mobileideafile qe

The Mobile Idea File 24 Mobile Messaging Examples to Inspire Your Campaigns

Mobile Idea File2 ExactTarget

Nearly all content within a marketing programme is consumed on a mobile device. Think about it—from Facebook to Twitter, and from email to your website, customer-brand interactions are constantly shifting screens among a customer’s many devices.

But mobile attention is finite. Every time you try to light up a customer’s screen, your brand’s mobile messages are competing with heavily distracting forces, such as:

• Push notifications from favourite news sites and game apps

• A constant stream of entertaining SMS and MMS messages from friends and family

• Work emails

• Social media notifications, like @-replies and Instagram photo tags

• Alerts from banks and credit card companies

• Urgent messages about travel plans

• Invitations to talk on the phone or video chat

• And, of course, mobile marketing messages from other brands.

The Mobile Idea File24 Mobile Messaging Examples to Inspire Your Campaigns

3Mobile Idea FileExactTarget

“Going mobile” isn’t a one-and-done process of securing a phone number and sending a few texts. Every channel is mobile, and every mobile interaction is an opportunity to drive engagement and increase your brand’s status as a staple in your customers’ mobile inboxes.

In The Mobile Idea File, we show you specific examples of what to say, how to say it, and examples of messages that say it well within each stage of a comprehensive mobile strategy: Acquire, Onboard, Engage, and Retain.

Your brand will need to experiment with these mobile ideas to discover what best retains your mobile shelf space—and increases it among those who might be considering an opt-in to your mobile programme.

Skip to the stage of The Mobile Idea File where you need the most inspiration, and use these mobile messaging templates and examples to stand out among other distractions taking up space on your subscribers’ mobile phones.

Before beginning any mobile messaging campaign,

A smart mobile strategy breaks down into four stages:

1

2

Acquire new mobile subscribers.

Onboard your new subscribers.

Engage them to increase conversions.

Retain your customers with your mobile strategy.

3

4


Mobile is still a young marketing channel. How can your brand land a spot among a customer’s favourite apps, streaming content, and contacts?

How to Acquire New Mobile SubscribersUnlike email inboxes, where most people are accustomed to abundant marketing messages, customers still consider their phones a personal and highly valued space. You’ll need to explain to customers why it’s useful and valuable to enter into a mobile bond with your brand.

Take every opportunity to connect with new customers via mobile, relating to them in the spaces where your brand already has visibility.

• In the inbox.

• In the mail.

• In the store.

• On your website.

• On social networks.

• In your CRM.

Acquire1

In the inbox. Create a targeted email campaign to customers viewing on a mobile device. Offer an incentive to download your app, visit your mCommerce site, or sign up for your SMS programme.

For exclusive offerssent to your phone

Text NTO to 12345

For exclusive offerssent to your phone,

text NTO to 12345


In the mail. Take advantage of traditional communication methods by including mobile calls-to-action on an invoice, statement, packaging, or direct mail piece.

In the store. Offer exclusive text-in deals via in-store opportunities with signage and point-of-sale receipts. As shown here, you can also use in-store signage to promote both your email and SMS offerings.


text NTO to 12345


text your email address to 12345


REGISTER FOR MOBIlE BANkING AlERTS

First Name last NameReceive alerts for:

Mobile phone:

low Account BalanceAccount TransfersAccount Deposits

On social networks. Do your fans and followers even know you have an app or SMS offers? Use social channels to promote mobile. Make sure your Facebook pages are mobile optimised for easy viewing, especially since Facebook is the world’s most downloaded app.

On your website. Add a pop-up to your website that promotes your mobile subscription (when your site is viewed on a mobile device). With a web- based, API-triggered SMS opt-in, you’ll especially want to be sure you’re in adherence with best practices and guidelines—as always.

For exclusive offers sentto your phone, register forNTO text alerts.

First Name last NameEmailMobile Phone

REGISTER


Contact OwnerNameAccountTitleDepartmentBirthdateReports ToFacebook ID

PhoneHome PhoneMobileOther PhoneFaxEmailAssistantAsst. Phone

Edit Contact

Name

In your CRM. No matter how they’re opted in, make sure subscribers are also added to your CRM record.

New CRMProfile


Onboard2

Once a subscriber has opted in to receive your text and push messages, you don’t want to wear out the welcome mat—or go radio silent. Just as you would welcome email subscribers with a series of welcome emails, your mobile messaging strategy should help your new subscribers get to know you, and it can take anywhere from 10 days to two months, depending on your goals.

How to Onboard Your New SubscribersRemember that subscribers expect communications that speak directly to their behaviours, preferences, and history with your brand. As you welcome your new subscribers, keep in mind your targeting criteria (like previous shopping experiences) to make your welcome messages valuable from the start.

Your welcome series can also include the option for subscribers to tell you what they want to receive through your new mobile relationship. For example, ask them to text in the three products of yours for which they’d most appreciate special offers, or ask them for their state or city so you can specially target the messages they will receive.

While onboarding new subscribers, remember that SMS and push notifications are typically accompanied by a sound, so make sure to avoid interrupting a customer’s sleep with that sound, particularly in the early stages of your relationship. Consider allowing customers to set quiet times, or simply avoid sending after 9:00 p.m. or before 11:00 a.m., adjusting for time zones.

You may not be onboarding thousands of new mobile subscribers during the first few months of your programme, but a big “list” shouldn’t be the measure of your success. Those who choose to hear from you via SMS or push will be a smaller, more engaged group—your superfans. So make it your goal to show them a relevant, rewarding mobile experience from the start.

With that in mind, check out this sample onboarding plan.

Short Message Service (SMS): A short text exchange between fixed line or mobile phone devices.

Push notification: A message appearing on a user’s mobile device that is sent from an app downloaded on the device.


Sample welcome series of three messages. This welcome series of three outbound SMS messages has a special offer and an app download request.

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3


Gather data. Also as part of your welcome series, send an “info capture” template including up to five text responses to gather profile data.

Welcome Series


Customers who interact with your brand through mobile-specific channels are among your most engaged. Consider, for example, that mobile coupons have a 10% redemption rate, compared to 1% for traditional print and PC-based coupons. Through a combination of consistency and testing, you can maintain the excitement of subscribing to your brand’s SMS and push notifications even after the newness has worn off.

How to Engage Your Mobile SubscribersConsistent SMS, push, and email offers mean that customers will begin to anticipate your messages. Send messages at times that make sense with your current customers’ preferences and current sales volume. For instance, send a Friday evening code for a free entree at your restaurant, or a family discount at your museum on Sunday afternoons.

Push notifications are an effective way to reengage customers and combine channels to best serve each customer. Can customers make purchases via your app? Try sending a push message such as, “You have three items in your cart. Do you want to check out?” to draw your customers back into the app.

Or, if you send an email about account renewal and it goes unopened, follow up via SMS a week later. Using two channels to communicate gives you a useful second touchpoint.

Start with these creative tactics for engaging your mobile subscribers, and check out the examples to follow.

• Send dynamic coupon codes.

• Promote your app.

• Ask mobile subscribers to join your email database.

• Promote your brand’s social media accounts.

• Tie in current events.

• Set up a keyword response programme.

• Send a countdown.

• Take a vote.

• Send a data-triggered message.

• Enhance SMS with APIs.

Engage3


Database

010101

Coupon code authenticated

Send dynamic coupon codes. Advance your marketing messages with a dynamic, profile-driven offer or deal. These can be individualized to limit sharing and overuse.

Coupon code can be authenticated and tracked in order to limit overuse or sharing between customers

Link clicked and customer directed to App Store

Promote your app. Send a direct link to the store or page where subscribers can download your app.


Newcontact

Ask them to join your email database. Reengage with a mobile subscriber by promoting your email programme, resulting in a new contact.

Results in new contact in ExactTarget App

Promote your brand’s social media accounts. link to your social accounts, especially when there’s a contest or special event going on.

Takes subscriber to your Facebook page


Tie in current events. Promote holiday- or event-based campaigns to break up the monotony of your usual messaging.

Set up a keyword response programme. Empower your on-the-go customers with the ability to request on-demand information right from their mobile devices.

Text ATM (space) your zipcode to 12345

for the nearest ATM location.

Standard message and data rates may apply.


Send a countdown. Set up a countdown campaign including up to three SMS messages to count down to a special event and remind subscribers to participate.

Day 1 Day 5 Day 7


Take a vote. Set up an inbound “vote” SMS template to capture votes for a true/false or multi-answer vote programme.

Send a data-triggered message. Import subscriber data such as location or date of last purchase to deliver relevant, 1:1 SMS messages. For example, consider sending a message like this one if someone hasn’t purchased in 30+ days.

Data triggers text message

A B C

Subscriberdata imported

Purchase record

> 100

Data added to database


Enhance SMS with APIs*. Trigger real-time SMS messages like account alerts, appointment reminders, and reservation updates. Automate these messages, and you’ll be spending no time at all to provide excellent customer service.

*API: An application programmeming interface; a set of functions or routines to accomplish a certain software task. If you’re not sure of your brand’s capabilities with APIs, check out your data set or discuss with your teammates in IT.

SMS alerts sent based on APIs


Are you beginning to see mobile subscribers engage with your campaigns—either via responding to your questions, redeeming coupons, or following another type of call to action? Excellent work. If not, we suggest delving deeper into the tactics recommended in the Engage section. Once you do start to engage customers, however, the work isn’t done. It’s time to work harder to build brand loyalty and continue to nurture the customer lifecycle through mobile messaging.

How to Retain Your Mobile SubscribersThe more data you collect about your mobile subscribers, the more your mobile strategy will become increasingly personalised and less “batch and blast.” You don’t want to scare off new subscribers by asking for too much information too soon, but if you give customers easy access to manage their message preferences, you’ll gain valuable data about them without making the process too invasive. A unified profile center (like ExactTarget’s Interactive Marketing Hub) can keep track of each subscriber’s data across all channels, so you always have a common view of the person, no matter the channel.

Try these advanced strategies to improve customer service, loyalty, and overall subscriber experience while retaining your mobile messaging permissions.

• Offer important content through mobile.

• Incentivise subscribers to reengage.

• Incentivise them immediately post-transaction.

• Use mobile messaging to follow up after in-person meetings or store visits.

Retain4

Offer important content through mobile. For example, try in-store signage that leads customers directly to their phones for the high points of your return policy.

For the details of our return policy,

text RETURNS to 12345

http://www.exacttarget.com/products


Incentivise them to reengage. With a contact record in your CRM (like Salesforce), send a message when their most recent interaction with your brand has been longer than you’d like.

Database

Contact OwnerNameAccountTitleDepartmentBirthdateReports ToFacebook ID

36 days

Edit Contact

Name

Incentivise them immediately post-transaction. For subscribers who have just made a purchase, thank them—and invite them back right away, as in this example, which includes a data import and automated SMS send.

Date of most recent communication added to CRM data base

Data triggers text message

Purchasedata imported

CRMProfile Updated


Use mobile messaging to check in after in-person meetings or store visits. Collect results as part of a vote, and gauge how your in-store customer service team performed, the quality of your selection, ease of shopping on your website, and so on.

Voting results collected

In-person meeting with


Mobile messaging offers ample potential for customer engagement beyond the simple messaging options of deals and coupons. Take the 2012 Super Bowl Host Committee as an example.

In 2012, Indianapolis played host to the most-watched Super Bowl in history. In the week leading up to the big game, more than 300,000 people swarmed downtown Indianapolis—roughly half of which were out-of-town visitors, who needed help finding dining, parking, and entertainment information. The Committee offered a text-in campaign for subscribers to receive general information, marketing materials (like links to download the Super Bowl XlVI app), and answers to any question.

Fans could stay up to date on weather and traffic information by texting keywords such as “WEATHER” or “PARkING” to a shortcode. Results from the campaign included:

• 130,000 messages sent

• 2,500 new subscribers

• Received 6,000 mobile requests through the shortcode

Mobile messaging campaigns aren’t only for coupons and special offers, as evidenced by this example. Use your ability to directly contact customers on their ever-present smartphones for customer service, answering questions, and doing market research—all with a short

message that can be sent easily and quickly, without doing any graphic design or complex coding. After all, every text message is already optimised for mobile!

VISI T2012Indy.com [Mobile site]

IndianapolisSuperBowl.com[Real-time news & information]

ASk*Text any question to 242242

[Answers to questions aboutIndy or the game]

DOWNlOADSuper Bowl XlVI Applicationfor iPhone, iPad and Android

[Maps, info, other city & game information]TEXT *INFO to SB2012 (722012)

[Traffic, dining & city info]

SUPER BOWl to MYNFl (69635)[Ticket holder & game information]

*Standard text messaging rates apply

CA llFan Hotline at 1.855.472.2012

(Open Jan. 26 - Feb. 6 / hours vary)

From text-in surveys to SMS customer service, mobile messaging campaigns aren’t only for coupons and special offers.

learn From Their Success: 2012 Super Bowl Host Committee


looking for a way to retain customers with mobile messaging? look to the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), who found a way to cut customer service phone calls by 40% through SMS capabilities.

OCTA is a transportation agency offering bus service, freeways, taxi services, and more. OCTA’s bus riders began calling the Customer Information Center (CIC) for times and ticketing information at a cost of approximately $2 USD per call to OCTA, amounting to a hefty $144,000 USD per month.

OCTA launched a “Text4Next” SMS programme that began with printed ads and promotional materials encouraging patrons to text in for OCTA’s next three scheduled bus times. This on-the-go solution resulted in some serious success for the travel company:

• Decrease in number of calls to the CIC by 40%

• Substantial increase in customer satisfaction

• 198,000 texts from customers in a single month

As you’re looking to improve customer retention, you’ll need to promote your mobile campaign across all channels, just like OCTA did with their print promotional materials and corresponding website.

Encourage users to opt-in with a simple and consistent message, remembering that an incentive (like a right-off-the-bat discount or promise for future offers) can deliver the most immediate engagement.

Encourage users to opt-in with a simple and consistent message, remembering that an incentive can deliver the most immediate engagement.

learn From Their Success: Orange County Transportation Authority


Your mobile messaging programme is the perfect place for brand fans to receive on-the-go information about your services, along with appropriately timed offers that coincide with their behaviours and preferences.

A well-rounded mobile strategy links your messaging with as many of these customer attributes as possible:

• Mobile number

• Customer ID

• Email address

• Website cookie

• App download

• Facebook fan

• Twitter follower

• loyalty programme member

• Store purchaser

• Reviewer

The goal is to understand each customer in order to provide relevant digital messages. Whether that’s via SMS, push notification, email, or Facebook update, always consider the channel that’s most appropriate for the current message.

Receiving a spot within a customer’s coveted mobile shelf space isn’t guaranteed forever, so take every opportunity to justify your presence. Continue to test approaches, timing, offers, landing pages, and copy to learn what works best with your mobile audience.

Your mobile messaging strategy must start and end with the customer’s wishes, and provide content that brings real value. If you accomplish that, you’ll maintain a long and powerful relationship with your mobile subscribers.

Conclusion

There’s marketing. And then there’s Inspired Marketing.With billions of hyper-connected customers on the planet, there’s never been a better time to be a digital marketer. You have an incredible opportunity to use

data and technology to drive relevant messages, to connect, to inspire.

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