The Mistakes You Should Avoid In Your Mobile Marketing

Failing to target your customer

Devising the perfect message is only useful when you're sending that message to the right people. Many companies make the mistake with SMS marketing of treating it more like a mass market medium due to its wide reach and low cost than the highly targeted medium it is.

Text marketing campaigns allow you to use specific demographic and behavioral information in your database to target messages to specific consumer groups at specific times. Targeting makes your message highly relevant to consumers, and as a result is far more likely to be successful.

In a recent US example Delta Airlines targeted frequent travelers by inviting them to text in the name of a worldwide destination to a mobile short code to receive tips for insight into local business practices in the selected location. This enabled Delta to send relevant and engaging content as well as target those travelers with the right marketing messages, encouraging consumers to research and manage flight options on the Delta mobile internet site.

Ensure you use the power of mobile marketing to its full potential by creating highly targeted and relevant content for your consumers.

Using SMS as a push focused selling tool

Mobile marketing can be a great way to interact with consumers but if your communication with them is more like a push focused sales pitch you're unlikely to maintain an engaged audience. Many companies make the mistake of bombarding consumers with marketing messages that add no value to the consumer's life. These constant messages about irrelevant new products or pushing the old same services become a point of annoyance and distrust quickly and can erode not only your ability to use the SMS medium in the future but also your long term relationship with customers and your brand.

In a recent mobile marketing promotion 7-Eleven offered consumers a free drink in store by texting a keyword to a mobile short code. 7-Eleven added to its mobile marketing database inviting consumers to opt in to receive future messages and customers benefited by receiving a free product.

Using SMS marketing as a one way communication tool

Use mobile marketing campaigns to bring alive your interaction with customers in creative new ways. Make your messages action oriented by letting your customer in on relevant real time information about an event or product they're interested in or ask them to do something - whether it be interacting directly via text by asking them to text in ideas or competition answers or by directing them in store, to your website or some other relevant event. If your consumers are talking to you they're more likely to be engaged and receptive to your marketing messages.

Mobile marketing is a great two way communication tool, however many companies fail to realise the power of two way communication and instead use the channel as a dry one way communication channel akin to print advertising.

Using Mobile Marketing in isolation

There are multitudes of ways you can make mobile marketing an essential component of your integrated marketing plan. Use short codes in your call to action on TV or an outdoor billboard to add an element of interactivity to a mass market campaign, encourage consumers to opt in to receive SMS reminders via your website or promote new products in your online store to your subscriber list via SMS - the possibilities for integration are almost endless. It also helps to look for multi-channel marketing technology, like InvolveMobile, which can deliver an integrated database that can link mobile with email, online and other consumer touch points.
While mobile marketing campaignscan still be effective when used on their own, they're best used as part of a multi-channel approach which may include a wide range of other marketing mediums including online, email, television, print, radio, and outdoor. Many companies new to mobile marketing don't integrate mobile marketing effectively into their marketing plan and more importantly, how it integrates with their database. These companies fail to see the real benefits mobile marketing can bring when used collaboratively.

Get your FREE automated marketing system!

Manuel Holder is CEO & Founder of Nu Money Marketing.