The Joy of Text
As a marketing medium, mobile messaging is finally old enough to have a list of dos and don’ts. In its latest Mobile Youth IQ e-newsletter, digital solutions provider North Castle Nextstep and mobile marketing software provider Enpocket offer what they dub “MYIQ Rules for the Mobile Road.” Among their words of advice:
* “It’s about your customer, not you.” In other words, don’t send messages telling the recipients what they can do for you–namely, buy your product. Rather, show what you can do for them. “For a consumer to welcome your brand on their most personal and private device there’s got to be something in it for them – power, entertainment, badge value, insider info, customized information, VIP status, prizing/incentives—lots of options, and critical to mobile success.”
* Tailor the message to the medium. “Think long and hard about what value each particular piece of content has on the mobile phone and in the ‘portable’ world. If it’s better served on the Web, leave it there.”
* “Provide instant gratification.” Don’t tease recipients with a mobile message only to require them to go to the Web or another medium to get their reward.
* “Don’t pretend to be a peer.” Remember how embarrassed you’d be when your parents spoke to your friends using terms like “groovy” and “rad”? Don’t embarrass yourself–and your company–by using “text speak” such as “R U 4REAL?”
What is arguably their most important tip, however, is one that transcends medium: “Test, test, test.”
