Dovetailing SMS Marketing and Traditional campaigns

I'm continuing on my "wonder how to deploy SMS Marketing" theme. I confess I have more questions than answers, and suspect I'm no different from any marketer who is struggling to understand the virtues and risks of texting a mobile phone.

Let's get lawfulness out of the way. Apart from being highly desirable to have permission to market to a mobile phone, in the European Community it is against the law to send Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Communications (those things we all know to be spam). We have Directive 2002/58/EC and its national interpretations to than for that, and it's a good thing.

It does mean we're restricted in how we ask for permission. We may not text to get it, nor may we email. Not in an unsolicited manner, that is. So we have to design campaigns that solicit permission.

We know that no-one except a fool will give blanket permission for filling a mobile up with anything, though we also know that fools abound. There was a recent UK TV campaign to get you to text in the answer to a TV competition, and to prevent marketing you also had to state "No Marketing" in your entry. To me that is plain sucky, and just cheats. It looks and feels like Opt Out marketing when the law requires Opt In.

To get permission the campaign must offer something of value. It has to be worth the very few characters indeed available in an SMS message. And that message must contain details of the sender and how to unsubscribe. Fewer characters available.

I've looked at the hairdresser who texts selected regular customers when she has a short notice appointment available. I like that a lot. I'm not sure if it's marketing or notification of a spare timeslot, so I think it's brilliant. I want, somehow, to extend this into a full service marketing campaign that covers all bases.

The problem is that my thinking is running along the lines of a time critical event being the right thing for an SMS message. Clearly I need help here.

Big campaigns start with advertising of some description to raise brand awareness, or to protect a brand, or as a call to action. "Text 'hit me' to [number] and we'll send you [stuff] about [item], direct to your batphone, Free!". That's in your face and direct enough. That works on TV, on hoardings, on buses, on the radio.

But it only grabs those who want to be texted, and it requires strong opt in action. Also most products or services have no reasonable time critical "stuff" to send. I want an integrated campaign.

I want TV, billboards, web, mail, email, and SMS. I think we can ignore fax for this century!

What I don't want to do is to drive people to each vehicle in turn. This isn't an academic exercise in communicating with folk, it's an exercise in preparing folk to part with money. SO we need to take them along the buying journey wherever the see the call to action.

TV is presently full in the UK of "yougetmygoat.com" (look it probably exists, I haven't checked it, follow it at your own risk) advertising that goat insurance is cheaper with them and with no-one else.

So, just maybe there is scope for a TV campaign that gets you to text in your renewal date so it can text you to remind you to get a quite with them? Back that with a web landing page that offers to do it by email or SMS provided you have 27 years no claims discount and present yourself with all grandparents living. That starts to make sense.

Except that we lie. I've never yet given the right answer for a renewal date in a lifestyle questionnaire, and I'm not hugely likely to start now for SMS messages. Anyway I'm not really sure if I know it.

I do think I'm getting clearer on SMS validity in campaign offerings, though. I can start to see past my inherent distaste for SMS marketing and watch as the vista starts to open up. With care I can design campaigns that will benefit from this marketing tool. I must remember that the text message is not the end product. It is simply another call to action. That hairdresser has it wholly right.