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I just got home from a trip back east for a wedding and a few days with my family in New Jersey.  It was a wonderful trip and great to see the family.  Having lived in Denver for a little over a year now I don’t get to see my family as much as I’d like to.  What does this have to do with mobile marketing you might ask?   Well, since I don’t get to see my family as often we were discussing the next time I would get to see everyone and that just happens to be Christmas.

Although that seems far away it really isn’t.  Flights need to be booked and my parents still ask, “Make a list of what you would like for Christmas”?  It’s interesting because I don’t think about the proximity of the holidays on a personal level but when it comes to business, I’m all over it.  I’ve been speaking with old and prospective clients about their marketing plans and goals for the upcoming holiday season and how they should be incorporating mobile to drive new and repeat business and capitalize this holiday.

With that said I want to start discussing ways retailers should prepare for the holiday with mobile. This series will be broken out across a series of posts to keep your attention.  Let’s start with an overview of what this series will discuss.  Upcoming posts will discuss the steps in more detail.Ok Mr. or Mrs. Retailer, you want to leverage mobile for the holidays.  Your customers are somewhere between 17-45 and they most likely semi-tech savvy.  They carry their phones on them at all times and you’re just drooling to tap into that marketing potential but where do you start? Why not start with these steps?

1. First you need a trusted partner that has experience executing mobile initiatives.  There are many agencies and consultants out there so do your research.  Although mobile is very technology oriented it still begins with a strategy.  Determine your goals/objectives and speak with a mobile professional to determine a strategy and set measures for success.  I’m not going to promote any specific company at the moment but feel free to reach out and I’d be glad to guide you in the right direction.
2. If the agency/consultant that you select doesn’t have the technology or access to the technology you will need someone that does.  If you’re new to mobile marketing you’ll probably want to start with an SMS (Short Message Service) program and build a database of interested customers.  I spoke about ways to start your mobile database in a previous post: “Build Your Mobile Subscriber List With Asset Activation”.
3. You’ll need to acquire a shortcode.  Whether you do this on your own or let your consultant/agency take care of this you have a few options.  You can use a common shared shortcode which is the most cost effective if you’re a local retailer.  These codes are used across numerous companies and your choice for keywords will be limited.  A keyword is the word or set of characters that are text into the shortcode.  For example: Text WIN to 12345.  WIN is the keyword.  12345 is the shortcode.  You can also acquire a vanity shortcode which would in most cases is dedicated to just your business.  This would spell out something such as with the New York Jets.  Their code is 47336 which spells GREEN.  This is the ideal situation but each has a cost associated.  Generic shortcodes cost $500/month and vanity codes are $1000/month through the Common Shortcode Association. One thing to keep in mind is these codes are leased only in 3,6 or 12 month terms.
4. Now you need to determine what type of program  you’ll be executing.  With new changes on provisioning shortcodes (explained in the next step) you must detail all the possibilities for your program up front to save time.  This is not totally mandatory but will save time later one should you want to add elements to your program.  So how will you begin your mobile program? Offer informational alerts, coupons, product updates, there are many options.  Work with your partners to decide the best way to attract customers via mobile.  I’ll go into more details in an upcoming post but essentially you want to take your target audience into consideration.  How do they use their phone?  What type of incentive do they need etc? Create a compelling program with an attractive offering and you’ll have the foundation for an effective mobile program.
5. This shortcode from step three above will need to be provisioned. This is something you’ll want your agency/consultant to be able to manage as it’s a timely process.  This process takes anywhere from 6-12 weeks to accomplish.  Essentially, this is getting approval from all of the wireless carriers (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile etc) to run your program based on messaging volume and scope of the program (i.e. coupons, alerts, sweepstakes etc)
6. Once you’ve accomplished the above you need to start communicating your program.  Leverage all of your existing marketing channels.  Direct mail, email lists, your website, put up signs on-site, inform staff to communicate the program on the floor or at the register, acquire mobile numbers at check out or have them text in on the spot.  If you leverage local papers or print adds, add the communication there as well.  Anywhere that you normally advertise, add the mobile call to action.
7. I’ll conclude this series with some basic strategies, examples and insight as to how to tap into mobile to drive traffic and ultimately sales this holiday season!

Alright, without getting into too much detail on each item, these are the basics of what you’ll need to do to start a mobile marketing program.  As I mentioned I’ll follow this post with others going through each step in more detail.  If at any point you’d like to speak privately please feel free to reach out.  I’d be glad to discuss your marketing goals and put together a mobile strategy that delivers results this holiday season.

As always, thanks for reading and stay tuned for how you find a trusted agency/consultant to help execute your plan.