Customer relationship management (CRM) is the last important mile in mobile engagement. CRM combines mobile's unique opportunity to connect with customers anywhere, anytime, with a critical understanding of ever-shifting channel and content preferences. Use these eight tips for better mobile CRM campaigns,
Mobile CRM is not advertising
The goal of mobile CRM is not to create a separate silo of customers, nor is it "advertising" as we've known it. Rather, it's about engaging customers and prospects using compelling content to significantly impact your existing relationship with individuals and groups of consumers. More importantly, mature mobile CRM should not work in channel silos (i.e., web, mobile, print, social), but instead it should leverage a single, unified database of customer information and preferences across all channels, including mobile.
BMW scores in mobile CRM
While it may seem obvious, effective marketing makes the messaging relevant to targeted customers or customer groups. The right message, to the right person, at the right time is the magic of mobile CRM. Integrate mobile opt-in with your existing customer database and master persona data to provide dynamic, segmented, and personalized content.
BMW Germany markets to its opt-in customer database by delivering pictures of a customer's car via mobile (in the correct color) with winter tire recommendations and prices. Customers see how the tires would appear on their car, and can set up an appointment with the dealer right from the message. In the two years BMW has run the program, about a third of customers who received messages bought winter its tires.
Not only can you message leveraging your own customer data, but you can integrate with outside data sources, for example local weather, to provide hyper relevant content and offers based on data you don't have yourself.
Using location based services
Like real estate, mobile relies on location, location, location. Again, mobile location based services (LBS) using carrier-lookup can uniquely provide a marketer with instant, real-time data of a customer's location, and deliver segmented, relevant messages against this information to increase marketing performance. If you don't want to use carrier lookup, you can easily capture their "home" location via web-based opt-in to mobile CRM campaigns.
Gather profile data along the way
Effective mobile CRM uses web and mobile sites for opt-in to gather customer profile data and preferences. Apparel brand Van's uses mobile opt-in via its website to collect customer profile data and preferences on what kind of mobile content (surf, skate, apparel, music, etc.) each user would like to receive.
Integrate with other media
Integrate the mobile campaign with other digital and traditional media. Mobile is only one of many tactics to build a relationship with your customers over time. CRM is a holistic endeavor, and mobile should be woven into your overall digital plan.
Follow the rules
To ensure industry compliance and best practices, work with a mobile marketing solutions platform and services provider that already complies with the many and complex "regional" compliance and privacy regulations and requirements.
Handset awareness
Be aware of what thousands of handsets means to your CRM. Understand what your target customers and customer segments are doing with their handsets, and what kind of handsets they're using. Also understand "regional" adoption of handsets types.
Track your performance
Before the campaign launches establish goals and metrics you'll use to determine success. Then monitor your KPIs in real-time and analyze your results.
Mobile offers the ability to change campaign parameters while the campaign is live -- if you know what's happening, you can quickly adjust the campaign for improved performance.
Virginie Glaenzer is director of marketing for iLoop Mobile.
On Twitter? Follow iMedia Connection at @iMediaTweet.
