04/12/10 by Cellit Staff | Blog, Marketing Blog | No Comments »
I get emails almost weekly from friends and family asking me for donations to a charity that they are supporting: usually a run, walk, triathlon or some other physical activity. It’s very effective, as I’m always game to not only support a good cause, but also the improved health of that loved one. Plus, the lengths that some will go to in an effort to get behind the cause is hilarious! A very masculine friend recently ‘lost’ a bet and ran a race in all pink, showing his support for Breast Cancer awareness. That, by itself, was worth donating for.
Usually, I try and go watch my friends as they complete these goals. Running a marathon or half-marathon is a big deal, and may be the first and only time that they’ll accomplish something physically like this. As I was standing at the ‘pink’ race, excitement welling upside as my friend approached, I thought: wouldn’t it be great if I could add $10 to my donation right here, right now?
Much was written about mobile donations in and around the Haiti earthquake. Rightfully so – over $32 million was raised via text message to aid the relief effort. With such huge success, almost every charitable organization in the country asked the question: can we raise money via text message? However, the truth is that it is currently only effective for certain types of causes or organizations to do so.
Currently, mobile donations work well when they are directed at large causes with no direct personal champion. The other method is a pledge based system, when a personal champion solicits in an effort to achieve a goal. The AIDS Marathon, Susan G Komen events, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society triathlons all use this system, and mobile donations – at this time – just don’t fit. The truth is that while I am willing to donate to support the cause overall – I really do want my friend to receive credit (and know) that I made an instant donation in his honor. My $10 mobile donation would currently just go into the bulk of other uncategorized donations. After-all, he has set a goal of $2,000 and not only do I want to ensure he maintains some level of dignity for having successfully fulfilled his end of the bet, I also want to make sure that he’s appropriately recognized by the organization for the financial success he achieves on their behalf. And I bet that the other dozen or so people that woke up early on that Sunday to cheer him on feel the same way.
Cellit doesn’t specialize in mobile donations as I talk about in this blog post; however, we’re always looking at ways that we can improve the mobile experience. I challenge the companies out there that do work in mobile donations to figure out a way for me to text in my friends bib number, participant id, or other such unique identifier … so that as I’m cheering him on emotionally, I can also cheer him on financially.
03/30/10 by Eric Lazar | Blog, Marketing Blog | No Comments »
In the Beginning
With nearly 15 years of experience in the local television broadcast world, my transition to mobile marketing two years ago was bitter sweet. In an industry that appears to be glamorous and cutting edge to the average viewer, for the insider, local broadcast television is, more often than not, a parochial existence based out of run-down offices hot-wired to a few satellites and a distant transmitter tower. Oh, yes, I was happy to leave the daily management grind of NSI’s and Zip reports, but as they say, ‘just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in’.
Breaking from the standard sales mantra of peddling a schedule, ratings trends, estimating new programming (remember Shasta McNasty?) and perhaps a pushing through a retread sponsorship opportunity for a local charity, anything else remains virtual blasphemy to most broadcast managers. Local broadcasting is a sanctuary where out-of-the box opportunities presented themselves as web-banners, customized jingles, weather tickers and the ever so rare non-traditional revenue that comes through good corporate citizenry initiatives…with about the same frequency of success that one sees Haley’s Comet on a sunny day. And so it goes, television, radio, and for that matter print, continue to function as they always have, like a hamster on wheel, doing the same thing over and over and never gaining traction. Admittedly, I too ran on the wheel, faster, slower, backwards and upside down, whatever was needed to make the sale or get my share of business in an increasingly cluttered and competitive marketplace. That is, until my revelation!
Touched by a Text
I had the good fortune to be working for a visionary while at Sinclair (Ticker: SBGI), the one I deem as the local broadcasting equivalent of Nostradamus. In my role managing national sales for numerous stations within the group, Rob Weisbord served as one of my many executive masters and provided me the first glimpse inside the Crystal Ball of Mobile-Media Convergence. In 2006, he was among the first to beta a mobile marketing solution that enabled local sales reps to integrate SMS alerts and coupons by leveraging the power of television and incorporating mobile call-to-actions in all aspects of the advertiser’s efforts. While its initial success is a matter of perspective, there is no doubt that my appetite was whetted and my destiny determined- it was time to break from the bondage of traditional media and begin interfacing like a true digital evangelist. And there it begins, from an illustrious career with several respected broadcast companies, to VP of Sales for one of the most esteemed mobile marketing leaders, the course of events was set in motion; I was at this point, ‘being pulled back in’.
Coupling my experience with that of Rob’s mentorship, dissecting the opportunities in the local broadcast world seemed boundless. Those stations that have already crossed the threshold still typically see mobile, more specifically ‘texting’ as an exciting way to execute a contest; 15 second sponsored promotion spot, followed by the user texting in and completed with a SMS message notifying the winner. Does it work, sure, is it compelling, maybe, does it solve an issue, absolutely not! The long tail of mobile is in developing a strategy, and not a standard broadcast ‘strategy’ of how are we going to increase share on the same 25 accounts we go to every year. This is real strategy with on-going, easily executable tactics that have long-term and exponentially increasing rewards that can survive market swings.
Join the Club
So where to begin? It starts with building a ‘mobile club’ for the station, incentivizing viewers or listeners to join the station’s mobile community via a contest and asking them to remain opted-in to receive on-going alerts, discounts, offers and insider information on an continuing basis. Think of how often a station runs a sponsored contest, receives entries that include names, addresses and perhaps an email, but doesn’t entertain a plan to reach back out for future engagements.
Yes, all that effort and expense to collect valuable information generally gets expunged once the winner is picked. Take a moment to consider that database marketing is a multi-billion dollar industry that thrives on verifiable psycho-graphic and demographic data points; what better way to facilitate its collection en masse than through the use of a broadcast property? How does this translate for the benefit of the station? Do stations not live and die by Neilsen or Arbitron ratings, and would it not be beneficial to send your viewers or listeners targeted messages designed to get them to tune in as a stunting tool. What about leveraging the database to go up against direct mail; with mobile coupons typically seeing double digit redemption levels, a station’s ability to have a critical mass of several thousand subscribers is more than enough to drive sales for a local advertiser.
Beyond just creating a mobile club for the station, by partnering with a best-in-class mobile provider, it is quite easy to develop client specific mobile solutions, whereby every advertiser can have its own unique mobile loyalty solution. Is it not compelling to go to market telling the local furniture, automotive or quick serve restaurant client that they too can incorporate a text call-to-action in their commercial spot? Viewers are not merely seeing or hearing the commercial, but they are able to interact with it, potentially receiving a mobile coupon specific to them and driving the viewer or listener in the door and thus, proving the value of your station beyond the monthly post analysis. To round out the offering, a mobile coupon redemption service that can track the use of mobile offers specific to the individual user, can be integrated for the advertiser, giving the station never before insights into the impact of their station on a client’s business, otherwise known as Return on Investment (ROI).
Text Almighty
Indeed, the best part of having a comprehensive mobile program is that the data (cell phone numbers and other individual data points) collected are housed at the station and never shared with the client. If the client wishes to send on-going alerts, coupons and other traffic driving initiatives via text, they will need to do so through the station. Many broadcast executives may start hyperventilating as they now consider the possibilities; seeing the sky opening up and a glowing hand (with phone clutched in the other) reaching down to take them into broadcast salvation. Fantastic, as this is the truth, the indisputable stone tablets of mobile marketing. Finally, a broadcast station has leverage like it never had. Between maintaining ownership of the client’s mobile database along with point-of-sale mobile coupon redemption technology, stations not only know who the advertiser’s customers are, but can connect with them anytime, in the way they most prefer, and understand the value of their patronage to the client- which is, the real value of the station to the client!
The Million Text March
However, if you thought the story ended there, you would be sadly mistaken. There are opportunity costs, revenue makers, being missed every day. Just as an unsold spot is lost income which can never be made-up, so it goes for mobile inventory. In the course of doing what every station does, news or entertainment, providing valuable services to its viewing or listening community, there are stations that have chosen to allow its audience to opt-in for critical mobile alerts and daily updates for a variety of informational tidbits such as news, school closings, weather, traffic, horoscopes, gossip and more. Each of those text alerts is inventory, sponsor-able messages delivered directly to the consumer; people who have requested the information and have significantly greater propensity to act than virtually any other medium. In fact, in a small mid-west market, a 100+ DMA, a station built a mobile subscriber list that exceeded 35,000 users that sought to receive breaking weather and school closing text alerts. For those who recall the winter of 2010, there was plenty of snow, some hellacious storms and lots of kids stranded at home to make their parents bonkers. In the course of thirty-some-odd days between December and January, this station sent out over one-million messages; for any media buyers out there, that’s 1,000,000 sponsor-able impressions! There were more impressions generated on a phone, delivering the most important information a consumer could seek, in a totally uncluttered environment than there are people in the entire DMA; this folks, makes for a compelling ‘one-sheet’!
The TXT of Revelations
Of course, the non-believers will line up and venomously spew that this is heresy; well we all know where they are going and I’ll probably see them there for some other things I’ve done in life, damn that month in Thailand! But for those potential converts who may argue that sales people just have too much on their plate to be effective at selling ‘another third party project’, I submit the following; Mobile needs to be viewed through the lens where it is seen as a layer, not a silo. All too often broadcasters team up with independent companies in some sort of convoluted revenue share agreement; it’s the temporary hot topic, reps go wild making appointments, cram a few deals through to hit their personal budget and then, once the heat is off, retreat to their comfort zone of selling spots and dots. Seem familiar, it should, as it happens at nearly every television and radio station across the country day after day. Mobile, done right, is a component in a holistic media package, extending the opportunities a sales staff has to offer by bringing solutions that integrate and enhance the proven effectiveness of the screen or dial. With the legacy relationships most stations have with its market’s core advertising clients, mobile is surprisingly easy to introduce and incorporate; elevating the station from being merely one of many stations on the buy to the only station providing a comprehensive mobile marketing solution to them for that market and beyond. In the end, mobile ties clients to stations, in a way that has never been done before.
So, as we come to an end, I imagine myself on the scene of the Exorcist, with the head of an ‘old school’ General Manager spinning around as he’s tied to the bed vulgarly cursing every word within these pages. With the calmness of Father Karras, all I can do is simply wave my iPhone above his head and repeatedly utter the words, ‘may the power of mobile compel you.’
03/26/10 by Angela Starz | Blog, Marketing Blog | No Comments »
Our world runs on numbers and statistics. They fuel our drive to meet goals and expectations (which also generally contain numbers). So, when a client asks me a question and I tell them that I can’t give a cold, hard number, you can imagine their frustration. I’d like to take a moment and explain myself.
I can easily rattle off statistics about the wireless world, but these aren’t the numbers that clients want. They want to know the “good” stuff.
- What’s an acceptable opt-in rate?
- How many subscribers should I have after a week, a month, 3 months?
- How many unsubscribes are expected every month?
- What is the average rate of participation in any given mobile program?
I understand the desire and basic need for a benchmark; a goal to work towards. However, by setting mobile objectives based on cold, hard numbers, and measuring success based on these numbers alone, we are inevitably setting ourselves up for successes and failures that are not always warranted.
When setting objectives, and subsequently measuring the success of a mobile program, it is imperative to account for the many impacting variables:
- The call-to-action
- Where is the call-to-action? TV spot/print/in-store/online/email/social networking, etc?
- Is the call-to-action easy to follow? In print/online/etc, is it visually compelling and easy to see? In TV, is there a dedicated graphic as well as a voice over?
- When the call-to-action is promoted, how often will the ads run/be circulated? When will they be run/be circulated? Do the ads effectively speak to your target demographic?
- The incentive to opt-in
- What is call to action?
- Is the call to action compelling enough for someone to physically take the next step and text in?
- Who would be interested in this offer? What demographic is the incentive directed to? Would this demographic be inclined to text in? (although almost EVERYONE is texting now, not all demographics are as comfortable as we think with texting)
- Is the incentive clearly stated in the call-to-action?
- How does the incentive resonate with the target audience? (some people respond better to contests and some better to offers)
- The incentive to remain an active subscriber
- Are users receiving engaging messages often enough?
- We recommend the rule of ones: “No more than one message per week and no less than one message per month.”
- Is the ongoing conversation occurring at the right cadence with the right content in the right places? (see The 3 C’s of Mobile Marketing)
- The keyword choice
- Is the keyword short and easy to text?
- Is the keyword recognized by “predictive” and “t9” capabilities?
- Is the keyword one word or two words without a space?
- The length of the program
- If the program is text-to-win or text-to-vote, how long does it run?
- Is that enough time to create awareness of the contest/poll?
- The target market breakdown
- Demographically, what is the landscape of your target audience?
- Behaviorally, what are the psychographics of your audience? How familiar are they with texting? With texting to short codes? (Remember to take a look at the individual cross sections of the population that were targeted by the specific program. Major cities are going to respond quite differently to mobile than rural areas, etc)
The 3 C’s of Mobile Marketing
At Cellit we spend a lot of time talking about the 3 C’s of mobile marketing: cadence, content, and commitment, but we’re not blowing smoke with this mobile mantra:
- Content: The content of a text message must be compelling. Text messaging is the most personal form of communication that a business can have with its consumer. We don’t want to take advantage of that level of intimacy with messages that could be conveyed through other, less personal, forms of media.
- Cadence: The cadence of a mobile club’s messaging is just as important as the content of the actual message. The amount of times a business reaches out to their end users is directly related to their line of business. (see the rule of 1s)
- Commitment: Mobile adds value and an unprecedented level of interactivity to traditional media outlets. Committing to mobile and integrating your mobile strategy with your entire marketing plan is inherently the most important step you can take to ensuring the success of your mobile programs.
I understand the value of a benchmark and I get it: numbers are quantifiable. Take care when setting mobile objectives and keep in mind that there are far too many variables that can affect the outcome of a single mobile program for me to serve you up a nice, plump statistic on a silver platter that will work for everyone. Ask yourself the above questions, and start adjusting your expectations appropriately. I do this with my clients, and pretty soon – they’ve come up with a reasonable target that accounts for their budget, their target audience, and the type of content they are sending out.
Managing expectations and knowing that “cold, hard numbers” are not as reliable or easy to come by in this industry are the first steps on the road to mobile success.
03/23/10 by Cellit Staff | Blog, Marketing Blog | No Comments »
In a recent newsletter article, a venture capitalist made a comment that he felt the two things holding mobile back were targeting and transaction.
While it is true that many vendors have built platforms that simply blast to the masses, a few visionary companies do preach targeting and some even have CRM capabilities built into their platform…like Cellit!
It’s not the case that targeting isn’t possible with mobile. Mobile is potentially the most highly efficient tool marketers have for targeting. Where many people have multiple email accounts, and usually one or two that may be shared in the household as the depository for impersonal offers, most only have one mobile phone. And the select few consumers that give permission to market products and services via that channel have the ability to tie all mobile activity to the unique phone number associated with the individual consumer.
The problem is that many brands and organizations are settling for, and choosing to use, mobile partners that offer a substandard targeting and delivery method. Data capture and CRM integration should be expected from any mobile partner that a brand chooses to work with, along with robust analytics and messaging capabilities. And in many cases, price isn’t the issue; lack of understanding seems to be the problem. Blanket comments like the one in the article reference above mislead marketers in to thinking that mobile just isn’t up to the task or as targetable as other media.
We wouldn’t let an email vendor slide by using the shotgun method of content delivery, and certainly not direct mail with its inherent expense. Demand the same from your mobile vendor. If they can’t give it to you call someone who can.
Just say NO to bad mobile!
