Commentary
How To Build A Successful Mobile Campaign
- by Justin Siegel , August 19, 2010
To some, mobile is unpredictable, new. There's still an element of hesitation for many brands -- a hesitation that we in the mobile marketing space don't understand. But if anything, mobile is more targeted, personal and ROI-driven than other media where most multicultural dollars are being spent, like TV and radio.
Recognizing that many Hispanics don't typically respond to traditional mainstream media, the U.S. Census, itself, is one of the heaviest mobile marketers in the U.S. this year. And, we have created successful mobile marketing campaigns for mega-media conglomerates, international communications services as well as a telecommunications giant.
Hipcricket's Hispanic Mobile Marketing Network has run campaigns for brands via mobile, including HBO, Rite Aid, Coors Light, Harley-Davidson, Arby's, Powerade and Cheetos. Jeff Hasen describes how HBO Pay-Per-View used Hipcricket to drive awareness and purchases of the Mayweather-Marquez fight, and to generate opt-ins for its mobile VIP club:
"Consumers were asked to text 'PELEA' ('FIGHT') to a shortcode for a chance to win a signed boxing glove, and received an SMS message back inviting them to join the VIP club. An impressive 12.9% clicked through, and of them, nearly 70% opted into the club, giving HBO a valuable database for re-marketing purposes."
This sort of mobile marketing is exemplary of creative targeting with tangible results.
James Briggs of Briabe Media stresses the importance of recognizing diversity within the Hispanic demographic: "All segments of the Hispanic mobile population are not engaging in the same ways on their mobile phones, nor do they all appreciate the exact same mobile tools or programs. If you want to reach a broad swath of the Hispanic population with a mobile campaign, make sure that you provide a variety of ways for consumers to engage to be a part of the campaign."
Here are some suggestions based on our experience with the Hispanic segment to help build a successful Hispanic mobile marketing campaign:
- Determine your marketing goals. Are you looking for reach, revenue, a new consumer segment? How many consumers are you looking to reach?
- Determine your cost-per-acquisition. What is your current CPA? Apply the same pricing model to this market.
- Work with an established Hispanic mobile marketing firm. Find a firm that will help place your ads on relevant sites.
- Focus on WAP and App. Target your ads on mobile websites and within smartphone apps that cater to your desired demographic.
- Consider going bilingual. Many Hispanics are bilingual, but for those who aren't, ads in Spanish/with subtitles can make a difference.
- Check out Hispanic publications -- People en Español, Hispanic Magazine, Latina magazine -- to discover what's hot in Hispanic culture.
- Get creative. Find humorous and interesting ways to reach users. Work with your agency to create original art and creative videos that are innovative and culturally relevant.
- Make it interactive, add games and trivia. MocoSpace recently partnered with a major media conglomerate to power part of its mobile site as well as to provide Spanish content to members for the World Cup.
- Beware of the one-size-fits-all-approach. Hispanics come from 22 countries; more than half of the U.S. Hispanic population was born here. This diversity must be remembered when targeting Hispanics.
The major challenge in Hispanic is first determining the definition of Hispanic. What's the best way to define that group? It's not by surname; there's little to no correlation.
The second challenge is how to avoid incorrectly marketing to what really amount to "mainstream" or "general market" consumers as Hispanics; this happens when the selection criteria weren't properly thought through.
While successful tactics for marketing to Hispanics are often discussed, what I see little of is how to define this valuable market in a way that creates relationships rather than merely applying a label.
Finally an article that makes sense, I'll make sure to tweet about.
Based on your experience what would be a reasonable benchmark traffic for each language for a mobile bi-lingual site?
Hispanic entails a variety of subcultures and cultural nuances. The lines between the "general market" and Hispanics are becoming rather thin. Reaching this market begins with resonance as seen by the H.B.O. boxing campaign. Nice post!
Great summary on starting a successful mobile campaign. I think you hit on many of the important points businesses must incorporate when considering a mobile strategy. The truth of the matter is the creation of a trusted relationship between your company and your customers is the best way to generate ROI when implementing a new mobile marketing strategy. People are much more willing to participate in SMS based campaigns when you provide them with the tailored information they are looking for, whether it be mobile coupons or specific product information. At Globaltel Media we've seen particular interest from our retail customers in the ability to provide specific product details and mobile couponing to their customers remotely. By providing customers with on the spot information about products, retailers are able to build a bond and level of trust with customers, increasing the chances of purchase and brand loyalty. This is especially true for local businesses that need to compete for market share with the larger chain stores. Thanks for the article!