Growing your mobile marketing database isn't as painful as you think

One of the biggest advantages mobile messaging brings to your marketing plan is the extremely high response rate. Ninety-eight percent of text messages are usually read within 3 minutes, with click through rates of over 50%. That’s huge! No other marketing channel produces the type of immediacy that mobile marketing provides.

Mobile marketing is the most accessible form of marketing for consumers considering nearly everyone in the world has a smartphone. With SMS and MMS, marketers can provide consumers with rich media and immediate text messaging rather than email or direct mail. With mobile messaging being governed by the telephone consumer protection action (TCPA) which provides strict rules and regulations enforced by the MMA (Mobile Marketing Association), CTIA and mobile carriers, so brands can only market to customers who explicitly opt-in and give a company permission to send them text messages to prevent SPAM or unsolicited messages.

Building a mobile marketing database
Mobile subscribers drive higher marketing ROI than any other program. In order to build a mobile database it’s crucial to implement a promotional strategy that ties in your mobile campaign.

The secret to growing and maintaining a loyal mobile subscriber database is to use a compelling offer or incentive that will pique the interest of your consumer and follow through with delivering value.

We are frequently asked, “How do you get consumers to opt in to offers and promotions?” Below you will find a number of different ways to get the most out of your marketing activities and build your mobile database.

Relevance and timeliness: Brands can drive opt-ins by offering compelling content designed for immediate use. Consider offerings to entice consumers to join.

• Coupons
• Sneak peeks to new offerings
• Relevant news alerts
• Early access programs
• Branded content

Ratchet up the creative and incentives: The more creative and the bigger incentive you deliver, the more opt-ins you are likely to receive. Try to include:

• Videos – trailers, product reviews, music videos.
• Images, emoji’s and photo albums.
• Audio clips – sneak peek to newest artist releases.
• BOGO – Buy one, get one free.
• Free drink or dessert with purchase of a hamburger.
• 20% off for new customer opt-in’s.

Engage consumers: Consider the following types of interactive campaigns to drive opt-ins:

• Rewards and loyalty programs
• Text2win campaigns
• Trivia
• UGC (user generated content) based programs
• Voting
• Gamification

Personalization is key: As you build your database, take advantage of customization opportunities to drive more mobile engagement with your consumers.

• Drive engagement around key times of the day in various time zones.
• Create localized content including weather, sporting events, and happenings in and around the area.
• Take advantage of DMA and area code segmentation opportunities to drive action in key markets.
• Collect as much information about your subscriber as you can to deliver more relevant messages.

Promote like crazy! If people don’t know about your campaign, they can’t join so be sure to heavily promote your keyword, short code, QR Codes and value proposition to your audiences by adding a call to action to the following:

• Website
• Share it with your existing email database
• All forms of advertising
• Post across social media platforms 
• Product packaging
• Point of sale (POS) opportunities
• Paper receipts, email signatures, and other marketing materials are sometimes overlooked – but provide a great opportunity for marketers.

This is not an end all be all to how building your mobile marketing database, but certainly should get you started with some ideas of how to proactively get consumers interested and engaged in your mobile marketing initiatives.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at info@gravit8marketing.com or check out our website: http://www.gravit8marketing.com. Good luck with your campaigns.