These questions are notoriously difficult to answer, especially when it
comes to large-scale consumer ad campaigns. But sponsored call
marketing, which is proving increasingly popular in Africa, offers
marketers a number of ways in which to measure to success.
“Sponsored call marketing brings together the best elements of
advertising, but for a fraction of the cost and in a much more
measurable manner. People love the idea of being able to make free phone
calls to their friends and family, so you immediately have a campaign
that builds goodwill, reinforces loyalty and goes ‘viral’ as people
spread the word. And it’s also a great way to build up your contact
database.”
“We typically run one of four types of sponsored call campaigns,”
explains Palmi, “database building, creating brand awareness, loyalty building, or purely sales-driven. Each of these has its own goals and
KPIs:”
Database-building campaigns Here, a brand gives away free calls in
exchange for a consumer opting in to future mobile marketing campaigns.
“The main KPI in this case would be the number of mobile numbers
collected and the quality of customer profiles created.”
Brand awareness campaignsThe aim for these kind of sponsored call
campaign is to connect a particular brand with consumers in an
innovative way that get people talking about that brand - telling their
friends and family about the free call giveaway they received from the
brand.
“Here, the main KPI is word-of-mouth growth rate. Meaning how
many people used the service to call their friends, and then how many of
those friends took action and calling their other friends.”
Loyalty campaigns“Some clients are adding sponsored calls to their
loyalty programmes. So, as part of their club membership benefits they
offer beside the likes of Funeral cover and discounted prices for all
their products, they will also offer five minutes free talk-time to
loyal customers. We will, in this instance, measure the success based on
the product usage by the membership base as well as how many customers
take on new membership because of the sponsored call benefits,” explains
Palmi.
Sales-driven campaign In this type of campaign, consumers are
rewarded with free talk-time minutes for every product purchased, or
amount spent in-store. “Here we measure the increase in sales versus
campaigns without sponsored calls as a give away,” says Palmi. “We have
many case studies on our website of brands that are currently using
sponsored call marketing as an incentive to drive sales. They’re offering one minute of talk time per purchased product.”
Sponsored calls work because they give consumers something they value - time to talk to friends and family - rather than simply bombarding them
with plain advertising information. And in a region where most consumers
are on prepaid cell phones, it’s easy to see why this approach is so effective in Africa.
Add the fact that sponsored call marketing is so versatile, cost-effective and measurable - and you've got a great recipe for consumer campaign success. “If we can achieve all this by giving both sides an advantage, then we're making
advertising better.”
For more information on
JUSTPALM.com,
visit their website. Alternatively, connect with them on
Facebook or on
Twitter.