Per(mission)less Mobile Marketing
June 4, 2010
This morning, okay just now, I received a text message from the hairdressers down my road. This is not the first text I’ve received from them, when ever I have an appointment they usefully text me a reminder, stating the date, time, stylist and treatment. (The fact that their staff is routinely late is another topic altogether) but none the less, the texts are useful, and in line with what I could have anticipated on registration (desperate for a hair cut) when I handed over my 11 digits; despite the fact that no one asked if I would like to receive updates or if they could contact me on this number.
But this morning the text is different. I have no appointment, no hair related traumas. This text message, cleverly sneaked in on the premise of permission, invites me to the launch of a brand new business . A Bar and Grill to be precise. Apparently hoping to tap in to the vast database of clients they’ve made through hairdressing….?
This example is at the mildest tip of what can happen in permissionless mobile marketing. So what that they’re offering a free drink ;D, that it’s local, that I sort of know the owners. The fact that my permission was never given, that I was not asked to opt in (but may now have to go to the hassle of opting out) and that I certainly wasn’t asked if I’d like my details passed on to third parties (no matter how closely related they are).
The problem with permissionless marketing is that between the lack of ‘permission’ :*), the lack of targeting, the lack of ‘knowing if these messages are being received in good spirit’, the lack of ‘knowing which messages someone wants to receive’ and which they do not, the lack of ‘knowing wether someone who likes getting their hair done would like dining at a bar and grill’ and the lack of many many other things….the whole practice can soon become slightly missionless.
I’m not condemning my hairdressers just yet, but their method of collecting and then their use of their database throws questions up in the air. From small local business to large corporations, if the whole process of mobile marketing (from gaining permission to sending the right messages) is not handled with care it may not be long before disgruntled mobile users cotton on, and start opting out with fake phone numbers the way many do with mail.
