Marketing your business to users of mobile phones is one way to get your offer or service out into the world. The era of mobile phones has been powerful, so it’s great to market your business to appeal to them. This will entail the use of mobile messaging channels
The mobile phone is great for marketing, advertising, and distributing. This is because these devices are easily accessible and primary tools for communication. Mobile messaging may involve in-app chats, SMS, push notifications, and other messaging apps.
Here are some mobile messaging channels you can take advantage of.
SMS
SMS refers to Short Message Service. It’s a text messaging feature found even in basic cell phones. Because it is basic, then it demands simplicity and a low amount of data to be communicated. The challenge in using this as a mobile messaging channel for marketing lies in how to maximize your creativity in such a small space.
SMS employs standardized communication protocols to allow communication through short texts.
SMS originated from network engineers. They were initially developed for these professionals to examine mobile networks. That’s right, SMS was not for commercial use.
The first deployment of an SMS center was done by Aldiscon with Telia in 1993. Until now, SMS remains as the one of the simplest mobile messaging channels where you can effectively market your brand.
This mobile messaging channel has a limit of 160 characters per text. You can send multiple messages to string them together through a process called concatenating.
SMS as Mobile Messaging Channel for Marketing
Many marketers have been turning to SMS as the volume of SMS messages continue to rise.
Because SMS encourages a two-way communication, then it allows your subscribers to quickly access services and other necessary information. The only downside here is that mobile phones are personal devices, so you want to respect their space and privacy as much as possible. Also, many users do not want to give out their numbers to anyone, even brands, because of the potential to receive spam messages. While this is not the case in mobile marketing, many target audiences may be traumatized from receiving too many messages in their emails.
LOOKING FOR A ONE-STOP SOLUTION TO YOUR GROWTH NEEDS?
However, this isn’t a very remarkable issue any longer, thanks to Common Short Codes or CSC. It leys consumers download your app or service, or receive more information about what you are marketing.
CSCs can be sent to and from the receiver with the use of keywords. The two main keywords are STOP to unsubscribe, and HELP to request support. They are also easily understood by many consumers, so CSCs may be effective marketing strategies.
Please Call Me Messages
These are free SMSs that ask the receiver to call the sender back. It’s a popular feature in mobile marketing among Africans. A please-call-me-message usually comes with an advert. This is a great way to reach users on the lower LSM who would usually send these messages.
SMS to Enhance Customer Relationship
SMS can be a great mobile marketing channel for customer relationship management or CRM. For instance, a travel firm’s marketing strategy may involve sending messages about the hotel and airplane reservation information to the phone number of the customer. It may include the details, updates, and even directions. Another example is how SMS can be used by insurance companies about claiming or processing.
Promotions
Another feature of SMS messages is how it lets you affordably send sales promotions that are relevant to a big database. You can send messages to a target audience at a particular time of the day. Ideally, you should be doing this when the audiences are out shopping.
MMS
Multimedia Messaging Service or better known for its abbreviated term, MMS, is another type of messaging service. It is richer in media than SMS because it contains graphics, audio, texts, and images.
These messages let you send richer messages using WAP. However, they are more expensive than SMS.
If you want a viral campaign, MMS messages can help you reach your goals. That’s because it lets your participants use their mobile devices to create and pass content. This substance can be photographic, video, or sound.
But the use of MMS is not as cost-effective as it seems for marketers because the recipient is required to pay a large cost just to receive the message
Instant Messaging
Instant messaging helps people send and get messages progressively. With the same advantages of SMS, instant messaging lets one communicate at a cheaper price. Studies show that mobile instant messaging users are expected to exceed 1.3 billion globally by 2016.
Many believe that IM as a mobile marketing channel can offer a platform for customer support. However, it presents more risks as it can alienate or anger customers. It can make them mad because instant messaging is meant for personal contacts only. It lets you reach your audience only when they are focused on your product or service.
USSD
This is a term that stands for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data. It is a messaging system that is available on some data networks. This feature is a protocol that encourages an ask-and-respond action between the service center and the consumer.
A mobile user initiates this kind of mobile messaging channel when they enter a code and send it as a request to the network. The code is different from the number to which the message is sent as it involves symbols like # and *.
Different networks sometimes use this USSD when they wish to offer services like balance information, adding credit, etc., to a customer. It also helps you create a profile of your customer as you monitor the kinds of interactions they like. Moreover, using USSD can help you collect information for customer relationship management.
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
One of the latest features of modern mobile devices is Wi-Fi. Along with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi allows you to interface your telephone to make it discoverable. Once you allow your Bluetooth-enabled device to be discoverable, other devices with Bluetooth can ask you to connect with it and exchange data and messages.
© Image credits to Virginia Magat