Teens + Mobile + Retail = $

 

Most brands and retailers have not figured out how mobile can really deliver on its promise of sending the right message, to the right customer, at the right time and place -- the ultimate dream of digital marketing. It is not their fault, as many come to mobile marketing with a lens limited by the existing paradigms of TV, Internet and direct marketing.

As many of us know, teens spend an inordinate amount of their waking hours connecting via text messaging (most people can't fathom how the average teen can write 100+ text messages/day), but this doesn't mean that teens want to be marketed too via text. Receiving a retailer's jargon-filled, stiff text message while conversing with a friend can be jarring. So how do we get their attention, while still making it personal and relevant?

My wife likes the idea of taking their phone away to get their attention. But for the average marketer, we have some more constructive techniques -- the one with the most reach being text messaging.

STEP 1: Ask the teen for permission to speak with them via their phone. Teens need to feel in control. 

STEP 2: In the first month, ensure you share with them the best promotion you have to offer, so you maximize your chances of building a positive exchange through the mobile channel. 

STEP 3: Be conscious of the "voice" you are using in the mobile channel.  If your brand comes stomping in with a third-person corporate voice, it will stick out like a sore thumb. 

STEP 4: Determine the mobile promotion for your business that makes teens say yes. The messages must convey maximum value and relevance. 

STEP 5: Develop an in-store experience that engages. 

In the end, the best way for a typical retailer or brand to engage teens on mobile is to start by building a segmented text messaging program which allows you to communicate to teens with a separate voice and set of relevant offers just for them.

By giving them value and deals they can share with friends and alerts to significant in-store and brand events, you will maximize their long-term engagement with the brand and ultimately in-store sales. In-store is a huge opportunity. One which teens are primed to take advantage of because of their comfort with their phone, but that is a discussion for next time ...

(This post is based on an article I wrote for MediaPost. For the full article, click through to MediaPost here.)

Steen

Comments

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[Mobile Advertising]

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