At an industry conference recently, someone asked me whether brands would be better off marketing with text messaging (SMS) or a mobile website (WAP). Which is more effective?
As a mobile marketer, it's a little like asking if the subway is more effective than a house. The answer is completely dependent on the objective and the criteria for decision making, but fundamentally they are complimentary, not competitive.
In short, WAP is better suited to be a destination (e.g., a house); SMS is designed to get you there (e.g., the subway).
At this stage in the industry, I’d say consumers are taking the “subway” a lot, but that’s because the “houses” are poorly designed spaces that people don’t want to dwell in. Community-oriented mobile applications and sites are changing this.
Still, it’s safe to say the way U.S. consumers interact with their phones today is different from the way they will do so in the next year or two.
As marketers and brands become more adept at mobile marketing, they’ll use everything the medium has to offer – from SMS and MMS, to WAP, to downloadable applications, to proximity (i.e., Bluetooth, RFID, NFC), even cameras for image recognition and mobile barcodes and digital signage – in a fluid and integrated way that creates a direct marketer’s panacea.
In other countries, marketers and brands already know mobile is a data-rich, measurable communication platform where consumers use handsets as the ultimate convergence device to engage with brands for utility, entertainment, and information. In many places outside the U.S., consumers go easily from initial stimulus to repeated transactions in a single setting.
If you’re a marketer assessing whether SMS or WAP makes more sense for your brand, here are a few variables to consider:
1. Acquisition: While this is different overseas, in the U.S., SMS and WAP both count on other media (e.g., print, TV, outdoor, etc.) to drive consumers to them.
2. Accessibility: While challenges can occur between the consumer and the responding party, SMS is more stable than WAP delivery. In addition, the challenge of receiving a WAP site exactly as it was designed is compounded by a dizzying number of browsers and handset variations. Carriers also throttle access to mobile channels with voice being the priority, SMS second, and WAP third.
3. Experience: SMS is an opt-in – ideally a double opt-in – medium. This creates an extra step for the consumer which can take away from the experience. WAP provides information to users in a more aesthetically pleasing platform. SMS is a single interaction model while the interaction with a WAP site in multidimensional. Finally, because the consumer decides when to interact with a WAP site, and is prepared for a response, it doesn’t run the risk SMS does of surprising the consumer.
4. Adoption and momentum: SMS is has a larger user base at this point, but WAP is growing faster.
5. Measurement: WAP provides similar data to what internet marketers are used to (e.g., unique page views, time spent, referring address, etc.); SMS provides a subset of that dataset. However, both channels require effort and expense to easily access this data. The bottom line is that we’re at the early stages of both and they each have their own unique limitations.
5. Functionality: SMS gets the nod here, but that’s because most marketers and designers have yet to make the experience a positive one on WAP sites. Carriers throttle WAP. WAP can be flaky.
6. Opportunity: WAP will grow; SMS is what it is. That’s why, in overseas markets, we’re seeing an increase in other communication channels like IM.
7. Context: Both can be highly-customized on a one-to-one level. This one’s a draw.
So what’s the answer?
Ultimately, that’s for the marketer to decide. Only you know which of these variables is most important to attaining brand objectives. But now you have the variables.
Before a brand makes that decision (and if you’re among the 80 percent of marketers planning on shifting your budget into mobile this year) I’d suggest you focus first on the consumer.
If the consumer experience and benefit is at the center of your planning, and you can execute your plans flawlessly, we’ll all benefit from the continued growth of the medium and its growing user base. -- Bryon Morrison, president, ipsh
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