SMS Messages

Retailers spend most of their budget and energy on the in-store experience. It only makes sense: upwards of 95% of revenue is generated inside the bricks and mortar. However, retailers should also consider the following:

The path to purchase often begins online. 73%-83% of US consumers research online before buying in-store, per a Pricewaterhouse Coopers survey.  

Shoppers leave stores to buy online.  Per a Harris Interactive Poll, 43% of adults report that they’ve visited a brick and mortar store to examine a product before purchasing it elsewhere.

Customer expectations of online/in-store...

It’s amazing to think that just a little over two decades ago, consumers had only two options to communicate across long distances: telephone and mail. In today’s mobile, post-PC world, consumers have countless ways to communicate with each other.

They have similar options when it comes to communicating with brands. The question is, how do consumers determine the proper channel for their communication needs? The decision appears to boil down to six factors:

CONTENT: Is this a marketing message?
As we document throughout the Channel Preference Survey, consumers are much more selective about the...

When Seth Godin introduced the concept of permission marketing in 1999, it was a big idea: ask customers to accept marketing messages from you. Looking at the best uses of mobile, I believe we are at a new crossroads; one where customers request marketing messages.

Never forget that digital messages rendered on mobile devices are personal and intrusive. On the Advertising Aggravation Continuum (shown below), they are most comparable to telemarketing. We all know what happened to that traditional marketing channel and the impact on brands that abused it.

In the middle of the continuum, people...

There’s a big difference between a first-class flight and a pedi-cab ride. Similarly, there are many differences between an ROI-optimized digital marketing strategy and a half-baked, unprofitable one. As a travel and hospitality brand, you’re tasked with creating a seamless booking process for your customers—or else you might miss that narrow window of time when they’re most likely to convert.

Our own Jeff Rohrs recently shared some tips for reaching the digital traveler in a blog post for Ataway Exchange, where he’ll be speaking next month. Here are five of the top tips from Jeff’s post and...

There’s no doubt that today’s consumers are mobile. They’re constantly on-the-go, sending and receiving communications of all types, and they’ve come to expect that information be (literally) in-hand at all times. Consumers in the UK and around the globe are no longer sitting at their computers searching for information—instead, they expect information to be available all around them. At the same time, they expect that information to be relevant to their lives.

The hyper-connected consumer expects brands of all sizes and industries to start meeting them where they are. It also provides new...

(Warning: Sarcasm ahead)

Sometimes it’s just too easy. The power to communicate through email, mobile and social is all right there waiting for someone to start flooding the world with information. So you strike out into the world with your content and expect great results.

Using email for monthly news, SMS for quick bites of information and social media for event announcements might seem like a good idea, but you can easily end up with a bunch of disconnected content aimed at way too many targets. At this point, you're just sitting and back hoping for results without a specific goal in mind.

Misu...

The ExactTarget team invites you to participate in our #ETCafe Twitter chat every Thursday from 11am-12pm ET, where we discuss emerging topics and trends from across the interactive marketing world. The virtual coffee chat is hosted directly on Twitter, hosted by @ExactTarget. 

It was no suprise to us that Australians are leading the world in their adoption of technology, and in partiular how they connect with brands on mobile devices. The unparalleled adoption of smartphones in Australia (49% of us own one!) means that today’s always-on, hyper-connected consumer is placing demands on marketers that can often seem bewildering. What was once seen as the "multi-channel opportunity" is now a "cross-channel imperative" as our audiences continue to adopt technology that opens up an increasing array of brand engagement mechanisms.

SMS is just another way to adapt to the...

There’s no doubt that today’s consumers are mobile. They’re constantly on-the-go, sending and receiving communications of all types, and they’ve come to expect that information be (literally) in-hand at all times. Consumers are no longer sitting at their computers searching for information—instead, they expect information to be available all around them. At the same time, they expect that information to be relevant to their lives.

It was no suprise to us that Australians are leading the world in their adoption of technology and in partiular how they connect with brands on mobile devices. The...

Jen Timmerman of Precision Dialogue (a partner of ours) recently posted about ExactTarget’s MobileConnect product: MobileConnect: Past, Present and Future. Jen is an eMarketing consultant, a seasoned email marketer with expertise in implementation. I’m thrilled to read her report on our mobile product and hear that she is “ready to shout about [her] love for MobileConnect from the rooftops”—and she’s even more enthusiastic about our 2013 product roadmap!

She starts out with a quick look back at MobileConnect when it launched last year, giving marketers a big opportunity to plan, automate, and...

Permission-based email has become the foundation of successful one-to-one marketing, and a company's database of email subscribers is one of its most valuable assets.

And with good reason! As our 2012 Channel Preference Survey revealed, 66% of US online consumers report making at least one purchase that was triggered by an offer received via email. And for BtoB marketing, nothing tops email for aiding the customer’s buying decision. In a 2012 article, BtoB Magazine reported that 59% of BtoB marketers say email is their most effective channel for generating revenue.

At the recent 2013 MarketingShe...

When you’re just starting to put your mobile strategy into action, email is probably your bread and butter for reaching customers. At this stage, using mobile to beef up your email list is a good first step—but there’s plenty more you can do to get your mobile program off the ground!

Here are some ideas to help jump-start your mobile efforts during the first few months.

Grow your email opt-in list via mobile. If gaining email opt-ins is your goal, then create plenty of opt-in opportunities via text message—like, “Text JOIN and youremail@address.com to 12345 to subscribe to our program”—or add an...

Convenience, ease-of-use, and efficiency are no longer wants, but necessities in our fast-paced society. Auto bill pay, GPS, and other developments in technology continue to automate our lives. Marketers are working to stay at the forefront of their customers’ interactions across channels—including mobile.

Mobile SMS and push messaging are some of the easiest ways to cut through the clutter and get directly in front of customers. Yet, to have a robust mobile presence, it’s the magic behind the display that makes it possible.

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) arm marketers with the...

Consumers who interact with your brand through mobile-specific channels are among your most engaged. But once the “new” wears off, how do you re-excite and reengage those customers?

Be consistent and keep evolving. That may sound like a contradiction, but it’s not. Here’s why:

Be Consistent
Consistent SMS, push, or email offers, for example, mean consumers will begin to anticipate your message. For instance, send a Friday evening code for a free appetizer at your restaurant, or a free movie rental the first Monday of every month. Try testing several different offers and tracking the most...

For the past three years, our SUBSCRIBERS, FANS, & FOLLOWERS research series has taken an in-depth look at consumer preferences as they relate to email, mobile, and social channels. This time, however, we decided to turn the tables—to look in the mirror at our marketing peers. Are there channels that marketers use disproportionately more or less than consumers? Are we more permissive with technology in our own homes? Are we less concerned about the privacy implications of marketing today? Have all our years as early adopters—internet explorers, if you will—impeded our ability to relate to...

It’s that time of year. Football has passed, our Sundays are free, and basketball emerges in the limelight. For the NBA, there are few times when the light shines brighter than during @NBAAllStar weekend.

It should be no surprise that the NBA is going to deliver on their social media strategy this weekend. After fans were able to vote via Facebook and Twitter this year, the NBA will continue to engage with fans throughout the weekend. For the already interactive league, the events will be much more than a couple of competitions and a game—it is a chance to reach their audience in new and...

What happens after your customer engages with your mobile program? Your welcome strategy for any new mobile customer should include a combination of channels—email, mobile, and social—to support consumers’ cross-channel behaviors.

Don’t think of “welcome” as a single message. Whether your welcome strategy covers the first 10 days or two months, as with any relationship, it takes some time to get to know each other.

Here’s a sample step-by-step welcome campaign. We’ll use a retail company’s mobile app as an example, but you’ll see how these basic ideas can apply to almost any industry.

Day 1:...

STRATEGY OVERVIEW
Regardless of whether you decide to implement SMS into your cross-channel marketing mix, mobile adoption affects other elements of your campaigns—especially email. And, there’s a lot to consider when building mobile-friendly email campaigns:

• Knowing your audience. Sure, more and more people are using mobile. But are your subscribers?
• Optimizing content and design for context. It’s best to think about the environment your email is being viewed in, not the specific device being used or email client sending the message. For example, mobile users are more likely to be...

Kyle Lacy recently posted a compilation of 140 Mobile Marketing Tips collected from marketing professionals via email, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media outlets. These are great 140-characters-or-less nuggets of knowledge you can apply to your mobile strategy. I’ll dissect a few favorites here:

#6 – Always include a call to action in push or SMS
It’s mind-blowing how brands invest so much in advertising yet leave out a simple call to action. As an example, only two Super Bowl ads included a mobile CTA! In an analysis on these pricey misses, Jeff Rohrs discusses how “branding only” ads...