What Kind of Relationship Do You Have With Your Phone?
Mobile phones are very personal devices. I bet most people would go back to get theirs if they accidentally left the house without them. And as new apps emerge and the technology expands, our reliance on mobile phones will only increase. For businesses, it's the perfect platform to create and maintain strong relationship strategy with customers.
A new article on 1to1media.com explores the future of mobile marketing from a relationship perspective. The convergence of technology, strategy, and user adoption has created an environment where customers are interested in using their mobile phones as a relationship device with companies.
Steve Leonard, general manager at mobile firm Motricity, explains that the mobile market has been developed with the individual relationship in mind.
"When we hear that beep, everybody looks right away," says Leonard, speaking about responsiveness to text messages. This is because wireless carriers and content providers created a strong opt-in model from the beginning, and consumers know that whoever is sending them a text is someone they know or want to hear from. "The mobile industry has created standards to prevent spam," Leonard says, as well as easy opt-out text options like "stop" or "end" for every message a company sends a customer. Consumers are now more willing to respond to offers via SMS because they know that no one will sell their mobile number and they can easily get out if the relationship doesn't meet their expectations.
He adds that mobile marketing strategy will only improve as transactions and other features become more prevalent. Marketers must be prepared with a communications strategy with the relationship at the center.
How does your company approach mobile marketing? As a consumer, are you interested in interacting with businesses through the mobile channel?
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SMS Marketing is a potential minefield. This is even more the case in the European Community where we have directives which prevent unsolicited SMS marketing. In Europe it is Opt In Only.
The main issue is that SMS messages are "now!" things. So you need to SMS me, where I have agreed to your doing so, about "now!" things only.
I posted some blog items with thoughts on it, grouped under the tag SMS Marketing starting two years ago.
My own reaction to SMS Marketing? If Spam I will take all possible steps to ensure that it ceases. It's only valid where I opt in.