BMW Sticks To The Basics, Nets 30% Conversion On MMS
Posted by Justin on Sep 17, 2008 in In The News, SMS / Text
BMW is one company that seems to be truly serious about its mobile marketing efforts. So serious, in fact, that the company actually has what they call their own “Mobile Marketing Circle,” which is an internal group effort to explore and deploy any and all mobile marketing technology available.
The company has always tested the latest mobile campaigns as they’re developed. From QR codes for the new 1-series launch, to image recognition linked to print campaigns, they’ve tested just about everything that’s been developed over the past few years.
Interestingly enough, after a variety of testing, BMW found that nothing beats the effectiveness of simple SMS/MMS-based mobile marketing. In a recent German campaign to help the auto-maker push new snow tires, the company used MMS solely to engage prospective customers.
BMW sent an MMS to customers in its database with a photo of how their model of car would look with the recommended snow tires. Customers also had the option to see how other tires would appear on their cars by clicking on a downloadable application. In addition, users were given the option of calling their nearest dealer directly, or requesting a call back. The campaign garnered a 30% conversion rate overall, and was one of BMW more successful campaigns.
This proves once again how the use of simple MMS messages beats almost any other type of mobile marketing. Not to say the other methods are un-effective, but I think niche campaigns such as QR codes are better suited for niche companies and techniques, while MMS remains a ubiquitous solution across most industries.
LeilR | Sep 17, 2008 | Reply
I must agree. Sometimes, it’s best to keep a mobile marketing campaign simple but with a clear message to its target audience.
Mostly we read of successful SMS mobile campaign, but reading about this successful MMS campaign with an amazing 30% conversion rate, it only proves that finding your niche and having a well- thought of campaign can generate sales for a company.
Jared Reitzin | Sep 17, 2008 | Reply
But notice how this was in Germany? When is the U.S. gonna see big time penetration for MMS!?
justin | Sep 17, 2008 | Reply
I would guess this type of campaign would do well in the US too- just maybe not 30%.
Given MMS is far more ubiquitous in Europe, it’s still a prominent mobile marketing channel here, we just need better case studies to monitor its success.
Jared Reitzin | Sep 17, 2008 | Reply
Just, any stats on MMS adoption here in the states? More and more of our clients are asking for this, but I just don’t see the handset adoption being quite there yet.
justin | Sep 17, 2008 | Reply
You’re probably right, there’s almost no stats newer than 2004- when there was only an 8% adoption rate for MMS. I would hope it’s significantly more by now.
Giff Gfroerer i2SMS | Sep 18, 2008 | Reply
The plain truth about MMS in the United States is we simply are not ready for this yet. Some Global Aggregators do not even have MMS enabled here in the states.
What we continue to preach to our customers is Customer Experience. The customer experience must be stellar! This has been the problem with the mobile web for ages and is also true with MMS. What type of handset are you broadcasting to? What is the screen size? What is the browser? What is the OS? Without complete control of the above, you will have many cases of bad customer experience.
Next, you may have the right OS, but can the end user successfully open and see your MMS message. It has been our experience that the answer is no. We still hear of people not understanding short codes, how to text in, how to reply, and even how to open a simple SMS. And MMS is a whole new animal.
Too many folks don’t understand this or where to look for the message. We in the states must walk before we run. Let us get the SMS side of this down and then we can move to MMS. Sure you can run an MMS campaign, but it will be wasted money as what good is receiving a message if you can’t see it?
Yes indeed, MMS is sexy and will be brilliant in the future. However, we are simply not ready for this here in the states. You may not want to hear that, but it is the absolute truth.
Jared Reitzin | Sep 18, 2008 | Reply
That is an excellent point Giff. Well played.
Mike | Jan 7, 2009 | Reply
I guess it helps that it is virtually illegal to not have winter tires in Germany