Opt-In Best Practices That Drive Positive Results
Editor’s note: A string of reports, posts and this recent podcast interview with Alan Moore all echo the same message: permission is a must in mobile marketing. It all starts with opt-in – but how should mobile operators approach the process? What are the best ways to obtain key bits of personal information to improve segmentation and enable the delivery of marketing messages the individual will accept and – more importantly – value? This week the Optism team provides hands-on advice and a helpful checklist to guide mobile operators through this important process.
In recent blogs, we’ve talked about the importance of permission and what permission means to different stakeholders. This week, we’re looking at best practices for getting people to opt in to a mobile marketing service.
Tomi Ahonen tells us there are now 5 billion active mobile phone subscriptions out there, so it’s understandable that advertisers are keen to gain access to the mobile mass audience. But first, operators must entice their customers to opt in for the service and provide them with clear value to keep them engaged.
As Jonathan MacDonald tells us in the Rules of Engagement, careful consideration should be given by operators and others in the mobile marketing ecosystem when engaging with people. Operators should view the service as an opportunity to develop their relationship with customers. The opt-in process can be seen as the beginning point to creating a community of people with an interest in the content the service will deliver.
The focus should be on engaging with people by providing them content they want, not on hard selling or by making assumptions of what they want. Opting-in must be simple, quick and easy. Operators need to ensure that there is complete transparency in their offering, meaning that customers know exactly what it is they are agreeing to and what they are going to get in exchange for providing their permission. From the beginning, the communications should be seen as a two-way street.
Depending on their unique situation, operators may choose to offer the service under a separate brand name, or they may choose to use their existing brand. Ideally, potential participants hear about the opportunity through whatever channel they commonly use to interact with their mobile operator. For many, this will be SMS messaging. For others, it may be a web or WAP portal.
With a portal, mobile operators can present background information about the service along with the opt-in process on a single screen. With SMS, the operator will likely exchange a few messages, starting with a simple introductory message: “Hi. We’re introducing a free service that lets you interact directly with brands you care about. Text 1 to learn more.” Once the initial contact has been made, messaging is used to outline how the service works, to get the individual’s explicit opt-in and collect a few key bits of information about the mobile user, and to ensure that he or she knows how to opt out.
Read the rest of this post here.
