Reviewing SMS options and how to optimise them
Given the extraordinary penetration of mobile phones, it is unsurprising that short message service (SMS) would be an impactful marketing medium. Nonetheless, the statistics make for mighty impressive reading.
98% of text messages are read, with the average response time a mere 90 seconds (compared to 2.5 days for an email).
75% of people prefer receiving ads via SMS and 70% of Americans would like to receive mobile coupons from their favourite businesses, with SMS coupons more likely to be redeemed and shared than mail or newspaper coupons. Furthermore, SMS marketing campaigns are opted out less than 5% of the time.
So how can SMS fit into your marketing efforts? Holly Barber, Marketing Manager at FireText, outlines some of the main ways in which SMS marketing can be used across a range of businesses.
SMS marketing strategy tips
Fill in the gaps – Barber says: 'If you…
Measuring mobile activity with Google's mobile calculator
eBay Europe recently reported that UK consumer spend on mobile has increased by 55% year on year, and is set to grow a further 115% over the next 12 months. Olivier Ropars, Senior Director of mCommerce at eBay Europe urges retailers to 'act now to turn this opportunity into an exciting reality'.
I’d argue that leading retailers have made a serious investment in mobile already to improve the shopper experience throughout the purchase cycle.
The IAB’s mobile retail audit of the top 50 UK retailers shows that most have invested in mobile: 74% now have mobile optimized sites, 62% have a mobile app, 48% have optimized their mobile search, and 14% have WiFi in-store. Leading brands are seeing healthy returns: eBay generated $8 billion in sales from mobile last year.
But the mobile opportunity which Ropars describes is far from…
Some examples of alternative strategies from retailers
It’s a bit of a ‘chicken or egg’ question, but when it comes to mobile commerce, what should come first – a responsive site or mobile optimised marketing? Or both together?
The answer to that question really lies in weighing up the quick wins from mobile optimised campaigns, offsetting poor user experience by driving mobile users to a non-responsive site, and mitigating lost potential revenue by waiting to launch both together.
Q1 of this year saw tablet sites achieving higher conversion rates than traditional desktop sites, and the prediction that by 2014, the mobile Internet is expected to overtake desktop internet usage. Despite this however, lots of big brands still don’t seem to be following a best practice approach.
An integrated mobile strategy - Sainsbury's
Although not perfect, supermarkets seem to be leading the way with end-to-end mobile strategy. …
Research on the top mobile sites and apps as rated by consumer experience
Earlier this year, Episerver carried out consumer research in the UK with over 1000 consumers, to evaluate use of the mobile internet and use of apps.
Consumers were asked if they are using mobile sites, the importance of features and their engagement with mobile apps. To ensure representation, the data findings were benchmarked with data from 30 retailers on the IMRG Experian Hitwise Hot Shops List.
This research gives a useful list of the leading retailers to benchmark your Mcommerce site and apps against:
Retailers were awarded points and scored to 100% on the following criteria which probed into key areas around UX including performance, engagement and zooming support.
The full report can be downloaded from…
Using mobile micro-targeted in-store content to improve the shopping experience and boost sales
This is an interesting new mobile technology being trialled within American stores, to help retailers engage with their shoppers in-store, turn browsers into buyers, with opted-in micro-targeted digital real-time content.
Since Swirl was released last month, stores Alex and Ani, Timberland, and Kenneth Cole in New York and Boston are already taking advantage of this.
This Vine clip gives you an idea of how it works.
Demand is evident as Swirl's survey and recent Shopper Infographic has shown that 76% of women surveyed prefer to shop instore for clothes, 53% have 1 - 5 apps on their phone and women are happy to share personal information if there is value for them!.
How does Swirl…
Planning your Responsive Web design
You will have noticed that responsive web design has become a real buzz phrase in 2013. However, responsive design is not a new concept, in fact far from it. Making something that looks great on all browsers and across all platforms should be the benchmark for all web design. Reaching that benchmark requires Designers and Developers to slightly alter their outlook on a project.
There are a number of practices you can adhere to which will help to ensure your site is viewed in the best possible light. Below are some pointers both planning and technical.
Planning your Responsive Web Design
Responsive doesn’t just mean ‘squishy’. The majority of users will view these sites on different platforms, but won’t switch between them.
Just make sure the user can view the content in the most effective way. Alternate versions of sites are just as effective as a site that re-scales.
Responsive web…
New research showing mobile shopping vs browsing habits
Each quarter, the IMRG partner with eDigitalResearch to ask 2,000 UK consumers how they use mobile devices. This useful tracking study shows how consumers purchasing cycle is changing, as they are researching heavily on their mobile platforms before they complete their purchases. Their latest mobile commerce usage report shows that smartphone ownership in the UK is now at 60% with a significant number using them for purchase:
Over 54% of Smartphone Users now browse products each month whilst 40% purchase.
We liked this infographic since it also included a breakdown of category showing a variation of 30 to 70% purchase rates depending on category.
The infographic highlights other trends including the preferred brands for mobile devices, demographics of Smartphone owners and M-commerce trends across sectors.
…
How UK consumers are using their mobile devices to inform purchase
Companies are embracing mobile marketing within their digital strategies, as consumers usage of technology is growing and lifestyles are changing. Our post from Danyl Bosomworth, which we keep updated with the latest statistics showing the uptake of mobile usage and adoption in the UK may be helpful if you are interested in further statistics to make your case.
This infographic is from xAD who partnered with up with The Nielsen Company, to explore how UK consumers are using their mobile devices to research products and services, what impacts their decision-making and how they purchase. You can access the full report at the MobilePathtoPurchase web site. It shows how mobile can be used to engage consumer and influence purchase. Touchpoints on the journey include:
Search - as with the desktop 84% of mobile users visit…
Building a website that predicts the future (sorry no lottery numbers included)
You will have heard a lot about responsive web design (RWD) over the last 12 months, everyone seems to have an opinion about this hot topic. This post discusses the issue from a different viewpoint, showing the importance of creating responsive websites for devices yet to be invented.
Often posts on responsive web design explain what it is and the benefits of this approach. Here, however, we focus on the best, and in our opinion the only, way to design a responsive website to avoid this problem...
Responsive design has gone the way of the Discman!
As with other web technologies, the more popular and common responsive web design becomes, the more we expect from it. Let’s have a bit of nostalgia to make our point.
For those…
What does Facebook Home mean for Marketers?
Mark Zuckerberg finally unveiled Facebook's mobile device strategy earlier in April.
After a continuous swirl of rumours speculating the arrival of the Facebook phone from when All Things D first reported on project ‘Buffy’ back in 2011, rather than building its own smartphone, as originally anticipated, Facebook has launched Home, its new software for Android operating systems.
The app will see users’ traditional home screen and menu replaced with ‘CoverFeed’, which displays Facebook notifications, images and message.
So why the decision to create software rather than hardware?
Free to download, the app can effectively be accessed by any of the 680m mobile users who own an Android device. As Zuckerberg said himself: 'We're not building a phone, and we're not…
