Segmentation of one

“SMSes and push notifications have eight times higher response rates from consumers compared to emails. Thus, sending relevant and targeted push notifications would not only have higher response rates for the brand but also improve the shopping experience for the customer.”
Nameet Potnis.

It’s been a bit of a “marketing” week here on PAOSS. The theme continues today. That number above is a big one – 8x. Did it jump out at you too?

Let’s work back from something important here – marketing nirvana, aka segmentation of one, aka completely personalised marketing messaging for every single potential customer. The question here is how does OSS provide the pathway to marketing nirvana?

A few key points:

• 8x the response rate from notifications (see here)
• 60 percent of retail browsing happens on mobile devices, those devices only account for 15 percent of dollars spent (see here) leaving lots of upside potential for m-commerce platforms
• The next billion people coming online will experience the internet for the first time through a small device they carry in their pocket – their smartphone (see here)
• The three notes above point to the potential of mobile platforms and the apps that reside on them
• The combination of mobile platforms and apps also provide unparalleled real-time personal choice and locational data collection potential
• Through ownership (leasing rights) of spectrum, CSPs monopolise the mobile networks, but not necessarily the mobile platforms or apps
• CSPs tend to have massive subscriber bases
• Via the value fabric, network platforms (mobile, cloud, access, etc), DPI tools and their broad subscriber bases, CSPs have access to statistics relating to significant portions of a digital supply chain
• CSPs tend to be inherently trusted for the accuracy of their billing (if not necessarily the technical implementation of the bill runs and related data)
• Wireless sensor networks / IoT via CSP networks have the ability to further enhance the data collection story

Through the combination of OSS, BSS and mobile network analytics, CSPs hold most (but not all) of the cards on which to deliver marketing nirvana to their business customers. Mobility platforms and application delivery frameworks are two of the missing cards. The operational tools that deliver insight and systematisation from the collected data is the card that completes the unbeatable hand.

The Service Operations Centre (SOC) is one of the next big trends sweeping the CSP industry, but I wonder whether that concept is falling a step short? Is the SOC concept delivering visibility to customers of the health of their digital supply chain rather than giving them the marketing tools to help them fill that supply chain?

I must note that these concepts do tread on thin ethical ice in relation to the Big Brother effect. The CSP’s customers wear the biggest brand risk if they’re sending spammy notifications, but there would be a collateral damage risk for the CSPs too by association they’re providing their customers with the tools.

Hat tip to Tim for the heads-up on the m-commerce link/s above.

Hat tip to Frank for his thoughts on the risks to CSPs in delivering “marketing nirvana” tools to their customers