According to the Mobile Marketing Association 30% of US consumers are interested in mobile coupons.  These coupons can be discovered and redeemed not only though SMS but mobile applications, mobile websites, Bluetooth, and barcodes as well.  These guidelines published by the MMS on Tuesday (12/21/10) cover the following topics:

• The five stages of mobile price promotions including how consumers discover and redeem these offers.
• Best practices and principles, including transparency, good taste, privacy, opt-in/opt-out and government laws, rules and regulations.
• Campaign-specific best practices and principles, such as those involving contests, food, pharmaceuticals and alcohol.
• Tips for designing coupons, using the word “free” and creating notices such as terms and conditions.

This PDF document, created by the MMA’s Mobile Couponing Committee, is a must-read for any organization preparing a mobile coupon campaign in the near future.  The full news release can be found here on mmaglobal.com.

In regards to text message marketing we highly recommend the use of mobile coupons and offers as an incentive for not only joining an SMS campaign but also as a call-to-action for outgoing text message announcements.  The more attractive the offer the higher the redemption rate and mobile subscriber growth.