Making A Personal Connection Through Text Advertising

Jolla is a start-up Finnish phone maker that just released its first phone ever, the Jolla. Though a small start-up of only about 80 employees, the company is already seeing a lot of success and quite a bit of interest in their product. Since most start-up companies fail pretty fast, especially in the phone manufacturing industry, Jolla must have some sort of secret that is helping them out. That secret is personability. And with text advertising, it is easier get more personal than ever.

From People And For People

Normally, when companies start advertising products, they are trying to build brand recognition. Everything is about the brand because customers will be loyal to a brand and buy a brand. It also makes it easier to keep selling news products without having to sell each product individually because people will always buy from the brand. The Jolla plan was a bit different, according to Tech Crunch. Instead of selling a brand, they are selling people.

The idea is that they are a group of people trying to sell products to people. The people who are working on the smartphones are passionate about what they are doing and want to talk about it. Instead of having executives hiding up in big offices where they are never seen, all the workers are out talking about the product and making personal connections with the people around them. This includes showing up to large launch events, shaking everyone’s hands, and learning people’s names. By making personal connections, Jolla will start to build brand recognition and enjoy all the benefits of brand recognition, but it will also have more loyal customers because of the personal connection made.

You Can Get Personal Too

No matter where your company is in the marketing process, you should start to get personal with your customers too. Nothing creates more loyal customers than personability. Do this with text advertising. It is easy to send mass texts that give your customers a sense of individual care while also making it easy on you to reach all your customers. Text advertising is the perfect way to let your customers respond to you, as well, and allow for recognition of content and answers to questions without any work on your part. Because your customers will be able to ask questions and get answers, they will feel as though they are getting the best customer service with individual care, and you don’t have to do any work to get there.

Setting Up Text Advertising

It is really fast to set up your text advertising, and it is worth it in the end to get more loyal customers who come back and refer their friends. It is as simple as signing up and providing on online code for your customers to use to sign up for the service. One quick way to get your customers to sign up is to offer a small incentive, such as a 15% off coupon after signing up. The immediate incentive will draw them in, and the individual customer service will keep them coming back!

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Source: techcrunch.com/2013/11/30/jolla-first-phone/

Cyber Monday Text Reminders

One of the best ways for your business to get sales, especially when trying to compete with large retailers, is to send text reminders to your customers. Most of the time, your customers do want to come back and buy more stuff, especially if there is a sale or if they are trying to prepare for a holiday. But, unfortunately, they don’t always remember you exist or how much they like your products. That is why it is important to send text reminders to get them back in the store. It is a gentle reminder that you are there and want to see them again.

Traditionally In-Stores Now Online

The idea of Black Friday was always to shop on the Friday after Thanksgiving starting very early in the morning, but things have changed in the last few years. With the number of stores offering online sales on Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving, increasing drastically, the number of people making online purchases through mobile has also increased quite a bit, according to the Telegraph. This means that if you are to have any chance of competing on cyber Monday and bringing in more customers for sales, you need to be prepared with mobile advertising and text reminders.

Getting Your Website Ready For Mobile

The first step is to get your website on mobile, so it is a lot easier to navigate and shop. If you already have a mobile site, just make sure everything is working properly and that it can handle increased sales for the day. If you don’t have a mobile site, you should get with an expert as soon as possible to get it ready, but you will probably still make sales with the regular site.

Text Reminders

More than likely, your customers will find their way to your site during the day but only if you send the text reminders. The best text reminders have some sort of quick explanation of what is happening. Try something like “Cyber Monday means half off our entire inventory!” and include a link to your website, so they can quickly access it from there. You may even want to text a specific code to each customer already signed up for mobile alerts allowing them to get one item for half off or some other special promotion. This would make people who aren’t signed up for texting services feel like they are missing out on something and get more people to sign up. Also offering a special discount for people who have signed up could bring in more customers to your online store on Monday.

Ask For Feedback

Text reminders that ask for feedback after their items have been received will help you determine whether or not your customers are satisfied with your business and what you are selling. If they aren’t satisfied, they will never come back, so it is important to determine this. A simple “were you satisfied with your purchase” text is simple and doesn’t take time. If they answer “no,” then you could give them a call or ask follow-up texting questions. It is just one more text reminder that helps you customers see that you care.

Mobile technology news brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source: telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10480575/Black-Friday-and-Cyber-Monday-to-drive-purchases-on-mobile-retailers-predict.html

Optimize Your Website For Mobile

If you’re a smartphone owner, chances are you’ve had an online shopping experience like this one. You’re on the hunt for the perfect Christmas gift when you come across a promising website. Unfortunately, you can hardly see the text or the images on your tiny screen. You are constantly trying to pinch and zoom just to see. Then when you try to click on a microscopic link, your fingers are too big and you end up clicking on something else. You finally get to the checkout and realize you have to fill in a dozen fields on your tiny screen. It’s enough to make any one throw their hands up in frustration. That business’s website just lost a sale.

If that business had invested the money to optimize their website for mobile devices, they could have saved that sale, and countless others. Thanks to today’s amazing technologies, people don’t have the attention spans they used to. In a world where people lose interest after reading 160 characters, businesses need to keep their mobile websites simple and efficient. Here are a few tips for optimizing your website for mobile.

Responsive Design

One difficulty in optimizing for mobile is that no two mobile devices are the same. At one time, there were 4-inch screens and that was that. Now mobile devices range from 4-inch screen smartphones to 6-inch screen phablets to 10-inch screen tablets. Fortunately, there is a solution. Responsive design allows you to optimize for each of these devices at the same time.

Responsive design has quickly become the go-to choice for marketers. While it is more expensive, it pays for itself by optimizing your website for each mobile device being used to access it. So whether your customers have smartphones, phablets, or a tablets, they will see your website in a way that is optimized for them.

Use Metrics To Discover Patterns

The real success to any mobile marketing effort is measuring effectiveness and then learning from those metrics. You might notice that certain aspects of your mobile marketing campaign are more effective with the smartphone crowd while others tend to work with the tablet owners. Apply what you discover to constantly fine tune and improve your mobile marketing strategy.

Mobile Metrics Aren’t Black And White

Don’t make the mistake of oversimplifying metrics. Mobile metrics in particular can be misleading. For instance, conversion rates are typically lower on smartphones than computers. If you’re looking at conversion rates alone as a measure of success, you won’t see the whole picture. While it’s true that smartphone owners are less likely to make a purchase from their phone and will spend less time on your site, it doesn’t mean your mobile site isn’t effective. In many instances, people visiting your mobile site do so to do some quick comparison shopping. While they may not purchase right then and there, they may go home and do it on their desktop or come in to your store to make the purchase. Take a holistic approach to mobile metrics.

Mobile Technology News brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source:  mashable.com/2013/11/28/mobile-device-metrics/

Last-Minute Text Message Marketing For Black Friday

Black Friday is tomorrow, and you may have missed the boat on Black Friday sales. Or you thought you did. But it isn’t too late! You can get started right now with text message marketing, and it will help you sell even more in the next few weeks until the holidays are finished. You will want to get started right now, so you are prepared for the extra sales, but it will be worth it. And don’t forget, you still have a few days to prepare for cyber Monday!

Start With A Sale

The first thing you want to do is offer some sort of sale. For all-online stores, you will want to provide a lot of on-sale items. That means offering a 20% off storewide coupon or a coupon for 15% off already on-sale items will be pretty effective. For those who have a brick and mortar store, you will want to offer a few items for huge discounts and then strategically place all your other items so customers will pick them up on their way through the store. Every company will need to decide what kind of sale will work best for them.

Marketing The Sale

The next step is marketing the sale. For a lot of companies, the marketing started months ago, but there is a quick and effective way to remind your customers that you are having a sale and give them extra discounting for their customer loyalty. Send a text. With text message marketing, you can quickly send a text to all your customers notifying them that you, too are going to have a Black Friday special and that they can benefit from it.

The Perfect Timing

The largest retailers have started their deals already. In fact, they have been doing deals for weeks. Almost all the sales will be over before Black Friday actually begins considering most are starting later tonight. That means customers will have a lot of extra time to check your stuff on Friday, and you will get a lot more customers. Don’t try competing with the big retailers or you will lose, but you can be successful if you focus on off-time for retailers.

Text Marketing Right Now

The text message marketing will be much more successful if you send a text right now. It may take an hour or two to figure out exactly which sale you want to do and how you want to present it, but after you have made the decision, do not delay. Your customers need to know right away that you will be having a sale so they can plan to make a stop. But don’t stop there! Sent a text again as soon as your sale is beginning to remind customers that doorbusters will be out soon, and they need to come soon if they want to get any. Also send one last text when the sale is nearly over to make sure they know the sale won’t be lasting much longer. The text message marketing will be really effective if you follow these few easy steps, but you need to get going right now if you want to get customers there for Black Friday.

Mobile technology news brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source: businessnewsdaily.com/5416-text-message-marketing-boost-sales.html

Transitioning To Mobile SEO

It’s finally happened; more than 50% of US adults now have a smartphone. According to the Pew Research Center, the exact figure is 56% up from 35% just two years ago. As the number of smartphone users continues to increase dramatically, more and more business owners are looking to take their business mobile. Remember, if you’re not optimizing your business for smartphones and other mobile devices, you’re missing out on a significant opportunity: 8% of all web traffic and 30% of web searches originate from mobile devices. Here are eight mobile SEO tips to help you capitalize on this golden opportunity.

Shorter Keywords

Keyword research is just as important to mobile SEO as it is to traditional SEO. However, it’s important to keep in mind that in the mobile world, everything is condensed; it’s short and sweet. It’s the same with mobile search. Mobile users are less likely to type in long keywords and phrases from their tiny screens. Remember that when conducting keyword research.

Make Connections

Just as with traditional SEO, it’s important to have links in your mobile content. Make sure you’re connected with the right directories so that mobile users are finding on clicking on links that will take you to your mobile website.

Be Social

Social media accounts for a significant amount of time spent on mobile devices. People like to remain connected to the social world wherever they go. It’s critical that business owners integrate their mobile channel with their social media channel. Include share buttons on your mobile site. Maintain a social media presence.

Don’t Worry About URLs

Many businesses that have a mobile site and a regular website worry that by diverting mobile traffic to a different URL they negatively affect the traffic and ranking on their main site. Google has cleared up the confusion by announcing that they have the technology to differentiate between the two sites so you’re ranking won’t be negatively impacted.

Relevant, Concise Content

No amount of mobile SEO will improve your reputation if the content itself isn’t relevant. Also, just as with keywords, remember to keep it concise. People are less likely to read through big blocks of texts on a 4-inch screen.

Independent Mobile Site

Many business owners are tempted to make their mobile site an exact copy of their regular website. It’s important to know that many components that work on the regular site won’t work as well on a mobile device. Focus on making the mobile site simple and easy to navigate.

Consider Responsive Web Design

A fast-growing trend in mobile marketing is responsive web design. The huge advantage here is that rather than start from scratch with your mobile site, responsive web design automatically adjusts your website to optimize it for each mobile device being used to access it. It can adjust for screen size, operating system, and other factors.

Use Mobile SEO Tools

Mobile has its own set of tools when it comes to SEO. Use them. Rely on these tools to conduct mobile analytics and fine tune your mobile marketing strategies.

Mobile Technology News brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source:  searchenginepeople.com/blog/925-8-essential-mobile-seo-considerations.html

Switching To Android: Google’s Own Advice

A lot of people have realized that there is a lot of options out there for smartphones and have started looking around. You would think that iPhone users would be pretty loyal and keep getting iPhones when they upgrade, but that isn’t really the case anymore. People want new toys, which means having the latest and greatest technology. Since Apple no longer has the latest and greatest (well at least at the moment), customers are starting to waiver and go elsewhere. Luckily, Google’s Executive Chairman, Eric Schmidt made it a little bit easier by giving you steps to drop your iPhone and switch to Android.

It’s A Simple Conversion

If you ask Schmidt, he’d tell you that it is all about conversion. You have to learn about and accept Android over Apple, which shouldn’t be too difficult. We’re ever so grateful to have his words of wisdom to help us figure out how to start buying more of his phones and increase his paycheck. It was awfully nice of him. But if you are seriously considering the switch, this guide might actually be helpful. Here they are, from Google’s Schmidt himself:

1. Set up the Android phone: With some sub-steps, Schmidt show you how to power on your phone, login to Gmail to get started, and figure out the basics of the phone. This is very basic, though, so don’t get your hopes up if you aren’t computer savvy.

2. Update your iPhone or iPad: The reason for this is that you can sync your contact and music with your computer and then your phone if you have everything updated on your iPad or iPhone. Otherwise, it could get pretty tricky.

3. Connect music to Google on Mac: This is an important step if you want to use your phone for music as well. Most people like to have their music accessible everyone but also only like to buy it through iTunes. This step will help you convert your music, so you can even listen to it on your Android phone.

4. Put SIM from iPhone into Android: Though Schmidt points out you might need an adaptor for this step in the process, it will quickly and easily transfer all your information to the new phone. If you don’t do this, you will probably lose all your pictures and not have the ability to back those old ones up to the cloud. All Android photos will automatically be backed up to the cloud, taking this step out of the process with new phones in the future.

Should You Make The Switch?

Obviously, Schmidt has a bias when it comes to giving you advice on a phone to buy. Since he benefits every time you buy a new Android, you may want to take his advice with a grain of salt. But you may actually want to transition to a new phone. Maybe Apple doesn’t have that spark that it used to and maybe you can find newer technology elsewhere. And it’s not like you can’t ever go back if you decide you don’t like the new phone or if Apple comes out with something better. That’s the beauty of smartphones. You can get them changed as often as your hairstyle if you want, or you can stay with the same thing your whole life. Either way, it’s your decision, and you should do whatever makes you happy.

Mobile technology news brought to you by businesstexter.com

Sources:

plus.google.com/+EricSchmidt/posts/JcfVoJhW2Kw

eweek.com/mobile/how-to-dump-your-iphone-googles-schmidt-offers-instructions.html/

High Value of Smartphone Browsing

Marketing is tricky because it means figuring out which tactics are more or less valuable than others. You may spend thousands of dollars just to find out your target audience doesn’t care about that method of marketing. The way to battle this is through studies that show us exactly how effective and valuable smartphones are and just how much customers respond to marketing tactics.

Pay Per Click

Pay per click is really popular because people don’t have to do anything but still get money for marketing your company on their website or blog. But what if that person is using a smartphone instead of a computer? Does the value change? According to Marketing Profs, it does. A new report shows that conversion rates are much higher on mobile than they are on computers. More or less, that means that more people who click on the ad are actually buying things when doing it through mobile than with computers. Apparently, people are more likely to buy stuff when they are surfing with their cell phones than when they are surfing online.

What Does This Mean?

Some of you may be wondering why this matters so much to your business. The truth is, it matters a lot. It means that the value of marketing on mobile is exceedingly higher than marketing to computers. Don’t waste your time focused on websites that are not mobile-compatible and checkout systems that can’t be used through a phone. They will not benefit you nearly as much as making sure your business is mobile-friendly. When browsing on your smartphone, there is nothing more irritating than trying to go to a site that doesn’t work on your phone or doesn’t let you check out with a phone.

Getting Started

There are a few ways your business can get started right now. First, you will want to get your website mobile-friendly, so people who go there have a chance to make a purchase and learn more about your business. Then, you will want to get your texting set up. If you offer text message systems to your customers, they will be able to easily click from their text to your website to make a purchase. It is a lot easier for customers than trying to look it up later, and they are more likely to click in for more information if they can do it right away instead of trying to remember to do it later. Then, after it is set up and ready to go, you can start sending your texts.

Try and encourage your customers to get to your website and make purchases. It will be easier than email marketing and more effective than in-print marketing. All your customers have to do is sign up for texting and wait for them to go. They will know they are getting deals and will check them out right away as they are texted. It is a good distraction from the work day for a lot of them. Dollar for dollar, your texts are much more valuable than any other marketing, so get started today.

Mobile technology news brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source:

marketingprofs.com/charts/2013/12114/email-benchmarks-the-value-of-a-mobile-click-ctrs-by-industry-subscriber-activity-trends

3D Sensors: What Could This Mean For Apple?

After all the harping on Apple for lack of innovation, it seems the company has finally started to get the message and make some changes. This could be good news for a lot of loyal Apple buyers and bad news for a lot of Android and Windows phone buyers. iOS may be coming back, and not just back, but back in style with new 3D technology. It is the kind of change that could quickly bring Apple back to the top in minutes.

Purchase of PrimeSense

PrimeSense is a 3D is basically a Kinect sensor. In fact, the Kinect sensor is one of the basic examples of how the sensor can be used on the website. The purchase of PrimeSense could mean a million different things for Apple, though none of those ideas have been revealed just yet. I am sure we will get an idea of what will happen after enough time has passed. The website didn’t say there was one specific reason for the sensor but that it could be applied in a variety of different settings, according to the Washington Post.

What Does The Sensor Do?

The PrimeSense website makes it clear that the sensor can be used in a variety of different settings after being programmed by individual companies, but one main purpose is to view things in 3D. It means you can look at stuff in 3D instead of just 2D. It could mean that Apple is trying to create TV technology literally be in the scene for movies or it could mean that Apple is trying to find a way to show 3D images and films on your phone. It could be used to scan different areas and then view it in 3D, such as camera images or to quickly and easily analyze a new building. The site does say that though it is a powerful technology, it does not x-ray, which means you cannot see through clothes with it.

New Technology For Your Phone

What could this really mean for your phone technology? What is Apple going to do to finally get some of its customers back? As mentioned before, it could mean a new scanning software for iPhones or it may just mean 3D technology for watching movies or viewing images. Fortunately, Apple has great innovators and should be able to come up with something that will blow our minds. I may become an Apple believer once again if they can do something great with this technology.

New Phones For Everyone

And while you are at it, you might as well pick yourself up a new phone. It will probably be a couple of years before Apple does anything, and you’ll be ready for a new phone upgrade by then. With all the great Black Friday deals on new phones, it may be well worth your time to get one now instead of waiting and hoping for a new technology that hasn’t even been announced yet.

Mobile technology news brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source:

washingtonpost.com/business/technology/apple-buys-primesense-a-3d-sensor-company/2013/11/25/42e3f156-55d9-11e3-ba82-16ed03681809_story.html

primesense.com/solutions/faq/

Apple vs. Samsung: Who Really Won

It turns out the fight between Apple and Samsung over patent infringements may never really end. Every time we think one or the other has finally won, we hear about another court battle that is coming up. Not only have the two fought over and over in court in the US, but they have also been fighting all over the world going from country to country to keep it up. Apple claiming Samsung stole technology while Samsung claims that is absurd, the fight continues.
 
Samsung Lost This Battle
Samsung “lost” its most recent court case when a jury ordered Samsung to pay Apple $290 million for infringing patents. Apple was asking for $380 million and Samsung only wanted to pay out $52 million, according to PC World, so it seems as if Apple won this time. The verdict was made to help Apple make up for lost profits because of the popularity of the Samsung phones. Now, Apple is owed $930 million from Samsung since a verdict last year in San Jose also directed Samsung to pay $450 million. But just because Samsung lost the most recent couple of battles doesn’t mean that Apple has won the war.

Samsung Winning In The End
The reason why the jury, in the end, decided to award the cash to Apple was because they agreed Apple must have lost some customers to Samsung. The whole argument behind everything was that Samsung used Apple’s technology to create phones and steal clients from Apple. Samsung argued, on the other hand, that customers who chose Samsung did so for reasons not associated with the proposed thieved technology and that Apple did not lose any customers. 
 
In the end, it looks like Samsung has gotten away with stealing the Apple technology, or at least creating very similar technology, and only got a small slap on the wrist. Samsung has new, permanent customers because of their great phones which means Apple has permanently lost a lot of customers. Apple may have won a bit of cash, but it will never make up for the lost customers, especially if Apple can’t figure out a new way to innovate and bring old customers back. Since neither of them seem to be able to innovate, all they have left is to argue in court.

Technology Still All The Same With Texting
No matter what these phone manufacturers do, none of them have figured out a way to create technology to get rid of texting. Texting is a key point to any good cell phone. Nobody has yet come up with a way to sell a phone without that important technology. That means your business is safe creating a completely new marketing strategy involving texting systems. Get started today, so you can beat out all your competition this holiday season. Getting your text marketing system in place may take a little bit of time, but it will be worth it in the end if you can bring in a lot of extra business. 

Mobile technology news brought to you by businesstexter.com
Sources:
pcworld.com/article/2066140/jury-orders-samsung-to-pay-290m-to-apple-in-patent-case.html

More Businesses Using Text Marketing

This holiday season, as I’ve been doing my Christmas shopping, I’ve noticed that there have been more and more businesses trying to get my phone number. They want to start sending me texts. And guess what. It actually works! Almost every business that asks for my number so they can send me deals gets it! It seems that businesses have finally caught on and realized how much room there is to grow with text marketing. They have finally realized how essential texting can be to a good marketing strategy.

Good Text Marketing Is Key

There are always good and bad examples of using text marketing. Of course, if used properly, SMS can be a “valued component of a holistic marketing efforts,” according to the Next Web. You have to get customers to sign up for it with the new regulations, which means your customers also know how to quickly and easily get you to stop sending them text messages. If you don’t have a good text marketing strategy or if you aren’t sending valuable texts, customers will just drop you and never be willing to add you again. Here’s a couple of examples of good and bad text marketing:

Bad - Starbucks

I signed up for Starbucks text marketing, so I could be notified every time they had some sort of deal. Then, the texts began coming. Never did I get a text that I found valuable to me. I was hoping to get discount texts or to know when there was some kind of new promotional beverage going on. Instead, they sent texts telling me to go buy drinks and buy gift cards for my friends. If I was an avid Starbucks shopper, maybe I would have liked it, but I really only go there every once in a while, and this didn’t make me want to come back in. Instead, I unsubscribed because of how annoying the texts were.

Good - Costa Vida

Costa Vida is a restaurant chain that is still fairly small but is expanding. One time, I signed up for text alerts. A couple of times a month, they text me deals on food, such as a smothered burrito for $3 off all day, which is a pretty good deal, I’d say. As soon as I get that around 10 in the morning, I change my lunch plans and head into Costa Vida. Good text marketing will get the customer in the door and not just tell them to buy your product.

What You Can Do

The most important thing for you to do is to get started right now with good text marketing. As more businesses are doing it, you will want to get started right away to beat the competition. There is still a lot of opportunity to grow and expand your marketing efforts in the texting industry, but you may start losing those opportunities if you don’t get started right away. After enough time, there will be so much text marketing going on that if you weren’t there in the beginning, you won’t be able to get in at all. Get started today to make sure you don’t get left behind.

Mobile technology news brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source:

thenextweb.com/mobile/2013/11/01/sms-making-comeback-conduit-connecting-mobile-consumers-technically-never-left/

Things You Should Know About Text Message Marketing

These days, people have come to rely heavily on their mobile devices, so heavily in fact that there is now a name for the fear of being without a mobile phone contract, nomophobia. The term was coined in a British study that found that 53% of people experienced anxiety when they lost their phone, had their mobile phone battery die, or lost network coverage. Another study revealed that people would rather go a week without brushing their teeth than a week without their mobile phones. Why the strong attachment? People use their mobile phones (especially smartphones) for virtually everything.  Not until forced to go without a mobile phone for a day or two do people realize how much they’ve come to rely on it.

Why is all this important for marketers to know? Because it shows just how powerful a mobile marketing campaign can be. And while there are many ways to do mobile marketing, one that remains the most successful is text message marketing. Texting is the number one activity for mobile phone owners. But before you launch your text message marketing campaign, here are a few things you should know.

Texting Is Personal

Text message marketing’s greatest strength is always its greatest weakness: it’s personal. Television and radio commercials aren’t too intrusive because we’re used to tuning them out. We’re also used to getting tons of spam in our inbox. But there’s something more personal about receiving a text. For that reason, there are regulations to keep text messaging a permission-based channel. In other words, you can’t text people unless they give consent to receive your texts.

While somewhat limiting, it is also a good thing. Those that do opt in to receive text messages will be your most loyal customers so long as you don’t abuse the relationship you have with them. Excessive texting or sending texts early in the morning or late at night can quickly ruin rapport.

Text Message Marketing Is A Two-Way Communication

Many business owners mistakenly believe that text message marketing is only a way for businesses to communicate with their customers. If done right however, a text message marketing campaign can work both ways. Businesses can use text messages to create a two way relationship in which customers are actively engaged. In turn, businesses can gain vital insight by seeing how customers interact with texts.

Text Message Marketing Is Flexible

Many business owners are narrow-minded when it comes to using text message marketing. Though sending mobile deals is certainly a great way to get customers excited, it isn’t the only way. Text message marketing is versatile. Feel free to experiment with other ways to use text message marketing. Find what works and what doesn’t. You can use it to inform customers about new products. You can use it to text receipts or shipping notifications. You can even use texts to request customer feedback. Make sure to reward survey participation with an exclusive deal and you’ll be on your way to creating close relationships with your customers.

Mobile Technology News brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source:  thenextweb.com/mobile/2013/11/01/sms-making-comeback-conduit-connecting-mobile-consumers-technically-never-left/

MMS Gaining Popularity Among Mobile Marketers

Mobile advertising comes in all shapes and sizes. When most business owners think about taking their business mobile, they’re thinking about a mobile friendly website or banner ads. But the real power of mobile marketing rests in the text message. Text message marketing, or SMS marketing, is the powerhouse when it comes to mobile marketing. It’s inexpensive and extremely effective. For all its virtues however, it is also somewhat limited. It’s limited to text only, and 160 characters at that. That’s where MMS (multimedia messaging service) comes in.

What Is MMS

MMS is, simply put, texting but better. Unlike traditional texts, MMS allows the sender to include more than just words. A text could include pictures, videos, music, and other multimedia content. The implications for mobile marketers are huge. While a text can certainly get the job done, the 160 character limit is often frustrating. But the ability to send a video clip or picture makes texting that much more versatile.

Why MMS?

According to research, texts have a 98% open rate. The statistic is incredible. That’s a guarantee that 98% of the texts you send out will be seen by your target audience. Research also seems to indicate that texts including multimedia content are even more likely to be opened than a standard text. In 2012, consumers sent 74 billion MMS messages. That number was an increase from 2011 while the number of texts and minutes actually fell. Another interesting statistic is that only 38% of marketers are using SMS or MMS compared to 76% who have a mobile website. In other words, despite its proven track record, text messaging, and MMS messaging in particular, is underutilized. That’s predicted to change quickly however as MMS gains popularity.

Successful MMS Campaigns

As MMS grows in popularity, more and more businesses are incorporating it into their mobile marketing strategies and experiencing success. A theater in Chicago used MMS to send consumers who opted in a short video about an upcoming play. In addition to the video clip, the message included a phone number to call for tickets, a “share” button for popular social media websites, and the text automatically entered the recipient into a contest for free tickets to Paris. Starbucks also ran a successful campaign in which their customers participated in a trivia contest via MMS and won prizes.

MMS VS SMS

On the surface, MMS sounds like the clear winner when it comes to text message marketing. It allows businesses to send richer content and engage consumers in a way that a normal text message can’t. However, there are also some inherent weaknesses in MMS. The biggest it limits the target audience. While just about every phone in existence can send and receive texts, not all phones are MMS enabled. In the end, business owners need to evaluate whether MMS makes sense for their mobile marketing strategy.

Mobile Technology News brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source:  mashable.com/2013/10/27/mms-mobile-marketing/

Mobile Marketing Tips For The Holidays

If you’re a business owner, chances are you’re already thinking about your marketing strategy for the upcoming holiday season. For most businesses, the holidays are the busiest time of the year. It’s when shoppers are out in full force trying to purchase all the presents. From Black Friday and Cyber Monday to the day before Christmas, your goal should be making the most of the holiday season by attracting customers and boosting sales.

One of the most cost effective ways to do this is through text message marketing, or SMS marketing. For just pennies per text, you can send a message that 98% of recipients will view. No other form of advertising can offer those kinds of results for that kind of price. With that in mind, here are some mobile marketing tips for the holidays:

·         Build a mobile database now. If you don’t already have a database of numbers you can text you need to begin building it now to be ready in time for the holidays. Offer incentives to customers in return for their permission to receive your texts. Then start experimenting with different coupons to see what works and what doesn’t so you’ll be ready when the holiday season begins

·         Christmas starts the day after Thanksgiving. For shoppers at least, The Christmas season begins the day after Thanksgiving, that’s when people expect to find the best deals for all the people on their Christmas list. This one day shopping event is so successful because it’s limited to one day only. Create that sense of urgency in your customers by sending a text about Black Friday deals. Emphasize that the deals are for one day only, or for a few hours only

·         The majority of people do their Christmas shopping last minute. That means keep the deals coming all the way up to Christmas day. Another great way to gain the attention of last minute shoppers is by giving them a few present ideas. This is where multimedia message service (or MMS) is especially helpful. Rather than being limited to just 160 words, MMS allows you to send pictures of products. And as everyone knows, pictures are worth more than 160 words

·         Don’t forget after-Christmas sales. Many customers expect great deals in the days immediately following Christmas. Send a text the day after Christmas that includes a mobile coupon. Because mobile coupons are ten times more likely to be redeemed that print coupons, you can expect the holiday shopping to continue after Christmas

·         Don’t forget texting etiquette. Just because many shoppers will be out and about at 5:00 a.m. on Black Friday to start their Christmas shopping doesn’t mean you can start texting them then. The rules that apply to text message marketing still apply during the holidays as well. Be respectful of when and how often you send messages.

Above all, makes sure your texts are personal and that they offer your customers something of value and your text message marketing campaign will be a success this holiday season.

Mobile Technology News brought to you by businesstexter.com

Source:  smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/marketing-sales/2013/11/07/how-to-put-text-message-marketing-to-work-this-holiday-season/

Get A Free Year of Texting, Students

Being a student in college isn’t what it used to be. It used to be that only rich kids or kids who took out insane amounts of debt could afford to go to college. But now, everyone can afford college, which is a great thing. And college students get tons of discounts everywhere they go. They can even get cell phone plans that cost basically nothing!

Try It Out, Sprint And Best Buy

Sprint and Best Buy have teamed up to offer a plan where you (a student) can get free service on your phone. The deal will only last between November 18 and January 4 with the purchase of a new feature phone or smartphone though, so you’d better hurry. First, you need to head to Best Buy where you pick out a phone. Buy the phone and pay a $36 activation price, according to CNET, and you’ll get a free phone plan. After buying your phone, you need to go to Sprint’s verification site and prove you are a student, which will then allow you to get one year of unlimited text, talk, and 1 GB data per month. It’s a pretty sweet gig for most students.

Why Offer Free Stuff?

Some people may be thinking why a business would offer a year worth of free stuff to customers. For Sprint, it is simple. Getting customers to try your service is the hardest part. After they are able to try it out, they probably will stay. Even if they are just moochers and just want to get free stuff, people need to have a cell phone. It is much easier to just keep paying for the plan than it is to try and switch to a different company. And it will help Sprint prove it has just as much to offer as the other large cell phone service providers.

Payoff To Wait A Year Or So

It may take a year or so to actually see any payoff, and Sprint may lose a little money in the meantime, but it will be worth it in the end. If all the people who sign up for free service are going to just keep paying for it, they will end up with a huge boost in numbers in about a year. That is good advertising. And in the end, it will bring in a lot of business.

Texting Easier With Free

With the Sprint cell phone plan, students will get unlimited texting. For businesses, it is a great opportunity to start focusing your text advertising on students. Text message advertising works well with everyone, but it is even more likely to pay off with the younger generation. Younger people want to text all the time. You can be sure your marketing messages are quickly reaching all the students. Getting students to sign up and agree to getting your messages is also easier if they have an unlimited plan. Without even knowing it, it seems Sprint has helped a lot of businesses progress and offer better marketing strategies.

Mobile technology news brought to you by businesstexter.com

Sources:

news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57612642-94/sprint-best-buy-give-students-a-free-year-of-talk-text-and-data/

bestbuy.com/site/mobile-phones/sprint-student-deal/pcmcat317600050015.c?id=pcmcat317600050015&type=category&DCMP=rdr115316&id=pcmcat317600050015