Feb 25, 2009
The idea of e-commerce without the Internet seemed, at best, unlikely a few years ago but as text messaging began gaining steam in late 2007 that thought got less and less absurd.
As 2008 came to a close, the term “m-commerce” had most certainly found its place in the retail world. Amazon.com has been credited with truly giving life to the m-commerce/text messaging retail idea with their launch last year of the successful TextBuyIt initiative. QVC quickly followed that effort with their own version dubbed QVC Text Ordering…and the floodgates soon opened.
Many smaller retailers around the country actually began using text messaging as far back as 2004. Some other retailers have experimented with advertising short codes on TV and in magazines to enable consumers to receive free samples of selected merchandise. Most retailers using texts today, though, do so to market products or offer promotions, as well as establish perhaps the closest connection possible with customers, since most consumers are almost never without their mobile phones.
The other rather important part of this equation is the fact most consumers are now indeed texting—it’s no longer strictly a teen thing as 77 percent of the 259 million U.S. mobile phone users subscribe to or purchase text message capability, research firm Nielsen Mobile recently reported. In fact, text messaging has become so pervasive that U.S. mobile subscribers now send and receive more text messages in a month than they do phone calls – an average of 357 per month in Q2 compared with 204 phone calls, Nielsen Mobile reports.
Add to this the fact many text messagers like to shop on the web - 20 percent, or 51.8 million, spend more than $1,000 online annually versus 17 percent of all mobile phone users, Scarborough Research reports. Add it all together and you have the text message marketing equivalent of the perfect storm.
The Amazon.com TextBuyIt set-up works thusly: a customer sends a text message to the short code AMAZON (262966) with the name of a product, search term or UPC bar code number, or ISBN code for books, and within seconds Amazon.com replies with a list of products that match the search, along with prices.
To buy an item, a customer replies to the text message by entering only the single-digit number next to an item. The customer then receives a brief phone call from Amazon.com with the final details of the order, then confirms or cancels the purchase.
When a customer purchases something for the first time using TextBuyIt, Amazon will ask for an e-mail address and the shipping Zip code on the Amazon.com account. With this information, Amazon.com uses the customer’s default settings for payment method, shipping address and shipping speed to complete the first purchase and future purchases from the same phone.
“One of the really attractive things about the text message sales transaction is the fact you do not have to transact personal or financial information using the phone. That really eliminates a big hurdle for a lot of consumers, it really breaks down a barrier that exists with e-commerce,” explained retail analyst Lauren Sosik.
Sosik added that many of the retailers she talks with are seeing 20-25 percent response rate using text messaging and have reported that a larger than expected number of their customers are providing their cell phone numbers at checkout seemingly eager to receive the messages.
“The response rates on mobile marketing campaigns for the retailers I’ve chatted with have been quite high, significantly higher that what they got with f e-mail marketing efforts. One of the keys to consider is the fact there is no spam filters on text messages, and there’s no overwhelming in-boxes, where people may not open an e-mail for days, or maybe even delete it,” Sosik explained.
It’s actually a very personal thing and it’s also the most direct way, other than face-to-face to interact with your customers. And it’s really just starting to gain steam with a large segment of the population. Now is actually a great time to experiment with it.”
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Text messages used to lure restaurant patrons
EDITOR'S NOTE:
This is exactly what our Mobile Text Broadcast offers...
EMI ENDO | emi.endo@newsday.com
February 23, 2009
With consumers getting deluged with e-mail from marketers, some Long Island restaurateurs are now turning to a new method of getting through to their customers: their cell phones.
Four Food Studio & Cocktail Salon in Melville asks customers to join their list of "valued guests" and provide their phone numbers used for making reservations along with their e-mail addresses. Promising "no spam," the restaurant wants to inform guests about special events - and those who sign up may win a free lunch.
"We're all looking for new ways to reach our guests," said restaurant co-owner Jay Grossman.
Grossman said print advertising and direct mail were costly and in some cases have lost effectiveness. "We're in the world of cell phones," he said.
He said the restaurant sends out text messages about once a month to promote events -such as Valentine's Day - to a list of several thousand phone numbers. The messages are limited to 160 characters; standard text messaging rates apply for the receiver.
Customers who don't want to get a text message can opt to be removed from the list, he said.
Amy Baglan, vice president of Ez Texting, the Manhattan company that Four Food Studio uses, said, "We have a very strict anti-spam policy."
Companies should only use numbers from customers who choose to opt-in to such a list, and someone who wants off a list can reply to the message with the words "opt-out," "remove" or "unsubscribe" by text message or e-mail, she said. A customer can also be removed by texting the word "stop" to Ez Texting's dedicated short code, 313131.
Brian Rosenberg, who owns a Long Island-based company that does marketing for restaurants, bars and nightclubs in the tristate area, said although it was more difficult to get a customer's cell phone than mailing address, mobile marketing goes "right to the eyes of the person you're trying to reach."
Rosenberg said nightclubs have previously been using mobile marketing, and it is now catching on with restaurants, such as Ciao Baby, with locations in Commack, Massapequa and Carle Place, and Coyote Grill in Island Park.
A restaurant light on reservations for the night could send out a message announcing a 50 percent discount on a famous dish or popular red wine, he said. "The reservations pour in after you do a text like that."
Also, he said customers could also show their cell phone text messages at the door to get a discount on a bottle of wine, for example.
While Grossman and Rosenberg say they take care not to send too many messages for fear of turning off potential customers, they believe one day it will be overused and marketers will need to find a new communication tool.
"I think it's certainly the method of the moment," Grossman said. "But, what's next?"
This is exactly what our Mobile Text Broadcast offers...
EMI ENDO | emi.endo@newsday.com
February 23, 2009
With consumers getting deluged with e-mail from marketers, some Long Island restaurateurs are now turning to a new method of getting through to their customers: their cell phones.
Four Food Studio & Cocktail Salon in Melville asks customers to join their list of "valued guests" and provide their phone numbers used for making reservations along with their e-mail addresses. Promising "no spam," the restaurant wants to inform guests about special events - and those who sign up may win a free lunch.
"We're all looking for new ways to reach our guests," said restaurant co-owner Jay Grossman.
Grossman said print advertising and direct mail were costly and in some cases have lost effectiveness. "We're in the world of cell phones," he said.
He said the restaurant sends out text messages about once a month to promote events -such as Valentine's Day - to a list of several thousand phone numbers. The messages are limited to 160 characters; standard text messaging rates apply for the receiver.
Customers who don't want to get a text message can opt to be removed from the list, he said.
Amy Baglan, vice president of Ez Texting, the Manhattan company that Four Food Studio uses, said, "We have a very strict anti-spam policy."
Companies should only use numbers from customers who choose to opt-in to such a list, and someone who wants off a list can reply to the message with the words "opt-out," "remove" or "unsubscribe" by text message or e-mail, she said. A customer can also be removed by texting the word "stop" to Ez Texting's dedicated short code, 313131.
Brian Rosenberg, who owns a Long Island-based company that does marketing for restaurants, bars and nightclubs in the tristate area, said although it was more difficult to get a customer's cell phone than mailing address, mobile marketing goes "right to the eyes of the person you're trying to reach."
Rosenberg said nightclubs have previously been using mobile marketing, and it is now catching on with restaurants, such as Ciao Baby, with locations in Commack, Massapequa and Carle Place, and Coyote Grill in Island Park.
A restaurant light on reservations for the night could send out a message announcing a 50 percent discount on a famous dish or popular red wine, he said. "The reservations pour in after you do a text like that."
Also, he said customers could also show their cell phone text messages at the door to get a discount on a bottle of wine, for example.
While Grossman and Rosenberg say they take care not to send too many messages for fear of turning off potential customers, they believe one day it will be overused and marketers will need to find a new communication tool.
"I think it's certainly the method of the moment," Grossman said. "But, what's next?"
Another Statistic In Favor Of Mobile Marketing
According to eMarketer, mobile advertising spending in the US is projected to surpass $6.5 billion by 2012, a growth of 650% over 5 years.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Good old SMS on track to shine in 2009
Text messaging: mobile, measurable and cheap
February 20 2009 - 11:22 am ET | Colin Gibbs | RCR Wireless News
Mobile marketing types like to talk about cool features like click-to-video, 2-D barcodes and interactive wireless scavenger hunts. But as the economy slows to a trickle and advertisers tighten their belts, 2009 is poised to become the year of SMS marketing.
The recession has caused more damage to the marketing industry than predicted just six months ago, according to figures released last week by the Association of National Advertisers. The group’s survey found that a whopping 93% of companies are identifying cost savings and reductions, up from 87% late last summer, and more than one-third of respondents plan to reduce budgets by more than 20%, nearly doubling the previous figure. And 61% of respondents said they were eliminating or delaying new projects thanks to economic conditions — potentially dire news for mobile, which is still very much considered an experimental space.
But 4INFO CEO Zaw Thet paints a far rosier picture. January — a month typically known for its slow business pace — was the best month ever for the SMS-based company, Thaw said last week, and February revenues are on track to set a new high-water mark.
“We’re excited, and we think that’s the general sentiment around the country” when it comes to text-message advertising, Thet continued. “SMS, despite being just one of the tools in the toolkit we have, is still our biggest business. It definitely has the most reach, and we think there’s huge room for growth in that market. As marketers get more interested in performance, as they shift more dollars into mobile, you’re going to start to see even more” activity around text ads.
Indeed, major brands are slashing budgets from traditional media outlets and endorsement deals, citing a lack of ROI visibility and an inability to reach coveted young consumers. Nike Inc., General Motors Corp., FedEx and Century 21, among a host of others, have reined in ad spends in an effort to reduce expenses and weather the economic storm.
But those budget cuts may not cripple SMS marketing campaigns, industry players insist. Not only do text messages provide a cheaper way to get a marketing pitch across, they allow advertisers to reach the 57% of U.S. mobile consumers who use their phones to send and receive texts, according to recent figures from Nielsen Mobile. (The figure is much higher in some other markets, of course.) That reach far outpaces other mobile applications such as the Internet, which is just beginning to get traction, and video, which has yet to find a sizable audience.
And unlike, say, a banner ad on a Web page designed strictly to create awareness, SMS can leverage a call to action and lure a consumer to interact with a brand or promotion, noted Eric Harber, president and COO of HipCricket, a Seattle-area firm that offers a host of mobile marketing and advertising services.
“We love the power of the direct response feature” with text messaging, Harber said. “We like that because you can drive people to a call to action. A lot of times we counsel our customers to do that.”
HipCricket claims to have found success with a recent promotion with an Iowa radio station and Jiffy Lube outlet that offered listeners a chance to win free oil changes and other goodies by texting “JIFFY” to a short code. Roughly half of those who redeemed coupons for prizes were new customers, according to Harber, more than doubling the performance of other Jiffy Lube campaigns.
“Stories like that make this economy a lens to focus on what is the true efficacy of mobile,” Harber continued. “The economy is something you can’t ignore. It’s the elephant in the room. But given that there’s a focus on the aspects of mobile that are measurable, it can result in a return on investment.”
That data regarding ROI can be surprisingly granular compared to other advertising methods, also. Companies can use different short codes to determine whether a user saw the campaign in a newspaper, on a billboard or in a television commercial, allowing advertisers to determine which media platform is most appropriate. And SMS ads — as opposed to interactive marketing campaigns — can tap a variety of information to deliver targeted pitches. 4INFO, which last week launched an ad-serving offering for text ads, delivers different ads based on the type of content a user is looking for, the time of day, geographic location and carrier, among other information.
And the number of players in the space seems to increase by the day. Mobile messaging and m-commerce company Sybase 365 has a new platform for targeted in-message advertising, providing a way for content owners and advertisers to reach users via SMS and MMS. Netxcell Systems announced a new platform called Ad-Junction, which the company claims was designed to handle high volumes of in-message ads to targeted users. Direct media company ID Media earlier this month said it is teaming with ShopText to offer a cost-per-response mobile marketing service centered on SMS.
And they’re all wagering that advertisers will spend money in mobile even as they cut budgets for other media channels.
“I think in ’09 the watchword for advertisers is going to be ‘pragmatic,’ ” HipCricket’s Harber predicted. “No. 1 is, is it interactive? No. 2, is it measurable? Can you demonstrate an ROI? I think that’s what customers are asking for; I think that’s what’s critical this year.”
February 20 2009 - 11:22 am ET | Colin Gibbs | RCR Wireless News
Mobile marketing types like to talk about cool features like click-to-video, 2-D barcodes and interactive wireless scavenger hunts. But as the economy slows to a trickle and advertisers tighten their belts, 2009 is poised to become the year of SMS marketing.
The recession has caused more damage to the marketing industry than predicted just six months ago, according to figures released last week by the Association of National Advertisers. The group’s survey found that a whopping 93% of companies are identifying cost savings and reductions, up from 87% late last summer, and more than one-third of respondents plan to reduce budgets by more than 20%, nearly doubling the previous figure. And 61% of respondents said they were eliminating or delaying new projects thanks to economic conditions — potentially dire news for mobile, which is still very much considered an experimental space.
But 4INFO CEO Zaw Thet paints a far rosier picture. January — a month typically known for its slow business pace — was the best month ever for the SMS-based company, Thaw said last week, and February revenues are on track to set a new high-water mark.
“We’re excited, and we think that’s the general sentiment around the country” when it comes to text-message advertising, Thet continued. “SMS, despite being just one of the tools in the toolkit we have, is still our biggest business. It definitely has the most reach, and we think there’s huge room for growth in that market. As marketers get more interested in performance, as they shift more dollars into mobile, you’re going to start to see even more” activity around text ads.
Indeed, major brands are slashing budgets from traditional media outlets and endorsement deals, citing a lack of ROI visibility and an inability to reach coveted young consumers. Nike Inc., General Motors Corp., FedEx and Century 21, among a host of others, have reined in ad spends in an effort to reduce expenses and weather the economic storm.
But those budget cuts may not cripple SMS marketing campaigns, industry players insist. Not only do text messages provide a cheaper way to get a marketing pitch across, they allow advertisers to reach the 57% of U.S. mobile consumers who use their phones to send and receive texts, according to recent figures from Nielsen Mobile. (The figure is much higher in some other markets, of course.) That reach far outpaces other mobile applications such as the Internet, which is just beginning to get traction, and video, which has yet to find a sizable audience.
And unlike, say, a banner ad on a Web page designed strictly to create awareness, SMS can leverage a call to action and lure a consumer to interact with a brand or promotion, noted Eric Harber, president and COO of HipCricket, a Seattle-area firm that offers a host of mobile marketing and advertising services.
“We love the power of the direct response feature” with text messaging, Harber said. “We like that because you can drive people to a call to action. A lot of times we counsel our customers to do that.”
HipCricket claims to have found success with a recent promotion with an Iowa radio station and Jiffy Lube outlet that offered listeners a chance to win free oil changes and other goodies by texting “JIFFY” to a short code. Roughly half of those who redeemed coupons for prizes were new customers, according to Harber, more than doubling the performance of other Jiffy Lube campaigns.
“Stories like that make this economy a lens to focus on what is the true efficacy of mobile,” Harber continued. “The economy is something you can’t ignore. It’s the elephant in the room. But given that there’s a focus on the aspects of mobile that are measurable, it can result in a return on investment.”
That data regarding ROI can be surprisingly granular compared to other advertising methods, also. Companies can use different short codes to determine whether a user saw the campaign in a newspaper, on a billboard or in a television commercial, allowing advertisers to determine which media platform is most appropriate. And SMS ads — as opposed to interactive marketing campaigns — can tap a variety of information to deliver targeted pitches. 4INFO, which last week launched an ad-serving offering for text ads, delivers different ads based on the type of content a user is looking for, the time of day, geographic location and carrier, among other information.
And the number of players in the space seems to increase by the day. Mobile messaging and m-commerce company Sybase 365 has a new platform for targeted in-message advertising, providing a way for content owners and advertisers to reach users via SMS and MMS. Netxcell Systems announced a new platform called Ad-Junction, which the company claims was designed to handle high volumes of in-message ads to targeted users. Direct media company ID Media earlier this month said it is teaming with ShopText to offer a cost-per-response mobile marketing service centered on SMS.
And they’re all wagering that advertisers will spend money in mobile even as they cut budgets for other media channels.
“I think in ’09 the watchword for advertisers is going to be ‘pragmatic,’ ” HipCricket’s Harber predicted. “No. 1 is, is it interactive? No. 2, is it measurable? Can you demonstrate an ROI? I think that’s what customers are asking for; I think that’s what’s critical this year.”
Friday, February 20, 2009
Text pistols: Marketers aim for Aspen X Games crowd
Katie Redding
The Aspen Times
Aspen CO, Colorado
ASPEN — Marketing is entering a whole new world: your phone screen.
This was apparent at the Winter X Games in Aspen, where brands ranging from ESPN to Snowmass Village were doing their best to collect phone numbers and consumers who text and receive.
This year, attendees could text in for a free ringtone from Jeep. They could text in to win free tickets to Chili Pepper and Brew Fest from Snowmass Village, free VIP tickets to the Winter X Games from KSPN, or a free snowboard from Aspen Skiing Co. They could text in to vote for their favorite athletes in viewer-judged contests. They could text in for a free sundae from The Sweet Life. They could text in a “shout out” to appear on the Jumbotron. They could text in a music request.
And now those marketing departments will be texting back.
But Dave Elkan, manager of sponsorship and events for Snowmass Village, insists Snowmass Village, for one, won’t be sending advertising. Instead, they’ll be trying to send information people might care about — the lineup to Chili Pepper and Brew Fest before it’s released to the media, for example, or an update whenever Snowmass receives 6 inches of snow or more.
“You're kind of a VIP,” Elkan said. “You get to know the information before anyone else does.”
Margaret Campbell, associate professor of marketing at the University of Colorado, agreed that text messaging, along with social networking, is the most popular rising form of marketing in the United States. She added that the United States is well behind Japan and Europe in this regard.
But she thought it was too early to tell if it would become as successful as marketing departments hope.
“The real proof of the pudding will be in how faithful marketers remain to the idea of only providing desired information at desired times,” she said.
But Timothy Katz, manager of marketing and brand development at ESPN, said he thinks text message marketing will have staying power in this “I want information now” world. He called ESPN’s strategy a “nearest screen available” approach.
“We’re trying to get to whatever the nearest device people have is and give them information as quickly as possible,” he said.
That, of course, is a huge piece of the cell phone’s lure: its ubiquitous and instantaneous nature.
“There is a box you have to work in,” said Elkan, who pointed out there is no room in the medium for anything complex. “But it's instantaneous.”
And so far, most text messages reach their intended audience. People open marketing e-mails less than 2 percent of the time, said Casey McConnell, chief executive officer at Qittle, an Aspen-based text-message marketing company. They open text messages about 90 percent of the time, he said.
“Have you ever gotten a text you didn’t open?” he asked.
But while Campbell acknowledged that success rates are good right now for “the small number of people who have opted in,” she pointed out that e-mail marketing had strong success rates at first, too.
For now, text message marketing is primarily aimed at an under-35 demographic, likely the reason it was so popular at the X Games. For many in that demographic, texting is their primary form of communication, McConnell said.
According to ESPN’s statistics, that demographic is willing to build relationships with brands via cell phones. Roughly 100,000 people voted in Thursday night’s Snowboard Big Air competition, said Katz — and of those, “a very high number” opted in to continue to receive ESPN updates.
Attendee Ryan Byers, 22, of Spokane, Wash., who voted by text in the competition, explained that ESPN is a brand he wants to receive information from.
“ESPN’s bad-ass,” he said. “I love everything about it.”
But the over-35 crowd may be on board sooner than later. McConnell talked about one of his employees, home for the holidays, who tried to explain Qittle to her Aunt Jennie.
Aunt Jennie stopped her, said McConnell, and told her she was already receiving J.C. Penny’s specials by text.
“It has to be their stores, their brand doing it, and they will opt in for those specials,” McConnell said.
As for where marketers will be in next year’s Winter X Games, the ESPN experts said that they will let the Winter X Games attendees — who tend to be early adopters of technology — lead the way, and they’ll follow.
But for now, say experts, there is a clear trend toward highly targeted, opt-in marketing.
“The days of buying a TV spot and you’re hitting all sorts of audiences is really going by the wayside,” Katz said.
kredding@aspentimes.com
The Aspen Times
Aspen CO, Colorado
ASPEN — Marketing is entering a whole new world: your phone screen.
This was apparent at the Winter X Games in Aspen, where brands ranging from ESPN to Snowmass Village were doing their best to collect phone numbers and consumers who text and receive.
This year, attendees could text in for a free ringtone from Jeep. They could text in to win free tickets to Chili Pepper and Brew Fest from Snowmass Village, free VIP tickets to the Winter X Games from KSPN, or a free snowboard from Aspen Skiing Co. They could text in to vote for their favorite athletes in viewer-judged contests. They could text in for a free sundae from The Sweet Life. They could text in a “shout out” to appear on the Jumbotron. They could text in a music request.
And now those marketing departments will be texting back.
But Dave Elkan, manager of sponsorship and events for Snowmass Village, insists Snowmass Village, for one, won’t be sending advertising. Instead, they’ll be trying to send information people might care about — the lineup to Chili Pepper and Brew Fest before it’s released to the media, for example, or an update whenever Snowmass receives 6 inches of snow or more.
“You're kind of a VIP,” Elkan said. “You get to know the information before anyone else does.”
Margaret Campbell, associate professor of marketing at the University of Colorado, agreed that text messaging, along with social networking, is the most popular rising form of marketing in the United States. She added that the United States is well behind Japan and Europe in this regard.
But she thought it was too early to tell if it would become as successful as marketing departments hope.
“The real proof of the pudding will be in how faithful marketers remain to the idea of only providing desired information at desired times,” she said.
But Timothy Katz, manager of marketing and brand development at ESPN, said he thinks text message marketing will have staying power in this “I want information now” world. He called ESPN’s strategy a “nearest screen available” approach.
“We’re trying to get to whatever the nearest device people have is and give them information as quickly as possible,” he said.
That, of course, is a huge piece of the cell phone’s lure: its ubiquitous and instantaneous nature.
“There is a box you have to work in,” said Elkan, who pointed out there is no room in the medium for anything complex. “But it's instantaneous.”
And so far, most text messages reach their intended audience. People open marketing e-mails less than 2 percent of the time, said Casey McConnell, chief executive officer at Qittle, an Aspen-based text-message marketing company. They open text messages about 90 percent of the time, he said.
“Have you ever gotten a text you didn’t open?” he asked.
But while Campbell acknowledged that success rates are good right now for “the small number of people who have opted in,” she pointed out that e-mail marketing had strong success rates at first, too.
For now, text message marketing is primarily aimed at an under-35 demographic, likely the reason it was so popular at the X Games. For many in that demographic, texting is their primary form of communication, McConnell said.
According to ESPN’s statistics, that demographic is willing to build relationships with brands via cell phones. Roughly 100,000 people voted in Thursday night’s Snowboard Big Air competition, said Katz — and of those, “a very high number” opted in to continue to receive ESPN updates.
Attendee Ryan Byers, 22, of Spokane, Wash., who voted by text in the competition, explained that ESPN is a brand he wants to receive information from.
“ESPN’s bad-ass,” he said. “I love everything about it.”
But the over-35 crowd may be on board sooner than later. McConnell talked about one of his employees, home for the holidays, who tried to explain Qittle to her Aunt Jennie.
Aunt Jennie stopped her, said McConnell, and told her she was already receiving J.C. Penny’s specials by text.
“It has to be their stores, their brand doing it, and they will opt in for those specials,” McConnell said.
As for where marketers will be in next year’s Winter X Games, the ESPN experts said that they will let the Winter X Games attendees — who tend to be early adopters of technology — lead the way, and they’ll follow.
But for now, say experts, there is a clear trend toward highly targeted, opt-in marketing.
“The days of buying a TV spot and you’re hitting all sorts of audiences is really going by the wayside,” Katz said.
kredding@aspentimes.com
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
How To Define Your Core Marketing Objective
When preparing to design your marketing campaign, define the fundamental focus of your marketing strategy by determining WHY you market. Beyond basic numbers alone, define the goals you want your marketing efforts to achieve. Have a clear understanding of why businesses market and establish a criteria for your own campaigns.
Focus #1: To acquire new customers. This is something you should always strive to do. It is important to sell your product or service to a continually new base of people who are most qualified to need and want your product. Each and every marketing effort you undertake should also focus on acquiring new customers. Why? Because your existing customers will eventually cease to exist. And naturally, businesses do not grow on existing customers alone.
Here are some basic rules:
• Make sure you can replenish customers that fall by the wayside and become unproductive.
• Make sure you are always prospecting for new business.
• Design your marketing efforts to explore new markets and aggressively attract new customers.
Focus #2: To market to existing customers. Your goal is to sell more of the same or another product to people who have purchased from you before. It is easier and cheaper to market to your existing customers than it is to acquire new ones. Example: If you are using direct mail, it is cheaper to market to your existing customers because you already own the mailing list.
If you are looking for new customers, you will have to buy or rent a list elsewhere. The customers who are already in your database are the gems who will build your business. Grow them and nurture them, and your business will grow as well. Always keep your customers informed, active, and passionately interested in your product.
One very effective way to keep customers in tune with what is going on with your business is to establish a mobile marketing connection. With over 255 million cell phone users in the US right now, the mobile phone is their most personal communications device. Utilize this valuable tool by getting your clients to optin to your list and keep them current with sales alerts, promotions, events, discounts and more. www.brandelinc.com
Focus #3: To increase the overall value of the business. Some marketing investments may not be immediately measurable at the cash register. For example, many businesses invest marketing dollars to build brand reputation and advance the value of their stocks. Having a clear understanding of your marketing objectives will make it easier for you to outline specific, measurable goals you wish to accomplish in your marketing efforts.
*****************
Benjamin Deleon is the President of Brandel, Inc., a full-service innovative and strategic publishing company that specializes in the design and development of income-generating software products and Internet-based businesses custom-built for our clients. Mr. Deleon has developed and launched a number of low-cost mobile marketing products and services. He also provides one-on-one consultation to entrepreneurs seeking to profit from mobile marketing and other Web marketing applications. For more information visit http://www.brandelinc.com, call 954-583-9000, or email ben@brandelinc.com.
Focus #1: To acquire new customers. This is something you should always strive to do. It is important to sell your product or service to a continually new base of people who are most qualified to need and want your product. Each and every marketing effort you undertake should also focus on acquiring new customers. Why? Because your existing customers will eventually cease to exist. And naturally, businesses do not grow on existing customers alone.
Here are some basic rules:
• Make sure you can replenish customers that fall by the wayside and become unproductive.
• Make sure you are always prospecting for new business.
• Design your marketing efforts to explore new markets and aggressively attract new customers.
Focus #2: To market to existing customers. Your goal is to sell more of the same or another product to people who have purchased from you before. It is easier and cheaper to market to your existing customers than it is to acquire new ones. Example: If you are using direct mail, it is cheaper to market to your existing customers because you already own the mailing list.
If you are looking for new customers, you will have to buy or rent a list elsewhere. The customers who are already in your database are the gems who will build your business. Grow them and nurture them, and your business will grow as well. Always keep your customers informed, active, and passionately interested in your product.
One very effective way to keep customers in tune with what is going on with your business is to establish a mobile marketing connection. With over 255 million cell phone users in the US right now, the mobile phone is their most personal communications device. Utilize this valuable tool by getting your clients to optin to your list and keep them current with sales alerts, promotions, events, discounts and more. www.brandelinc.com
Focus #3: To increase the overall value of the business. Some marketing investments may not be immediately measurable at the cash register. For example, many businesses invest marketing dollars to build brand reputation and advance the value of their stocks. Having a clear understanding of your marketing objectives will make it easier for you to outline specific, measurable goals you wish to accomplish in your marketing efforts.
*****************
Benjamin Deleon is the President of Brandel, Inc., a full-service innovative and strategic publishing company that specializes in the design and development of income-generating software products and Internet-based businesses custom-built for our clients. Mr. Deleon has developed and launched a number of low-cost mobile marketing products and services. He also provides one-on-one consultation to entrepreneurs seeking to profit from mobile marketing and other Web marketing applications. For more information visit http://www.brandelinc.com, call 954-583-9000, or email ben@brandelinc.com.
Rio rolling out mobile marketing campaign
16 February 2009
by Arnold M. Knightly
Las Vegas Gaming Wire
LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- R U looking 4 deals @ resort tonite? Must b 21+.
The Rio is testing an opt-in mobile marketing campaign that sends customers text message alerts for real-time promotions to their cell phone during their stay at the hotel-casino.
Here is how it works: Visitors to the Rio text message the word "Rio" to a phone number posted throughout the property. The customer will then receive no more than 12text messages during the next four days, the average length of a visitor's stay.
The customer also can send "stop" to the same number to halt the flow of messages.
The messages alert the customer to special deals, usually drink, food or show tickets at a discount.
Katrina Lane, vice president of channel marketing for Harrah's Entertainment, Rio's owner, said the company is trying to find a more direct way to communicate in a more real-time fashion and strengthen the property's relationship with the customer.
Nearly 98 percent of cell phones in the United States have text message capability; less than 20 percent can accept e-mail, she said.
"It lets us be more timely with our messages," Lane said. "It's much more relevant when you're standing around here and we have the ability for you to get a great deal at a show, than have you whip out your computer to see if we might have sent you an e-mail."
Mike Weaver, vice president of marketing for the Rio and two other Harrah's properties, said customers using the service redeem an average of three coupons per visit.
"It is purposely designed so you get messages while you're in Las Vegas and you don't get unwanted messages once you've boarded your plane," Weaver said.
The offers sent out this week included a free dessert with an entrée purchase at a restaurant, two-for-one premium drinks at a bar and $5 off the price of the buffet.
More tech-savvy customers can download an application onto their phones that will allow messages to be continually sent to the phone beyond the four-day period, or turned on and off depending on when the customer visits the property.
The company follows the regulatory guidelines set by the Mobile Marketing Association, Weaver said.
Those rules regulate how many messages can be sent in a day, the ability of customers to opt into and out of the program, and even the length of the message sent.
Nearly 3,100 customers have signed up for the program since it was launched in December. Harrah's Entertainment is testing similar programs with different technology companies in different jurisdictions in which the casino owner operates.
The Rio platform is run by interactive marketing firm Acxiom Corp. and Acuity Mobile, a mobile-marketing company based in Washington, D.C.
Others are using similar technology. The Las Vegas Review-Journal offers a service available on its Web site that offers casino discounts, specials at local bars and pubs, and sports promotions. Studio 54 at MGM Grand and the N9NE Group, which runs the Palms nightclubs, have been using mobile marketing in the competitive Las Vegas club scene.
Lane said the reason for the pilot, which may soon be expanded locally to the Flamingo Las Vegas, is to find out if this is a program customers will use.
"We want to be sure this is the right technology that we want to use across the company," Lane said. "We want to be sure this is something the customer wants."
by Arnold M. Knightly
Las Vegas Gaming Wire
LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- R U looking 4 deals @ resort tonite? Must b 21+.
The Rio is testing an opt-in mobile marketing campaign that sends customers text message alerts for real-time promotions to their cell phone during their stay at the hotel-casino.
Here is how it works: Visitors to the Rio text message the word "Rio" to a phone number posted throughout the property. The customer will then receive no more than 12text messages during the next four days, the average length of a visitor's stay.
The customer also can send "stop" to the same number to halt the flow of messages.
The messages alert the customer to special deals, usually drink, food or show tickets at a discount.
Katrina Lane, vice president of channel marketing for Harrah's Entertainment, Rio's owner, said the company is trying to find a more direct way to communicate in a more real-time fashion and strengthen the property's relationship with the customer.
Nearly 98 percent of cell phones in the United States have text message capability; less than 20 percent can accept e-mail, she said.
"It lets us be more timely with our messages," Lane said. "It's much more relevant when you're standing around here and we have the ability for you to get a great deal at a show, than have you whip out your computer to see if we might have sent you an e-mail."
Mike Weaver, vice president of marketing for the Rio and two other Harrah's properties, said customers using the service redeem an average of three coupons per visit.
"It is purposely designed so you get messages while you're in Las Vegas and you don't get unwanted messages once you've boarded your plane," Weaver said.
The offers sent out this week included a free dessert with an entrée purchase at a restaurant, two-for-one premium drinks at a bar and $5 off the price of the buffet.
More tech-savvy customers can download an application onto their phones that will allow messages to be continually sent to the phone beyond the four-day period, or turned on and off depending on when the customer visits the property.
The company follows the regulatory guidelines set by the Mobile Marketing Association, Weaver said.
Those rules regulate how many messages can be sent in a day, the ability of customers to opt into and out of the program, and even the length of the message sent.
Nearly 3,100 customers have signed up for the program since it was launched in December. Harrah's Entertainment is testing similar programs with different technology companies in different jurisdictions in which the casino owner operates.
The Rio platform is run by interactive marketing firm Acxiom Corp. and Acuity Mobile, a mobile-marketing company based in Washington, D.C.
Others are using similar technology. The Las Vegas Review-Journal offers a service available on its Web site that offers casino discounts, specials at local bars and pubs, and sports promotions. Studio 54 at MGM Grand and the N9NE Group, which runs the Palms nightclubs, have been using mobile marketing in the competitive Las Vegas club scene.
Lane said the reason for the pilot, which may soon be expanded locally to the Flamingo Las Vegas, is to find out if this is a program customers will use.
"We want to be sure this is the right technology that we want to use across the company," Lane said. "We want to be sure this is something the customer wants."
Text And MMS Messaging Continues To Grow
Posted by Mike Slocombe on 17 February 2009 at 10:00 am - UK
The Mobile Data Association (MDA) has been running wild over towering mountains of raw data, skipping gaily through meadows of mobile traffic reports and splashing in streams of SMS statistics to being you their latest quarterly report on mobile phone usage in the UK.
Covering mobile activity from October 2008 - January 2009, the study looked at text messaging (SMS) and picture and video messaging (MMS) traffic and discovered that UK phone owners sent 78.9 billion text messages in 2008, up an RSI-inducing 20 billion texts on 2007.
This worked out at a staggering 216 million messages every single day, with the average Brit pumping out 1,213 texts over the whole year.
Not surprisingly, New Year’s Eve proved to the biggest day for texting, with nearly 400 million SMSs flying across the airwaves. Christmas Day was the second busiest day, with 337 million festive greetings and drunken messages notched up - up 26 per cent on the year before.
The more lucrative picture messaging also saw big growth, with 553 million picture messages sent last year - up 23 per cent on 2007.
The MA reckon that MMS is unlikely to ever overtake plain ol’SMS though, with Rob Bamforth, Principal Analyst at Quocirca, musing: “Messaging on the move continues to grow and as it does the reasons or purposes widen. While SMS messages allow for quick simple voice call replacement, MMS has different drivers. These often revolve around more specific needs or events.
A spike in seasonal use demonstrates one such example but there are others. Celebrations, holidays, and other events are particular applications that will drive more sophisticated use that fits well with MMS and extends messaging beyond simple text to other media.”
A torrent of Q4 texting facts
SMS
Total number of text messages (SMS) sent in:
2008 total 78.9 billion
2007 total 56.9 billion
2006 total 41.8 billion
Number of text messages sent per day: 216 million
Average number of text messages sent per person: 1,213 (based 65 million active UK mobile devices)
Video and Picture messages (MMS)
Total number of picture messages (MMS) sent in:
2008 total 553 million
2007 total 449 million
2006 total 336 million
Number of MMS messages sent per day: 1.5 million
The Mobile Data Association (MDA) has been running wild over towering mountains of raw data, skipping gaily through meadows of mobile traffic reports and splashing in streams of SMS statistics to being you their latest quarterly report on mobile phone usage in the UK.
Covering mobile activity from October 2008 - January 2009, the study looked at text messaging (SMS) and picture and video messaging (MMS) traffic and discovered that UK phone owners sent 78.9 billion text messages in 2008, up an RSI-inducing 20 billion texts on 2007.
This worked out at a staggering 216 million messages every single day, with the average Brit pumping out 1,213 texts over the whole year.
Not surprisingly, New Year’s Eve proved to the biggest day for texting, with nearly 400 million SMSs flying across the airwaves. Christmas Day was the second busiest day, with 337 million festive greetings and drunken messages notched up - up 26 per cent on the year before.
The more lucrative picture messaging also saw big growth, with 553 million picture messages sent last year - up 23 per cent on 2007.
The MA reckon that MMS is unlikely to ever overtake plain ol’SMS though, with Rob Bamforth, Principal Analyst at Quocirca, musing: “Messaging on the move continues to grow and as it does the reasons or purposes widen. While SMS messages allow for quick simple voice call replacement, MMS has different drivers. These often revolve around more specific needs or events.
A spike in seasonal use demonstrates one such example but there are others. Celebrations, holidays, and other events are particular applications that will drive more sophisticated use that fits well with MMS and extends messaging beyond simple text to other media.”
A torrent of Q4 texting facts
SMS
Total number of text messages (SMS) sent in:
2008 total 78.9 billion
2007 total 56.9 billion
2006 total 41.8 billion
Number of text messages sent per day: 216 million
Average number of text messages sent per person: 1,213 (based 65 million active UK mobile devices)
Video and Picture messages (MMS)
Total number of picture messages (MMS) sent in:
2008 total 553 million
2007 total 449 million
2006 total 336 million
Number of MMS messages sent per day: 1.5 million
Imagine being charged for text messages on this scale
by Steve Ragan - Feb 16 2009
Here’s something interesting. On Valentine’s Day, Verizon customers sent over 1.4 billion text messages. If you were charged the normal Verizon rate of $0.20 USD per text message, that’s a cost of $280,000,000 USD. Who said love isn’t expensive?
According to Verizon, the Valentine 2009 text figure marks a rise of 600 million when measured against the same period in 2008. Adding to that is a jump in dispatched multimedia messages. These messages, with images, audio, or video attached, also increased from 21.4 million last year to 33.5 million in 2009. Unless specific data plans cover multimedia dispatch, user costs are generally $1.99 USD per megabyte of information... Let’s not try to work out the cost for this one.
Text messaging is the fastest way to communicate these days and it's a popular means for the younger set. According to a Nielsen report, teenagers aged between 13-17 send about 1,700 messages each month. There are records for texting too.
A 13-year-old girl was reported to have sent 14,000 text messages in a single month, while another girl, aged 14, sent 35,000 in a single month. However, Deepak Sharma beat them both after sending 182,689 messages in just one month. That’s about 6,100 messages per day.
Now, the figure of $280,000,000 USD assumes that everyone paid for the text messages they sent. This is obviously not the case, as most plans allow for a select number of text messages, or unlimited texting.
Here’s something interesting. On Valentine’s Day, Verizon customers sent over 1.4 billion text messages. If you were charged the normal Verizon rate of $0.20 USD per text message, that’s a cost of $280,000,000 USD. Who said love isn’t expensive?
According to Verizon, the Valentine 2009 text figure marks a rise of 600 million when measured against the same period in 2008. Adding to that is a jump in dispatched multimedia messages. These messages, with images, audio, or video attached, also increased from 21.4 million last year to 33.5 million in 2009. Unless specific data plans cover multimedia dispatch, user costs are generally $1.99 USD per megabyte of information... Let’s not try to work out the cost for this one.
Text messaging is the fastest way to communicate these days and it's a popular means for the younger set. According to a Nielsen report, teenagers aged between 13-17 send about 1,700 messages each month. There are records for texting too.
A 13-year-old girl was reported to have sent 14,000 text messages in a single month, while another girl, aged 14, sent 35,000 in a single month. However, Deepak Sharma beat them both after sending 182,689 messages in just one month. That’s about 6,100 messages per day.
Now, the figure of $280,000,000 USD assumes that everyone paid for the text messages they sent. This is obviously not the case, as most plans allow for a select number of text messages, or unlimited texting.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Relax Relax Inc Debuts New SMS Text Messaging Website
By Nathesh, TMCnet Contributing Editor
EDITOR'S NOTE: BRANDEL'S BROADCAST PRODUCT WILL ACHIEVE THE SAME RESULTS AS THE COMPANY MENTIONED HERE IN THE ARTICLE. BRANDEL PRICES ARE EXTREMELY LOW AND ALSO OFFERS UNLIMITED TEXT MESSAGING TO AN UNLIMITED NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS!
Relax Relax Inc has launched a new SMS text messaging website, YouSendout. The website has made provisions for senders to choose their destined receivers or subscribers who have already opted voluntarily to receive alerts.
Yousendout was formed to allow website owners to provide SMS text messages from one’s website to their viewers.
Company officials say SMS messaging is gaining more popularity among users. User groups, companies, churches and even political candidates have realized the advantages of SMS marketing.
A recent successful example being the messages sent out to request funds during President Obama’s campaigning. The first big announcement text went out regarding the appointment of VP Joe Biden, reaching an audience of 2.9 million. In this instance, text worked much better than a standard email, which would have been classed as old news by the time the recipient had read an email message.
The Website has stated that it provides a solution to Bulk messaging in an effective and cheapest communication way to send out information to a large recipient group simultaneously and instantaneously. Texts are a convenient option for organizations that would have to send out messages to a large number of audiences.
"YouSendout.com solves the problem of integration of SMS text into a website. What better way for a business to stimulate the market than with an instant, wanted, personal text message," said Mike McGuinness, VP of sales at YouSendout.com. The list of uses is widespread -- sales messages for time-sensitive special offers, change of time or venue for meetings, perhaps church services. McGuinness said, "YouSendout.com customers can test the system for free, with a small fee per message based on the number of subscribers wishing to receive messages. It's simple to use, and free to try."
EDITOR'S NOTE: BRANDEL'S BROADCAST PRODUCT WILL ACHIEVE THE SAME RESULTS AS THE COMPANY MENTIONED HERE IN THE ARTICLE. BRANDEL PRICES ARE EXTREMELY LOW AND ALSO OFFERS UNLIMITED TEXT MESSAGING TO AN UNLIMITED NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS!
Relax Relax Inc has launched a new SMS text messaging website, YouSendout. The website has made provisions for senders to choose their destined receivers or subscribers who have already opted voluntarily to receive alerts.
Yousendout was formed to allow website owners to provide SMS text messages from one’s website to their viewers.
Company officials say SMS messaging is gaining more popularity among users. User groups, companies, churches and even political candidates have realized the advantages of SMS marketing.
A recent successful example being the messages sent out to request funds during President Obama’s campaigning. The first big announcement text went out regarding the appointment of VP Joe Biden, reaching an audience of 2.9 million. In this instance, text worked much better than a standard email, which would have been classed as old news by the time the recipient had read an email message.
The Website has stated that it provides a solution to Bulk messaging in an effective and cheapest communication way to send out information to a large recipient group simultaneously and instantaneously. Texts are a convenient option for organizations that would have to send out messages to a large number of audiences.
"YouSendout.com solves the problem of integration of SMS text into a website. What better way for a business to stimulate the market than with an instant, wanted, personal text message," said Mike McGuinness, VP of sales at YouSendout.com. The list of uses is widespread -- sales messages for time-sensitive special offers, change of time or venue for meetings, perhaps church services. McGuinness said, "YouSendout.com customers can test the system for free, with a small fee per message based on the number of subscribers wishing to receive messages. It's simple to use, and free to try."
SMS - “Save Money Swiftly”
Edinburgh, Scotland, 10th February 2009
At a time when organisations and enterprises are being more cautious with their budgets to ensure that they don’t fall foul of the current economic crisis, you would be forgiven for thinking that the uptake and popularity of SMS text messaging would be diminishing. However this is not the case as demand for SMS remains to be as popular as ever.
Since the first text message was sent in 1992 on the Vodafone network in the UK, SMS has developed into an important part of everyday life. It is no longer just a simple form of communication with friends and family, instead it has evolved into an essential tool encompassing not only personal relationships but business relationships. Enterprises of all sizes and across all sectors are beginning to realise the potential and benefits that SMS can bring as a fast, reliable and relatively low cost form of communication. Unlike email and voice calls, SMS reaches the recipient in a matter of seconds in almost every destination throughout the world and is succinct and immediate. In addition it provides organisations with an economic, discreet, secure and rapid means to contact their staff, consumer audiences and suppliers when required.
Enterprises including those in the finance, aviation, retail, telecoms, logistics and security sectors are realising the value – specifically the cost savings – that SMS can bring to their business. In the logistics sector one of the ways in which costs can be reduced include using SMS to enable customers to immediately receive the status of their order or shipment, thus reducing call centre costs. Across all sectors SMS can reduce costs by enabling IT departments to receive immediate notification of problems with IT infrastructure, thus enabling them to react sooner to issues, reducing downtime of key IT systems and even averting an IT disaster that otherwise could have meant lengthy downtimes and lost revenue.
At a time when organisations and enterprises are being more cautious with their budgets to ensure that they don’t fall foul of the current economic crisis, you would be forgiven for thinking that the uptake and popularity of SMS text messaging would be diminishing. However this is not the case as demand for SMS remains to be as popular as ever.
Since the first text message was sent in 1992 on the Vodafone network in the UK, SMS has developed into an important part of everyday life. It is no longer just a simple form of communication with friends and family, instead it has evolved into an essential tool encompassing not only personal relationships but business relationships. Enterprises of all sizes and across all sectors are beginning to realise the potential and benefits that SMS can bring as a fast, reliable and relatively low cost form of communication. Unlike email and voice calls, SMS reaches the recipient in a matter of seconds in almost every destination throughout the world and is succinct and immediate. In addition it provides organisations with an economic, discreet, secure and rapid means to contact their staff, consumer audiences and suppliers when required.
Enterprises including those in the finance, aviation, retail, telecoms, logistics and security sectors are realising the value – specifically the cost savings – that SMS can bring to their business. In the logistics sector one of the ways in which costs can be reduced include using SMS to enable customers to immediately receive the status of their order or shipment, thus reducing call centre costs. Across all sectors SMS can reduce costs by enabling IT departments to receive immediate notification of problems with IT infrastructure, thus enabling them to react sooner to issues, reducing downtime of key IT systems and even averting an IT disaster that otherwise could have meant lengthy downtimes and lost revenue.
Mobile Marketers Tap into the Power of Text
February 09, 2009 - Press Dispensary
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was published in the UK.
Value bulk SMS provider, Text Marketer, today releases figures showing that companies can cultivate new customers and cut costs by adding text messaging to the marketing mix. A survey of 132 clients found that 71% have doubled their response rates since using SMS messaging to promote a product or service. And, with prices starting at just 4.9p per SMS, firms can reach large audiences with relatively little financial impact - music to the ears of British businesses battling the downturn.
New Text Marketer client, RoughTrax, a Toyota parts supplier, tested text messaging as an alternative to postal reminders about its products. The SMS marketing response rate was 38%, compared to 9% from the traditional mailshot, yet only cost 4.9p per text, whereas each postal reminder came in at 68p.
RoughTrax director, Barry Hemmings, says: “We send about 4,000 reminders a month so, by substituting text messaging for snail mail, we’re saving over £2,500 a month - and reaching potential customers instantly without having to rely on the post. But the real bonus is the conversion rate – we’ve received more than 1,000 extra order enquiries, despite the credit crunch.”
Bulk SMS is proven to be up to ten times more successful than other forms of direct marketing*, and can be used by any business with a database of customer mobile numbers to build brand loyalty and bolster its bottom line.
Text Marketer is the lowest-cost, quality bulk SMS provider in the UK. [NOTE: BRANDEL IS THE LOWEST COST BULK SERVICE PROVIDER FOR TEXT MESSAGES IN THE US.] A handy price comparison chart on its website shows the cost savings customers can achieve. With Text Marketer, prices start at just 4.9p per SMS, whereas the price charged by listed rivals ranges from 5.6p to 11p per SMS on the same run.
The humble text message is being deployed creatively by the company’s clients: Hull Fisheries, for example, sends text alerts to provide potential fish buyers with crucial catch information in advance of auction. While a text competition developed for Wheat Crunchies encouraged repeat purchases of the savoury snack and contributed to a 62% increase in year on year sales.
Other firms use mobile marketing to generate enquiries. Smart employed bulk SMS to persuade people to test-drive its cars, and 1,500 of the 20,000 sent a message signed up – a conversion rate of 7.5% – providing further proof of the power of text, even for high ticket products.
Richard Hawley, director of Text Marketer, says: “In today’s challenging economic climate, finding a way to connect with target customers - and keep your existing ones - is crucial. Companies are facing difficult choices about their marketing budgets and tactics, but bulk SMS is becoming an essential they can’t afford to lose. When it comes to getting your message across – text is more.”
Text Marketer has revamped its online software for improved ease of use. Signing up, using the service and buying credits are fully automated processes. Customers can set up a 'Bulk SMS Account' in 30 seconds and receive ten free SMS credits to trial the system, obligation-free. After that, the customer simply adds credits using trusted payment provider, Google Checkout.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was published in the UK.
Value bulk SMS provider, Text Marketer, today releases figures showing that companies can cultivate new customers and cut costs by adding text messaging to the marketing mix. A survey of 132 clients found that 71% have doubled their response rates since using SMS messaging to promote a product or service. And, with prices starting at just 4.9p per SMS, firms can reach large audiences with relatively little financial impact - music to the ears of British businesses battling the downturn.
New Text Marketer client, RoughTrax, a Toyota parts supplier, tested text messaging as an alternative to postal reminders about its products. The SMS marketing response rate was 38%, compared to 9% from the traditional mailshot, yet only cost 4.9p per text, whereas each postal reminder came in at 68p.
RoughTrax director, Barry Hemmings, says: “We send about 4,000 reminders a month so, by substituting text messaging for snail mail, we’re saving over £2,500 a month - and reaching potential customers instantly without having to rely on the post. But the real bonus is the conversion rate – we’ve received more than 1,000 extra order enquiries, despite the credit crunch.”
Bulk SMS is proven to be up to ten times more successful than other forms of direct marketing*, and can be used by any business with a database of customer mobile numbers to build brand loyalty and bolster its bottom line.
Text Marketer is the lowest-cost, quality bulk SMS provider in the UK. [NOTE: BRANDEL IS THE LOWEST COST BULK SERVICE PROVIDER FOR TEXT MESSAGES IN THE US.] A handy price comparison chart on its website shows the cost savings customers can achieve. With Text Marketer, prices start at just 4.9p per SMS, whereas the price charged by listed rivals ranges from 5.6p to 11p per SMS on the same run.
The humble text message is being deployed creatively by the company’s clients: Hull Fisheries, for example, sends text alerts to provide potential fish buyers with crucial catch information in advance of auction. While a text competition developed for Wheat Crunchies encouraged repeat purchases of the savoury snack and contributed to a 62% increase in year on year sales.
Other firms use mobile marketing to generate enquiries. Smart employed bulk SMS to persuade people to test-drive its cars, and 1,500 of the 20,000 sent a message signed up – a conversion rate of 7.5% – providing further proof of the power of text, even for high ticket products.
Richard Hawley, director of Text Marketer, says: “In today’s challenging economic climate, finding a way to connect with target customers - and keep your existing ones - is crucial. Companies are facing difficult choices about their marketing budgets and tactics, but bulk SMS is becoming an essential they can’t afford to lose. When it comes to getting your message across – text is more.”
Text Marketer has revamped its online software for improved ease of use. Signing up, using the service and buying credits are fully automated processes. Customers can set up a 'Bulk SMS Account' in 30 seconds and receive ten free SMS credits to trial the system, obligation-free. After that, the customer simply adds credits using trusted payment provider, Google Checkout.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Nevada Blames Economy For New Interest In Mobile
Posted: 06 Feb 2009 07:25 AM CST at Mobile Marketing Watch
The state of Nevada is facing extreme budget shortfalls, as is the rest of the country, and because of this is recommending a strong push for mobile advertising to help the bottom line. When it comes to marketing, the state is telling its agencies to think of creative ways to do more with less. In terms of marketing, there is no better bang-for-your-buck than with mobile.
Representatives of the tourism departments marketing staff told the committee they would do more with low-cost social media Web sites such as YouTube, My Space, Facebook, Flicker and Twitter, and while this will no doubt help, mobile should be the new center point. Staff members hope to continue development for their mobile Web capabilities that have been making strides for Northern Nevada’s ski industry, and hopes to offer similar mobile Web sites for the state’s golf industry.
Nevada has more or less completely discontinued its budget for TV ads and the large-scale campaigns that Nevada, and especially Las Vegas, have been known for in the past. The mobile approach will save the state a fortune when compared to previous years, and will most likely prove to be more successful in the long run as well.
The state of Nevada is facing extreme budget shortfalls, as is the rest of the country, and because of this is recommending a strong push for mobile advertising to help the bottom line. When it comes to marketing, the state is telling its agencies to think of creative ways to do more with less. In terms of marketing, there is no better bang-for-your-buck than with mobile.
Representatives of the tourism departments marketing staff told the committee they would do more with low-cost social media Web sites such as YouTube, My Space, Facebook, Flicker and Twitter, and while this will no doubt help, mobile should be the new center point. Staff members hope to continue development for their mobile Web capabilities that have been making strides for Northern Nevada’s ski industry, and hopes to offer similar mobile Web sites for the state’s golf industry.
Nevada has more or less completely discontinued its budget for TV ads and the large-scale campaigns that Nevada, and especially Las Vegas, have been known for in the past. The mobile approach will save the state a fortune when compared to previous years, and will most likely prove to be more successful in the long run as well.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Mobile Advertising: At The Super Bowl
By Davis Brewer, ClickZ, Feb 5, 2009
About 90 million Americans tuned in to Sunday night's Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, FL, according to early estimates. Many of us tuned in for the football game itself, others gathered to watch the spectacle -- Faith Hill, Jennifer Hudson, The Boss, and those much-hyped $3 million commercials. Perhaps uniquely, I was watching to see if any of those marketers shelling out $100,000 per second of commercial time used mobile in any way. I'll leave performance and the commercial content analysis to the celebrity blogs and the "USA Today" Ad Meter.
How did mobile do? Let me put it this way: the Arizona Cardinals could have given some of its near-record 11 penalties to marketers.
Play60
NBC ran a spot for the NFL's anti-youth obesity program, Play 60. This program, run in partnership with the United Way, helps to fight childhood obesity by encouraging kids to get out and exercise. Consumers were urged to donate $5 by spokesman Dallas Cowboy Jason Witten by texting the word FIT to short code 864833 (UNITED). The problem here is the ad was way too short. I'm not sure who was being the scrooge here, NFL or NBC, but this was a :15 commercial. That length of time allowed Witten to give a quick stat on youth obesity (one in three kids is overweight) and the SMS instructions -- barely. There was no explanation of where the $5 would go and how it would get there. Heck, the short code was on screen for only about three seconds. This was hardly enough time to pull your phone out of your pocket and type the code in. Also, this ad wasn't on Hulu or in the YouTube Ad Blitz channel with the rest of the Super Bowl commercials.
I was able to track down the commercial on YouTube, though not with the rest of the Super Bowl commercials. From there, I texted the word "FIT" to 864833. I received a text asking me to confirm my donation to United Way Youth Fitness by replying "Y" to the message. The message also included a Web link for terms and conditions. I typed in "Y" and received a thank you and the instructions that I could donate up to five times. There was still no description of how the $5 will get there. I had to go online to the terms and conditions to discover that the $5 dollar charges will show up on my AT&T bill. That's actually pretty convenient, although AT&T's bills are very hard to digest.
While SMS (define) is a great way to make micropayments and donations because of that convenience factor, the United Way would have been better served by a :30 spot that allowed for a more screen time for that short code. In addition, a better description of the mechanism should have been on screen or in the initial text. The ad also should have been online with the rest of the Super Bowl ads.
Fandemonium
Monster.com also used SMS in its ad. The spot listed the perks of the director of fandemonium job, which include announcing a pick at the NFL draft, calling a play at the Pro Bowl, and more. It also called people to "apply" online at nfl.monster.com or by texting "Fan" to 24421. This is exactly what several mobile experts have been calling for -- the use of SMS or mobile sites as another point of entry for people. Here again, SMS seems an ideal vehicle because a text can be sent immediately and without really breaking your attention to the TV screen. Monster also has the ad posted on Hulu and YouTube, so it's getting additional views as well from people who may have made a guacamole run when the ad aired. The problem with this execution is there is very little pay off for the consumer for texting.
The text I received back from 24421 -- and I think memorable short codes are better, such as "NFLFAN" -- instructed me to go to the Web site. That was it. While I suppose this could function as a reminder note of sorts, it was hardly worth it. How about asking for an e-mail address and using a reverse lookup to get the rest of my information?
Anheuser-Busch
There's one more penalty flag to throw. Anheuser-Busch failed to incorporate its mobile Web site into its slew of commercial spots in the game. The St. Louis brewer has a mobile site housing its "secret spot," a funny and mildly risqué ad called "Magazine Buyer." However, it didn't mention this site in its spots at all. This is a lost opportunity to get traffic to a mobile site and perhaps collect some mobile numbers to market Bud events and specials to later.
It would indeed be overkill for every ad to have a text message call to action, but the United Way and Monster had the right idea to give consumers a convenient and easy means of interacting with their spots, although they fumbled the execution. Anheuser-Busch didn't even get its mobile player on the field, which is a shame. Mobile marketing, like Cardinals fans, will have to wait till next year to win the big game.
About 90 million Americans tuned in to Sunday night's Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, FL, according to early estimates. Many of us tuned in for the football game itself, others gathered to watch the spectacle -- Faith Hill, Jennifer Hudson, The Boss, and those much-hyped $3 million commercials. Perhaps uniquely, I was watching to see if any of those marketers shelling out $100,000 per second of commercial time used mobile in any way. I'll leave performance and the commercial content analysis to the celebrity blogs and the "USA Today" Ad Meter.
How did mobile do? Let me put it this way: the Arizona Cardinals could have given some of its near-record 11 penalties to marketers.
Play60
NBC ran a spot for the NFL's anti-youth obesity program, Play 60. This program, run in partnership with the United Way, helps to fight childhood obesity by encouraging kids to get out and exercise. Consumers were urged to donate $5 by spokesman Dallas Cowboy Jason Witten by texting the word FIT to short code 864833 (UNITED). The problem here is the ad was way too short. I'm not sure who was being the scrooge here, NFL or NBC, but this was a :15 commercial. That length of time allowed Witten to give a quick stat on youth obesity (one in three kids is overweight) and the SMS instructions -- barely. There was no explanation of where the $5 would go and how it would get there. Heck, the short code was on screen for only about three seconds. This was hardly enough time to pull your phone out of your pocket and type the code in. Also, this ad wasn't on Hulu or in the YouTube Ad Blitz channel with the rest of the Super Bowl commercials.
I was able to track down the commercial on YouTube, though not with the rest of the Super Bowl commercials. From there, I texted the word "FIT" to 864833. I received a text asking me to confirm my donation to United Way Youth Fitness by replying "Y" to the message. The message also included a Web link for terms and conditions. I typed in "Y" and received a thank you and the instructions that I could donate up to five times. There was still no description of how the $5 will get there. I had to go online to the terms and conditions to discover that the $5 dollar charges will show up on my AT&T bill. That's actually pretty convenient, although AT&T's bills are very hard to digest.
While SMS (define) is a great way to make micropayments and donations because of that convenience factor, the United Way would have been better served by a :30 spot that allowed for a more screen time for that short code. In addition, a better description of the mechanism should have been on screen or in the initial text. The ad also should have been online with the rest of the Super Bowl ads.
Fandemonium
Monster.com also used SMS in its ad. The spot listed the perks of the director of fandemonium job, which include announcing a pick at the NFL draft, calling a play at the Pro Bowl, and more. It also called people to "apply" online at nfl.monster.com or by texting "Fan" to 24421. This is exactly what several mobile experts have been calling for -- the use of SMS or mobile sites as another point of entry for people. Here again, SMS seems an ideal vehicle because a text can be sent immediately and without really breaking your attention to the TV screen. Monster also has the ad posted on Hulu and YouTube, so it's getting additional views as well from people who may have made a guacamole run when the ad aired. The problem with this execution is there is very little pay off for the consumer for texting.
The text I received back from 24421 -- and I think memorable short codes are better, such as "NFLFAN" -- instructed me to go to the Web site. That was it. While I suppose this could function as a reminder note of sorts, it was hardly worth it. How about asking for an e-mail address and using a reverse lookup to get the rest of my information?
Anheuser-Busch
There's one more penalty flag to throw. Anheuser-Busch failed to incorporate its mobile Web site into its slew of commercial spots in the game. The St. Louis brewer has a mobile site housing its "secret spot," a funny and mildly risqué ad called "Magazine Buyer." However, it didn't mention this site in its spots at all. This is a lost opportunity to get traffic to a mobile site and perhaps collect some mobile numbers to market Bud events and specials to later.
It would indeed be overkill for every ad to have a text message call to action, but the United Way and Monster had the right idea to give consumers a convenient and easy means of interacting with their spots, although they fumbled the execution. Anheuser-Busch didn't even get its mobile player on the field, which is a shame. Mobile marketing, like Cardinals fans, will have to wait till next year to win the big game.
Mobile messaging in 2009 - SMS still the driver
05 February, 2009 14:49
With SMS such a mature technology, and prices driving ever-lower, mobile europe asks if there is still growth potential in this most traditional of revenue earners for mobile operators. Can SMS still hack it, or has the focus moved on to social networking and instant messaging?
Despite the mature state of the SMS market in Western markets, worldwide messaging revenues are set to almost double by 2013 according to a new report from Portio Research. Portio's research suggests that SMS will continue to be the cash cow of mobile data revenues for some time to come.
Portio says that traffic volumes and revenues continue to confound predictions and are expected to keep growing throughout the global economic downturn. Indeed the whole mobile messaging industry, worth $130 billion in 2008, is predicted to be worth $224 billion by 2013, 60% of non-voice service revenues. The report, ‘Mobile Messaging Futures 2008 - 2013' ventures that there is nothing likely to stop continued growth of mobile messaging in the short term, driven by a cocktail of ubiquitous SMS, media rich MMS, enterprise based mobile email and youth conscious mobile IM.
Portio says that SMS remains ‘King' because there is no cheap, easy to use alternative that will work with all phones and across all networks, it is loved the world over. Indeed in the US market, where SMS was a comparative slow starter, use per subscriber per month is now almost double the European average. In China average users send over 100 messages each month whereas the Filipinos continue to be the leading exponents with 755 messages each month.
Worldwide SMS volumes are expected to grow from 2.6 trillion in 2007 to 5.5 trillion during 2013, although of interest to Mobile Europe is the finding that Europe's contribution is expected to decrease to 14.5% by 2013, from 16.2 percent in 2007.
Mobile Email
Portio also predicts a bright future for mobile email even though Japan is the only market where consumer mobile e-mail has surpassed the use of SMS. Email is still the most popular form of business communication and the report suggests that with greater availability of smartphones and high speed networks, mobile e-mail users worldwide will quadruple from approximately a quarter of a billion users in 2008 to over a billion users by the end of 2013.
Instant Messaging
The rising star in the mobile messaging constellation is mobile instant messaging (MIM), which is still beset by the technical problems of interoperability. Portio however predicts exponential growth in mobile IM users, surging from a worldwide total of 111 million users in 2008 to hit a massive 867 million users by the close of 2013. This massive growth in users will be accompanied by an equally impressive 5-fold increase in revenues from approximately USD 2.5 billion in 2008 to approximately USD 12.4 billion in 2013.
MMS still with a future
Since MMS hit the mainstream in 2004 the press and analysts have been critical about its level of success. Back then, they wanted to MMS reach the same value as SMS, USD $30bn, for it be considered a success; finally in 2009 this will be a reality. MMS is growing fast and certain countries, such as China and the United States, are becoming very big markets. Worldwide MMS traffic of 75 billion messages in 2008 is impressive, and the future growth looks very good in Asia, as affordable camera-equipped handsets flood the market with China leading the way.
A recent Airwide survey of 140 mobile operators worldwide on the use of mobile messaging across the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spa agrees with the general thrust of Portio's - that the growth in mobile messaging shows no signs of slowing. The study shows that the number of people sending text messages (SMS) across the EU is growing 3.3% year on year, a figure only beaten by MMS which is growing by 9.2%.
The UK is faring particularly well with over 25 million text messages sent each day. Growth is driven in particular by people who earn over £30,000 with the number of these people sending SMS messages every day increasing 16.9% year on year. However, the growth in mobile messaging by those earning less than £30,000 is also doing well with almost 4% annual growth of those sending SMS everyday.
France is seeing the second biggest increase with 8.% more people sending text messages this year than the same period last year. Interestingly the French have also been the most keen to embrace picture messaging with 15.2% more people sending MMS than in 2007 (the biggest increase across Europe).
In the Western World growth will be fuelled by a combination of mobile operators introducing a greater number of personalised services such as out-of-office, auto-forward and storage/back-up capabilities along with a continued uptake in mobile marketing and advertising - a development which in 2009 will see the introduction of location based mobile advertising, Airwide thinks.
Jay Seaton, Chief Marketing Office at Airwide Solutions says, "Whilst an increase in mobile messaging traffic is certainly good news for the industry, it also underlines the need to ensure that an operator's underlying infrastructure is efficient and equipped to support the increase in traffic volumes over the years ahead. With most people now relying on their text and picture messages being delivered instantaneously, mobile operators cannot afford for their infrastructure to become congested. As the volume of messaging increases, they also need to be able to protect their networks and subscribers from potential security threats such as mobile fraud, spam and viruses."
One company that has stepped up its efforts to meet this service creation requirement is Telsis.
Telsis has unveiled what it claims is the world's first and only complete solution for the rapid creation, roll-out and management of custom advanced SMS services throughout their entire life cycle.
Surveys carried out for Telsis in three major European cities are said to have shown up to half of phone users want to do more with SMS and would use and pay for advanced services.
Telsis says that its new era SMS solution offers mobile operators a low-risk, low impact way to meet and grow this demand, exploiting a complete technology and services model to build, roll out and manage advanced SMS services that create differentiation and generate new revenues - and do it in days, rather than months or years.
The Telsis model has four-tiers, first of which is the foundation of Telsis' SMS Router. Tier two, which Telsis debuted at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last year, is Telsis Advanced Services, an application-hosting platform pre-loaded with a suite of core SMS services and able to run many more. The two new final tiers of the Telsis solution are ServiceCentral, a service creation platform, and FrontRunner, a complete consultancy and technical assistance programme.
ServiceCentral uses the same Intelligent Network service creation technology that Telsis has widely deployed in voice networks. It enables Telsis or its partners to rapidly build the most complex of fully custom service flows, then edit them to smoothly transition applications from live service trials to full roll-outs.
The FrontRunner programme lets operators supplement on an as-needed basis in-house marketing, engineering and operations teams with Telsis specialists. Together, they conceive, market-test, build, roll out and manage any number of advanced SMS services, exploiting to maximum advantage, lowest risk and lowest cost the power of the model's technology layers.
"For some time operators have been telling us that they see the revenue growth and churn reduction opportunities offered by advanced SMS, but are fearful of the perceived risk to the stability of their networks and frustrated by the competing demands on in-house resource," says Telsis CEO Simon Brown. "With our new era solution we're showing a practical, affordable and low-risk route to achieving major competitive and bottom line pay-backs through advanced SMS."
So if mobile instant messaging, email, and even MMS offer the chance for additional revenue streams, why is it still worth innovating in SMS?
Declan Lonergan, VP of Yankee Group's consumer research group, says, "SMS is a core element in what subscribers look for when choosing a mobile service, but until now operators have only had one lever to pull to make their offer more attractive, and that's price. This is a sure sign of a commoditising product. The net result is that in some markets SMS revenues are flattening off despite volumes continuing to climb. The emergence of more advanced SMS schemes gives operators the opportunity to compete on service, utility and innovation."
Steven van Zanen, VP of product marketing at Acision, says, "By offering value added enhancements to messaging that are already proving to be effective in the online community, such as automated replies and out-of-office, service providers can offer more convenience and productivity to end users, while increasing revenue streams.
"Additionally, messaging will increasingly be a key way to interact with personal blogs and online services. This approach was very successful in the US where the operators have marketed MMS as a channel in their social networking offerings. As a result, MMS traffic per user is twice the global average."
But although you'd expect the vendors to be positive about the market that feeds them, it seems the numbers don't lie. There's life in the old SMS dog yet.
With SMS such a mature technology, and prices driving ever-lower, mobile europe asks if there is still growth potential in this most traditional of revenue earners for mobile operators. Can SMS still hack it, or has the focus moved on to social networking and instant messaging?
Despite the mature state of the SMS market in Western markets, worldwide messaging revenues are set to almost double by 2013 according to a new report from Portio Research. Portio's research suggests that SMS will continue to be the cash cow of mobile data revenues for some time to come.
Portio says that traffic volumes and revenues continue to confound predictions and are expected to keep growing throughout the global economic downturn. Indeed the whole mobile messaging industry, worth $130 billion in 2008, is predicted to be worth $224 billion by 2013, 60% of non-voice service revenues. The report, ‘Mobile Messaging Futures 2008 - 2013' ventures that there is nothing likely to stop continued growth of mobile messaging in the short term, driven by a cocktail of ubiquitous SMS, media rich MMS, enterprise based mobile email and youth conscious mobile IM.
Portio says that SMS remains ‘King' because there is no cheap, easy to use alternative that will work with all phones and across all networks, it is loved the world over. Indeed in the US market, where SMS was a comparative slow starter, use per subscriber per month is now almost double the European average. In China average users send over 100 messages each month whereas the Filipinos continue to be the leading exponents with 755 messages each month.
Worldwide SMS volumes are expected to grow from 2.6 trillion in 2007 to 5.5 trillion during 2013, although of interest to Mobile Europe is the finding that Europe's contribution is expected to decrease to 14.5% by 2013, from 16.2 percent in 2007.
Mobile Email
Portio also predicts a bright future for mobile email even though Japan is the only market where consumer mobile e-mail has surpassed the use of SMS. Email is still the most popular form of business communication and the report suggests that with greater availability of smartphones and high speed networks, mobile e-mail users worldwide will quadruple from approximately a quarter of a billion users in 2008 to over a billion users by the end of 2013.
Instant Messaging
The rising star in the mobile messaging constellation is mobile instant messaging (MIM), which is still beset by the technical problems of interoperability. Portio however predicts exponential growth in mobile IM users, surging from a worldwide total of 111 million users in 2008 to hit a massive 867 million users by the close of 2013. This massive growth in users will be accompanied by an equally impressive 5-fold increase in revenues from approximately USD 2.5 billion in 2008 to approximately USD 12.4 billion in 2013.
MMS still with a future
Since MMS hit the mainstream in 2004 the press and analysts have been critical about its level of success. Back then, they wanted to MMS reach the same value as SMS, USD $30bn, for it be considered a success; finally in 2009 this will be a reality. MMS is growing fast and certain countries, such as China and the United States, are becoming very big markets. Worldwide MMS traffic of 75 billion messages in 2008 is impressive, and the future growth looks very good in Asia, as affordable camera-equipped handsets flood the market with China leading the way.
A recent Airwide survey of 140 mobile operators worldwide on the use of mobile messaging across the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spa agrees with the general thrust of Portio's - that the growth in mobile messaging shows no signs of slowing. The study shows that the number of people sending text messages (SMS) across the EU is growing 3.3% year on year, a figure only beaten by MMS which is growing by 9.2%.
The UK is faring particularly well with over 25 million text messages sent each day. Growth is driven in particular by people who earn over £30,000 with the number of these people sending SMS messages every day increasing 16.9% year on year. However, the growth in mobile messaging by those earning less than £30,000 is also doing well with almost 4% annual growth of those sending SMS everyday.
France is seeing the second biggest increase with 8.% more people sending text messages this year than the same period last year. Interestingly the French have also been the most keen to embrace picture messaging with 15.2% more people sending MMS than in 2007 (the biggest increase across Europe).
In the Western World growth will be fuelled by a combination of mobile operators introducing a greater number of personalised services such as out-of-office, auto-forward and storage/back-up capabilities along with a continued uptake in mobile marketing and advertising - a development which in 2009 will see the introduction of location based mobile advertising, Airwide thinks.
Jay Seaton, Chief Marketing Office at Airwide Solutions says, "Whilst an increase in mobile messaging traffic is certainly good news for the industry, it also underlines the need to ensure that an operator's underlying infrastructure is efficient and equipped to support the increase in traffic volumes over the years ahead. With most people now relying on their text and picture messages being delivered instantaneously, mobile operators cannot afford for their infrastructure to become congested. As the volume of messaging increases, they also need to be able to protect their networks and subscribers from potential security threats such as mobile fraud, spam and viruses."
One company that has stepped up its efforts to meet this service creation requirement is Telsis.
Telsis has unveiled what it claims is the world's first and only complete solution for the rapid creation, roll-out and management of custom advanced SMS services throughout their entire life cycle.
Surveys carried out for Telsis in three major European cities are said to have shown up to half of phone users want to do more with SMS and would use and pay for advanced services.
Telsis says that its new era SMS solution offers mobile operators a low-risk, low impact way to meet and grow this demand, exploiting a complete technology and services model to build, roll out and manage advanced SMS services that create differentiation and generate new revenues - and do it in days, rather than months or years.
The Telsis model has four-tiers, first of which is the foundation of Telsis' SMS Router. Tier two, which Telsis debuted at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last year, is Telsis Advanced Services, an application-hosting platform pre-loaded with a suite of core SMS services and able to run many more. The two new final tiers of the Telsis solution are ServiceCentral, a service creation platform, and FrontRunner, a complete consultancy and technical assistance programme.
ServiceCentral uses the same Intelligent Network service creation technology that Telsis has widely deployed in voice networks. It enables Telsis or its partners to rapidly build the most complex of fully custom service flows, then edit them to smoothly transition applications from live service trials to full roll-outs.
The FrontRunner programme lets operators supplement on an as-needed basis in-house marketing, engineering and operations teams with Telsis specialists. Together, they conceive, market-test, build, roll out and manage any number of advanced SMS services, exploiting to maximum advantage, lowest risk and lowest cost the power of the model's technology layers.
"For some time operators have been telling us that they see the revenue growth and churn reduction opportunities offered by advanced SMS, but are fearful of the perceived risk to the stability of their networks and frustrated by the competing demands on in-house resource," says Telsis CEO Simon Brown. "With our new era solution we're showing a practical, affordable and low-risk route to achieving major competitive and bottom line pay-backs through advanced SMS."
So if mobile instant messaging, email, and even MMS offer the chance for additional revenue streams, why is it still worth innovating in SMS?
Declan Lonergan, VP of Yankee Group's consumer research group, says, "SMS is a core element in what subscribers look for when choosing a mobile service, but until now operators have only had one lever to pull to make their offer more attractive, and that's price. This is a sure sign of a commoditising product. The net result is that in some markets SMS revenues are flattening off despite volumes continuing to climb. The emergence of more advanced SMS schemes gives operators the opportunity to compete on service, utility and innovation."
Steven van Zanen, VP of product marketing at Acision, says, "By offering value added enhancements to messaging that are already proving to be effective in the online community, such as automated replies and out-of-office, service providers can offer more convenience and productivity to end users, while increasing revenue streams.
"Additionally, messaging will increasingly be a key way to interact with personal blogs and online services. This approach was very successful in the US where the operators have marketed MMS as a channel in their social networking offerings. As a result, MMS traffic per user is twice the global average."
But although you'd expect the vendors to be positive about the market that feeds them, it seems the numbers don't lie. There's life in the old SMS dog yet.
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