Why SMEs need to engage clientele on their mobile phones - experts

Why SMEs need to engage clientele on their mobile phones - experts
Ben Uzor Jr
“A clothing retailer in Nigeria who recently ran a focused pilot campaign by sending a ‘N3, 000 off clothing purchase’ coupon via SMS to 35, 000 consumers ages 18-35 in the Lagos metropolitan area experienced within three weeks, 225 coupon redemption for total net sales of N5.8 million”.
Nigerian businesses must realize that it is no longer enough to ‘push’ marketing campaigns at consumers; they need to involve and engage with them to find new ways to create and retain loyalty. Femi Adebiyi, managing executive, Legwork Limited made these observation in Lagos recently while delivering a white paper on mobile marketing and its potential to provide relevant, targeted advertising.
Legwork Limited enables businesses to utilise the digital channels (mobile phones, internet) as the primary communication tool with their consumers by delivering high value interactive content. According to him, mobile phones offer enterprises that unique opportunity to do this and create a two-way relationship. This, he further added would ultimately build product awareness, drive sales and retain customer loyalty.
Adebiyi explained: “There are over 70 million active mobile subscribers and almost all working age consumer have mobile phones. Consider even the exponential growth of pre-paid blackberry used predominantly for mobile-web or instant messaging and you must agree that the mobile channel is a must for any business with a serious marketing plan”. He also noted that mobile has the scale, adoption and reach to make a difference.
“Seven times as many people have mobile phones than have personal computers, more households have mobile phones that TV sets. “And most importantly, the mobile phone can replicate all of the previous mass media with six unique benefits, which is why already 588 million people consumed premium content such as news, TV, entertainment and games on mobile phones in 2007”.
In a recent study conducted by Legwork Limited for a FMCG that uses mobile as part of their marketing campaign activation revealed that 24 percent of their target audience first heard about the campaign via mobile. Mobile was next to Television at 51 percent.
“What is clear is that mobile marketing is finally here and businesses today that are incorporating mobile into their marketing mix are seeing their efforts pay off”, he posited. Adebiyi pointed out that businesses should initially be focused on using mobile especially SMs and applications to build database of consumers who have opted to receive targeted offers, alerts and information from the business.
In the same vein, Emmanuel Okogwale, lead researcher for MobileMoneyAfrica, Africa’s leading resource for mobile financial inclusion said: “Available data reveals that there are 23 million television sets in Nigeria, 7 million radio sets, one fully national television station, 60 regional and semi-regional television stations, one national radio station but 74 million active mobile users under an addressable population of 140 million.
“Furthermore, a new survey conducted by Informa Telecom and Media indicates that mobile phone transactions, worth more than $860 billion, would be conducted using a mobile phone which represents a twelve fold increase in gross global transaction values in just five years.”
In his opinion, enterprises must employ the mobile channel to deliver their message to the mobile audience. This is because the phone is the most personal device that a consumer possesses. Okogwale further argued that while traditional media is largely untargeted, mobile marketing can be tailored to targeted audiences, measured and track result, reduce cost and capitalize on emerging technologies.