While the majority of our client’s here at Mobivity typically use SMS and text messaging as a way to have direct and welcomed contact with their customers, we realize that there are several other usages and applications of SMS and text message marketing.
From increasing your direct-mail or email marketing database, to setting up API integration with your existing CRM, the applications of text message marketing with what you’re already doing are nearly endless. As we’ve said before, the importance of a multi-channel marketing approach in today’s growing and changing mobile market is absolutely crucial. As Michael Becker, the North American Chief of the Mobile Marketing Association, says on the importance of a mobile component in advertising plans:
“Smart marketers understand that mobile isn’t just an add-on to their plans or something that would be “good to have.” They realize that mobile is media, a channel, a platform that is relevant to consumers within all aspect of their lives. Smarter marketers are learning how to engage their customer in contextually relevant ways through and with mobile.”
As Lauren Johnson, the Editorial Assistant for the Mobile Marketer, states in her article on why email is the anchor for mobile marketing, “Email and SMS databases are two of the most treasured pieces of data for digital marketers, which can go hand-in-hand to helping boost one another, according to one email expert.”
But email and SMS aren’t the only options. Interactive Nutrition recently increased it’s mailing list by 40% through a coordinated print and online QR code campaign offering incentive to users for opting-in to it’s campaign (right). Interactive Nutrition recently used QR codes to engage Arnold Sports Festival attendees in a deeper and more media-rich mobile experience, as well as to increase the size of it’s existing database. Laura Marriott, the CEO of NeoMedia (the company responsible for aiding Interactive Nutrition in it’s campaign) said that:
“For the advertiser, QR codes mean the ability to gain meaningful insight into their consumer with each and every scan. The opportunity to share an opinion, combined with the chance to receive a reward, encourages continued engagement and drives brand recognition going forward.”
At Mobivity, we’re still a little skeptical about the place of QR codes in the mobile market, but anything that can increase the responsiveness and interconnectivity between brands and their customers is absolutely an asset. Perhaps through using QR codes and SMS Marketing for increasing the size of a business’ email database, we can begin to see even greater results for each forum of advertising through this cross-platform mentality. Whether your approach is primarily print-based, email based, or entrenched in the Social networking field, mobile marketing has consistently proven itself as a key component to enhancing the interaction and loyalty you see between your business, and your customers. To learn more about how Mobivity increases brand loyalty, and guarantees to bring you more customers more often, give us a call today.