SMS Mobile Coupons On The Rise Says Report

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by

According to a recent report from RadiumOne, 42.3 percent of customers would rather receive SMS-based mobile coupons than scan barcodes or use push notifications. The report, titled “Improving the Performance of Mobile Coupons”, found that 61,9 percent of people are using mobile coupons at grocery stores and retailers while51.5 percent of smartphone users choose to use mobile coupons over the 23.8 percent that use scanning-based methods.

mobilecoupon

“Based on our results, we can make the assumption that people prefer to have control over the mobile coupon process and want to have mobile coupons readily available anytime on their mobile device,” said Vice President of RadiumOne, Kamal Kaur. “Consumers also view push notifications as more invasive than SMS, which is another reason why SMS coupons are preferred.”

The report was also able to highlight how women are using mobile coupons for their household purchases, especially women among the 35-54 year old demographic. “When presented with a sales opportunity or coupon,” continured Kaur. “The in-ad options allow women to engage with a brand’s content with great autonomy and choice – a method most preferred and appreciated by this particular demographic.”

Couple this with the rise in social media and mobile and this new information revelas a very promising opportunity with women consumers for businesses and companies that still has yet to be fully taken advantage of. “A demographic, that for the most part, continues to feel misunderstood by advertisers,” said Kaur.

So we know that mobile coupons are preferred by mobile users, especially by women, so that means, naturally, mobile coupon use is also growing. Smartphones are responsible for most of the mobile coupon use, but mobile coupons are text-based so you can send mobile coupons to virtually any phone that is SMS capable.

3966814407_50249010d9_o

RadiumOne’s report examined how customers engage with mobile coupons on their mobile devices while also staying aware of which digital promotions are best designed to fit the desires of customers. As mentioned before, women between 35-54 years of age are the fastest growing mobile coupon demographic since mobile coupons are so easy for them to use. Because of this,marketers and advertisers have been given an opportunity to grow their relationships with these customers.

The report shows that users are valuing efficiency, utility, and ease-of-use with mobile coupons. They especially liked SMS-based coupons and when they were alerted about their coupons through push notifications.

The beauty of mobile coupons is that users can use them four different ways. They can scan them with a 2D barcode, check-in on a mobile app, tap their phones at a point-of-sale terminal, or use a digital loyalty card.

RaduimOne discovered a number of key marketer best practices when dealing with mobile coupons during the course of the study. They recommended multi-step redemption processes, tailoring mobile coupon offers for everyday products, pushing appropriate offers to mobile shoppers through text messaging, and taking advantage of in-app loyalty programs which will automatically redeem mobile coupon offers.

“The ability for brands to identify consumer behavior and understand when people are most likely to interact with brands on their handheld devices is critical when designing a multi-channel media strategy that may include in-store digital promotions,” noted Kaur. “According to survey findings, the top three most frequently redeemed coupon categories included groceries, retail goods and food and drink. Along with that, retailers are currently delivering coupons in four different ways including: scanning a QR code, checking-in on a mobile application, tapping their phone on a point-of-sales terminal or redeeming coupons via digital loyalty cards.”

mobile_marketing_1

So as you can see, mobile coupons are not only growing in popularity, but they are also being used more and marketers are learning how to use them more efficiently. Mobile coupons should be considered by ANY company if they want to bring in more traffic, more leads, and generate more conversions. But you need to hop on the trend now before it leaves you, and your company, in the dust.

White Castle Takes Advantage of Mobile Marketing | Another Success Story

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by

white_castle_top

White Castle has become another example in a long line of success stories involving companies who have implemented mobile marketing. Recently, they integrated a mobile campaign into their marketing strategy and have seen the robust returns mobile marketing can bring. They launched their SMS campaign using a Text2Crave service which, whenever customers are near or around any of their restaurants, sends customized alerts and unique mobile coupons to them. Their customers are then given the opportunity to opt-in to White Castle’s service any time they are around or near a White Castle location. This allows them to control what and what isn’t sent to them, while also connecting into White Castle’s mobile campaign to get coupons and deals on the food they crave.

Shuli Lowy, Marketing Director at Ping Mobile, pointed out, “Mobile coupons delivered through SMS are known to have the highest redemption rates—dwarfing those of all of all other forms of distribution including direct mail, newspaper ads, mobile applications, television commercial and mobile banner ads.”

Lowy continued, “Particularly when it comes to fast food restaurants, SMS has proven to be widely effective. SMS coupons in this vertical can easily have redemption rates of 10-30 percent – especially when location targeting is added to the recipe.”

White Castle’s mobile campaign is simple and easy to understand, and that’s the beauty of it. Any normal street-goer who uses a mobile device or a smartphone is easily capable of opting-in to White Castle’s service. We’ll you how their campaign works.

white-castle

Customers or potential customers who choose to opt-in to the service can do so by texting the keyword CRAVE to the short code 25787 (you’re welcome, White Castle, for the free
promotion). Now that the customers have opted-in to the service, they will now receive real-time text mesage alerts from White Castle any time they are within a 1-5 mile radius of any White Castle location. Now, you may think this could become a problem, especially if any of these customers are near White Castles often, but White Castle has implemented a setting into their mobile marketing campaign which limits the amount of texts they send to one customer to 6 per month. This prevents them from bombarding their customers with text messages and possibly annoying or irritating them to the point where they opt-out of the service, which is obviously not something you would want.

The coupons sent through the text messages range from from discounts for the company’s Angus Steak Chili and Brownie on a Stick to deals on Sliders and other favorites. Ms. Lowy chimed in, “The mobile marketing industry has been blessed with tremendous innovation in the space and the addition of many new, exciting forms of advertising. However, the majority of those campaigns can only be executed on smartphones.14481Smartphone penetration is currently at just over half of the market.” Luckily, the smartphone market is growing rapidly and the younger generation already dominates the smartphone market with 74% of 25-34 year olds already owning smartphones. This is a growing trend that you DO NOT want to fall behind on. If you do, you and your company WILL feel the effects of it.

In addition to the Text2Crave service, White Castle is also offering two free Original Sliders to anyone who opts-in to their service. So on top of the incentive to opt-in for deals on White Castle food and products, customers also have the added incentive of just opting-in for the free Sliders.

Ms. Lowy summed up, “The beautiful thing about SMS messages targeted by location is that it enables brands to catch the right person, in the right place, at the crucial decision making moment. Opted in consumers have already expressed interest in the brand and are therefore likely to engage with it further. They are being contacted in the right place as the system can gauge whether they are within the vicinity. Additionally, messages are often pushed out pre-meal time when consumers are beginning to contemplate where to eat their next meal. That is targeting.”

Holiday Mobile Marketing Trends 2012

/0 Comments/in , , , , , /by

 

With the advent of smartphones and the internet, holiday shopping has become dramatically different for both shoppers and retailers. According to a holiday mobile marketing statistics 2012 study conducted by Vibes Mobile Consumer Report, an astounding 90% of shoppers have a smartphone in their hand while they are shopping. This means that almost literally all of your customers that walk into your store have a smartphone on them. So what does this mean? And what can you do to take advantage of this?

The first thing you want to know about is a new trend called “showrooming.” Showrooming is when customers walk into a store, find a product, and look up that particular product on the spot using the internet on their smartphones. The problem with this is, if your company doesn’t have that same product online, the customer will probably buy it online instead of at your store since most products can be found cheaper online. Customers like to look at products on the shelf, touch them, feel them, and get a general sense of what they are in real life, then end up buying the same product online at a discounted price. Don’t let this happen to you! Make sure that your products can be purchased online, and maintain a strong online presence, or you will find yourself becoming merely a “showroom” to buyers.

Internet marketing savvy companies, such as Target, have learned to combat showrooming by setting up displays in their stores that showcase the top 20 toys of the year. A QR code for each toy is given to customers so that customers can buy the toy(s) online and have them shipped to their home. Retailers can also set up QR codes next to each product so shoppers can scan the code to simply get more detailed information on that particular product. QR codes are a great way for customers to get the products they want, get more information on those products, while also avoiding the long lines that typically clog up stores on Black Friday and throughout the holidays.

Other companies have also combated showrooming with mobile coupons which are sent directly to customer’s phones. The customer can then show the coupon to the cashier upon checkout. These mobile coupons can also be location based, so that they only go out to customers that have either entered your store, or are within a certain distance from your store. This will not only encourage customers to walk through your doors, but you will also be more likely to make a sale to them considering the mobile coupon is the reason they came in the first place.

Shoppers also have the option of entering their zip code into their smartphones to receive local retailers’ weekly ads and deals. Along with this, they can designate a “home store” so they receive location-specific ads. This gives the customer much more power while shopping, while also allowing retailers to maintain their presence with shoppers.

Another great way to advertise to holiday shoppers is by developing custom smartphone apps to improve your customers’ shopping experience. Leading furniture retailer, IKEA, developed a custom app which allows customers to scan items into their phones and the app will give customers ideas of how to decorate their homes with that specific product. Another custom smartphone app, Shopkick, allows users to earn “kicks” or reward points for checking-in at one of the 7,000 participating retail outlets. You can even link your credit card when buying something and earn more points towards a future purchase. Remember, with apps, especially around the holidays, you want to make sure it is updated and easy to use for customers! If you don’t do this, customers will become frustrated with your app, stop using it, and completely defeat the point of you developing the app in the first place.

Users can also engage in text-based marketing. Shoppers can opt-in to a text-based service by texting a keyword to a specified shortcode and receive special notifications including coupons, discounts, special deals, and event information.

Several leading companies have already said that mobile marketing is their fastest growing marketing channel. During the holidays, when most retailers are crossing over from the red into the black, it is essential that they have a thought out mobile marketing strategy. If they don’t, they will be “showroomed” or just left behind with the rest of the retailers who have not gone mobile with their marketing strategies. Don’t be one of them!!!