCHANTS GET READY

Mobile marketing “is kind of where e-mail was 10 years ago,” Romano says. “Marketers are still learning the power behind it, how to use it more effectively and how to integrate it into their traditional CRM initiatives.”

But Romano and others feel that mobile marketing is now poised to take off in earnest. “In general what we're seeing on the retail and catalog side is more and more of them are interested in mobile marketing,” says Romano. “I would say 5% to 10% are engaged in mobile marketing, but 80% are certainly interested in it.”

Forrester's Strother predicts that multichannel merchants who don't delve into mobile marketing within the next 12 months may find themselves falling behind their competitors.

“We won't be at rock-bottom economically forever,” he says. “If you market digitally, mobile needs to be figured out sooner rather than later. There is a percentage of your audience who are going to want to access your brand through their phones.”

MOBILE MARKETING ASSOCIATION

Global code of conduct

NOTICE

Mobile marketers must provide users with notice, an easily understandable and easily discoverable description of the terms and conditions of a marketing program. Notice should provide information sufficient for a user to make an informed decision.

CHOICE AND CONSENT

Mobile marketers must get consent by getting an explicit opt-in for all mobile messaging programs. Consent is not transferable to other mobile messaging programs. Mobile marketers must also implement a simple opt-out mechanism so users can stop receiving messages easily.

CUSTOMIZATION

Mobile marketers must take steps to ensure the information they collect to deliver targeted advertising is handled responsibly, sensitively and within the law.

RESTRAINT

Mobile marketers should target and limit mobile messages to those which the user has requested. Mobile messages should have value to the user.

SECURITY

Mobile marketers must implement reasonable technical, administrative and physical procedures to protect user information from unauthorized use, alteration, disclosure, distribution or access.

BANKING ON THE MOBILE CHANNEL

Who's really pushing the mobile-marketing envelope? Banks.

In the first half of 2009, the phrase “mobile banking” appeared in banking direct mail offers more than twice as often as in the first half of 2008, according to direct-marketing intelligence firm Mintel Comperemedia. Also, significantly more e-mail offers mention “mobile banking,” according to Mintel.

“Mobile banking isn't new, but it's getting a huge push from the popularity of the iPhone and BlackBerry. As more consumers adopt smart phones and adapt to truly on-the-go lifestyles, they're seeking banking applications and technology that keeps up with them,” says Susan Wolfe, vice president of financial services at Mintel Comperemedia.

Mobile marketing can mean a lot of things, says Neil Strother, a wireless analyst with Forrester Research. “When companies like airlines or banks set up mobile marketing, it's essentially a CRM effort.”
— KM