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Customers prefer to receive communication about services or special offers via MMS (multi-media messaging), using personalized video, according to a study commissioned by Vehicle.

Nearly 4 in 10 (38%) said that their top choice to receive individualized content was through mobile video delivered through MMS. Another 50% said that MMS was a viable method among many to get communications from the mobile operator.

Further, a majority of responses (55%) indicated that the personalized content was “much easier to understand” when it came via a mobile video MMS message.

The survey was conducted with 2,700 mobile users.

The positive reception to MMS is consistent with business results seen by a major wireless carrier.

Working with Vehicle, the major wireless carrier uses personalized video pushed over MMS to support many key strategies, including a welcome video that is the very first point of communication with a new customer.

As a result, the company has seen:

• Significant reduction in churn
• A decrease in calls to customer support
• The highest recall of any other company touch with the customer (more than 50% measured at 90 days post-video delivery)
• Significant increase in revenue (ARPU, or average revenue per user and lifetime value)

The wireless carrier has also seen success via MMS in communication of service enhancements.

As individual neighborhoods receive network upgrades, the company pushes personalized video to all affected subscribers, alerting them to those enhancements.

As a result, the operator has seen a significant increase in Net Promoter Score, a key tool to measure loyalty.

The MMS channel picks up where SMS (text messaging) leaves off. It is highly scalable and can include a long text message (greater than 160 characters), images, audio files and video.

Viewers of MMS retain 95% of a message in video compared to 10% in text, according to Forrester. The 98% open rate is similar to text messaging and far exceeds the open rate of email.

MMS combines ubiquity and rich media. Vehicle clients have seen conversions between 30% and 50% greater than text.

Personalization has become a must for brands. 75% of consumers like it when brands personalize offers and messages, according to the Aberdeen Group.

“Relevancy is the perfect alignment between ‘who’ sees your communications and ‘what’ it says,” said Matt Ramerman, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Vehicle.
“Video with relevancy is the present and future of mobile. It is show, don’t tell, and combines emotion and simplicity.”

Despite all the attention given e-commerce, the vast majority of consumer spending this holiday season will be made in-store.

Aisles everywhere will have endcaps with product information. There will be “shelf-talkers” conveying particulars about some of what will be before shoppers.

At least theoretically there will be salespersons around to answer questions.

But the smart marketers like Macy’s know that there is more to be done, especially given the fact that there will be a mobile phone in the hands of virtually every customer.

Enter high-resolution video, viewed in greater numbers each month by consumers more rapidly adopting smartphones. Mobile now accounts for 22% of overall digital video consumption, according to KPCB analyst Mary Meeker’s 2014 Internet Trends report. And that number continues to grow.

Macy’s has used video and Vehicle’s platform as critical support to the retail experience.

In one program, shoppers respond to “Backstage Pass” calls to action in more than 30 departments. The customer is asked to text the keyword of a product designer or brand to Macy’s short code. A video is then immediately delivered back to the user’s phone, pushing the shopper closer to a purchase.

A mixture of entertainment and fashion, the 30-second films provide fashion inspiration, advice and tips. Following the initial feature, users have the option to select longer-length content that take them further backstage with each designer or brand. Featured designers and experts have included Bobbi Brown, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Tommy Hilfiger, Michael Kors, Greg Norman for Tasso Elba, Rachel Roy, Irina Shabayeva for I.N.C., and others.

With Vehicle, Macy’s additionally gathers point of interest information for each participating customer as well as the location where the response to the call to action is made. The brand uses this data to push targeted offers back to users.

Macy’s sees the initiative as helping it fulfill its mission of getting closer to the customer and his or her interests.

And it has done it in a way that both differentiates Macy’s from other retailers and caters to the increasing expectations of shoppers who want a unique in-store moment.

This trend is likely to continue. By 2016, 89% of companies expect to compete mostly on the basis of customer experience, versus 36% four years ago, according to Gartner.

Something interesting often happens when a consumer is treated with real service.

We can think about the flight attendant who goes row by row, seat by seat, to thank passengers for their business. Smiles appear on people’s faces.

Or the employees of the tire retailer who run to greet a customer when they drive into the parking lot. Doesn’t that make an impression and create shopper loyalty?

AT&T Wireless gets the importance of personalized service. Every single day, the mobile operator decreases churn—the rate at which customers leave a business behind—and increases customer satisfaction through programs powered by Vehicle.

One way is through a custom welcome video that is the very first point of communication with a new customer. This personalized welcome video acknowledges and thanks the subscriber for his or her business and summarizes the details of the account and what to expect when the first bill arrives.

As a result, AT&T has seen:

• Significant reduction in churn (customers leaving AT&T in the first 30 days)
• A decrease in calls to customer support
• The highest recall of any other AT&T touch with the customer (over 50% measured at 90 days post-video delivery)
• Significant increase in revenue (ARPU or average revenue per user and lifetime value)

Take a look at the successful businesses and you are sure to see an extraordinary level of customer service. It’s that important to the bottom line.

Says Amazon founder Jeff Bezos: “We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.”

Just think of the times when you were called by name. Those experiences are memorable, don’t you think?

More and more brands are making memories by working with Vehicle to create and strengthen personal, one-to-one connections through dynamic, high-resolution video delivered by messaging channels.

The biggest change in marketing to consumers in the mobile age? Brands need to talk to them rather than at them.

Personalization is the new marketing buzzword, eclipsing such terms as cross-channel and synergy. It is driven in large part by the mobile user, who has raised the bar in terms of relationships with brands. This dynamic is discussed in a new study conducted by Forrester Research and Salesforce/ExactTarget. http://www.exacttarget.com/company/newsroom/2014/08/independent-research-reveals-personalizing-customer-journeys-impacts

Quoting from the study:

“The ability to deliver personalized customer experiences and contextual, unique offers is essential to retaining and converting customers to brand advocates. But the expectations of empowered, connected consumers make this easier said than done. They have instantaneous access to information across multiple devices and want to interact with brands on their terms—across channels and whenever they want.”

The entities found that 48% of marketers queried reported that they face challenges in personalizing each customer interaction, and 42% of marketers reported they face challenges with analyzing customer interaction data. Nothing short of business results is at stake.

Said Woodson Martin, CMO of ExactTarget, in a statement, “Today’s hyper-connected consumer requires companies to create personalized experiences and deliver value at each touch point to increase brand loyalty and drive sales.”

Another study fell in line with the Forrester Salesforce/ExactTarget findings, concluding that many marketers are ill-equipped to deal with the new realities around personalization backed by the use of Big Data. Approximately, 63% of marketers plan to improve strategies through customer segmentation and targeting, but only 6% see themselves as leaders in Big Data management compared with 62% who view themselves as keeping pace or lagging behind competitors, according to the CMO Council’s annual State of Marketing global benchmark study http://www.cmocouncil.org/current_program_details.php?pid=116 released recently.

There is hope, however. Wisely, nearly 44% of marketers will be investing in customer retention and monetization, which is more cost efficient than spending on new customer acquisition.