As a long-standing proponent of marketing integration I can speak to the fact that many marketers still have difficulty in putting it into practical use, including many chief marketing officers which was the basis of my piece aptly titled The Eleven Letter Word That Continues To Elude All CMOs And Marketers.
Based on recent research it would appear many in the mobile marketing space would be wise to integrate their marketing messages, especially this holiday season and in particular across two specific mediums.
The research comes from Responsys, AKA the company I work for, and reveals some very interesting and intriguing findings and shows a clear correlation and opportunity for mobile marketing folks.
According to the research almost 40% of consumers who previously opted in to receiving promotional emails from a retail marketer are also interested in getting promotional messages from these same retailers via SMS or text messaging. The findings alone would be significant but when you factor in that this past Cyber Monday saw an increase of 96% in mobile sales year-over-year from 2011 according to IBM, plus mix in the the fact that the percentage of emails being read on a mobile device are growing steadily literally as we speak – you can see why in the press release announcing the findings were the words “…marketers will have a massive opportunity to drive online and in-store purchases this holiday season and beyond through smart cross-channel marketing.”
Making Spirits Bright
Michael Della Penna, Senior Vice President of Emerging Channels at Responsys – who recently shared his views on the Papa John’s saga What Mobile Marketers Can Learn From The Papa John’s Lawsuit – says retailers and marketers can have a ho, ho, ho happy holiday season if they take advantage of some good old fashioned multi-channel marketing.
“The holiday season is a great time for marketers to experiment with mobile as part of their integrated cross-channel marketing strategy given consumers are traveling, out shopping and on high alert for discounts and offers from their favorite retailers,” said Della Penna. “For example, offering information about an invite-only discount or a reminder that gift wrapped packages are ready for pick-up are effective ways to engage customers who have opted-in to receive mobile messages from your brand.”
As to what specific types of promotions consumers prefer to receive via text message:
- 42% prefer location-based offers
- 39% like general discounts, offers and deals
- 37% want to hear about in-store sales and events
- 32% are into gift guides and product recommendations
In terms of age breakdowns, 64% of younger adults (18-29) prefer to receive the location-based offers but not far behind were 30-39 year olds (50%) and 40-54 year olds (42%). All of this lends credence to the fact that the use of mobile smartphone technology is growing across many generations.
Source: Responsys
Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review and a Top 50 Social Media Blogger by Kred, Steve Olenski is a senior content strategist at Responsys, a leading global provider of on-demand email and cross-channel marketing solutions.