September 20, 2010
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Innovation isn’t just occurring among dot-com companies; it can also be breathing new life into an old industry. Take Eli Wilner, for example. His company, Eli Wilner & Company, is a multi-million dollar business that creates, restores and sells high-end, antique frames. It’s a business he’s been in for over 30 years, but he still finds new ways to grow. Want to add a high-end frame to a digital photo? Well, now’s there’s an app for that.
“With over 1 billion images uploaded to Facebook each day and many billions of images stored in Flickr, I saw that my dream of sharing my work with millions of individuals was attainable through new technology.” In June, he launched an app that allows users to digitally frame photos and then store, print or share them via Facebook, MySpace and Flickr. He’s also working on iPad and Droid versions, a private-label for not-for-profit partners, and a deal with Shutterfly to enable printing on merchandise. “It’s basically becoming another business for us.”
I was excited to see Eli’s app, as I’ve been interested in how business owners are using and adapting mobile technologies for their businesses. We recently launched the OPEN Forum App for iPhone from American Express OPEN, and have been getting a lot of positive feedback. But I wanted to know what others are doing, so I also talked to Paul Rosenfeld, whose company, Fanminder, helps local and small businesses build business by sending promotions to their customers through their phone, social networks, and online.
“We just launched Fanminder Offers, our newest feature that lets an owner create offers, coupons, and specials that are redeemed in-store via fan’s phones with full tracking,” he told me. “One of our customers had twelve coupons redeemed the same day they sent out the offer!”
I asked Paul what he’d recommend to business owners considering mobile marketing, and he naturally recommended text messaging. This might sound self-serving, but his point was this: “97 percent of all text messages are read within 15 minutes. The response rate of text messages is six times that of email.”1 From his experience, Paul also recommends:
- Create something of value. “These days, with Groupon and the economy, people want bargains.” The growth in mobile coupons is projected to rise from 2.3 billion in 2010 to 66.9 billion in 2013.2
- Create something interactive. “Think of fun ways your customers will enjoy interacting with you. An online retailer recently asked her customers via text message to go on a virtual scavenger hunt on her website and closed seven sales from it.”
- Get started. “Remember paper newsletters? Then email newsletters? Then Twitter? Well, now it's mobile. As consumers adopt new technologies, the merchants that move with them will get the sales.”
These are good points to consider for any digital marketing campaign, really. As you’re considering whether a mobile campaign – and which form – is right for you, try to answer the following:
- What are your goals? Is it to generate brand awareness, direct response, or customer interaction?
- Who are you trying to target? What technology(ies) are they most likely to use?
- How does this fit within your broader marketing program?
- What would success look like?
- And, of course, how much are you willing to budget?
I also recommend reading 5 Social Media Trends to Watch Right Now by Barb Dybwad of Mashable. In that article, she talks about location-based marketing, mobile advertising, and other tactics that may help you shape your campaign. And for apps specifically, I recommend Katie Morell’s “Build or Buy? Tips for Your First Mobile App.” I hope these help you “Get Started.”
You can learn more about Eli Wilner in this OPEN Book: Trends article, and more on Paul Rosenfeld in “A Social Media Toolkit for Your Business.”
On the go? Find this and other OPEN Forum articles through your mobile phone or Blackberry® or through the new OPEN Forum App for iPhone® from American Express. Visit openforum.com/mobile.
1Fanminder data, citing comparison of email vs. text marketing using Nielsen and eMarketer research data.
2Yankee Group, “Mobile Commerce for the Holidays” Nov 17, 2009.
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