The Tao Of The GET -- Mobile Marketing Insight From SnapTell

Here at SnapTell we spend a lot of time thinking and talking about what we call the GET -- the content that a brand offers to consumers as part of an interactive image-recognition based marketing campaign. Here’s what we’ve learned about the type of content that tends to spark a consumer’s interest, inspiring them to reach out to an advertiser and initiate a conversation.

The GET Has To Be Good
This seems painfully obvious, but it’s sometimes overlooked: if the GET isn’t appealing consumers won’t bother to connect. Conversely if the GET is interesting, amusing or unique, consumers will not only engage they’ll also likely share the GET with others and become evangelists for the brand.

Design The GET For The Lowest Common Denominator
There’s nothing more frustrating to an interested consumer than a GET that they can’t get. Tailor GETs to the broadest possible audience by making SMS, available on over 98% of the world’s phones, a standard initial response. While mobile delivery of video content is clearly the future it is not yet accessible to all users on all networks on all phones, so resist the temptation to offer video as the only GET option.

Offer Multiple Engagement Options In The GET
Targeting the GET to the lowest common denominator does not mean offering boring text-only content. For example The Weinstein Company’s recent full length feature film release of Morgan Spurlock’s “Where in the World is Osama Bin Linden?” asked consumers to snap a picture of the movie poster at the theater, in local newspaper print ads or from one of the thousands of flyers distributed in five major cities. Consumers then received multiple GET options including a simple short text synopsis of the movie with links to view the theater preview of the release, links to Yahoo movie reviews, and geo-specific content for local movie theater times with the option to purchase tickets via Fandango. In addition, every consumer who participated in the campaign was instantly entered into a sweepstakes in the local market. Over 40% of consumers who snapped a picture of the movie poster drilled multiple layers down to seek out more information about the content and the movie -- far better than the average .02% click through rates achieved by online banner ads.

Don’t Make Consumers Leap Through Virtual Hoops
Time to response is an important metric to consider when planning an image recognition campaign. Avoid campaigns that require consumers to perform multiple actions to receive the GET, as attrition at each step will almost certainly have a negative impact on total response rates.

Build Trust
Advertisers have to earn consumers’ trust, especially when it comes to communicating on personal devices such as cell phones. We strongly suggest that brands and their marketing partners abide by the Mobile Marketing Association’s (MMA) privacy guidelines.

Offer Access to Exclusive Content
Everyone likes to be an insider. Mobile marketing campaigns provide excellent opportunities to enhance a brand’s relationship with consumers by offering them access to content unavailable elsewhere.

Keep Content Fresh
A good GET will keep people coming back for more. As an example, a leading teen magazine has a published promotional calendar featuring a different daily giveaway from one of its advertisers. Readers tend to check the calendar daily for new chances to win prizes and are continuously exposed to brand messages throughout the month.

Have Fun With The GET
Consumers are tired of seeing the same old thing, so be creative and make the best possible use of image-recognition based marketing medium. An upcoming campaign with Seiko will offer users the ability to snap a picture of their wrist and have the latest Seiko watch composited onto their photo so they can see how the product will look on them. Digital signage vendors are experimenting with image recognition technology which will morph shoppers’ images courtesy of the brand sponsor and project those images on digital advertising displays or send them to friends and family.

Comments

[Rathna]

Yes, your points are good and very practical, generally peoples get bored seeing the same old thing with hair-line change,so i think more creativity and the best possible use of image-recognition can invite more customers

[sayen]

Yeah!Good points,what you gave.Mobile marketing is sure picking up. One of the most innovative ones is Snap.Send.Get from snaptell.com, the folks who made a really cool iPhone app called the SnapTell Explorer.