Mobile marketing is really the most personal direct marketing channel out there because of the variety of communication options it opens for us to reach a specific consumer with a specific message. It leverages the power of standard direct-marketing techniques and makes the message consumable and immediately actionable with one device.
Mobile marketing offers a bevy of creative marketing opportunities because the responses to our calls to action can come in a variety of different media and are uniquely trackable to one specific user. Information you get via mobile tracking can add dimension to your understanding of the customer's preferences and enables you to vary the channels of communication so customers don't feel overwhelmed.
Mobile marketing is also uniquely suited for persona marketing. Persona marketing is based on the idea that your customers can usually be classified into three or four groups, based on their demographic, psychographic (personality, values, attitudes, interests, and so on), and behavioral needs. Customers are grouped based on similarities and are given a name to represent the group. For example, a store that sells professional beauty products might be marketing to the following personas:
Katie the Cosmetologist: Katie is young and either is still in cosmetology school or has graduated in the past two years. She is still testing different products she likes and is easily enticed by sales and promotions. She wants to feel and look like a master stylist in her salon, but she is still working her way up the ropes. She comes into the store about once a week to see if there's anything new or on sale.
Sally the Salon Owner: Sally is a bit older and more set in her ways. She owns or manages a salon. Although she used to be a stylist on the floor, she now spends most of her time on the administration and logistics of running the business. She has products that she buys regularly and in bulk, and she is slow to add anything new to her shopping list. She shops twice a month and is less price sensitive because she isn't interested in trying new products. Promotions that involve bulk purchases or that encourage her to spend a certain amount of money to receive a specific discount are persuasive to her.
Susan the At-Home Stylist: Susan can be almost any age but is usually younger. She is tired of paying salon prices for treatments and services she can easily provide herself at home much more cheaply. She is usually less price sensitive than Katie because she is buying products only for her own use or for a very short list of friends. She is not a professional, so she needs more help knowing what to buy and how to use it, but she still loves a good bargain.
Each of these personas would benefit more from different types of offers and different types of marketing messages. Information collected via a mobile device can be used to categorize customers, and distinct messaging strategies can be created for each persona. Different messages and incentives can be sent to people in each persona over different periods of time, using different communication and response channels.
