5.1 Introduction
The previous modules focused on search engines and website use, two significant components of online activity targeted by digital marketing. However, email and mobile devices also play crucial roles in electronic activities. Module 5 will delineate the uses of email and mobile marketing as essential strategies for business development and advertising. It will first detail how email can enhance customer loyalty and brand awareness by discussing the types of email marketing. It will also examine the advantages and disadvantages of its use, along with legal considerations specific to the UK. Subsequently, the module will transition to explaining mobile marketing strategies using a similar structure.
5.2 What is email marketing?
Email marketing is a vital component of digital advertising, involving communication via email between a business and its current or potential customers. It is often used to promote products or services, request business, or solicit donations. Besides financial goals, email marketing fosters loyalty and increases brand awareness.
5.3 How does it work?
This form of digital marketing operates by sending emails to a specific group of recipients. These recipients are obtained by the business through either opt-in initiatives or third-party databases.
Opt-in initiatives result in a customer database that companies can utilize for promotional purposes when needed. Opt-in email marketing, also known as permission advertising, commonly takes the form of newsletters. Emails collected through opt-in initiatives are obtained with the consent or active participation of the customer, whether online (as discussed in Module 4) or in-store, particularly for retail companies.
Utilizing opt-in email marketing is the most effective way to navigate the legal complexities associated with this promotional tactic, as it ensures compliance with regulations. Additionally, opt-in emails tend to be more personalized and relevant to the recipient, as they have willingly subscribed. Individuals who sign up for such emails often exhibit loyalty to the specific company or brand.
On the other hand, third-party databases consist of user information provided to companies for a fee. Often referred to as sold lists, these databases contain various user data, including contact information.
However, third-party databases are illegal in many jurisdictions due to privacy infringements. To circumvent this, many third-party businesses rent out lists instead of selling them, a practice that remains legally ambiguous despite essentially accomplishing the same outcome.
Emails derived from third-party providers are often labeled as spam. However, there are distinctions to be made. For an email to be classified as spam, it usually needs to meet at least one of three defining criteria: anonymity, mass mailing, and being unsolicited. Anonymity refers to emails where the sender's address and identifying information are hidden, preventing recipient communication or response. Mass mailings involve emails sent to a large group of people, although legitimate email marketing typically requires consent from recipients. Spam emails are often difficult to opt out of, if at all, and may sometimes harbor malicious intent.
5.4 Types of email marketing
Direct Email Marketing:
Direct email marketing, also known as interruption-based marketing, involves sending emails to recipients with the primary goal of promoting products, services, or offers. Typically, companies utilize their own customer databases for direct email campaigns, although some may also purchase lists. Direct emails often yield higher response rates compared to other types of emails, making them particularly advantageous for businesses focused on online sales.
Mobile Email Marketing:
Mobile email marketing targets customers who use mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets. These emails are optimized to display effectively on smaller screens and cater to the mobile user experience. Further details on mobile marketing will be explored in subsequent sections of this module.
Transactional Emails:
Transactional email marketing, also referred to as triggered email advertising, occurs in response to specific actions taken by customers. For instance, when a customer signs up for a company's newsletter, an email is triggered to confirm or welcome the subscription. Transactional emails aim to nurture and strengthen the relationship between a business and its customers. They often boast high open rates, presenting additional opportunities for engagement and interaction with recipients.
5.5 Legalities
There are several legal considerations that vary by region.
In the UK, the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (PECR), along with the Data Protection Act and the GDPR, apply to companies sending out marketing communications via email. These regulations mandate that direct marketing via email or mobile devices cannot be conducted without prior permission. Breaching PECR regulations can result in fines of up to £500,000.
Benefits of Email Marketing:
Email marketing offers numerous advantages, particularly when utilizing opt-in communication methods. Some key benefits include:
Wide Reach: Email marketing allows companies to reach large audiences with minimal effort. Mass communications, or email blasts, enable the dissemination of promotional information to a broad audience in a single action.
Cost and Time Efficiency: Compared to traditional mail, email marketing is generally cheaper and faster, as it eliminates expenses related to printing, postage, and other materials. Emails are delivered to recipients' mailboxes within minutes, rather than days or weeks.
Return on Investment (ROI): Email marketing provides measurable ROI, with tracking capabilities that allow companies to monitor the success and performance of campaigns. This tracking is facilitated by email service providers (ESPs), which offer detailed recipient information and real-time monitoring of email activity.
Email Service Providers (ESPs): ESPs streamline email marketing efforts, particularly for larger companies or those engaging in frequent campaigns. These providers facilitate the sending of high volumes of emails while offering insights into recipient behavior and demographic information.
Data collected through email marketing initiatives can inform future strategies, enabling companies to tailor their approaches and target specific audience segments more effectively.
Activity 1
Estimated Time: 15 minutes:
Testing the response time and content of transactional emails.
To demonstrate how transactional emails work and highlight the importance of this marketing strategy, follow these steps:
Visit Websites: Go online and visit several websites, preferably those geared toward customer service or experience, such as retailers or news outlets.
Search for Sign-Up Opportunity: Upon reaching the landing page, look for a 'sign-up' opportunity or a newsletter subscription option.
Submit Email: Enter your email address and complete the sign-up process.
Confirm Receipt of Transactional Email: Check your email inbox to confirm receipt of the corresponding transactional email.
Compare Responses: Compare the transactional emails received from different websites and reflect on the following questions:
Timing: How soon after submitting your contact information did you receive the transactional email?
Additional Information: Did the email provide any additional information about the company? Did it offer any deals or discounts as a 'thank you' or incentive for signing up?
Relevance of Links: If there was a link in the email, did it lead to a relevant landing page? Was it specific to the contents of the email, or did it direct you to another page, such as the company's homepage?
Opt-Out Option: Did the email provide an opportunity to opt out of receiving future emails?
The intention of this activity is not to promote loyalty to a specific brand but rather to understand how transactional emails function and their impact on the overall customer experience.
5.6 The downside
In contrast to the previous section, businesses encounter two significant challenges when utilizing email marketing. Firstly, the sheer volume of emails inundating inboxes today poses a considerable obstacle. With countless messages vying for attention, there's an increased risk of emails being ignored or forgotten amidst the deluge. Therefore, it's crucial for businesses to adopt a strategic approach while maintaining mindfulness regarding the quantity and quality of communications dispatched to their customer database.
The second major disadvantage stems from the ease with which recipients can filter out or delete emails. Given the simplicity of sending these communications, some recipients may perceive them as intrusive and unwanted. Consequently, they might take measures to filter out or delete such emails, potentially labeling them as spam. This not only diminishes the effectiveness of email marketing efforts but also risks having future communications blocked from the sender's email address. Thus, businesses must navigate these challenges adeptly to ensure their email marketing endeavors yield optimal results.
5.7 Secrets of success
Building on the two preceding sections, this one delves into the best practices commonly employed to enhance the effectiveness of email marketing. While the following list may not cover all potential strategies, it highlights several frequently utilized approaches:
Firstly, ensuring alignment between the email content and its corresponding landing page is crucial. This consistency reinforces the message and enhances the user experience, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.
Crafting attention-grabbing subject lines is another key aspect. These lines should intrigue recipients and spark their interest, possibly by incorporating incentives or compelling offers. A well-crafted subject line can significantly increase open rates and drive action.
Moreover, clarity and coherence in the email's content are essential. Clearly stating the purpose of the communication in the initial section, maintaining consistency in font usage, and thoroughly reviewing the text for grammatical and spelling errors contribute to a professional and compelling message. These practices ensure that the message is effectively conveyed to the recipients and increases the likelihood of a positive response.
In summary, these practices emphasize the importance of consistency and attention to detail in email marketing campaigns. By meticulously planning and executing these strategies, businesses can optimize their outcomes and cultivate positive engagement with their audience.
5.8 What is mobile marketing
Mobile marketing, in simple terms, entails an advertising strategy delivered through a mobile device. Its fundamental purpose is to establish a connection between a business or advertiser and a customer by conveying promotional messages or activities directly to the user's mobile device. The success of mobile marketing relies on delivering messages that recipients find relevant or intriguing, often involving personalized promotions to encourage customer engagement and action.
A mobile device encompasses various portable electronic gadgets such as smartphones, tablets, and gaming systems. While laptops have become more compact and portable, they do not fall under the category of mobile devices. The distinction lies in the inherent mobility and compactness of devices like smartphones and tablets, which allow users to access information and interact with content on the go.
FACT
34% of smartphone users have marked promotional emails as spam, because they did not work well on their device.
Source: Litmus and Fluent 2016
5.9 Types of mobile marketing
Mobile marketing encompasses various platforms, each with its own unique characteristics and effectiveness. Within this module, we'll delve into several prominent formats: app-based marketing, in-game advertising, location-based marketing, QR codes, ringless voicemail, and SMS campaigns.
App-based marketing involves two primary methods: marketing within an app and push notifications. Advertisements can be seamlessly integrated within an app, appearing either subtly or prominently, such as during loading screens or transitions. Push notifications, on the other hand, are messages sent to users who have downloaded a specific app.
In-game advertising, also known as mobile advergaming, integrates advertisements into mobile games, often free-to-download ones. These ads can take various forms, including full-screen, banner, or video formats, strategically placed during gameplay.
Location-based marketing targets users based on their geographic location, delivering relevant information or promotions via mobile phone networks.
QR codes, or quick response codes, offer an alternative to typing URLs, allowing users to scan a 2-D code with their mobile device camera, directing them to a specific website.
Ringless voicemail delivers voice messages directly to users' voicemail inboxes without their devices ringing, typically through automated messages.
SMS marketing, also known as text message marketing, involves sending promotional messages to recipients via short codes. While effective, it requires user consent, and opting out must be readily available. Additionally, SMS marketing can be costly due to the fees associated with short codes.
SMS marketing also includes MMS, which incorporates multimedia elements like images or videos, and proximity systems, which target users within specific locations with relevant promotions, typically requiring opt-in from the customer.
Activity 2
Estimated Time: 10 minutes
Mobile app marketing relevance.
Message of the advertisement: Identify the core message conveyed by the advertisement. Determine whether it was relevant to your interests or preferences.
Type of advertisement: Categorize the advertisement based on its format, such as banner, pop-up, full-screen, or video. Evaluate whether this format was suitable for the content being advertised and if another format might have been more effective.
Relevance to the application: Assess whether the advertisement was related to the application itself or if it was tailored to your specific interests. Consider whether the advertisement felt integrated into the app experience or if it seemed out of place.
Effect on user experience: Reflect on how the placement of the advertisement impacted your overall experience with the application. Determine if the advertisement detracted from your enjoyment or usability of the app and analyze the reasons behind this perception.
5.9 Privacy concerns
Using mobile marketing without the consent of the customer can raise significant privacy concerns, similar to those addressed in email marketing regulations such as the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003. This legislation applies to mobile advertising practices as well, emphasizing the importance of obtaining user consent before sending marketing messages to their mobile devices. Recognizing the potential intrusion of privacy and the risk of spamming users, industry stakeholders took proactive steps to address these issues.
Industry leaders like the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) played pivotal roles in self-regulating the mobile marketing sector. Acknowledging customer concerns, they collaborated to establish guidelines aimed at ensuring responsible and respectful marketing practices. Among the key initiatives was the implementation of opt-out mechanisms, allowing users to easily unsubscribe from receiving further mobile marketing messages by simply texting "STOP." This proactive approach aimed to foster transparency and trust between marketers and consumers while promoting ethical and compliant mobile marketing practices.
5.10 The benefits
One of the distinguishing features of effective marketing is its capacity to deliver targeted outcomes for a company. In this regard, mobile marketing offers a host of benefits that make it a highly advantageous platform to leverage. Foremost among these advantages is the ubiquitous presence of mobile phones among users, ensuring that advertising strategies deployed via this channel have a broad reach, as mobile devices accompany individuals virtually everywhere. Additionally, mobile devices are more extensively utilized worldwide compared to traditional desktop or laptop computers.
Similar to email marketing, mobile campaigns can be efficiently disseminated to large audiences and have the potential to be easily shared within users' social networks, potentially leading to viral reach and enhanced brand recognition. Moreover, mobile marketing enables personalized messaging and interactive experiences, fostering greater engagement and higher response rates from recipients. Furthermore, the data-rich nature of mobile activities allows for comprehensive tracking and real-time measurement of campaign performance, furnishing businesses and advertisers with valuable insights to inform the development of future marketing initiatives.
5.11 The downside
Mobile marketing presents several considerations that advertisers and businesses must address when formulating their marketing strategies. Among these concerns are operating systems, privacy issues, and navigation challenges.
One significant challenge in mobile marketing stems from the diversity of formats available for marketing initiatives, compounded by the issue of operating systems (OS). The dominant OS, Android and Apple, operate within separate ecosystems, necessitating tailored advertisements for each platform. This customization process can incur significant costs and demands time and resources, particularly if advertisers aim to target both systems.
Privacy concerns represent another obstacle in mobile marketing, particularly with strategies that don't require user opt-in and may involve the extraction of user information without their explicit consent. These privacy issues underscore the importance of ethical and transparent practices in mobile advertising to maintain user trust and compliance with regulatory requirements.
Furthermore, navigation poses a challenge in mobile marketing due to the constraints of smaller screens and the complexity of designing effective landing pages. Delivering the message effectively within limited screen real estate while ensuring seamless navigation can be daunting. Failure to address these navigation challenges can undermine the effectiveness of the entire marketing strategy.
5.12 Mobile marketing best practices
Just like email marketing, mobile advertising also relies on several key factors for success. While numerous practices could be considered, the most widely used strategies include maintaining clarity and conciseness in the message, particularly given the limited space on many mobile platforms. Additionally, it's crucial to consider the target audience when selecting the appropriate platform for the marketing tactic. Given the plethora of formats available, including many low-cost options, experimenting with different strategies is recommended to find what resonates best with the audience.
Another important aspect is benchmarking the results of mobile marketing campaigns to inform and improve future initiatives. While there are several other best practices related to mobile marketing, these commonly applied strategies have consistently yielded positive outcomes. Clear and considerate communication is paramount in achieving the intended objectives of the marketing campaign, ensuring that messages resonate effectively with the audience and drive desired actions.
Module Summary
Module 5 provided comprehensive insights into two key areas of marketing: email and mobile marketing. The first segment delved into email marketing, starting with its definition and operational mechanisms. It then outlined the three main types of email marketing: direct, mobile, and transactional. Legal considerations, particularly the Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulations 2003, were also discussed, along with the advantages, disadvantages, and best practices of email marketing.
The latter portion of the module shifted focus to mobile marketing, defining the concept and highlighting its various forms, including app-based, in-game, location-based, QR codes, ringless voicemail, and SMS. Privacy concerns were addressed, along with industry guidelines aimed at mitigating these issues. The module concluded by examining the pros and cons of mobile marketing and presenting accepted best practices, offering a well-rounded understanding of both email and mobile marketing strategies.
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