"Dad - I know.""But I was just saying..."
"Dad - Stop!"
My daughter was on to the universal SMS cancellation code long before the MMA and carriers made
it standard. My attempts at verbally short-messaging what I took to be helpful and necessary parental tips (under 140 characters, I am sure) were canceled regularly pretty much from the time she was
three. At some point in the early teen years it was so hard to get a response from her that it felt as if the Dad App had been wiped from her home screen altogether. I know how you app makers feel
when users get frustrated with your push messaging.
Now that she is dealing with the anticipatory anxiety of entering college, the Dad App is back. My text box runneth over with questions
about schedule, books, potential majors. With my wife a college instructor and me a former prof, we are the go-to sources now. We have value to add all of a sudden. It is good being the Dad App.
And I am coming to see that the association between parenting and messaging is not misplaced,. The more we know about apps as a platform, the more it seems as if they have absorbed from the phone
itself that sense of intimacy users already bring to the medium. At last month's OMMA Mobile, MTV's Colleen Fahey Rush premiered research that shows how users value apps almost as friends and
companions. Recommendations rather than promotion are how we discover apps. And although we are quick to reject these app suitors when they prove wanting, we really embrace the ones that prove
valuable and entertaining. It is kind of a touch relationship.
So when it comes to pestering users with push messaging, brands have to take special care to maintain the relationship without
over-sharing. According to a new survey by msw loop, about 94% of iPhone and Android users let their apps send messages at least sometimes (52%) or always (42%). In fact, of the users who do
allow push messaging, more than 42% say that two to three messages a week are acceptable and almost 40% say that four or more messages are tolerable. That may seem surprising but in one sense it
speaks to the level of intimacy we establish with apps. Once they are in our trusted circle, we are ready to maintain a regular relationship with them.
But as with any relationship,
when an app violates that trust, users have a tendency to treat it as a kind of betrayal and punish the brand. When users feel push messages have been over-used about 37% turn them off and about 34%
simply ignore them. The mobile research firm makes an interesting point about how users respond to over-messaging: http://blog.surveyappresearch.com. Having messages ignored by consumers may be worse than having them simply turned off, msw loop says. It
means consumers are tuning the brand out altogether, making it difficult for the marketer to re-establish the lines of communication and trust.
Interesting but I am not so sure which is
worse. If your users turn messaging off, you need to find a way to re-make the case that your messages have value. If consumers ignore your messages but keep the channel open, then at least you have a
chance to surprise them with something noticeable.
And what is of value in messaging? It isn't brain surgery. Special offers, coupons, sales, VIP offers and "members only" offers were most
cited by users. According to msw loop, coupons are the best acquisition tool; this value seems to be enough on its own to entice many users to subscribe to messaging. I think the prominence of
"special," "member" and "VIP" in that list is just as telling, however. Just as an app should act like a friend, loyal users most appreciate being rewarded for granting the marketer this special level
of closeness. If you just treat mobile as you do email or direct mail or your Web site, then you are missing the point of the platform. The intimacy quotient is different in kind and depth from other
channels, and it permeates everything about mobile media. I only exchange text messages with a handful of people in my life. The very few brands I have let into this special line of communication
should understand and respect that they have been included in an inner circle. And even among my closest contacts, too much messaging can drive me up the wall.
"Declaring a major - Mom
wants me to do accounting"
"But you love art history. Tell her I vote for art history."
"Are you just screwing with her, now?"
"Just a
little."
"She's glaring. I think you are about to be told you 'haven't changed'"
"Try 'philosophy' on her."
"OK, Dad stop. You're pushing it. Signing
off."