how to-make-an-excellent-sms-call-to-action

Ge#ng  it  Right*  in  Mobile

Kane  Russell,  VP  of  Marke,ngWaterfall

*  How  To  Create  an  Excellent  SMS  Call  To  Ac4on

Waterfall  and  the  Waterfall  Platform

Waterfall  Mobile๏ Founded  August  2005๏ Offices  in  SFO  (HQ),  NYC  &  Aus4n๏ Backed  by  Vista  Equity  Partners  ๏ Cross-­‐channel  mobile  &  social  CRM  via  SMS,  

MMS,  QR  Codes,  IVR,  Facebook  &  TwiTer

๏ Free  trial:  www.waterfall.com๏ API  suite:  apidocs.waterfall.com๏ Custom  applica4on  development๏ Short  code  provisioning,  cer4fica4on  

&  audit  management

Growth  of  digital  marketing  in  the  U.S.

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

$8,237

$7,057

$5,697

$4,238

$2,777

$1,652$4,995

$4,217$3,453

$2,760$2,119

$1,590$2,468$2,262$2,066$1,875$1,694$1,510

Email  marke4ngSocial  media  marke4ngMobile  marke4ng

$3,242

$4,896

$6,998

$9,150

$11,274

$13,232 32%

10%

26%

38%

CAGR

Source:  Forrester,  2011

U.S.  Mobile,  Social  &  Email  Market  Value  ($s  in  millions)

How  to  create  an  excellent  call  to  ac4on:  

1. Compliance

2. Incen4ves

3. Clarity

4. Mobile-­‐specific  strategy

5. Takeaways

Objectives  for  today’s  webinar

Call  to  action:  Armani

Failure  to  comply  with  the  regula4ons  set  forth  by  CTIA,  the  Mobile  Marke4ng  Associa4on  and  carriers  can  result  in  suspension  of  a  short  code  and  monetary  fines.  

Compliance

1. The  phrase  “Message  and  Data  Rates  May  Apply”  presented  one  line  above  or  below  the  call-­‐to-­‐ac4on

2. The  frequency  of  messages  sent  per  month  clearly  adver4sed  (e.g.  10  messages  will  be  sent  per  month)

3. Opt-­‐out  instruc4ons  (e.g.  Text  STOP  to  unsubscribe)

4. Help  instruc4ons  (e.g.  Text  HELP  for  help)

5. List  of  supported  carriers  easily  accessible.

• 1-­‐4  equivalent  info  needed  in  opt-­‐in  confirm  message

Basic  components  of  compliance

Call  to  action:  Creative  Recreation

• Subscrip,on  campaigns  need  all  components  of  CTA  compliance

• Sweepstakes  campaigns  need  a  URL  to  the  official  rules

• Premium  content  campaigns  need  to  be  double  opt-­‐in

*Check  if  you  don’t  know

Compliance  depends  on  campaign  type

Rules  change  all  the  time

How  to  create  an  excellent  call  to  ac4on:  

1. Compliance

2. IncenZves

3. Clarity

4. Mobile-­‐specific  strategy

5. Takeaways

Objectives  for  today’s  webinar

Call  to  action:  Toyota

• Mobile  phone  is  a  very  personal  medium

• Technology  for  technology  sake  does  not  appeal  to  the  majority  of  consumers

• Clear  incen,ves  aIract  new  consumers

• Nothing  new

Calls  to  action  need  incentives

Incentives  can  be  monetary

Key  factors  to  focus  on:

• Access

• Time

• Privilege

• Interest

Incentives  can  be  non-­‐monetary

Incentives/participation  correlation

Incentives  sweet  spot

How  to  create  an  excellent  call  to  ac4on:  

1. Compliance

2. Incen4ves

3. Clarity

4. Mobile-­‐specific  strategy

5. Takeaways

Objectives  for  today’s  webinar

Call  to  action:  Johnny  Rockets

• Aside  from  incen,ves,  user  error  and  confusion  are  the  biggest  reasons  calls  to  ac,on  fail  to  engage  consumers

The  importance  of  clarity

Highlight  the  key  SMS  components

Avoid  burying  the  CTA

Make  sure  people  don’t  have  to  guess

• Oversimplify  user  commands  (e.g.  quota4on  marks,  similar  characters)

• Avoid  phrases  that  would  fall  vic4m  to  autocorrect

• Include  SMS  CTA  across  mul4ple  pieces  of  marke4ng  collateral

Creating  clarity

How  to  create  an  excellent  call  to  ac4on:  

1. Compliance

2. Incen4ves

3. Clarity

4. Mobile-­‐specific  strategy

5. Takeaways

Objectives  for  today’s  webinar

SMS  CTAs  require  the  use  of  cell  phones

• Using  an  SMS  CTA  in  an  area  without  cell  phone  service

• Using  SMS  to  link  to  a  non-­‐mobile  site

• Using  SMS  as  a  way  to  link  to  a  website  -­‐  and  that’s  it

• Failing  to  capture  metadata  for  targe,ng

Some  common  mistakes

Remember:  SMS  is  interactive  and  immediate

How  to  create  an  excellent  call  to  ac4on:  

1. Compliance

2. Incen4ves

3. Clarity

4. Mobile-­‐specific  strategy

5. Takeaways

Objectives  for  today’s  webinar

Best  practice:  SMS  is  mobile  glue

Best  practice:  cross-­‐channel

Best  practice:  SMS  requires  a  secret  sauce

CTA  Case  study:  BARTCampaign  Overview:  

• Plan:  BART  wanted  to  engage  new  riders  through  emerging  media  channel

• Strategy:  text-­‐to-­‐win  campaign  promoted  during  “Try  BART  Week”  geared  toward  encouraging  new  riders

Results:  

• BART  Chief  Communica4ons  Officer,  Linton  Johnson:  

(Full  case  study  can  be  downloaded  from  www.msgme.com)

You couldn’t buy that much good press or goodwill from customers ... Nearly every day that week we were in the news and that contributed to the healthy increase in ridership. Our goal now is to keep those customers, and it looks good - ridership was up vs. last year.”

“

Quick  note  on  QR  codes

Effective  CTAs  need  four  ingredients  and  a  secret  sauce

1. Compliance

2. Incentives

3. Clarity

4. Mobile  Strategy

*  Brand  Strategy

Key  Takeaways

You  make  the  call  -­‐  WildHorsePreservation.org

You  make  the  call  -­‐  V

You  make  the  call  -­‐  State  Farm

You  make  the  call  -­‐  Taco  Bell

You  make  the  call  -­‐  MGM

For  more  informa4on  visit  www.waterfall.com

Or  contact  us  directly:  marke4ng@waterfall.com

More  industry  informa4on  available  on  our  blog  @  waterfall.com/blog/

View  our  CTA  gallery  @  hTp://artohhecta.com/

Any  Questions?