Enhance your SMS Marketing using the Mobile Web

In a relatively short period of time mobile phones and smart phones have gone from being a luxury item to a must have item that we cannot do without. This point is clearly illustrated by the fact that smart phone sales in 2010 passed 300 million (up 74% on 2009). This potential direct connection offered to so many consumers has made marketing via mobile devices one of the most successful and effective forms of marketing available to us today.

Do More With Mobile - Combining SMS and Mobile Web!

In the early days the concept of mobile marketing was centred on SMS Marketing (Text Message Marketing). This was largely due to the ability of SMS to present promotional offers and event notifications to customers in real time. Combine this with the impressive open rates of SMS (98% of SMS messages sent are opened, with 75% opened within 4 minutes) and the appeal for marketers is clear. SMS gives a real opportunity to deliver a targeted, highly relevant message to your customers, including valuable calls to action.

However the evolution of the mobile web and mobile apps have emerged as a new channel with the ability to reach consumers in a personalized fashion while removing some of the limitations of SMS. While I am a big believer in the benefits of SMS Mobile Marketing for small businesses there is no doubt that branded mobile apps and mobile websites provide a rich and engaging visual experience for the consumer.

By creating an interesting mobile web presence you can provide value to your customers while keeping your business brand in constant view. It also gives you the opportunity for deeper and more meaningful communication with the end user as there is no limit on the length of your message as there is with SMS and you can include graphics and significant opportunities for user interaction etc. However, while SMS and mobile web applications each have individual strengths and weaknesses, I believe the real opportunity comes when you combine the two mediums to create truly effective mobile marketing campaigns that utilise the strengths of each channel.

For example, if you run a tourism related business (e.g. a hotel, holiday home or activity centre) sending a bulk SMS message with a promotional offer to your mobile database would be an effective way to promote your business and hopefully increases bookings. However, there is only so much you can say in 160 characters. Creating a “mobile brochure” (i.e. a mobile website optimised for viewing on a mobile device such as a smart phone) would be a much more striking and interesting way to promote your business. The mobile brochure could highlight your business by including your business branding and images of your business, highlight the local attractions and things to do in your area and most importantly detail any special offers you may be running along with how to redeem the offer. And of course don’t forget to add your contact details.

But once your mobile brochure is created, how can you get this to your customers and potential customers quickly, reliably and in a way that ensures it is always available to your customers when they may want it. Embedding a link to your mobile brochure in an SMS is one such method. You can then send a bulk SMS message to your customer database with a link to the mobile brochure. Due to the excellent read rates of SMS you can be confident your message will be read and hopefully forwarded to friends of your customer who will also see you message.

Alternatively, all good mobile marketing services will allow you create a Keyword on a Short Code or Virtual Mobile Number that can be advertised to promote your service offering. When a consumer texts the Keyword to the number you can automatically return a Thank You SMS message with a link to your mobile brochure.

A good example of a business combining a mobile brochure with SMS to promote their business is Horseshoe Holidays who manage The Harbourview Holiday Homes in Co. Clare. Customers can request their mobile brochure by texting the word HORSESHOE to 087-1781632. They then automatically receive a thank you SMS message with a link to the Harbour View mobile brochure with images of the holiday homes, local attraction etc. In my opinion a very innovative and striking way to combine the mobile web with SMS to promote your brand with a little WOW factor.