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QR code sample

Mobile advertising revenue in 2009 will grow from $169 million in 2008 to $229 million in 2009, according to Interpublic Group’s Magna.  This is due, largely in part to the growth of iPhones and is predicted to hold strong through the rough economy. 

Mobile marketing is a little more complicated than most traditional and even other digital mediums.  According to the Mobile Marketing Association, the Mobile Marketing Ecosystem is comprised of 4 interconnecting strategic spheres–Product & Services (brands, content owners and marketing agencies), Applications (discrete application providers and mobile ASPs), Connection (aggregators and wireless operators), and Media and Retail (media properties, “brick ‘n’ mortar” and virtual retail stores). Various enablers provide the foundation for each particular sphere. Players within these spheres work in concert to deliver a rich experience to consumers.”  Additionally, mobile is considered eight channels:  Web, text, voice, games, video, shopping, search and camera which further add to it’s level of complexity and options as a marketing outlet. 

 With this depth comes much potential.  Some of which is being tapped by marketers for their branding, acquisition and retention initiatives.  Here are a few examples of how mobile marketing works with a few of the savviest pioneers.

SnapTell out of Palo Alto, CA features mobile recognition technology via mobile phones using “Accumulated Signed Gradient” (ASG) technology.  This allows a mobile user to participate in Select, Snap.Send.Get™ Campaigns where a consumer takes a picture of an ad or logo with their smartphone and sends it to SnapTell.  SnapTell then responds to the consumer with tips, special offers, downloads, store locators or downloadable rings or wallpapers.  Harley Davidson completed such a campaign last year where ads were placed in men’s magazines that asked readers to send a pic of the Harley ad to receive wallpapers for their phone featuring swimsuit model Marisa Miller posing on a motorcycle.

Similar to SnapTell’s ASG technology, other companies are using QR, “Quick Response” codes, which are 2-dimensional barcodes created by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave and have been used overseas for about a decade.  Consumers can “scan” the QR code by snapping a smartphone photo of it from where it appears in magazines, signs, bus ads, business cards or any other POS medium.  The QR code reveals and stores advertiser URL and other info for the consumer.   One company, Creative Search Media has created an application, called QreateBuzz (beta) for advertisers to generate, manage and analyze their own QR Codes.  QReate allows advertisers to manage one or many QR Code campaigns in one spot thus allowing for better control and analytics of the offline to online marketing relationship.

ChaCha is a mobile text service that answers any question you text to them at 242242 (spells ‘ChaCha’).  A ChaCha “Guide” then responds back with your answer, for free.  A small teaser-type advertisement appears at the bottom of the response which engages the user in conversation.  This “conversational” advertisement space is bought by local or national advertisers who are selecting consumers based on time, location, cell carrier and gender.  Several types of call to action can be utilized by the advertiser:  Response Code, Click to Call, Click to WAP (mobile website) and Click to Download.

For example, when I texted “What is the world’s tallest bldg?” to ChaCha, I received a response in about 2 minutes:  The world’s tallest building is the Taipei 101 Tower located in Taiwan.  It stands at 1,670 feet!  *4MovieTimes Txt MOVIEMENU”.  When I texted back “MOVIEMENU”, I get instructions how to set my zipcode to get movie names and showtimes near me.  The advertiser, likely a movie theatre venue or online ticket operation like Fandango will now have my info for future solicitations and offer though I can stop texts at any time.  It’s a great way for a local business to build a database and advertise special offers, especially at slow times (see ChaCha media kit).  ChaCha even brags that it’s the fastest growing text-based mobile search service (surpassing both Google and Yahoo!).

As these fledgling mobile companies test the waters alongside some of the digital “dinosaurs” (Yahoo and Google) and try to make an impact, it will be interesting to see who stands the test of time.  Additionally, it will be just as fun to watch as the habitants (branders, retailers, agencies, application developers, wireless providers, etc.) of each mobile ecosphere yield great successes (or failures).

Within one month’s time, my family lost 3 members:  Aunt Sue, her husband, Uncle Paul and Grandpa John.  As difficult as it has been for all of us, nothing can compare to what my 3 cousins are experiencing.  They lost both parents after many years of hospitals and treatments for their mother’s Lymphoma Lukemia and their father’s Myasthenia Gravis (a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease).

As all this was happening, I became aware of a fantastic organization:  The Foundation for Community Betterment.  It began years ago in Washington D.C. and now has many chapters across the US.   Their Mission is to embrace and encourage philanthropic spirit:   “The Foundation for Community Betterment is a national organization dedicated to community enhancement by creating an immediate, positive impact on the lives of individuals or organizations that share our philanthropic vision, but who currently lack the means to succeed.”

Community Betterment’s Chicago Chapter is opening another door for my family.  My 3 cousins, The Lefebvre Family, Katie, Christopher and Steven,  have been chosen as the recipients of their next fundraiser on May 1st, Cinco de Mayo Fiesta at Easy Bar.  Proceeds will help provide some financial relief to a family who has been dealt more than their share of sickness and grief.

To get more info, purchase tickets or make a donation, visit:  https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5272/t/1859/shop/shop.jsp?storefront_KEY=88

Let’s use Facebook (FB) as the example.  Facebook helps out with a basic informative video:  http://www.facebook.com/n/?inbox/readmessage.php&t=1041512485920&mid=4d9001G5273fcbcG57d358G0

Facebook also helps users by posting suggested best practices for advertising on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/ads/manage/index.php?new_adgroup_id=6002279873942&act=30671896&first_ad=1#/ads/best_practices.php

Both of these links are helpful to get the lay of the land though you’ll need to do some experimenting of your own to find out what works best for you and your needs.

You can spread the word about your business/event to your friends and followers for free on most of these social sites.  Twitter allows you to post a status as often as you’d like to your Twitter followers.  FB has more options.  There, you can post your business’ URL on your “Info” page, add an event and invite attendees, or create a unique “Page” featuring your business where you can develop “Fans”.   You can add info and announcements to your “Page”, all of which can be viewed by your “Friends” and “Fans”.  Such postings on FB, though, are mostly limited to your network “Friends” and “Fans” which is generally limited to the dozens or hundreds, if you’re like most FB users

To get added exposure outside of your network of “Friends”, you can advertise on Facebook.  One way is to create an ad to promote your business website or FB “Page”.  Through a 3-step process, you can easily design your tile-type ad with a picture and title and body copy.  You then choose where to point the ad (ie:  your website) and even select specific targeting demographics (state, city, age, gender, workplace, relationship status, education level and language).  FB goes deeper in their targeting and allows the user to choose “keywords” which are determined based on interests, activities, and favorite books, TV shows, movies, or job titles that users list in their FB profiles. They may also come from the names of groups or Pages users belong to or are fans of.

Once the ad is designed and parameters are chosen, FB will estimate the number of users to which you have exposure.  This allows you to tweak your settings (age, education, etc.) to increase or decrease the size of your audience. 

The final stage of the process is determining budget and deciding whether to pay per Impression (CPI) or per Click (CPC).  If you are working on a brand, cost per Impression might be more beneficial whereas cost per click will help you better track who’s viewed your website.  The minimum spend per day is $1.00 and I was able to buy a targeted CPC for as little as $0.20 (average cost for my ad buy was listed between $0.50-$0.62 ea.).  At a price like that, it’s inexpensive enough to experiment with a targeted ad or two.

As with any campaign, it’s important to track your results.  FB has added some simple reporting to help you watch your campaigns and ad spend.   Reporting includes daily outputs:  impressions, clicks, click through ratio (CTR), average cost per click (CPC), average cost per thousand (CPM) and total dollars spent.  These stats should be checked often (daily at first) to determine whether the ad is working.  If it isn’t, change up the ad to try to improve clicks.  If a fair amount of ad or audience revisions don’t help, it’s probably best to discontinue the ad.

Outside of FB, you can promote your business page with references such as “Find us on Facebook to learn more about…”  FB even gives you some guidelines on how to do this: http://www.facebook.com/ads/manage/?act=30671896&ag=6002279873942#/images/pages/Facebook_Badge_02_24_2009.eps

Advertising though FB is easy and inexpensive though it will require some experimentation.  Since social media is still in its early stages, the playing field will likely change and allow for new ways to communicate and share business with others.  Utilizing your website metrics, customer (“Fan”) feedback and sales numbers will be other factors in determining success.  It’ll be important to track what works (and doesn’t work) in order to determine where your time and money is best spent. 

One of her suggestions?  Personal “business cards”.  Yes, that old-school, non-digital, anti-vcard form of contact sharing.   Since I’m doing lots of networking and meeting some new people, it’s essential I have something to hand out besides a 2 page resume.  

Heather recommended to check out Vista Print (www.vistaprint.com) and now you should too, if you already haven’t.  Why?  Because they offer FREE business cards.  If you’re doing some self promotion, a.k.a. job hunting, this is a great tool.  Or maybe you have your own consulting firm or dog walking business; these are a perfect, handy tool to spread the word.

Vista Print’s creative tool is incredibly user friendly and fun to use.  I created my own from scratch in about 30 minutes.  Even better yet, they arrived within 3 business days!

Until our mobile phones/pdas contain a mini printer to spit these out, this will be my mobile ID maker.

I’ve 2 stories;  one has a happy ending, the other deserves a spanking.

#1:  Best Buy Strikes Out Then Scores

Having lost my job due to office closure and merger, I was in the market for a new laptop and needed to find a great deal.  After hours of online research, Bestbuy.com won my dollars (though they won’t technically receive it until 18 months of no interest financing have passed). 

I misread the software package trial detail and received the new Dell with the awkward Microsoft Works instead of Microsoft Office.  Needing Office for resume submissions, I jumped back online and found Newegg.com at $89.95 beat Bestbuy.com’s $149.95.   Immediate in store pickup and a promise of a $20-$40 coupon (because of my recent laptop purchase ) baited my Best Buy order.

Stopping into the store later that day I was the opposite of greeted at the Customer Service register.  An apathetic cashier pulled my order off the shelf with the speed and congeniality of a sloth (Strike One!).   As she proceeded to ring me up, I mentioned the $20-$40 coupon.  Clearly this was to much to ask.   With a roll of the eye, she did everything to fight a smooth transaction.  After several minutues of half-trying I was told that I’d have to pay full price and call Best Buy Customer service to get them to credit me for the $20-$40.  I walked away frustrated (Strike 2!)

Luckily, I had a tech savvy boyfriend in the store with me.  Not knowing I’d orderd the item for in store pickup, he picked the software off the shelf and asked the nearest salesperson about the $20-$4o coupon.  Salesperson Chad was actually Computer Manager Chad who explained a show of the laptop receipt would be all that’s needed for a $20 coupon on the software. 

As I met my problem-solving boyfriend in the middle of the store with a furrowed brow.  He pulled me over to meet his new friend Chad.  In a few minutes, Chad was hacking away at his keyboard to get me my $20 “coupon” credit.  Unfortunately, Best Buy’s system wouldn’t abide because the purchase history database apparently doesn’t talk to the register database (Strike 3). 

Now Chad, the non-slothy type, was determined to solve the problem.   With the keenness of a savvy marketer, he offered to load a Best Buy gift card with $30…$20 for the coupon and an extra $10 for the inconvenience.  Well done Chad, not only do I leave the store satisfied, but I’m on the hook to return and spend the $30 and likely a little of my own dough (Double score!)

Retail marketing lessons learned:  1.)  Get your data systems talking to each other.  2. ) Don’t sour a coveted in store visit with an apathetic employee and 3.)  Solve problems by thinking outside the box and ensure future spending!

#2  Spa Service Provider Creates a Stiff Neck

It’s been a tough few weeks.  The job loss became the smallest bit of bad news when my married aunt and uncle pass away within 12 days of each other from unrelated causes.  Understanding my stress, a friend treats me to a gift certificate to a local spa, Salon 1800, where I’m a loyal and frequent customer.

While checking Salon1800.com for their service offerings, I find online coupons and revel in saving a few bucks during tight times.  A 30% OFF Nail Services offer is the facilitator of my highly anticipated Sunday pedicure reservation.  While making my appointment by the phone, I mention the coupon and I’m told the offer is good only with select providers.    That’s fine with me and I ask the receptionist to choose a said provider for me.

The pedi is just what I need, pampering and an hour of silent relaxation to myself.   At the counter, I present my coupon, expecting to pay $31.50 for my $45.00 pedi.  Not so much.   A blunt receptionist explains the offer is only good with “select providers” and as it turns out, the provider selected for me is not on that list.  That’s okay ’cause, I’m armed with the coupon and explain the conversation I had upon making my appointment; surely she selected one as I had requested.  “Nope,” I’m told.  As I re-explain the scenario, she digs her heels in.   I’m told to pay $45 -it’s not her problem.   I’m to pay for the appointment maker’s error. 

When I ask to speak with a manager, she says, “There’s no one here”.  “No manager on premesis?” I check.  “No,” the spa sloth says.  How a business runs without a decision maker is beyond me, so I prod, “There must be someone you can call….”   With irritation growing visibly and audibly, she picks up the phone and dials.  When she connects, she explains the situation as though I wasn’t even standing there, an additional slap of disrespect.   She slams the phone down in defeat.  “I was just told we’ll honor the coupon.  But your customer record will be marked and you will not be able to receive this offer again in the future.”    It was as though she was angry I won and never offered an apology or a “Sorry.”

I asked to break a bill for a tip, and the paper was unnecessarily ripped out of my hand.  As I requested her name (We’ll call her “M”), she spurted, “I’m walking away now!”  I met her embarrassed co-worker’s eye with a, “Seriously?” and M shouted as she walked around the corner, “I can do whatever I WANT!” 

As I paid my tip and walked down the stairs, I realized that the stress that had been massaged away just minutes ago had returned alongside anger.  So much for a relaxing Sunday pedi.

 Retail marketing lessons learned:  1.)  Be cognizant of who answers your phone and handles your one-on-one transactions.  They need to be friendly, competent and trained.  Why is it that companies the world over don’t get this concept?  2.)  When using coupons, make them easy for both order taker and buyer to understand and carry out.   3.)  Don’t beat down a loyal customer.  Even if the customer is wrong, she’s still right.  4.)  For heavens sake, either enable your people to solve issues or make sure someone’s there who can.

Consumers are hunkering down, spending less, clipping coupons and seeking the best offer.  Marketers need to make those offers easy or they’ll loose to the competition.  Moreover, it’s not a time to risk relationships with loyal customers, they’re even harder to replace today than they were yesterday.