Principle 9: Mobile phones, the ultimate direct response device

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I went to two conferences recently and everyone was surprised by what they thought was an alarming statistic about mobile video usage. They were shocked and confused that half of mobile video usage came from inside the home. They laughed and thought, “How weird. Don’t they have better screens to watch in the house?” Nobody raised their hand and admitted that they used their phone on the toilet.

Like your keys and your wallet, your mobile phone is with you all the time—even in the bathroom. But unlike your keys and wallet, the mobile phone can send and receive communications anywhere in the world. Given the mobile phone’s carry-anywhere ubiquity, it has the potential to be the ultimate direct response device. It’s also a very personal device that’s often customized. And the phone’s owner wants complete control over information that comes in and out of it. Unlike junk mail and spam—which we all have no problem throwing away—an unwanted message to a cell phone might as well be poison in the user’s pocket. You don’t want a message from your company arriving uninvited. It will have a detrimental affect.

Just hearing the term “mobile advertising” makes people cringe. That’s because the public equates the term with unwanted phone calls, messages, and advertisements appearing on their phone. Most people in the industry have wisely begun referring to information on a mobile phone with the more palatable term, “mobile content.” Still, there exist true forms of mobile advertising, like banner ads on mobile applications, which consumers do accept.

Like almost all new media, communications on a mobile phone must be initiated by the user. You need consent. Users are the ones who choose to download and install an application or they’re the ones who choose to participate in a short code campaign (special numbers shorter than telephone numbers used specifically for sending text messages, also known as SMS). By using traditional media, like billboards or magazines, you can entice a user to participate by displaying a short code. But participation will only happen if they see a worthwhile value exchange. It must be relevant.

What consumers want is highly pertinent information sent to them at the right time and at the right location, which can be made possible thanks to E911 technology—a mandate that requires mobile phone manufacturers to create phones that can be physically located through cell tower or GPS triangulation.

All phones on the market today are capable of sending and receiving text messages. Video is a growing market, but SMS is still the standard among all phones garnering about 75% of the mobile content market. For those phones that are WAP-enabled, an SMS with an URL can lead to additional Web-based information.

Companies can engage with consumers through short code campaigns. Any mobile phone user can enter a text message to the short code, which can initiate an application. These short codes along with the text used to start the dialogue are often printed in traditional media like billboards or magazines. The point of printing the short codes along with the resultant campaign is to engage the customer long after they’ve seen the advertisement.

A successful short code application delivers content to the individual when they need it. It can be a simple reminder (e.g., “Take your medicine”), which can result in a very valuable touch point in that person’s day. All that the user needs to know is that your business delivered that service to them at the moment they needed it (e.g., “This reminder brought to you by Rite Aid”).

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