05/24/12 by Cellit Staff | Cellit News, Industry News, News | No Comments »
Cellit released a retail benchmark study outlining best practices for mobile marketing campaigns to drive sales, grow subscriber databases, and retail loyal customers.
The release was picked up by several media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch, which included a brief statement from David Wachs, the SVP of Mobile for ePrize, GM of Cellit:
“Mobile marketing is still in its infancy. While retailers engaging in mobile programs are finding tremendous value, only a small number of companies have taken full advantage of this effective marketing mechanism. We released this study to help retailers get a better understanding of what to expect when launching an SMS program, and how to achieve ongoing engagement and success with mobile CRM.”
Click here to download the retail benchmark report.
02/23/11 by Cellit Staff | Cellit News, News | 1 Comment »
CHICAGO, Feb. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Cellit, a leading provider of mobile customer relationship management (CRM) systems for retailers, restaurants and other companies, announced today the release of a whitepaper, Best Practices in Mobile Marketing for Retailers: The 5Cs of Mobile Marketing. Cellit has analyzed the more than 25 million text messages sent by various retailers and other companies to customers with the Cellit Studio technology platform to determine the keys to success of mobile marketing. Cellit’s findings are categorized under the “5Cs” of mobile marketing:
Commitment – Mobile marketing should be an integral part of the marketing mix and not be viewed as a single event like a contest. Integrating mobile into other marketing communications such as television commercials can actually extend the life of these other forms of marketing. While your commercial will only last 30 seconds, by including a call to text, customers can immediately get more information, and can do so whether they are sitting at their computer or not. Research has demonstrated that most people almost always have their phones within arm’s reach, while there’s little data to support that a potential customer will remember or want to go to your Facebook page hours later when they logon to their PC.
Cadence – Retailers should determine the frequency of the messages on a per customer basis. A good mobile program puts the control in the hands of the customer. Listening to your customer will give you the answer. Taking into account prior buying behavior will also tell you what types of messages they want to receive, in addition to how frequently. To gather this data, a strong customer analytics tool will be crucial to any mobile marketing platform.
Content – Just as “hi” is not a particularly compelling text to send to a friend, text messages to retail customers must contain a compelling enough offer to act. The exact dollar threshold or type of offer will vary by retailer, but whatever the offer, it should be unique to those who subscribe to the retailer’s mobile program in order to create a sense of exclusivity. Analyzing what types of offers were attractive to individual customers in the past can help a retailer develop customized messages that are most likely to get a response.
Connectivity – There are many mobile carriers in the U.S. outside of the top names, and it is important that a retailer’s mobile marketing platform partner be able to support them all, including the “long tail” of small, regional players.
Compliance – There are a lot of regulations that all mobile marketers need to comply with each and every time they send a message to customers. The carriers change the compliance requirements surrounding a mobile campaign with a great deal of frequency, so it is important that a retailer’s mobile marketing platform partner is always up to speed.
“We believe that 2011 will be the year of mobile marketing and that retailers are really beginning to understand the enormous potential of the mobile platform to build customer loyalty,” said David Wachs, president of Cellit. ”While online marketing or television spots might be considered sexier, mobile marketing can generate significant ROI with a reasonable investment. Since 80% of the population has a mobile phone and most people carry their phones everywhere with them, mobile marketing campaigns ensure that your marketing is everywhere your customers are.”
About Cellit
Cellit develops mobile customer relationship management (CRM) programs for retailers, restaurants and other companies who want to leverage mobile technology to create a deeper level of customer engagement. The Cellit Studio campaign management platform empowers clients to create interactive mobile CRM programs including coupons, contests, games, surveys and alerts that inform, delight and motivate customers, increasing knowledge, loyalty and ultimately spending. Cellit Studio seamlessly integrates with client enterprise and POS technology and provides an easy to implement and measurable way to maximize the potential of the mobile channel. Cellit also provides custom mobile sites and phone apps to some of the largest brands in the world. Headquartered in Chicago, Cellit was recently named to the Inc. 500 2010 list of fastest-growing private companies in the country. For more information please visit www.cellit.com.
10/30/10 by David Wachs | Blog, Marketing Blog | 1 Comment »
We get asked all the time for the “best practices” of mobile marketing, so I wanted to share just five little hints that can improve your campaigns.
- Follow the Three C’s: Content, Cadence and Commitment: We’ve written about the three C’s in the past (here, here and here), and they stand on their own as the tenants we live by at Cellit, so I will just summarize them here. Deliver the (1) right message (to the right people), (2) at the right time (and at the correct frequency) and (3) stay committed to your mobile program! The commitment is what I always stress. We have so many clients that think mobile is a “if you build it, they will come” phenomenon, and it simply doesn’t work this way. You must remain committed to mobile: come up with fantastic content, and make sure people know about it!
- Respect your customer! If you send non-interesting messages (or non-valuable coupons), nobody’s going to want to be a part of your program! I know this sounds obvious (let’s face it, marketing is not rocket science) and yet, so many people forget it. Additionally, stick to the cadence you promise your subscribers. If you tell them they’re going to receive 4 messages a month, well, send them four messages a month, and not a message more. Not only is it a good practice, but it’s required by the MMA. Our system, Cellit Studio automatically ensures that you don’t send too many messages a month (but of course, it can’t come up with the content or offers to ensure that you send all of the messages you should).
- Keep it Simple. So many people think mobile marketing is about the “biggest, newest thing”. I disagree. Mobile marketing should be about allowing everybody to engage. For example, so many people think “QR Codes” (2D barcodes) are the “wave of the future”. I think they’re a big hurdle to participation! Why have people download an app and try to take a picture of a bar code when they can much easier just send a text to a shortcode (they get the same results back, it’s just much easier and quicker…not to mention more trackable! I put together a fun little video about it). Just remember the end goal is engagement. The only way you’re able to do this is by keeping it easy to participate.
- Create a Conversation. Mobile marketing does not have to be a one way street! Our technology makes it simple to create dialogues. Ask questions! Run surveys! Collect feedback. Play games. And–better yet–use this information to tailor what messages users will get.
- Integrate! Mobile doesn’t live in a vacuum. Incorporate mobile sign-ups on your web site. Integrate mobile coupon redemption in your point of sale (POS) system. Include calls to action in your advertising. A good mobile program extends into both the online and brick-and-mortar environments. Make sure yours does too.
If I had to sum up these five points into one, I’d say: It’s not about Mobile Marketing… it’s really about Mobile CRM. I know I titled this article “5 Rules for Mobile Marketing”, but I feel one of the keys to marketing to people is…not marketing to them! Shoving offers down their throat via their phone is not a way to build a loyal, engaged customer base. A much better way is using the rules above to shift your thinking from “marketing” to “targeted, ongoing dialogue”. Building trusting, loyal customers takes time, but in the end the results will be much greater.
As always, feel free to contact us and we’d be happy to help you put these rules into action.
