LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mogreet today released seven goals for companies looking to amplify their text message marketing efforts in 2014. This advice is based on analysis of trends, examination of best practices for increasing ROI, and Mogreet’s experiences working with major brands such as Vans, Charlotte Russe, Cox Media Group, ABC Television Network, Jack in the Box, and Entravision.
“Text messaging is an essential component of any integrated mobile marketing plan,” said James Citron, CMO and co-founder of Mogreet. “Text marketing is accessible by 98 percent of U.S. cell phone users and yields the highest open rate within mobile marketing. And with multimedia text messages, or MMS, fast ascending as ‘Text 2.0,’ we have identified several ways mobile marketing can be not just ubiquitous, but also highly personal and engaging.”
The seven recommendations are as follows:
1. Increase the use of MMS, especially video, in marketing campaigns. Plain text messaging, or SMS, will always be useful because it is ubiquitous and shares a 95 percent open rate with MMS on mobile phones (compared to only 11 percent with email). However, many brands are looking to communicate with customers in full color and without being constrained to 160 characters. Marketers should create short-format, multimedia content that engages customers and tells the brand’s story.
2. Ensure marketing content can be experienced on every type of mobile device. Even a brilliant video or multimedia marketing message will flop if customers can’t access the content on their phones because of compatibility issues. Before texting a video to a database, brands should make sure they have a platform that supports multiple devices and that carriers have tested the consumer experience.
3. Stay compliant with new regulations. Companies and consumers alike should understand that text message marketing is heavily regulated. Marketers must follow recently revised regulations such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (which allows individuals to file lawsuits and collect damages for receiving unsolicited marketing text messages). These regulations work to ensure a positive customer experience, such as asking customers to opt in and being clear about what they are signing up for.
4. Be smart, helpful and useful when using location data. Location-based marketing allows companies to integrate mobile advertising with location-based services. For example, customers shopping at a retail location can be targeted and sent a text-message coupon for that very store on their mobile device. For some, it is helpful. For others, it is creepy, especially in light of escalating privacy concerns. Brands should not be pushy, but allow customers the opportunity to opt-in to the services and channels they prefer.
5. Segment mobile databases and provide relevant content specific to customer interests. It is critically important to keep customer databases well organized according to demographics such as age, gender, etc. Marketers can tailor relevant messages and incentives for individual customers. Applying the latest mobile marketing technology delivers far more targeted (and profitable) campaigns, because personalized offers are much more likely to resonate with customers.
6. Promote mobile sharing of content across branded websites and apps. Brands would be smart to utilize mobile features such as “send-to-a-friend,” as customers want to share products, apps, or content with their peers. By enabling only email sharing, marketers miss out on one of the strongest opportunities to drive peer-to-peer endorsement of a brand. A brand’s best customers can drive awareness of the brand often better than the best marketing campaign, so marketers should provide them the tools to do so by enabling mobile sharing.
7. Integrate mobile into internal communications. Companies should engage employees, not just customers, on mobile to keep everyone aware of mobile marketing initiatives. For example, texting out messages with new promotions and new app updates helps employees across the entire organization to be immediately informed of marketing initiatives, application updates and act as better advocates of the brand.
“All in all, successful mobile marketing is about providing compelling content that is valuable to an audience and easy to access,” said Citron. “If marketers use these guidelines and add a touch of creativity and imagination, they can take advantage of the great possibilities text message marketing will provide in 2014 and beyond.”
Mogreet is the leading text messaging platform for the delivery of rich media and video to mobile devices and reaches two billion consumers globally. The company works with leading retail, entertainment, media and consumer products marketers, as well as developers, through the Mogreet Developer Platform. Through its direct carrier connections, Mogreet provides an unrivaled experience as an aggregator and rich media messaging platform. Mogreet is headquartered in Los Angeles and is majority owned by Silver Lake Sumeru. For more information, go to mogreet.com.
