mobile marketing

By Dan Slavin

CodeBroker’s recent 2018 Mobile Coupon Consumer Research Report shows that the battle between mobile coupons and traditional printed coupons is about to reach a tipping point. The survey indicates that while 53% of consumers still prefer paper coupons, the percentage of those who prefer mobile coupons is now at 47%, and that preference is growing.

The research shows that mobile coupon redemption rates are very high, which is compelling news for retailers looking to create short-term traffic surges: 25% of the research participants said that within three days they would redeem a mobile coupon they received via text message; 60% said they would they would redeem the mobile coupon within a week.

Convenience plays a large role in the growing acceptance of mobile coupons. The survey shows that while 69% would prefer to download mobile coupons to their phone, only 31% said they would prefer to download and print it.

How Retailers Can Maximize the Impact of Mobile Coupons

While the coupon research offers news that should re-energize retailers about mobile coupon use, it is how these coupons can be specifically used that should add to the excitement.

Based on the information the survey provides, the following strategies should be effective:

• Send coupons via text. Since consumers prefer the convenience of mobile coupons and place a high sense of urgency on text messages, SMS coupons can prove very valuable.
• Grow your SMS subscriber list through instant gratification. Offer a mobile coupon to incentivize consumers to sign up for your SMS subscriber list or loyalty program. You can also grow your SMS subscriber list by offering on-demand coupons.
• Employ higher value, single-use mobile coupons. High-discount, single-use mobile coupons have more perceived value than lower discount, multi-use coupons.

Check out the research report for insights into additional strategies.

For retailers and marketers, the trend is undeniable and irreversible. As mobile coupons continue to grow in popularity, they will increasingly attract new customers and build repeat business for stores while enabling retailers to differentiate themselves from competitors.

For a more detailed look at consumer’s preferences for accessing and using mobile coupons, read the 2018 Mobile Coupon Consumer Research Report.

By Jeff Weiner, CodeBroker

If the answer is yes, then you’ll be interested in what we hear from other retailer and brand marketers who are searching for a new SMS marketing solution.

Every potential new client with whom we speak tells us the same thing – that evaluating SMS marketing solutions definitely is not easy. The reason…there are so many text message marketing solutions out there and, on the surface, they can be hard to differentiate.

In this post, I thought I’d share five of the most important criteria we hear from marketers who are looking to bring a new text marketing solution into their organizations. For the complete list, along with some helpful tips, I invite you to download this paper: How to Evaluate SMS Marketing Solutions.

1. Ease of use

Marketers want a self-serve SMS marketing solution so they can quickly implement campaigns in response to market conditions. But, in order to do this, they want a solution that, first and foremost, is easy to use. According to the mobile marketers with whom we work, ease-of-use comes down to two factors: 1) an intuitive interface, and 2) strong vendor support should they need assistance.

2. An SMS marketing vendor that can grow your SMS subscriber list fast while ensuring list quality

Many SMS marketing vendors will tell you that they can help you to quickly grow your SMS subscriber list but, more often than not, the quality of the list suffers. Most sms marketing solutions have a list sign-up process that goes like this:

• User texts in a keyword
• User receives a text message to confirm
• User replies by texting back a “Y”
• User receives a message back confirming their opt-in

And the user is now on the list. The only problem is that all the marketer has only a phone number, with no demographic data whatsoever. It’s like just an email address.

Marketers now realize that they need more than just a phone number that opted in. Marketers want to collect demographic info, such as name, zipcode, and other info that will help make their marketing more effective. And they want a more robust sign-up process that, not only facilitates the ability to quickly build SMS marketing lists, but also has demographic capture as part of the process – with an easy-to-use form that the recipient fills out during the opt-in process.

3. Tight integration with a mobile coupon solution

CodeBroker’s customers have found that mobile coupons tied to an SMS campaign are a highly effective way to improve customer engagement and to drive purchases. According to a recent research report, mobile coupons delivered via text message drive high levels of purchases and urgency, with 25% planned redemption within three days, and 60% planned redemption within one week.

4. Works with your marketing infrastructure

It’s mission critical for marketers to have an SMS solution that has APIs to enable the system to easily share data with your other systems – CRM, loyalty, analytics, and websites – with minimal IT support.

5. A true partner that helps you become successful

With many SMS marketing solutions, marketers are on their own. Many solutions are quite technical, or the marketer may be new to text message marketing and, for these reasons, marketers tell us that they want an SMS marketing vendor who will help make them successful.

From project support, to advice on best practices, to proactively ensuring TCPA and CTIA compliance, marketers increasingly are looking for an SMS marketing solution that is more than a software product…but one that also includes expert help to ensure what CodeBroker calls SMSuccess.

We at CodeBroker always encourage marketers to take a hands-on approach when assessing a new SMS marketing solution – to get their “hands dirty” with the system before making a decision.

If you’re in the process of looking for a new SMS marketing solution, I invite you to download How to Evaluate SMS Marketing Solutions for more help, including a helpful vendor checklist.

By any measure, Wal-Mart Inc. is enormous. With 5,000 stores employing 1.5 million workers in the U.S., the King of Retail generated almost half a trillion dollars in revenue in 2016.

As you might imagine, that level of sales did not happen by accident. Founder Sam Walton was a tireless and bold innovator in marketing and, as his company’s success indicates, many of his ideas were good ones. This innovative approach was carried down to the present day after his retirement. Although Walmart is largely associated with traditional “big box” retailing, the company continues to adopt new technologies to increase business efficiency and expand sales.

One of these areas of innovation is in Walmart’s use of text message marketing programs — marketers would be wise to emulate them for similar success. Below are four effective SMS marketing practices employed by the company:

Distributing In-Store Product Info

The average Walmart store is 104,000 square feet (roughly two football fields) and contains over 100,000 products. Given these numbers, it is not difficult to imagine customers sometimes having difficulty locating the product they are seeking. Walmart addressed this issue through a clever use of SMS called Simple Text that functions much like Siri, the virtual personal assistant in Apple’s iPhone.

The way it operates is a specific Simple Text phone number is posted in the store. Customers text “hi” to start the system and can then ask a Walmart associate via SMS where a specific product is located. Shoppers can also download a map of the store. If they need further assistance, typing “chat” connects them to a live customer agent.

E-Receipts

Walmart is now using e-receipts to provide additional ease and convenience to customers. Shoppers at checkout have the option to receive a digital receipt, in place of a paper one, delivered to their phone via SMS if they register. With their cell phone number linked to their registered account, customers can then easily track their past purchases.

This digital record of purchase information also gives Walmart a wealth of data to use in future marketing efforts. Using this knowledge, Walmart can deliver targeted marketing messages to interested customers via SMS, email, and regular mailings.

Encouraging Shoppers to Download the App

Walmart uses SMS autoresponders to boost subscriber numbers to their mobile app. In-store advertising encourages shoppers to text “APP” to a specific number to get started on downloading and registering. After customers perform this operation, they are sent detailed instructions for downloading.

Reducing Wait Times for Prescription

At many Walmart store pharmacies, customers can submit their cell phone number along with their prescription, to receive SMS notifications when their drug order is ready for pick-up. The program has been a tremendous success in freeing up customers to continue shopping instead of idly waiting around. Nearly 30 million of these reminders are sent each month and over a billion have been sent since its creation.

Now that’s a billion reasons why text message marketing should be a central part of your marketing efforts.

In the classic Seinfeld episode, George’s wallet is so comically overstuffed with junk that it made him sit at a tilt when it was in his back pocket. In an effort to balance it out, he would stuff the other pocket with napkins.

This humorous skit became famous because it exaggerated a situation experienced by many—left untended, our wallets can become cluttered with bric-a-brac. Often, this collected junk crowds out and obscures the useful pieces.

A lot of wallets feature a huge collection of seldom used plastic cards, many of which were used once and never again. The CodeBroker Mobile Loyalty Survey of 1,207 U.S. consumers across all age groups and income levels bears out this uncomfortable conclusion, especially when it comes to customer loyalty cards.

Our poll found 43% of those surveyed said that loyalty cards themselves were the biggest hassle with these programs. The survey also found that a majority (60%) of respondents felt that carrying cards and retrieving them at POS was by far the biggest hassle of existing programs.

The survey likewise revealed a huge disconnect between loyalty programs and consumer usage. Of those surveyed, 65% of shoppers attempting to redeem a reward at POS found it had expired, and 43% say rewards expire before they can be redeemed. Another 38% claim no knowledge of a reward’s existence. Clearly, these plastic cards are a poor facilitator of loyalty.

What could be the solution to this state of affairs? Consider two other findings in the survey:

• 70% of shoppers say they would use a mobile version of their loyalty cards if they didn’t have to sign into a website or download an app.
• 71% say they would be more likely to use their loyalty cards if they could access these cards and rewards from their mobile phone.

This makes a certain amount of sense—carrying a mobile phone has become as ubiquitous an activity as carrying a wallet and keys. In many consumers’ lives, their phone acts as the hub for handling their daily transactions, and that includes the ability to exploit rewards, digital coupons, discounts and other shopping incentives.

Based on these findings, we recommend the following steps to improve customer loyalty:

• Incorporate mobile loyalty programs into your overall customer loyalty program.
• Phase out the use of plastic cards and begin using a digital card. This digital card should allow members to access rewards, balances, and directions on how to earn points in real-time using their mobile phones and other internet-connected devices without logging in.
• Give customers access to loyalty programs via all the popular mobile technologies including text messaging, mobile apps, email, digital wallet, and Facebook.
• Allow customers to easily engage with a loyalty program across all retail channels including desktop, mobile, in-store, and online.

Transitioning from plastic cards to a digital mobile solution is a win-win for both customers and merchants. Consumers enjoy greater convenience and a reduction in the amount of “friction” present in transactions. On the merchant side, switching to digital facilitates more transactions, increases the effectiveness of marketing outreach, and drives greater revenue.

In this new model, George Costanza’s overstuffed wallet would not even be possible. All the things he needed to effectively participate in a loyalty program would be managed and contained on his mobile device.