Archive for the ‘Case Studies’ Category

Best Practices in SMS Marketing

Sunday, January 30th, 2011

As mentioned in our guidelines for mobile couponing post, we strongly encourage all marketers to follow sms marketing guidelines from the Mobile Marketing Association. These best of practice recommendations were developed to ensure the best mobile user experience and protect consumers’ privacy rights. The MMA has published a Global Code of Conduct to help maintain privacy protection standards, important for preserving the integrity of the mobile marketing industry, as well as a Consumer Best Practices (CBP) Guidelines document, which compiles in one place accepted industry practices, wireless carrier policies, and regulatory guidance.

Unfortunately, not everyone involved with sms marketing may take the time to read and understand these documents — the CBP document is currently 144 pages long. While your mobile marketing agency/partners should be well versed in these practices — especially if they’re certified members of the Mobile Marketing Association (TextBoard’s Justin Rockwell was South Carolina’s first certified MMA member), it’s still a good idea to understand the basics of these mobile guidelines. Below are some important highlights to help get you started.

Why The Standards Matter

SMS marketing is still a relatively new field. Establishing strong consumer privacy standards at the onset can help “protect the mobile channel from abuses by unethical marketers, and limit consumer backlash and regulatory scrutiny,” according to the MMA. Text message marketing and other types of mobile marketing are effective now and trusted by consumers because, unlike email marketing and telemarketing, spam issues are largely absent in mobile marketing. Strong industry support of consumer privacy standards will help marketers continue to reap the benefits from mobile marketing.

Mobile Marketing Code of Conduct

There are five categories in the MMA Code of Conduct:

  1. Notice: provides consumers with the information they need to make choices about a marketing program.
    • Marketers must provide information about the products/services offered and the terms and conditions of the program. If you have a web page for users to join your mobile marketing list, for example, the page should specify what types of communications the user will get, how often, and other important details.
  2. Choice & Consent: enables consumers to control which mobile messages they receive.
    • Marketers must implement an opt-in and opt-out process to obtain consent from the user for all mobile messaging. This can be via SMS opt-in, a web form, or other method, as long as the opt-in and opt-out mechanisms are clear and easily discoverable. Program messaging should include opt-out instructions on a regular basis.
  3. Customization & Constraint: provides relevant and responsibly tailored messages.
    • Marketers should use information collected about users to customize marketing to their needs and interests, and any user information that’s collected must be sensitively and responsibly handled. Mobile marketing messages should also provide value to the user (i.e., avoid sending irrelevant or unwanted messages).
  4. Security: procedures and policies that protect consumers’ information.
    • Marketers need to implement “reasonable technical, administrative, and physical procedures” to protect all user information collected. If you gather information like cell phone numbers and names, that data needs to be safeguarded so that only those who need to access that information do, and that the information is not transferred, changed, or disclosed for unauthorized purposes.
  5. Enforcement & Accountability: requires MMA members to comply with the Code.
    • The Code is included in the MMA’s Consumer Best of Practice Guidelines. As of now, there’s no third-party enforcement of these guidelines, so it’s the responsibility of marketers to ensure that their programs are compliant with the standards above.
    • All programs must comply with federal and state laws, as applicable
    • “Msg & Data Rates may apply” must be clearly added on promotion/advertising
    • Cost of premium or other fees must be clearly stated as well
    • Advertising must note that participation requires users to be 18 years or older or have parental/guardian permission
    • Selling mobile opt-in lists is prohibited
    • The STOP and HELP keywords (not case-sensitive) should be featured in advertising and messaging to offer subscribers the opportunity to cancel or get more information about the program at any time.

Consumer Best Practice Guidelines

The CBP Guidelines are for mobile content programs or mobile value added services that aren’t specific to a wireless carrier network. Its purpose is to simplify the different rules between all the wireless carriers (or at least the Big 4) in the U.S. There are a lot of details in the CBP, but, in addition to the Code guidelines above, some of the most important principles for mobile marketers to know include:

There are additional guidelines for premium rate charges (where the users’ wireless bill will have an extra charge) or subscriptions (ongoing charges on their bill), sweepstakes and contests, chat programs, and charitable giving programs in the CBP document. Partnering with marketing experts who are members of the Mobile Marketing Association and uphold these consumer-focused privacy standards will help make sure your mobile marketing campaigns are user-friendly and free of complications.

Posted in Case Studies, How-to, Marketing | No Comments »

5 SMS Marketing Campaign Examples and Case Studies

Saturday, January 29th, 2011

The following mobile marketing case studies and examples showcase the power of using SMS marketing to build and grow business. You can use it to generate text message marketing ideas for your organization and for general benchmarking.

Case Study #1: Dunkin’ Donuts Coupons Drive Local Sales

Dunkin’ Donuts wanted to introduce its hot lattes to young adults in the Boston area. Their October campaign delivered a mobile coupon for a $0.99 small hot latte to 7,500 targeted opt-ins (high school and college age students). This was supported by Boston radio DJs on Thursday mornings that month, as well as 400,000 mobile banner ads on Boston-targeted mobile websites. SMS coupon redemption training was provided to over 1,000 Dunkin’ Donuts staff.

  • Results: The SMS messaging, targeted WAP, and radio promotions increased in-store traffic by 21% (compare this to a 3 percent redemption rate that’s typically considered very good). 35% of participants later surveyed said they were more likely to buy Dunkin’ Donuts lattes and coffee.
  • Findings: 17% of participants forwarded or showed the message to a friend. Promoting the coupon’s viral (“shareable”) nature helped generate more traffic and coupon redemption.

Case Study #2: McDonald’s Offers Instant Prizes with SMS

McDonald’s is one company that has fully embraced mobile marketing, and one seasonal campaign for McDonald’s Italy shows how effective it can be to generate response. The “Merry Xmas in the Restaurant” campaign enabled customers to enter a sweepstakes while in the restaurant and immediately win a prize. Each unique code printed on the cups won a prize (presents ranged from mobile content to physical prizes like prepaid credit cards and mobile phones). The campaign was promoted on TV and in the restaurant.

  • Results: In five weeks, there were more than 1.5 million participants — a 25% response rate and the best result of a McDonald’s mobile marketing campaign yet.
  • Findings: Binding guaranteed prizes to the purchase of a product with an instant sweepstakes entry mechanism (SMS) can be very effective.

Case Study #3: Orbitz Uses SMS for Customer Loyalty and Engagement

Orbitz launched OrbitzTLC Alerts as a means to engage Orbitz customers, provide travel information including real-time updates, and to reinforce branding (remind customers of Orbitz before travel purchases). A radio campaign introduced customers to OrbitzTLC Alerts and offered dollars off an Orbitz travel package as an incentive to try OrbitzTLC Alerts. Customers also were given the option of subscribing to additional text messages from OrbitzTLC.

  • Results: Hundreds of text requests were received on the first day of the campaign, requesting the promo code and opting in for further messaging. After two weeks, response rates exceeded expectations.
  • Findings: There were a significant number of opt-ins for further messages from Orbitz, indicating that even one-time promotions can generate long-term customer engagement.

Case Study #4: ESPN Increases New Subscriptions Via SMS

ESPN launched a campaign that used SMS as the delivery platform back in June of 2005, before texting was even as widespread as it is today. They wanted to promote sales of the new ESPN BottomlinePro sports information service, and used a marketing mix of ESPN’s television, print, and online properties. The call to action directed consumers to send a text message and the return message provided a WAP link for users to sign up. On some carriers, download instructions were simply provided.

  • Results: Immediate messaging results were seen from on-air crawls and online placements.
    Findings: Many more subscriptions were sold when the link to purchase was provided vs. simple download instructions.

Case Study #5: Kraft Foods Launches New Product While Reducing Distribution Costs

Kraft Foods wanted to promote the launch of new instant coffee products, Jacobs 3in1 and Jacobs 2in1. The main objective was to place product samples among early adopters and opinion leaders, while decreasing product distribution costs and building a customer database for future CRM. The call to action invited consumers to request a product sample by texting in a media-specific keyword and was promoted in print and TV ads, as well as with online and mobile banner ads. A targeted list of opted-in consumers also received push SMS messages inviting them to text-in for the sample. Consumers who responded were sent a link to the mobile sampling portal.

  • Results: Over 400,000 samples were requested, and more than 80,000 users opted-in for future messaging. The 650 banner ads on selected portals had a clickthrough rate of 3%, and 10.6% of the targeted list responded to the push text messages. 0.4% of users who saw the TV ad ordered a product sample via mobile.
  • Findings: Cross-media integration can help drive success. Push messaging to targeted opt-in lists can be one of the most effective marketing tactics.

Source: Mobile Marketing Association, CTIA, Mobile Marketing Magazine

Posted in Case Studies, Marketing | 1 Comment »

TextBoard Leads SMS Marketing By Example

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

TextBoard has been running successful SMS marketing campaigns since 2009, offering SMS services to businesses throughout the US. Unique features such as the patent-pending staggered delivery campaigns, voting/contest campaigns, scheduled messaging, and sophisticated analytics have not only helped our clients reach more customers directly, but have also given businesses valuable data about the advertising methods that do and do not work best for them.

A SUCCESSFUL SMS OPERATION FOR WMBF NEWS

WMBF News Myrtle Beach, an all-digital news station that serves eight counties in South Carolina, began using TextBoard in August, 2010 to send out text alerts regarding news and weather to its viewers. The station advertised its text campaign primarily through TV commercials, website and mentioned their call-to-action during on-air broadcasts. They invited viewers to text BREAKING to a short code established through TextBoard and were excited to see 200 subscribers in the first week alone. Within only five months, the number of subscribers grew to 2900.

WMBF sends two weather alerts each day and breaking news alerts as they happen. As many as eight breaking news text alerts have been sent in a single day. In order to maximize the effectiveness and wide reach of the text campaign, the station began pushing people to their mobile site by including tiny URLs in the daily text messages. The website was customized specially for mobile devices so that subscribers with smart phones could get up-to-the-minute reports on current events, local news, sports, and weather forecasts. WMBF saw an average 18% click-through rate, meaning that almost one out of five subscribers followed the link to the station’s mobile site. Most email marketing campaigns do not see results like this.

WMBF further optimized the text marketing campaign by using TextBoard to not only send out SMS alerts, but to automatically update the station’s Twitter and Facebook accounts as well. WMBF has since made TextBoard features available to their own clients and sells SMS services to other companies.

A SUCCESSFUL SMS OPERATION FOR LEGENDS IN CONCERT

Legends in Concert, a live celebrity tribute show, offers celebrity impersonator performances in many different locations throughout the U.S. Since 2010 Legends in Concert has been utilizing SMS campaigns run through TextBoard to promote its shows. During a recent campaign launched in the Myrtle Beach region—where the target audience is tourists—Legends used five billboards to advertise a call-to-action encouraging people to join their SMS campaign for discounted tickets. Each of the five billboards used a different keyword, and TextBoard analytics were set to track the effectiveness of each. The five billboards all offered the same promotion, but the use of different keywords allowed the Legends marketers to see which billboard location reached the most people.

During a moderately busy tourist season, the Legends text campaign attracted 20 new subscribers each day. Using TextBoard analytics, Legends was able to track the conversion for each board and determine that the campaign saw a 16% average conversion rate across all billboards. It was particularly helpful to learn that the most expensive billboard produced the lowest conversion rate—data that could not have been obtained without the kind of tracking analytics that only TextBoard offers. Information about which advertising venues work hardest for them, are most visible, and generate the most opt-ins helped Legends make better decisions about how and where to spend their advertising budget.

Posted in Business, Case Studies, Marketing, Statistics | 2 Comments »

Legends In Concert Text Message Marketing Case Study

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011

Name and city and state of marketer:
Legends In Concert – Las Vegas, NV

Name and city and state of agency or marketing services firm:
TextBoard – N. Myrtle Beach, SC

Campaign/program name:
Legends In Concert Myrtle Beach SMS Billboard Campaign

Duration:
4 Months

Short code:
55958

Keywords:
BLING, POP, KING, TIM, BEACH

Objective:
Measure effectiveness of billboard advertising by using an SMS call to action to measure conversion. To build an SMS subscriber database for Legends In Concert to provide offers and fan deals for future events.

Target Audience:
Myrtle Beach residents and the 15 million annual tourists to the area.

Strategy:
Use unique keywords on each billboard to measure location effectiveness and place a coupon code within outgoing text messages to measure overall conversion.

Call to action:
Five billboards were purchased in the Myrtle Beach area on major roads and highways that encouraged any passerby to text one of the keywords to 55958 for a special offer from Legends. One keyword was shown per billboard. Each keyword related to the theme of graphic that supported the call-to-action.

Tactics:
Legends used TextBoard’s patent-pending staggered delivery method to send a higher volume of messages to subscribers only while they were in the Myrtle Beach area on vacation. Each day after subscribing to one of the keywords the automated system would send an alert suggesting the subscriber buy tickets. Each subsequent message provided a more aggressive offer similar to “Hurry, last chance offer”.

Results:
Legends was able to walk away with two solid measurements from this SMS campaign. Legends also built their subscriber database to a little over 1600 members and is continuing to grow daily.

Conversion rate was measured for the campaign by using a unique coupon code within each text message. The combined 5 billboards provided an average 16% conversion rate of all subscribers. Resulting in roughly a 1200% return on investment.

Additionally, with differentiating keywords being used per billboard, Legends was able to measure which billboard garnished the most subscribers and the highest conversion rate. Interestingly, the most expensive billboard had the lowest conversion rate of all.

Takeaway:
Legends In Concert accomplished their goal to build a solid SMS subscriber database and to measure a previously unmeasurable advertising medium. Legends will continue to market ad retarget their current subscriber base and grow the list even more in 2011. The campaign will be added to their Las Vegas, Branson and Foxwoods locations as well.

About Legends In Concert:
On Stage Entertainment, Inc. owns and operates Legends in Concert. Celebrating its 28th year, Legends in Concert is a live musical celebration featuring the world’s greatest celebrity tribute artists. Widely recognized in the entertainment industry as the original celebrity tribute show, Legends in Concert has been performed throughout the United States, and has  traveled to 18 countries on five continents, including Japan, Canada, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Australia, China, Brazil, Spain, and England, entertaining more than 20 million fans.

On Stage Entertainment operates numerous fixed-based, touring, limited-term and private engagements of Legends in Concert throughout the world. In addition to Las Vegas, Legends is presented year-round in numerous cities including Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Branson, Mo., on the high seas aboard Norwegian EPIC; and seasonally at such locations as Foxwoods Resort Casino (Mashantucket), Conn. The show has also been featured on the most popular television networks in the world.

About TextBoard:
TextBoard is a text-message marketing application designed for agencies and multi-location realtors that run complex mobile marketing campaigns for themselves and their clients. Developed by OIR Interactive in 2009, TextBoard has quickly become the industry’s leading application for SMS marketing campaigns. OIR built TextBoard in-house to allow marketers to rapidly develop, execute and analyze a variety of mobile campaign types. OIR assists companies with all aspects of mobile account creation, including short code setup and provisioning, aggregator relationships and mobile marketing strategies. With proprietary features such as click-tracking and a patent-pending message delivery method, TextBoard continues to pave the path of mobile marketing’s future.

Posted in Case Studies, Statistics | No Comments »