JCPenney Leverages SMS Marketing In Its Favor

Recently, the department store chain JCPenney was able to use SMS marketing to its advantage and saw the great rewards and dividends it can bring. Their campaign, which started on February 7th, focused on reminding consumers of their pledge to consistently offer low prices. It was a part of a larger, multichannel marketing effort that JCPenney is currently enacting. Their success story is just another in what is becoming a staple with SMS and mobile marketing campaigns. We’re here to show you how JCPenney was able to do this.

The SMS campaign started on February 7th when the brand sent out an SMS message to all of its users. The message read “We’re making it easier to see the value with simple comparisons that show our price vs. elsewhere.” A link in the original messaged urged users to shop. They were then prompted to click through to a link which brough them to a landing page designed specifically for this campaign. The page, since it was optimized for mobile, allowed consumers to swipe through rich media and content which featured the brand’s promise to offer the lowest prices.

For example, on one page a woman’s t-shirt was listed at $6. The competition had the same t-shirt listed at $19.

Another page showed a men’s t-shirt at $5 at JCPenney, while the same shirt was $15 at a competing store.

Tabs at the bottom of each page let users search through the looks featured by JCPenney.

Blending with their mobile and SMS campaign, JCPenney also used TV as a big part of their larger marketing campaign. Users were able to click on a tab featured on the landing page so they could watch 15 second TV ads. All of the commercials were easily viewable on mobile devices.

As a part of JCPenney’s multichannel push, they also announced that they would be installing mobile devices in place of all their cash registers in order to become more consumer check-out friendly and improve customer satisfaction. Along with this, they drove consumers to stores during the holidays by using location-based ads which promoted an in-store campaign. Consumers, after shopping at JCPenney, could receive buttons in the store with a 7-digit code which could be entered online to win rewards and prizes. Using SMS marketing, they were able to do all of this very easily.

Derek Johnson, CEO of Tatango in Seattle, Washington, reminded us of the importance of SMS messaging in mobile marketing, “While Twitter, Facebook and email are becoming more mobile  – and in turn a viable option for capturing attention on a consumer’s mobile phone – SMS is pure mobile. This makes SMS messaging the premier choice for an announcement such as this, as 90 percent of text messages are read within three minutes.”

Realize that the original SMS campaign started on February 7th. At the time of writing this article that was literally 5 days ago and JCPenney already saw returns for their investment in SMS. Imagine the returns youcould get if you launched an SMS marketing campaign today! The best part is it’s not even expensive. SMS marketing is the cheapest route you can take if you are planning on implementing a mobile marketing campaign into your company’s marketing strategy. Add the fact that not every phone is a smartphone yet, and SMS becomes even more attractive due to the fact that EVERY mobile phone, regardless if it’s smart or not, is capable of sending and receiving text messages.

So the question is, why are you waiting? Hop on the SMS marketing bandwagon today and watch your bottom line grow!