relationship-first marketing for a mobile world · relationship-first marketing for a mobile world6...

1Relationship-First Marketing for a Mobile World

Relationship-FirstMarketing for a Mobile World


The World Has Gone MobileConsumers worldwide have nearly 5 billion active mobile subscriptions and the number is growing. To put that in perspective, that’s almost a billion and a half more active mobile subscriptions than toothbrushes sold. The world has gone mobile. And it’s not coming back.

With more than five times more mobile devices than PCs on the planet today, as a marketer, chances are your messages are being consumed in the mobile channel. If you’re not aligning your strategies with this new reality, you may find your business headed the way of the landline.


The Opportunity for Modern MarketersThe great news for digital marketers is that mobile is emerging as an amazing means of communication with the consumer. Not only is mobile ubiquitous, it’s also a highly personal, real-time channel. More than 90 percent of US adults have a mobile device within reach 24/7, and SMS messages that are delivered to these devices are typically read within three minutes of being delivered.

And what’s more, mobile is a highly commercial channel. Consumers increasingly use smartphones and tablets to inform purchase decisions, and 78 percent use two or more channels to browse, research, and buy. SMS messages earn a staggering 97 percent average open rate.

Taking these trends into account, it’s clear that the mobile channel gives your brand the unique ability to influence consumer behavior as it occurs, whether offline or online. Digital marketers are not only looking for every opportunity to deliver perfectly timed mobile messages and mobile-optimized e-mails, but they’re also integrating mobile with their other digital campaigns, driving up returns across the board, and creating ideal customers who become advocates.

“The push to mobile has been so fast. Consumers are making it clear they want to be reached and rewarded on their mobile devices and it’s up to us to listen. Smart marketers should consider mobile a battleground for new customers.”

— Paul Miller, Vice President of US E-Commerce, Grainger


The Relationship-First ImperativeWith more mature channels like e-mail, great marketers have moved away from batch and blast strategies (sending the same, generic message to everyone in your database) and towards a relationship-first strategy. This approach entails earning permission and then sending targeted messages that are highly tailored to every individual based on what you know about their demographics and behavior, as well as where they are in their customer lifecycle.

In a mobile world, a relationship-first approach moves from being a good strategy to being the imperative. According to the Pew Research Center, customers say text spam is more invasive to them than junk mail or even spam e-mails. And sometimes, the recipients even have to pay for the texts that they never wanted in the first place. While the mobile channel introduces amazing new opportunities for marketers, the stakes for a sound strategy have never been higher.

It’s Easier than You ThinkBut the great news is that it’s likely easier than you think to get going. This guide will take you step by step through the key strategies that the world’s leading digital marketers are using today to do great relationship- first, mobile marketing. Whether you’re looking to start off easy, or go all in right away, these tips can help shape and execute your strategy.

“ Mobile is a huge opportunity today, but as a marketer, we also have a responsibility to be relevant and timely with our messaging. We need the right solutions to deliver such highly personalized and highly automated communications to our customers.”

— Puritan’s Pride


Engagement

Conversion

Loyalty

Relationship

Part 1: Starting the Relationship Part 2: Build the Consumer Journey

Earn Permission

Part 1: Starting the RelationshipFor too many marketers, the singular focus of their activities has been on the conversion. They ask only, “How many units did I sell today?” And while driving revenue remains the goal for marketers everywhere, those who focus first on the consumer relationship have found a far more effective path to get there.

The first step in great relationship-based mobile marketing is to build out your addressable universe of consumers by finding new ways to capture mobile communication permission. And the great news is that the mobile channel offers up a huge array of tactics to help you do just that.

Figure 1. Start the relationship by earning permission, and then build the customer journey through engagement, conversion, and loyalty.


For example,

• Short message service (SMS) opt in: Consumers can respond to calls to action by sending a text message to a short code. For example, they can text SIGNUP or their e-mail address to 12345. And with the mobile channel, opportunities to advertise your opt in programs exist both in the digital world and in the offline world.

• In-store downtime: Consumers play with smartphones while they wait in checkout lines and restaurants. Opt in requests placed at these common points of inactivity can engage the audience and build your list.

• Quick response (QR) codes: The square, 2-D barcodes you’ve seen in magazines and billboards work as hyperlinks in the offline world. Consumers can scan them with a smartphone to opt in, download an app, or visit a mobile-optimized website.

• Incentives: Coupons and sweepstakes are powerful tools to help build your mobile list. Offering consumers an attention grabbing incentive either online or in-store opens a conversation with your brand and gives your customer the motivation to opt in. Many thought leading marketers are going so far as purchasing TV ads to specifically drive people to opt into receiving mobile messages.

• Cross-channel promotion: A consumer usually begins the conversation with your brand in one channel, but by cross-promoting your programs you can turn social media followers into e-mail readers and website visitors into SMS subscribers. Promoting your mobile opt-in programs in your e-mails, on your display ads, and on your Facebook fan page is an easy place to begin. And not only can you use other channels to drive opt-ins for mobile messages, but SMS is a great tool to get customers to sign up for offline marketing programs. For example, send a text to get a catalog or to register for an event.

• Cross-channel preference centers: Many companies have launched preference centers that let customers raise their hands to receive certain e-mails or mailings. But don’t treat mobile as a silo. Be sure that your preference center gives your customers the option to sign up for relevant mobile messages.


Getting It Right: Southwest AirlinesSouthwest Airlines embodies a relentless focus on building lasting relationships with their passengers.

“Our number one transaction day used to be when we dropped a TV and radio spot. Now it’s the day we launch a coordinated e-mail, mobile, and social campaign.”

— Jason Scoggins, Director of Marketing, Southwest Airlines

It’s evidenced in the tactics they use to drive new subscribers to their Click ‘N Save programs. The sign-up call to action is prevalent across their digital channels and it extends into virtually every offline channel— from television spots to the napkins you find on a Southwest flight. This way, Southwest not only reaches digital consumers—but now with SMS—they can also attract consumers in environments of strong brand engagement but with low computer access, like the passengers waiting in line to board a flight.

Customer sees promo-tion at airport or print: “Text your email address to 83793”

User texts SMS mes-sage, with email address in body, to shortcode

Mobile number and email address are cap-tured

Mobile number and email address are integrated into ESP database

Welcome message is triggered

User receives thank you / opt-in confirmation message via SMS

Mobile number exists in database for future mobile marketing

Customer is now opted-into Click ‘n Save Program

WITH SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CLICK ’N SAVE E-MAIL

TEXT E-MAIL ADDRESS TO 83793 TO SIGN UP

Standard text messaging rates apply

CLICK ’N SAVE

Figure 2. Southwest Airlines passenger relationship building strategy is a multistep process.


Part 2: Building the Consumer JourneyOnce you’ve received permission to build on a relationship with a consumer, the next step is to build a communication strategy that drives their journey with you as an eventual repeat customer.

This approach involves mapping the messages you send to align with touch points along each customer’s lifecycle. With the right communication, you can drive them through initial engagement, through the conversion process, and then build loyalty in order to drive the next purchase.

This section of the guide steps you through specific techniques you can use to make these journeys a reality.


The Customer JourneyMake sure your strategy is focused on a personalized view of your customer that sends messages to match the context and delivery choice. Meet Matt. He’s interested in a pair of Quake headphones.

This is just an example. For the full set of consumer stories that align with different industries, jump to the Putting It All Together section.

He asks his trusted social network about Quake headphones.

Matt likes the head-phones so much that he considers getting them with his company’s logo on them.

Matt gets a mobile thank you message, registration offer, and is asked to become an advocate.

Figure 3. Mobile process from transaction to relationship.

Matt shops for headphones on the Quake mobile page and makesa purchase.


Building EngagementThe customer relationship begins the moment a person grants you permission to communicate. When they say “Yes!” it’s time to start building engagement. In this stage you’ll want to use mobile messages to drive awareness, build interest, and communicate additional information about your product or service in order to move each consumer closer to converting.

Following are some easy mobile campaigns that you can use to move consumers through the engagement phase:

• Welcome programs: Once you get permission, it’s time to engage your subscribers with a series of introductory messages that welcome them to your brand and move them towards product consideration and purchase. This is a great opportunity to combine mobile messaging with other digital channels like e-mail and display.

• Information requests: Allow customers to send you a text message with certain keywords to tell you what products they would like to learn more about. For example, when a customer texts you SHOES, you can send them the catalog for your new fall line, either via a shortened URL in a text message, or via e-mail or print.

• Voting: Enable customers to have input into their favorite brands or products. For example, have customers text in their input for which product should go on sale next. Now that you know their preferences, you can be that much more targeted with your next communication.

• Contests and sweepstakes: This is a great way to spark engagement and viral sharing by inviting consumers to enter sweepstakes or contests with a simple text message. For example, hold a trivia contest where consumers can text in the year your business was founded to win a discount on their next purchase.

• Event alerts: Offer consumers a countdown to special events and keep them engaged with your activities and live promotions. For example, “3 More Days to the Big Summer Sale!”

• New product releases: Consumers who sign up for your SMS alerts are your biggest fans. An alert program can give these brand ambassadors early notice of your next product launch and allow them to amplify your message.

Engagement

Conversion

Loyalty

Relationship

Figure 4. Engagement is the first step of the customer journey.


Driving ConversionFor today’s consumers, mobile devices have become a vital tool in the purchase process.

• 74 percent of smartphone owners use the device for shopping.

• Nearly 80 percent of those shoppers will purchase.

• 90 percent of mobile searches lead to action.

• More than 50 percent of those actions lead to purchase.

It’s important to get the right message out to those who are at this critical point in their consumer journey. With its always on and always nearby nature, mobile has the unique ability to convert purchasers in real time.

Engagement

Conversion

Loyalty

Relationship

Figure 5. Conversion is the second step of the customer journey.

Getting It Right: Newegg

E-retailer Newegg offers their daily Shell Shocker alerts via SMS and mobile-optimized e-mails so consumers get the latest deals delivered to them on the go, and they can take advantage of these limited-time offers.

“[Oracle] has been influential in helping us deliver a better shopping experience for our customers, and developing a compelling, long-term mobile campaign strategy.”

— Bernard Luthi, Vice President of Marketing for Web Management and Customer Service, Newegg


The following are some great techniques you can use to make it happen:

• Store locator: The great thing about mobile is that you can use it to bridge the gap between the digital world and the world of bricks and mortar. Help customers to find your closest store by texting in their location.

• Limited-time and exclusive offers: Provide customers with special discounts or promotions to encourage sales. This is a great way to take advantage of the real-time nature of the mobile channel. Remember, most SMS messages are read within three minutes of receipt.

• Item back in stock notices: Alert your customer to product status changes for items of interest. For example, if you ran out of a particular shoe size, text your interested customers that you’ve got the size 7s back in stock. Couple this with a store locator for even better results.

• Text for callback: If you’re providing telesales, rather than have customers sitting on hold, have them text in their phone number to have a representative call them back at a convenient time.

Creating LoyaltyA sales transaction is not an end of a process— it’s the beginning of a relationship. With a relation-ship-first approach, you should be thinking about how to deliver a great post-purchase experience to enhance the relationship and encourage more engagement.

The following are some great ways to use mobile to make it happen:

• Shipping and delivery alerts: Keep your customers posted on when their shipment is in transit or when it arrives at their doorstep. Mobile messages are a great way to deliver this type of real-time information.

• Surveys: Ask for feedback on customer service, product selection, or other aspects of the customer experience. “How was our service? Text back your rating from 1-5.” Use this information to refine your marketing and gather conversion-boosting product reviews and testimonials.

Engagement

Conversion

Loyalty

Relationship

Figure 6. Loyalty is the last step of the customer journey.


• Text for customer care: Don’t make a new customer sit on hold waiting for a customer service agent. Instead, let them text in HELP and have someone call them back when the time is right.

• Warnings: When things go wrong, mobile is a great way to deliver real-time updates. Use SMS to alert subscribers to low balances, or suspicious activity on their accounts, or product recalls.

• Re-permission and win-back: If you’ve got customers who have stopped engaging with you online and are skipping over your e-mails, mobile messages are a great tool to notify them of a special offer waiting for them in their inboxes.

Building a ConversationConversations don’t start and end with a single message. In order to drive real customer engagement in the mobile channel, you’ll want to think not only about how to send one-off SMS messages, but also how to deliver a series of triggered mobile responses based on customer behavior and replies.

Cross-channel marketing software makes it easy for marketers to design sophisticated mobile campaigns that evolve over time and are unique to every customer. Send a message, wait for a reply, and deliver a specific response. And there’s no limit to where you take these conversations. Keep them short and simple or get more sophisticated as you learn what works. It’s an amazing way to drive engagement, conversion, and loyalty. And there’s no limit to where you can take these conversations.

Figure 7. A triggered mobile campaign offers the opportunity to engage customers in multiple conversations.


Great Mobile Marketing in ActionModern Marketers have created great ways to use mobile to build lasting relationships with their customers.

What’s the next campaign that you’ll launch?

Motorcycles

For the world famous Sturgis motorcycle rally, enthusiasts can text the word STURGIS to receive updates and offers leading up to the event through both the e-mail and mobile channels.

Airlines

To keep frequent flyers up to date on their status, they can sign up to receive a link texted to their phones once each month that will take them directly to their mileage account balance.

Insurance

Customers moving through the application process can text HELP and receive a unique 800 number to dial depending on where they are in the process.

Retail

Consumers can text in different keywords to help the retailer know which stores they frequent and what products they care about. For example, West Coast shoppers text SAVE01 while East Coast shoppers send SAVE02.

Healthcare

Patients receive SMS reminders one month before appointments as well as three days before appointments. They can text back YES to confirm or NO to cancel. They’ll also be able to rate their visit when they’re finished by texting back a score of one to five.

Engagement

Loyalty

Conversion

Engagement

Engagement

Conversion

Loyalty

Relationship

Figure 8.


Putting It All TogetherOnce you’ve come up with a few great campaign ideas for capturing permission, building engagement, driving conversion, and creating loyalty, the next step is to plan your customer journey. There’s really no limit to the directions you can take your journeys, as long as you approach them from a relationship-first perspective.

Here are a few examples to get you started.

The Retail Journey

Melissa is into fashion. She spends most of her free time checking out the latest trends so she can stay on the cutting edge. While shopping downtown, she sees a billboard for the retailer Jaxon, advertising their new line of shoes with a call to action that says, “text SAVE15 to 12345 to get 15 percent off.”

Figure 9. A mobile strategy for the retail industry might involve these steps.

Melissa texts in her email address and the keyword SAVE15 to 12345 to opt in to receive Jaxon’s digital offers.

She immediately gets a text back to confirm that she would like to receive promotional offers from Jaxon, as well as a short link that takes her to an online coupon for 15% off.

Melissa decides she wants to redeem her coupon today, so she texts in her zip code to find the nearest Jaxon location.

She finds just the shoes she’s looking for. Unfortunately they’re out of her size. Two days later Melissa gets a text notifying her that her size is in stock.

After rushing back to the store and making her purchase, Melissa gets a text asking her to rate her experience 1-5. Melissa is now a fan, and texts back “5” for outstanding.


The Travel Journey

As a regional account executive Matthew finds himself on the road each week. He has gold member status with his favorite airline, and has opted in to receive e-mail communications like deal alerts and flight updates. In this week’s e-mail, he sees a call to action to text ALERTS to get real-time SMS updates when he’s on the road.

Figure 10. A mobile strategy for the travel industry might involve these steps.

Matthew loves the idea of real-time SMS updates. He texts in “alerts” to opt-in to mobile messages.

The NYC flight didn’t sell out and as a Gold member, Matthew is eligible for a dis-counted upgrade to business class. Matthew gets the alert in the cab on the way to the airport.

The text tells him he can buy the upgrade by just replying “Y” and it will be charged to his card on file. He wants the extra legroom, so he pulls the trigger.

After buying the upgrade, Matthew gets another text telling him that his flight is scheduled to leave right on time, his departure gate is B8 and the weather in NYC is rainy and 53 degrees.

After landing safely, he gets a final SMS mes-sage asking him how his flight was on a scale of 1-5. He loved the food and the movie selection, so texts back “5”. No wonder Matthew is a loyal Gold Member.


The Finance Journey

Heather and her husband have been saving for years, and they’re finally ready to take the plunge and purchase a family home. While waiting in line at her local bank, she sees a sign stating, “text RATE30 to 12345 to be alerted to changes in 30-Year Fixed Mortgage rates.”

Figure 11. A mobile strategy for the finance industry might involve these steps.

After seeing a call to action at her bank, Heather texts in “RATE30” to opt in to receive mobile updates about mortgage rates. Heather immediately

receives a text offering up the current rate of 3.380% and a link to the online mortgage application and credit checker.

A few weeks later, Heather gets a mobile alert that the rate has just dropped to 3.375%. She’s getting close to putting an offer on a house and wants to lock in this rate so she clicks through the link and fills in the online loan application.

Three days later Heather receives a text telling her that her loan is approved, and that she needs to drop by a branch to sign the final papers. She texts in her zip code to get directions to the nearest location.

Heather gets her loan and gets the house of her dreams. Now each month, the bank texts her a loan payment reminder as well as a link to their latest helpful banking tips for new home owners.


Going Beyond SMSMobile marketing doesn’t end with a well-timed text message. In fact, smart marketers are using mobile to enhance the performance of all of their digital marketing strategies. And they’re also accounting for all of the ways that other channels are fundamentally changing as a result of the mobile explosion.

Cross-Channel Personalization

With a cross-channel marketing platform, Modern Marketers can apply relationship-first principles to marketing programs that span e-mail, social, display, web, and of course mobile channels. So not only do you get mobile as a great new standalone weapon in your marketing arsenal, but it’s a fantastic tool to help enhance the effectiveness across the board.

For example, for customers who you find aren’t clicking on your e-mails as much as they used to, you can use an SMS message to bring them back into the fold. Or if you’re promoting your big fall sale via e-mail and display advertising, be sure to orchestrate an SMS reminder the day before it begins to push attendance over the edge.

Sende-mailSpecial deals

in your favoritecategories.

Showdisplay ad

One free night’s stay with a

package deal.

SendemailThank you

Showdisplay

ad20% off your

next purchase.

Startprogram

Endprogram

Sendmobile

messageWe’ve missed you!Here’s a coupon.

Haspurchased?

yesadd customer to

“engaged” segment

Wait

5days

noadd customer to “at risk” segment

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Sign in New / RegisterMLB / NFL / NBA / TENNIS / HOCKEY / GOLF / SURF REPORT

Highlights

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Race Schedule

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Mavericks Surf Contest AnnouncedBy Kelly Smith 02/04/2011 4:00PM

search

Sign in New / RegisterMLB / NFL / NBA / TENNIS / HOCKEY / GOLF / SURF REPORT

Highlights

Fantasy Football

Draft

French Open

World Cup

Race Schedule

Tournaments

20% off your next purchaseof a package deal. Book now.

Figure 12. Marketing programs that span e-mail, social, display, web, and mobile are highly effective.


Mobile E-Mail

Roughly 40 percent of e-mails in the US are opened on a mobile device, and this trend is only going in one direction. Unfortunately, the consumer’s e-mail experience on mobile is often plagued by outdated designs and frustrating layouts.

In the mobile world, you’ve got to be sure to design communications that look just as amazing on the smartphone as they do on a tablet or a desktop.

Our Modern Marketing experts have worked with some of the world’s biggest brands to optimize their e-mail programs for the mobile world. Whether you want to start easy by optimizing e-mail design for different devices, or get sophisticated with responsive e-mail design, our creative and technical professionals are here to help.

Visit our website to download our Mobile E-mail Guide. It’s a great overview of the best strategies you can put to work today.

Mobile Advertising

With a seemingly infinite number of apps, sites, and networks—not to mention devices and screen resolutions—advertising to today’s mobile consumer is a complex, yet essential part of any marketing mix. Ask about our mobile advertising network and partners, including current inventory and customer targeting capabilities via Facebook.

Figure 13. Personalized mobile-optimized e-mail.


Mobile Number Validation

In the mobile channel, gaining permission from your customers is the first step towards launching a successful relationship marketing strategy.

Unfortunately, most marketers have hundreds of thousands if not millions of phone numbers in their customer databases, yet no way of determining which of these are mobile numbers. And even if you could distinguish between mobile and landline numbers, how would you gain permission to communicate with these customers?

With our mobile phone number validation service, you can:

• Analyze the phone numbers you already have to sort out the mobile numbers.

• Target these customers through traditional channels such as e-mail, direct mail, and web, and ask them to opt in on their mobile devices.

• Send customers with known mobile numbers a special opt in SMS, free to them, which provides a strong call to action and an easy path to opting in.

Rapidly building and growing a sizable, addressable mobile audience is an imperative for success as a relationship-first Modern Marketer. Starting with the assets you already have on hand is a great way to jump start on this new channel.

Don’t Let the Mobile Opportunity Pass You ByIt’s clear the world has gone mobile. With a proven combination of world-class digital technology and expertise that spans strategy, technology, creative, and execution, Oracle Marketing Cloud can be the partner you need to find success in this critical new channel.

21Relationship-First Marketing for a Mobile WorldCopyright © 2014, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

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relationship-first marketing for a mobile world · relationship-first marketing for a mobile world6...

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