Smart Blogs

Everyone is talking about Mobile as the next big opportunity so it was interesting to see  that, in addition to its mobile website, Amazon in the US will now offer a more interactive buying experience. In the new TextBuyIt program, customers text Amazon (262966) with the item name, UPC or ISBN code of a product they want to buy and Amazon replies with product information and prices.

What really is interesting about Amazon’s new program is the method used for order completion—a phone call. While mobile is all the buzz, the challenge for direct marketers has been how to translate that buzz into real sales activity. Amazon’s approach blends the ease of the mobile’s “click to call” with an IVR platform to allow prospective customers to complete their transaction quickly and easily via a phone call.

International research shows that customers are already using mobile as a way to respond to ads they see on TV and that number is growing. For certain age groups, mobile texting far surpasses traditional phone and e-mail as the primary method of communication. But when prospective customers attempt to buy, they are often directed back to the company’s online website or to a mobile website transferred directly over from an online site, with little consideration to the significant size limitations of the mobile screen. And almost always, there’s no clear and easy way to buy.

Amazon’s introduction of a phone component to its mobile offering and from reports we have heard indicate that the nascent mobile e-commerce component is still a work in progress. That’s where the direct response industry and companies like Smart Market can help take the lead—bringing clarity and years of acquisition experience—to help mobile marketing deliver sales, not just buzz. With higher click-through rates than online and a captive audience, mobile has great potential to capture customers at the moment they want to buy.

David Williams is CEO of Direct Response Specialist Agency -Smart Market Communications based in Sydney Australia