If Users Ask for Text, They Want To Hear From You

A while ago, during one of those years that was supposed to be the “year of mobile”, there was such a fear of mobile spam that the industry set stringent guidelines about sms marketing.  Overall this is a attribute, we don’t want to turn off the consumer and we want to make the customer happy.  Because of the explosion of apps, mobile web sites and other uses of mobile, sms is just a fraction of the marketing effort.  Still, a sharing of best practices is lacking.

Last night, I saw a Target ad on television with a call to action of texting Toyland to TARGET (827438).  Argue the merits of vanity short codes amongst yourselves.  Where I found a flaw was in the message.  It asked me to go to a website, target.com/toyland, but the url was not a click through.  I had to type the link, or copy and paste, into my browser.  A small inconvenience.  Still, a barrier and it runs counter to the reason you do this kind of marketing, to shorten the impulse and make it easier for the customer to get to your e-commerce site.  By the way, Target does have a great mobile site and no, I did not buy any toys, there are no young ones in our house.

But the lack of communication and direct marketing does not stop there.  A few months ago, I saw a call to action at a Baskin Robbins with the promise that every couple of weeks a text would arrive with a special.  Yukon Cornelius.  Nothing.  Not a peep since the initial thanks for joining the mobile club.  Now, there are all sorts of reasons to text ice cream eaters, even in the winter.  About now a number of people might be interested in a holiday dessert or a lovely quart of egg nog.  

Qudoba is another where there has been no mobile follow through.  Saw the call to action.  Joined.  Got a message back thanking me and saying that I should show the register the message for a free order of chips, salsa and chili con queso.  Got the chips, never got a message.  Tis the season to cater the office party and various things around the home.  They are missing a opportunity.

So, who is doing it right?  Every couple of weeks I get a text from Bed, Bath and Beyond for 20% off of this or that.  Coke does a good job texting members of its rewards club.  Arby’s, even though I do not eat there and just wanted to see what they are doing, does great job of sending Buy One Get One Free or mobile combos on a weekly basis.  In the Chicago market, Value City Furniture has done a good job of leveraging a sports sponsorship to gain mobile members and sending specials. 

So the point here is if you are going to go through the trouble of building a mobile database via sms, then communicate with the customer.  While you may not get a immediate sale, if you don’t ask the question the answer is no.  Also, you are spending money on a tactic rather than investing in a strategy.  Think about your consumer, their experience and pay attention to the details as well.  Remember, if they don’t want to hear from you once a week, consumers can always opt out.

The Sun Rises On the Creative Catalyst

Oh, to live in this era of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)!  Old school marketers used to spew that “You need to spend money to make money.”  Now we live in a era where we say “You need to INVEST money to make money.”  Then we have to provide the data, KPIs, to prove that the investment worked.  What this has led to is a group of people more interested in staring at excel sheets and dashboards looking for numbers to move.  They justify their existence with the slightest upward movement of the numbers.

Except in Phoenix.

Last Friday, the Phoenix Suns announced that they were giving a “fun guarantee” for their upcoming game against the Dallas Mavericks.  If the goal is to sell tickets, must have worked.  The game is in three days and there are little more than a thousand tickets available.  For the season, their average is just over 15,000 a game, so they will beat that by a mile.

Of course they wanted to do more than sell tickets.  The Suns wanted to create buzz.  News outlets, such as ESPN, picked up on it and ran news stories.  That is tons of free publicity and thus advertising for the promotion.  They had advertising supporting their promotion and a special webpage suns.com/guaranteed. 

But they also gave their fans something to spread on all of the various social media networks.  They gave their fans, their brand evangelists, something to evangelize.  I am sure that from the time the promotion was started until now, the number of “likes” on Facebook and “follows” on Twitter increased.  Now, will the Suns follow through with unique specials (perhaps tickets with meal combo for a upcoming game) for people who check in on Foursquare and Facebook mobile.  Will they have a Instagram picture of the game of people who are having fun and getting their money’s worth at the Suns game?  Will they be grabbing the data of the people who are in the seats?  Will they be remarketing to them?

They also deserve kudos for getting the branding thing right.  Having fun at the game, being entertained is what any sporting event is about.  All of us take a rooting interest and have a passion, but it is important to not let this get out of control.  Sports is the original mini-staycation.  We go to the game, have a dog and a beer, and forget about our troubles for three hours. 

One more compliment to the marketing team at the Suns, you didn’t burn your money.  All teams, all brands produce marketing in various forms.  But, a lack of creativity can lead to money being burned.  Someone doesn’t click the banner ad, avoids the Facebook tab, clicks the radio button to another station, turns the television channel, ignores the newspaper ad your money just got burned.  You didn’t move one KPI.

Before first tip on Thursday, the Phoenix Suns marketing team already won the game.