Four Ways Direct Marketers Can Use Mobile to Generate Sales - Carrie Burns

In the advertising community mobile is hot Red hot Direct marketers are working overtime to figure out how to reach and sell over 227 million Americans that own cell phones That39s over 9 in 10 adults and 70 of teens according to Experian Simmons quot2011 Mobile Consumer Reportquot With the exception of kids under age 14 82 to 98 of all other age brackets own cell phonesThis quotIn The Trenchesquot missive has four ways direct marketers can tap into mobile We39ve either tested or are planning to test all of them for our clients We believe they will become staple response mechanisms alongside landline phones web sites and searchThe ultimate goal for direct marketers is to motivate consumers to take a desired action amp8211 buy a product request more information visit a web site etc With SmartPhone sales going through the roof and new apps being introduced constantly now is the time to prudently test mobile Here are four leading ways direct marketers can use mobile1 QR Quick Response Codes or 2D Codes are matrix barcodes that can be used for a multitude of functions related to direct marketing Consumers can scan codes using the camera from their mobile SmartPhone to download mobile coupons visit a web site to get more information watch a video fill out a form or even initiate a phone call These can be used in print outdoor and even in store on shelf displays or on product packaging And these are a great tool for customer retention as well2 Star Star Numbers A StarStar Number combines a tollfree number a web address and a short code into one simplified number They function much like QR Codes but instead of scanning a code a consumer would dial a 115 digit string for example SHIRT By dialing the code the caller can be presented with a call text message video coupon or app similar to the QR Code These can also be used in print outdoor and in store but what these can do more easily than QR Codes is engage with television viewers It39s much easier to ask a viewer to call SHIRT than to expect them to scan a code on their screen3 Shazam is a mobile listening application that can quotlistenquot to several seconds of a song or digital audio clip recognize it and then provide programmed information about that song or clip Direct marketers can have information programmed to display when a consumer quotlistensquot to their commercial This can include more product information links to websites call initiation etc And like Star Star Numbers this is a much easier way to engage a television viewer It requires minimal effort to drive a desired action4 SMS stands for Short Message Service and is basically a text messaging service for use on any text enabled mobile phone You39ve seen this in use when people vote for their American Idol favorites Many direct marketers think this tool is outdated or quotuncoolquot But this tool does what some others can39t which is push information and calls to action back out to consumers at later dates So if you text SHIRT to 45678 you can receive an instant promotion code for an instore or online discount but in 2 weeks you can push out another message to notify that consumer of another sale or event that you want to invite them to SMS allows for more reengagement with consumers that you dictate instead of relying on them to initiate the actionWhen creating your next direct marketing plan consider how mobile can be an integral part of that plan With some forward thinking these tools can be easily managed and tracked to drive an increase in ROITo grab a PDF of this post go to httpA5HacquirgynetCarrie Burns manages the St Petersburg office account team which is responsible for some of our largest and longest running clients Carrie also manages the acquirgy Emerging Media team creating client opportunities within mobile social and video She can be reached at cburnsacquirgycomRead all Irv39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Customer Acquisition IntelCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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Four Ways Direct Marketers Can Use Mobile to Generate Sales - Carrie Burns

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