If you're interested in a lesson about how to take a good mobile marketing idea and turn it bad, read on.
I was reading a great article about authentic business and marketing in this month's Fast Company. A sidebar invited me to (and here I quote) "Text In, Get Real. For exclusive tips on what it takes to be authentic, text the word BACKSTORY to 30364 from your mobile device."
So I did, and immediately received a WAP push pointing to some good content that complemented the piece in the magazine.
But here's where it went wrong. I also received a text message informing me that I was now subscribed to Fast Company's monthly mobile alert program. The problem is that neither the magazine sidebar nor the related webpage make any mention of the monthly subscription. And I simply wanted this month's content, not an ongoing mobile alerts subscription. Of course I can stop the alerts by opting out at any time, but Fast Company's presumptive approach doesn't just put a bad taste in my mouth, it takes money out of my wallet (standard text messages apply, even though the one WAP push I receives is sponsored by an advertiser...) The few cents that I pay for the SMS spam and my text cancellation aren't the point; the rules of permission based marketing are.
One of the core tenets of effective mobile marketing is explicit permission. When a user opts into something, you can't assume that they have opted into everything. If I invited you to dinner once, would you invite yourself to show up on the third Thursday of every month to eat again, forever or until I told you to stop coming? I hope not...
