» Social Media Marketing Direct Choice Blog

Mobile Marketing: What We Learned at the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association Luncheon

September 27, 2011 Leave a Comment

Direct Choice Inc. was proud to be the sponsor of the most recent Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association event on the evolution and future of mobile marketing. Those in attendance got much more than just a nice lunch spread. The presentation put forth by Applico represented a combination of common sense ideas wrapped in forward-thinking technology.

Direct Choice chose this event to sponsor because this type of knowledge is the perfect supplement to the direct marketing work we are and will be doing. Below are some of the takeaways we had:

Something that we as marketers need to consider more is how mobile devices are being used. We are a far cry from devices that are simply used for person-to-person connections when traveling. Mobile devices are practically the default communication tool, and therefore, mobile apps should be viewed as a staple to nearly every new marketing strategy.

–Nick Lanzi, President

I was really impressed with some of the examples they used as best practice case studies, especially the Aetna and MedCo Apps. What surprised me though was my lack of familiarity with them prior to the luncheon. These are extremely functional applications, but if I, as a direct marketer in this industry am unfamiliar with a product like this, it is fair to reason that a large segment of the general public is also unfamiliar. Creating apps are an amazing technological move forward, but without a strategy to market them, their benefits will not reach their full potential.

– Christine Wagner, Senior Account Executive

I was really excited about Applico CEO Alex Moazed‘s position on the opportunities that exist in mobile, and the fact that the ability to be more and more creative in this area is only really limited by what we can think of. Additionally, his comment on developing your messaging based on the different platforms felt so obvious, while also absolutely needing to be said. Strategies need to be customized to different technologies. Lastly, I believe that there is a lot of opportunity in the future for companies combine the use of “fun” apps and “serious” apps as a compliment to each other, creating a stronger user experience.

–Kathy Bademan, Account Director

We are sure we aren’t the only ones with opinions on the presentation. We invite our fellow Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association partners, and others, to share their thoughts on the presentation through messages on our Facebook and Twitter pages. We would love to hear them (especially if they are sent from a mobile device).

—-

Direct Choice Inc. is a full-service direct marketing agency that has worked with national and regional brands in a wide variety of vertical markets. In addition to this blog, you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Filed under Social Media Marketing Tagged with direct choice inc, direct mail advertising companies, direct marketing, direct marketing advertising companies, direct marketing campaign, future mobile app, mobile app development, mobile marketing best practices, mobile marketing healthcare, social media marketing

Mobile Marketing: The Evidence that Proves Our Points

September 20, 2011 Leave a Comment

There has been a very good response to our post last week on the evolving role mobile marketing is playing in industries such as healthcare, and while we don’t want to overlap too much with what mobile app designer Applico will be discussing at this month’s Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association Luncheon on September 21st, we believe there are some statistics that are worth keeping in mind in order to put our opinions (and their presentation) into perspective.

According to Forrester Research, Inc.

Mobile commerce will top $6 billion by the end of 2011 and is expected to reach $31 billion by 2016. The ubiquity of mobile phones, improved infrastructure, advances in device utility, overall market penetration and the hype around the iPhone and applications are driving phenomenal growth.
eBay recorded close to $2 billion in sales on mobile devices in 2010, with estimates of $4 billion expected for 2011.
Google mobile ads are over a $1 billion business worldwide.
Amtrak attributes 2% of its revenue to mobile — $32 million — and notes growth is staggering.
Marriott Hotels averaged mobile sales of $6 million per month in 2010 – up 100% from 2009.
1-800-Flowers.com topped $1 million in quarterly m-commerce sales — up 9,900% from same quarter in 2010.
Worldwide, mobile commerce should hit $119 billion in 2015, according to ABI Research.

Additionally, this week, the Nielson Rating Service (best known for being the gold standard when it comes to monitoring television ratings) reported on the results of their social media survey, with one of the more interesting facts being that the number of people age 55+ that visited social networking sites on their mobile phones doubled from last year. As an organization that focuses on this demographic in many of our strategies, we believe this statistic has as much to do with the improvement in technology as it does with the willingness of this age range to educate themselves on new ways to learn and communicate.

This is just some general information on where mobile has gotten to, but the true story is where it is headed, and for that, we will see you on September 21st.

To learn more about Applico, including their business, best practices and their view of the future of mobile marketing, register to attend their presentation, hosted by the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association.

—-

Filed under Social Media Marketing Tagged with direct choice inc, mobile marketing, mobile marketing future, mobile marketing statistics, mobile marketing survey, nielson mobile marketing, nielson social media, PDMA

Improve Website Conversion with Remarketing

July 26, 2011 Leave a Comment

Industry experts have estimated that as much as 96% of a business’s website visitors will NOT convert on their first visit. 96%!! That represents significant revenue lost.

So what do you do? Remarketing Technology, is what!

Remarketing is a cookie and PURL-based process that identifies and tags your website’s lost visitors, and then displays your banner ads to them as these individuals continue to surf the web. When done properly, remarketing is among the best marketing strategies you can employ to guarantee a return visit, which of course increases the likely-hood of conversions. Best of all, it boosts your ad engagement by an estimated 300%-400%.

What are some of the greatest advantages?

You only pay for performance – Only pay for your ads when they perform. Ditch the risk of overspending by only delivering ads to previous visitors still looking for your product or services.
Increase conversions – Reach out and recapture lost conversions by remarketing to potential customers while they surf the web.
Keep your brand on the tip of people’s tongues - One of the most powerful ways to create awareness is simply by being visible at the right time.
Build your customer relationships – Remarketing can help you build brand trust by delivering targeted impressions on a daily basis to visitors who have come and gone.
Target with super-engaged messaging – Target your previous visitors with customized messaging within your banner ads for a significantly more engaging experience.
Recapture visitors – Recapture the attention of your previous visitors and remind them of your high-quality products or services even after leaving your website.

The process of remarketing is an incredibly powerful tool, but it shouldn’t be a stand alone strategy. In conjunction with other lead generation and measurement techniques, higher conversion rates for your business can be generated in a number of different ways.

—-