Posted by Jake on October 8th, 2008 in Mobile Marketing ·
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
I have previously written a few posts regarding the Obama mobile campaign and the well run nature of their mobile marketing tactics. One more recent strategy was particularly clever and somewhat out-of-the-box. It takes location based mobile marketing to a new level, and I don’t mean location based blue-tooth, but rather a well place digital billboard with text integration. At a recent Sarah Palin rally, the Obama team 
rented a digital billboard overlooking the rally and allowed Democratic supporters to hurl text messages into the rally directed towards Sarah Palin. This was done by texting ASK and their message or question to 69866. This most certainly put a wrench in the festivities of the day and I am sure caused more than a few boos from the Republican supporters.
I don’t want to get into a political debate by any means, but it was a pretty inventive use of new technology. Many companies and political candidates have recoginzed the power of mobile marketing, Obama especially. Through his SMS campaign, mobile site, Twitter account and more, he has certainly embraced the new technology quite impressively. Mobile is taking a prominent place in new world communication and more recently commerce. So if you are looking for that way to set your marketing apart form the pack, give mobile a try. It could pay big dividends.
Share This
Posted by Jake on September 28th, 2008 in Mobile Marketing and Success in Mobile ·
Cereality is clearly one of the more innovative franchises of the past few years. Their concept of a mix n’ match create-your-own cereal bar took one of the simple satisfactions of all our childhood’s to the next level. Fixing that Saturday morning bowl of cereal and setting up to watch your favorite cartoons has now made an appearance in our daily routine. Cereality has put a warm and fuzzy feeling into the high octane pace of the marketplace.
So how does such an innovative franchise approach marketing? With an equally innovative technology…Mobile Marketing.
Cereality has partnered with a select few Cold Stone stores to develop co-franchises that combine the strengths of both stores. One such Cold Stone is located in Athens, Ohio and has chosen mobile marketing to help introduce Cereality into its store. Owner Ken Mogle has commissioned EnMobile to help alert his consumers of the new addition to the store. With a opt-in database of over one thousand consumers, mobile was seen as an extremely effective way to immediately and effectively alert consumers of Cereality and drive consumers into the store. A mobile coupon was initially delivered to consumers offering a dollar off a cereal creation and also introducing the store to the public. Mobile will continue to play a vital role in the introduction of Cereality to the local audience; an innovativ marketing solution for an equally innovative franchise.
Share This
Posted by Jake on September 21st, 2008 in Mobile Marketing ·
As an SMS entrepreneur that has been studying and basically immersing myself in text messaging for the better part of a year, I figured that I might as well extend some of this internal knowledge outwardly. This post will give a basic overview of the technology and an explanation of how SMS can and should be used for marketing purposes.
First, SMS stands for short message service, but it is basically what we mostly have come to know as a text message. Each message is allotted 160 characters of space that many marketers have now come to realize can be utilized for marketing purposes. The advantage of SMS or text marketing over traditional, even online marketing, is the direct response that it offers. It is delivered through one of our most closely guarded possessions, but with this direct and personal connections comes issues of becoming too personal. Marketers must respect the relationship between consumers and their phones and make every campaign opt-in (permission-driven) and also deliver each message with an opt-out mechanism that is clearly noted in the message. This will help combat the SPAM effect that many have come to fear from mobile marketing.
SMS marketing is carried out by promoting the text call-to action in your other marketing material. This is important because SMS lists should be compiled and not purchased. If you already have a database of cell phone numbers, you can use this but you must provide immediate opportunity to opt-out from these lists. Consumers should be aware of the possibility of mobile marketing form your company when these lists are being compiled. When consumers opt-in to your consumers through a keyword and shortcode (ex… text abc to 12345) they are consenting to receive these messages, so compiling these lists using a shortcode and keyword for coupons, polls, contest, etc. is a great way to build your opt-in list. Once these lists are captured, you can now market freely to these consumers. Try our interactive demo for a sample mobile message campaign (Text EnMobile to 59925).
There are a number of uses for SMS marketing. Text messages can deliver simple alerts for products or services, coupons and discounts, polls, quizzes, contests, or direct links to a mobile website (WAP-wireless application protocol). One of the core benefits of SMS marketing is the ability for direct response, so providing a direct response and interactive feature in the form of polling or contests is one of the more unique and impressive features of mobile. Also, the ability to directly embed a phone number or web site into a text message again provides direct response that is not possible from many other forms of marketing. It is important that you use the directness of these SMS messages to drive a consumer to some form of fairly immediate action if you want to best utilize SMS.
For more info, visit our website HERE
Share This
Posted by Jake on September 15th, 2008 in Mobile Marketing and Success in Mobile ·
A recent report by Harris Interactive has shown that many teens have replaced texting with talking as their preferred means of communication. Nearly half, 47% to be exact, actually stated that their life would end or be severely worsened if texting was no longer available. There are quite a few reasons why many teens prefer this mode of communication, including speed, the ability to multi task, the 
ability to avoid talking directly, and simply because it is more fun than talking. The fun factor can be seen by the recent advent of a World Series of Texting that was created recently, an event that the thumbs of the most fervent SMSers.
The study found that nearly 4 out of 5 teens carry a mobile phone, taking the number of hip holstered teens to over 17 million. Over half the respondents of the survey also said that mobile has become a new form of entertainment, an idea that certainly sheds light on the need for mobile marketing, although we certainly must take caution with this approach. The study also found cell phones to have a very personal nature for these users (57% of respondents view mobile as their key to life), so we have to tread lightly as we approach this medium as a marketing outlet.
More than 1 billion text are now sent daily around the globe. SMS has taken off as one of the fastest growing technologies and is being adopted heavily by new users every day. This method of communication has shown that it is not just a flash in the pan, but it seems to plan on sticking around for a while. It is essential that we as marketers take aim to embrace mobile, especially SMS, as a viable means for marketing, but as I said, proceed with caution. We can not afford our text message inbox to suffer the same devastating fate as our email inboxes have fallen victim. The industry and the Mobile Marketing Association have done a good job up to know to protect against SPAM and malicious content, but as this marketing method increases in popularity which it clearly is beginning to do, we must heed the warning of our past.
Share This
