mobile CRM

How Mobile Can Deliver Better CRM

/ Mark Brill / Leave a comment

Mobile is the most personal, direct and emotional of all channels. Whilst many brands integrate mobile as another vertical channel, there is an opportunity to create a deeper, richer engagement by taking a more horizontal approach across all channels. What happens if consumers see an ad on TV, or use their device in-store?

Numbers show that brands in the UK are so far struggling to grasp this opportunity. For example, Experian’s ‘Global Data Quality Research Report’ in 2012 surveyed 300 UK organisations, and found that 40% of UK companies currently fail to collect any mobile data at all.

Consumers today are connected to the world 24/7, and this constant use of mobile devices provides brands with pervasive customer data, all of which can help them understand the changing consumer behaviour. Using the example of a consumer that performs a mobile search after seeing a TV advert, what if you could pick up where the TV advert left off and continue to tell the brand’s story on mobile ?

With insight and an understanding of consumers’ contextual behaviour, brands can actually adapt and tailor their approach so that they can be more relevant, timely and useful to consumers than ever before, thus building stronger customer relationships.

BrandEmotivity’s whitepaper on marketing to situations and contexts (below) explores the problem with mobile as a vertical channel, the advantages and challenges brands are faced with in integrating mobile horizontally, and how mobile and mobile data can work to improve brand’s CRM strategies. Or you can download it from here 0n SlideShare.

 

Top 10 Ways to Utilise Mobile Marketing

/ Mark Brill / Leave a comment

Mobile offers a variety of channels for marketing – SMS, MMS, Mobile Internet, Bluetooth and Apps. Without doubt, SMS remains king, but marketers are looking at a whole range of methods for marketing to their audience. The following is a brief guide to the 10 best ways to engage through mobile marketing:

1. Customer relationship marketing

When companies first approach mobile marketing they typically think of customer acquisition as the main aim. However, the best place to start is often with existing customers, to improve relationships and uplift.
Once mobile marketing has been developed through existing customers then the move to acquisition is much easier.

2. Ticketing and Vouchering

Simply sending a promotional message is not the most effective way to engage customers. Vouchering and ticketing offer some excellent opportunities for a simple, yet compelling offer. It is cheap, simple and easily redeemable.

3. Mobile Sites

Few companies have a mobile site, thinking few people will browse it. In reality mobile users will browse your web site through their phone. Surely it’s better to ensure that the site is actually optimised for the mobile user to offer the clearest, simplest and best experience.

4. Apps

This year has been all about apps, and iphone apps in particular. Mobile applications offer an excellent way to engage customers. Generally the most successful marketing apps have been utilities to engage customers – from BA’s fight times, to Nike’s training apps – they offer the best opportunity for sophisticated marketing campaigns.

5. Bluetooth Marketing

Bluetooth proximity marketing is finally coming of age. Good hardware combined with powerful management software means that sending rich content to mobile users in situ is a real possibility. Recent Bluetooth campaigns have shown a high level of take up by mobile users.

6. Text to win/text voting

This old classic has shown it’s resilience and continues to offer potential. The recent Walker’s SMS campaign saw over 1 million responses.

7. QR

Although it hasn’t entirely taken off, Quick Recognition codes have resulted in some successful campaigns: Pepsi’s QR offer this year saw a large response, as well as campaigns by car manufacturers such as BMW and Volvo.

8. Appointment Reminders

It’s simple, but effective. If a business relies on people turning up to appointments, then SMS has been shown to significantly improve turn up rates – from health and beauty, through to the motor trade, it is a simple way to bring in more customers.

9. Location Services

LBS has never really shown it’s true potential due to issues of privacy and cost of delivery. However, location apps, such as Last Minute’s NRU, have shown how location-based information can bring real marketing benefits.

10. UGC and Social Media

It’s not all one way traffic! Encouraging, even incentivising users to submit their own content whether through mobile internet, SMS or Bluetooth is the future for mobile marketing. Mobile Social Media, from twitter to facebook offer true long term potential.