140 mobile marketing tips

Push notifications allow an app
to notify you of new messages or
events without the need to actually
open the application, similar to how
a text message will make a sound
and pop up on your screen.
What are Push Notifications?

SMS = Short Message Service
SMS is used as an acronym for all
types of short text messaging up to
160 characters per message.
What are SMS/Text Messages?

1 Go everywhere your customers go Learn more
Is your website mobile enabled?
Start there.

Honor permission. Don’t alienate
your audience by sending
unsolicited SMS.

Link to a mobile site to facilitate
additional interaction.

Encourage consumers to
associate your short/long code
with your company in their phone.
People are more apt to open a
text from Best Buy as opposed to
85324.

Reduce call center volume and
costs with mobile alerts.

Always include a call to action in
push or SMS.

Use targeted push messaging to
reengage users who downloaded
your app, but haven’t been back.

Promote SMS campaigns in
stores, on digital signage and
across your website to maximize
visibility.

Pair SMS and Email campaigns
together to deliver the right
message through the right
channel at the right time.

Stay true to opt-in policy and
honor the expectation of the
campaign (no over sending!)

Use SMS to gather feedback
from large groups of people
(fans, trade show attendees, etc)

SMS is extremely effective for
customer acquisition, customer
retention, and increasing
customer spend (growth).

Building a Mobile App without a
solid push strategy is like
building a Facebook fan page
without a social strategy.

Use SMS to gather new email
addresses for your email
marketing efforts (Text your email
address to # for a special offer!)

SMS & Push Messages can be
personalized and segmented
just like email, think beyond the
“Batch and Blast” mentality.

Shared short codes are a great
place to start for those new
to SMS marketing as they are
cheaper and quicker to
implement.

Private short codes should be
used by brands looking to own
every keyword necessary for a
campaign

Vanity short codes can be utilized
to enhance branding efforts for a
specific campaign

Multiple short codes (or 1 long
code) are necessary for
International SMS campaigns.

Push messages are essentially
free for the end user (recipient),
as they aren’t billed on a per
message fee like SMS.

When selecting a Keyword for
an SMS campaign, the minimum
length is 4 characters (i.e. JOIN or
SALE).

Honor preference. Some of your
customers may prefer to receive
certain messages via SMS - you
don’t know until you ask.

Similar to the Twitter’s 140
character limit, SMS messages in
the US can only be 160
characters.

Before launching a SMS
campaign, review the Consumer
Best Practices, regulations
developed by the Mobile
Marketing Association.

Get Local - Help your customers
feel connected by personalizing
the messages, including tailoring
them to a specific area or
location.

Keep It Simple - When sending
messages, use simple plain
language with well-known texting
shortcuts to avoid ambiguity.

Reach Out and Reply - Talk with
your customers and provide
advice and tips. In return, you
gain valuable feedback and
increase customer loyalty.

Make offers time-sensitive or limit
uses to increase the engagement
of your push or SMS notifications

Train your staff to look for “from”
number. If it’s not your short
code, make sure they’re a
subscriber.

If you’re sending SMS messages
internationally, work with a
mobile expert to determine a
short/long code strategy.

If you’re sending time sensitive
emails, SMS should be considered
as a much more effective channel
for delivery.

The process to transfer or acquire
a private short code can take up
to 12 weeks. Consider this when
planning your SMS messaging
campaigns.

Offer instant prizes or gratitude.
Don’t make me wait until I spend
money with your company.

Do you read your friend’s short
text or your dad’s novel?
The content matters.

Less is more for SMS Marketing

If your SMS is 200 characters, see
if you can make it 160 characters
or even less.

Surprise your customers. Show
them you remember them by
personalizing the message.

Stop telling your SMS consumers
what you have, just tell them what
is in it for them (i.e. benefits).

Deliver SMS and push coupons
to increase redemption rates, as
people always have their phones
with them.

Be clear and let your customers
know what action you want them
to take - what, how, when, who.
Be direct and precise.

Don’t forget to integrate mobile
with social media channels.

Think beyond simple outbound
messages and leverage SMS to
gain more information about your
customers.

Obtain opt-in approval before
sending SMS messages. Email
opt-in does not equal an SMS
opt-in.

Consider requesting a mobile
number on your email opt-in
forms but do so only if there’s a
well-stated benefit to the
consumer.

Companies can expect response
times to a text message to be
within an hour, and within
minutes.

With SMS being such an
immediate channel, it’s important
to test your campaign before
going live.

Push messages can drive in App
purchases and increase App
usage.

Gain Trust through a clear and
concise opt-in process. Let your
consumers know when and what
they’ll be receiving.

Consider mobile in
combination with other channels
and post across mobile,
Facebook, Twitter, email, and any
online communications you use.

Before asking if a user wants to
opt-in to your push messages, tell
them what the benefit of opting in
would be.

Each time a user updates your
App, an opportunity arises to
prompt them to opt into your Push
notifications again.

mobile
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Use email to promote SMS and
Push messaging.

When switching short codes, send
a message to inform consumers
of the change to increase
awareness and engagement.

There are rules and regulations
when sending messages to
people under the age of 13. Read
the MMA guidelines to stay
compliant.

Remember that customers pay for
text messaging, so don’t send a
lot of messages. Three to four per
month is plenty.

Use a single marketing platform
to obtain reporting across all your
marketing channels (e.g. email,
social, and mobile).

If you are running a sweepstakes,
seek legal guidance when
drafting the rules to ensure
compliance with laws and
regulations.

Enforce a double opt-in for
mobile subscribers. After the
consumer has opted-in send a
confirmation message.

Identify your brand; don’t assume
the consumer will identify you
through a short/long code
number.

When using a vanity short code,
be sure to put the number
equivalent in parenthesis for ease
of use - e.g. TIRES (84737)

Make consumers feel special.
Vary your mobile content and
offers from those on your site and
email.

Avoid hype, slang, and abbreviations.

Allow in-store consumers to sign
up for loyalty and charge card
programs via mobile as they wait
for the checkout process.

Tell users how to opt out of your
messages. For example - Text
STOP to 80565

Consumers expect immediate
responses with mobile. Ensure
your communication is real-time,
to optimize the consumer’s
experience.

When selecting an SMS provider,
ask which aggregators the
provider uses, as this can affect
deliverability.

Use SMS to trigger send an email
to deliver content that won’t fit
into 160 characters.

Utilize Rich Push to send video,
audio, HTML, or maps to your App
users.

Do not confuse your customer with
too much information in a short
amount of words. Keep your focus
on one message at a time.

Whatever action you want your
customers to take, start with that.
Simply use verbs such as: buy,
sell, save, jump, run, and purchase,
to grab their attention.

Respond Quickly. People’s
memories are short when it comes
to mobile marketing. Respond
quickly once they have opted in.

Do you have mission critical
messages? 90% of SMS
messages are opened within 3
mins of receipt.

If you need to use text shorthand,
then you need to rewrite your
message.

Send SMS less frequently than
your email marketing campaign
(if you send emails three times a
week, send SMS once).

If your database of mobile
contacts is out of date, it may be a
better choice to start from scratch,
as people change numbers often.

Don’t include graphics or images,
just text.

Streamline communications: “TXT
STOP” to unsubscribe, or “TXT
HELP” for customer support.

Offer a gift for signing up -
discount, free product sample,
ebook.

Try including a “scannable”
coupon that can be redeemed at
your physical stores

Include a forwarding option in your
messages.

Encourage more subscribers by
offering an immediate discount
upon sign up.

Let your customers know that
you’re not going to sell or exploit
their cell number.

In your privacy statement, let your
customers know that their
mobile provider may charge them
for sending and receiving texts.

Conduct a short SMS Poll - always
learn from your consumers about
how they view your mobile
campaigns and offerings.

Trying to help someone decide
dinner plans? Text them around
2:00-4:00 PM.

Include your short code on all your
SWAG - you never know where it
is going to end up!

Keep your SMS marketing
campaign focused on one
message. One clear message.

Don’t use all of the character
spacing in your messages - you’re
taking away space for customers
to forward and include their own
message.

Short codes need to be easy and
relevant to your company.

Vanity (custom) short codes can
be difficult to use with the
absence of the T9 texting on most
mobile phones. Try a random code.

Request - Ask for feedback early
and often via email or text a link to
an online survey.

Don’t try to sell something in
every Push message. Provide
value to your App user and build a
better relationship

Give your text campaign plenty of
time to go through
aggregator and carriers, so as not
to show up at 2:00 am on your
customer’s phone.

Include your business name
somewhere in the SMS. It’s easy
to get SMS’s confused when other
short code initiated messages are
coming in frequently.

Because SMS and Push are the
most effective forms of
interruptive marketing, make sure
your message is accurate before
sending.

Review tracking and analytics to
enhance your SMS and Push
campaigns. Discover which
campaigns work best for you.

Use SMS text campaigns instead
of QR codes since QR codes can
be difficult to scan depending on
the environment.

What would I do if I received this
SMS? Ask yourself this question
every time before hitting send.

If a carrier blocks a short code, all
senders from that short code are
blocked. Owning a private short
code alleviates this problem.

Holidays are a great time to do
daily campaigns. 12 days of
Christmas, 8 Nights of Hanukkah,
Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday.

Leverage all of the information
you have on your contacts to send
them highly personal messages
(just like email!)

Allow users to set up SMS or Push
alerts based on getting a product
(or certain size) back in stock.

Customers have a lot of Apps
installed. An effective Push
messaging strategy can keep your
App top of mind, making it more
successful.

Headed to a trade show? Set up
a simple text response campaign
with your business card
information to stand out in the
crowd.

Headed to a trade show? Deliver
your marketing materials via email
after a prospect texts into your
short code.

Planning on developing a mobile
App for Android or iOS? Now is the
time to start planning your Push
strategy.

Analytical insights into your SMS
and push campaigns is critical to
evaluating success and ROI.

As smartphone adoption rates
increase, the opportunity for
effective Push messaging
campaigns will only increase as
well.

Make sure your Push messages fit
within your app users’ schedule.
Let them dictate when they want
to receive notifications.

Stay true to your brand. Make sure
your mobile messaging stays
consistent with the tone your
customers are used to.

Don’t repeat information that
consumers have already received
from your other marketing
channels.

Consider a double opt-in even
when it’s not required.

Occasionally restate how
consumers can opt-out of your
campaigns (don’t just mention it
after the first message).

Market your SMS campaigns
everywhere possible, as your
success with SMS is determined
by the number of people in the
funnel.

Think long-term when it comes to
mobile.

Not every phone has the capability
to scan a QR code, so consider
using SMS campaigns instead,
as almost everyone can text with
their phone.

SMS and Push are one of the
channels that marketers use that
the customer is almost guaranteed
to read the message.

Test, test, and test your
placement and media of your SMS
advertising campaigns.

SMS is no longer viewed as a
“high spam” channel. It is used by
the best brands to drive real
results. It’s time to dedicate
budget to this channel.

Welcome emails create excellent
visibility and relationship
building between the consumer
and the brand after SMS opt-in.

Create a targeted email campaign
to customers viewing on a mobile
device. Offer an incentive to
download your app.

Add a pop-up to your website that
promotes your mobile app.

Use social channels to promote
mobile. Make sure your Facebook
pages are mobile optimized for
easy viewing.

Take advantage of traditional
communication methods by
including mobile call-to-actions on
an invoice or packaging.

Mobile phone number becomes
more valuable when it’s paired
with an email address or Twitter
handle.

Your welcome strategy for any
new mobile customer should
include a combination of
channels-email, mobile, and
social.

Be consistent. Consumers
anticipate your message. Do not
let them down.

Remember to always review
analytics and reports. Data should
help define strategy.

Context is key. Be smart about
when you send communication, in
order to stay relevant.

Try implementing cart
abandonment push notifications to
draw the consumer back to
purchase.

If an email goes unopened, follow
up via SMS a week later. Integrate
channels.

Use a one-time incentive-based
email to reengage lapsed mobile
users.

Reward loyal customers with
geo-location targeting. If they live
close, get them in the door!

Give customers easy access to
update message preferences with
a unified profile center.

Facebook is the world’s most
downloaded app, use it for
acquisition.

Don’t think of “welcome” as a
single message. It takes time to
get to know each other.

Consumers who interact with your
brand through mobile-specific
channels are among your most
engaged.

Customer completely disengaged?
Offer a drastic discount for a
purchase conversion via your app.

Win-back or comeback programs
can be some of the most
succesful mobile strategies.

Mobile coupons get 10 times the
redemption rate of traditional
coupons.
-Mobile Marketing Association

140 mobile marketing tips

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