Mobile is essential for any retailer’s multichannel strategy. This is true, not only because mobile penetration is so high, but because people have an “always-on” relationship with their mobile devices.
About 90% of US adults and 70% of the world’s total population have at least one mobile device, and numerous studies have shown that people, regardless of where they live, do not leave home without their mobile phone. For brands, mobile has the potential to become the most personal, timely and intimate medium for communicating with consumers.
Retailers can leverage mobile in many different ways to reach and engage with consumers, but mobile messaging
is particularly effective. SMS, better known as text messages, and MMS, which includes pictures and video, are
especially effective because messaging is by far the most-used application on mobile devices. Therefore, brands that fail to incorporate SMS or MMS into their mobile strategy are unable to effectively reach the majority of consumers.
Consumers today want content-rich media, so trend-setting lifestyle brands have an opportunity.
There are more than 6,100 unique mobile devices in more than 170 countries, reaching a total market of more than 1 billion consumers around the world.
Steve Madden has launched an opt-in, mobile messaging campaign that incorporates both SMS and MMS using a mobile solution from Mogreet, a vendor that offers a platform for seamless delivery of text, picture and video messages to nearly any mobile phone.
Through this campaign, Steve Madden is aiming to reinforce its position as a fashion-forward lifestyle brand by giving customers the ability to see the latest styles, view video look books of the upcoming season’s fashions, get exclusive music content and videos from the Steve Madden brand, receive coupon codes, get style tips and more.
By delivering rich media experiences, brands and retailers gain many benefits, including increased in-store traffic and conversion, additional online and mobile commerce, closer relationships with customers and a more relevant database. Mobile marketing objectives will be rooted in relevancy – for building personal relationships and delivering timely information to customers.
Ultimately, mobile marketing enables retailers to provide value-added information to support the shopping process, which includes both discovery, service and purchase.
Retail customers like to be engaged and communicate, which is what makes the mobile experience particularly
exciting for them and for retailers alike.
