Jan 23rd, 2012 | Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Mobile Marketing | Comments Off
Texting: The Most Popular of All Mobile Marketing Strategies
Short Message Service (SMS) mobile marketing, also known as texting, is an outstanding avenue for small business owners to reach their customers. Almost all cell phones have the capability to send and receive text messages and cell phone owners have the ability to opt-in and opt-out of receiving text messages.
Customers can opt-in to receiving a company’s text messages by texting a keyword to a short code. A common short code (CSC) is a five or six digit phone number that can send and receive text messages. A CSC that is exclusive to a company can be quite expensive so most small businesses prefer to share a CSC. The keyword that the customer uses is what distinguishes one company from another. The keyword ensures that customers are connected with the correct company.
All of the major wireless telephone carriers can support CSC.
After a customer sends the keyword to a CSC, they will receive an auto-reply message. The auto-reply message confirms their participation in the text messaging campaign.
Why would a customer choose to participate in a text messaging campaign? There are many incentives a company can employ to entice participation:
- Mobile coupons
- Discounts only available to customers on the texting list
- Participation in contests
- Advance notice of sales
- Advance notice of new products
- Ease of ordering a product or service
- Priority in ordering a product or service
By using the text messaging marketing tool, a small business can contact their customers anytime and anywhere and rest assured that the people they are sending their messages to are people who want to receive them.
And if a customer decides that they don’t want to participate in the campaign any longer? All it takes is a click on the opt-out link at the bottom of every message. Of course, it is the small business owner’s top priority to make the incentives so attractive that a customer never chooses to opt-out!
By Peg Glover
Jan 11th, 2012 | Advertising, Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Web Design | Comments Off
I must admit that I am probably considered a late adopter of QR (quick response) codes within the advertising, marketing and public relations professional arena. While I have been an owner of a smartphone for several years, it wasn’t until recently that I downloaded an application onto my smartphone to read QR codes.
What I discovered about QR codes, from my personal experience, and to borrow a line from Shakespeare is that they are “much ado about nothing.”
There are some real problems with scanning a QR code with a smartphone and getting valuable feedback or in some cases getting feedback at all. As a consumer, I prefer to shop in large discount stores such as Costco, Sam’s Club, Target and Walmart. Often times, the reception I get within these large ‘warehouse’ stores is poor if existent at all. Therefore, the QR code means little to my shopping experience within these walls.
Freeway billboards often have a QR code in the advertisement. I have never been quick enough to complete a scan as I flash by a billboard. Plus, I like to keep my eyes on the road when I am driving so scanning a QR code from the freeway is not a priority.
Then I have received a QR code within a text advertising message or e-newsletter on my smartphone. Hmmm? How is my smartphone supposed to read that code?
Having read that QR codes have been overwhelming adopted by various European markets, as well as Japan and South Korea, I thought I’d read some solid research on the topic.
I downloaded Russell Herder’s* findings on a research project they published in August, 2011 titled: The QR Question, Are QR Codes an effective marking tool for engaging customers?
Noted within the paper is that QR codes have actually been around since 1994. QR codes were created in Japan by a subsidiary of Toyota and were originally designed to track auto parts. No wonder Japan has a high usage rate of QR codes within the consumer market. Their use of QR codes has been evolving for seventeen years.
Some of their key findings include (and I quote the paper):
- “A surprising number of consumers demonstrate a significant lack of understanding as to what QR codes are and how they work.”
- “Seventy-two percent of consumers say they have seen a QR codes, yet nearly three in 10 do not know what it is. Further, nearly one in five people who regularly go online via their mobile phone do not know what a QR code is.”
- “Nearly four in five of those who have scanned a QR code have done so more than once. Perhaps more importantly, however, only 31 percent report that what they receive in return is worth their time.”
These finding support my personal experience with QR codes. That is certainly not to say that QR codes are going to have a very short life span within the U.S. marketing and advertising world. But it does seem obvious that if QR codes are going to find a solid and long-lasting spot within the advertising and marketing world, then the information provided by the QR code must have high value to the consumer.
By Peg McRoy Glover
*Russell Herder is a twenty-eight year old creative, strategic and research marketing firm based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The report The QR Question, Are QR codes an effective marketing tool for engaging customers? is part of their Thought Leader series.
Dec 14th, 2011 | Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Sales | Comments Off
What’s in Your Wallet? Is it Google Wallet?
Imagine not having to make another payment with coins, paper or plastic cards. Say good-bye to our past, and say hello to our future. Introducing the Google wallet, where everything that once was in your wallet, is now on your phone! So, leave your wallets and credit cards at home. All you need is a charged phone.
Right now, Google wallet is only available to stores that offer the electronic payment application. Within time every store will offer the Google wallet. It’s available for the Sprint Nexus 4G and the Android phones. The iPhone is currently in the process to have access to it. Only two kinds of payments can be used, MasterCard and Google Prepaid Card.
More and more stores are taking this route for future purchases with customers. Presently, Google wallet is working with and encouraging companies to make it accessible for their customers.
Google wallet makes the check-out process faster and easier. Customers can also redeem coupons and use their rewards cards. American Eagle Outfitters offers the Google wallet. When a customer is ready to purchase his/her items, he/she simply takes out their phone, clicks on the app., and “swipes” or “taps” the phone over the register and the transaction is complete. After a transaction is complete, there is a confirmation notice that appears on their phone to make sure the purchasing process was successful.
It’s as easy as one, two, three.
Not only does Google wallet make the purchasing process faster and easier, it simplifies the purchasing process and keeps customers organized. Customers won’t have to dig through their purse or back pocket and search for their credit cards or coupon. Instead all they have to do is pull out their phone and “click.”
Many wallets are unorganized with coupons, credit cards, rewards card and personal identification cards. Google wallet can prevent disorganization by making it applicable for people to have their credit cards and coupons on their phone.
I’m sure the biggest concern people might have is the security factor. “What would happen if my phone was stolen?” In this situation, you would contact your bank and wireless company. Basically, it would be the same procedure you would take, if your credit card or phone were lost or stolen. “How safe and secure is it?” Google wallet has a secure element function which is designed to protect the data that is stored.
“How does it protect my payments?” Again, all data is stored in a secure element, which is separate from the phone’s vital operating system and hardware. Google also requires a PIN number before an initial payment occurs.
As consumers, we need to educate ourselves on upcoming technology such as the Google wallet. It will help us understand and become accustom to a new advancement. Making payments through our phone, without the usage of credit cards, is our future as consumers in the marketplace. Leave your wallet and bring your phone!
by Lauren Becher
Dec 13th, 2011 | Communication, Marketing, Media, Mobile Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media Marketing | 1 Comment
THE POWER OF YOUTUBE: 4 WAYS YOU TUBE WILL HELP YOUR BUSINESS
By Ashley Phenix
Once a video goes viral on YouTube, it is everywhere. People talk about it, talk shows put it on their funniest video segment, and even www.si.com put non-sports related videos in their “extra mustard” section. Fifty percent of all YouTube content has been actively viewed by adding comments and ratings. Viewers help the video go viral by sharing the link on various social networks, Facebook being the most common.
http://youtu.be/82mOYDHQLIU
YouTube has many purposes, the obvious one is to entertain the public. So how can businesses best tap into the millions of daily viewers? Put something on You Tube! Here are four simple ways to use YouTube to support your business.
1. Promote
Rebecca Black was just a teenage girl with a dream. Thanks to a music video and over 2.5 million views, she became known by practically the whole country. True, it may not have all been positive feedback, but she definitely has made a name for herself. The popular TV show Glee even did a rendition of her song.
http://youtu.be/82mOYDHQLIU
2. How-To
The best way to expand the value of a product in the eyes of a potential consumer is to demonstrate how to maximize the benefits of the product through its many uses. Dove has an actual ‘channel’ on YouTube where they post various videos helping consumers know how to best use Dove. Dove wants to help promote positive self-esteem and help consumers build confidence about their inner beauty.
http://www.youtube.com/user/doveunitedstates?v=sZuSQF_xACc&feature=pyv
3. Product Enthusiasm
When a new product is going to be introduced into the marketplace, the best thing to do is put teasers into the media. It builds enthusiasm through curiosity and intrigue. Samsung is coming out with something very new and releasing the big news at their Samsung Mobile Unpacked 2011 conference. How do you get people who don’t normally go to these types of conferences to get excited about something big? Get your video on YouTube. This YouTube video received more than 1.7 million views and over 1800 comments in five days. 
http://youtu.be/oM9RO-GAKjE
4. Manage Bad Press
Unfortunately for Dominos, a video was placed on YouTube with employees disrupting the sanitary properties of their outgoing pizzas. This video got so much press that it forced Dominoes to react fast. They took this opportunity to take the bull by the horns and release positive PR with their new business plan of inviting customer’s feedback and inviting people to be open about what they like and what needs work.
http://youtu.be/AH5R56jILag
YouTube has so many uses when it comes to promoting a product or a cause. The best part about using You Tube in your advertising strategy is that it is free and word-of-mouth plays the biggest role. If your video goes viral, it is talked about, viewed, and remembered. You Tube holds great advertising power through the simple act of exposure. Exposure is everything.
By Ashley Phenix
Dec 12th, 2011 | Communication, Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Public Relations | 1 Comment
QR Codes: It’s a revolution
QR codes are something that is revolutionizing the United States and other countries around the world. A QR code is a two-dimensional matrix bar code that is used to identify products. It can store up to 4,296 alphanumeric or 7,089 numeric characters (pcmag.com). It was originally made for the automotive industry but has since been applied to many different industries and has the opportunity to change the way we live our lives.
QR codes have been placed in various places for people to quickly scan with their phone to access the hidden information. The codes are unidentifiable until scanned, so no one knows what the codes say or even what they are for. This unidentifiable information could be taken to the next level if applied to certain industries.
At a certain time in someone’s life, one may have to take advantage of the assistance the government provides when in a time of need. The government offers a variety of different assistance programs such as food stamps, unemployment and health care. When one has these assistance programs, he/she is given a card for that specific program which is often times a certain color and easily visually identifiable. This could be embarrassing for people, especially if they have never before needed assistance.
QR codes could ease the embarrassment of using these government assistance cards. Rather than the cards being a certain color or having any words on them at all, they could simply be one big QR code. In order to do this, the government would have to reshape how things are done. They would have to accommodate the use of these codes and constantly update the information of the people using the cards. Also, in order for all of the embarrassment to be removed, it would help if other industries did this as well. If all of the debit and healthcare cards looked the same, no one would know who has what. Doing this would also provide a sense of privacy for people.
It would take a lot of effort to get these cards changed but it would be worth all of the trouble. People should not feel ashamed when they are going through a tough time and have to take advantage of the assistance. By having these unidentifiable cards, other people would not even be able to know the card holders name until the card is scanned. QR codes are revolutionizing the world. This is the future.
By Tasha McClure
Dec 9th, 2011 | Communication, Marketing, Mobile Marketing, NonProfits, Public Relations | Comments Off
Mobile Marketing: Five Ways Non Profits Can Grab Mobile Users Attention
Non profit organizations can utilize the mobile marketing pandemic just as well as major corporations. They simply need to take a different approach. Non-profits need to approach mobile marketing by trying to reach supporters “hearts,” and not basing their entire strategy on fundraising. Their platform should include wanting to create awareness, inform, and alert about events as well fundraising.
Non profits can do this in five ways:
- Creating an in-app advertisement can be beneficial for catching the attention of target audiences. Non profits can create an ad to place in apps for news entities such as Fox News, CNN, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. This is beneficial because consumers are already in an information-gathering mode, and the ad for the app can direct them to more information. Generally, the consumers accessing these types of apps are an audience interested in non-profits.
- Non profits should create multiple apps for their various platforms. One app for the entire organization could be overwhelming and contain too much detail. Breaking it down into various apps reaches new and more audiences.
- After supporters have donated or helped in any way, sending daily or weekly SMS messages can create more generous and giving supporters. The SMS messages can inform about how the donated money helped, provide facts to increase awareness, give advice, and give supporters options to help other than donating money.
- QR codes can be used in advertisements to finish the idea of the ad. Instead of placing the QR code on the ad as an afterthought to provide additional information, non-profits can use the QR code in an interactive way. This can encourage the receiver to scan the code in order to receive all the information the ad is trying to communicate. Taking the receiver to website where there is an abundant amount of information, videos, and ways to get involved.
- Increasing the email database is an easy way to reach supporters. After a supporter has donated or volunteered in some way the non-profit can ask for their email and then send daily messages. Email can do more than a SMS by encouraging social media interaction and providing visuals. The emails can be sent out at a strategic time during the day, for example, when most people are commuting to work and have a lot of down time.
Non profits should strongly consider using mobile apps in the 21st Century.
By Shelby Fonda
Dec 8th, 2011 | Communication, Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media Marketing | 2 Comments
Mobile Apps: potential applications of mobile integration with online games
For many of us, our smartphones are becoming so integrated into our daily lives that we would be lost without them. Since the rise of PC gaming, gamers may have previously found it hard to get away from their keyboards.
However, with mobile apps, they will be better connected to not only to what’s going on in the game when they are away from their computers, but there will be an opportunity for businesses to advertise directly to them while they are still “in their element.”
One way that businesses will be able to advertise through mobile apps is by partnering up with companies to allow products gamers buy in real life to be translated to some form of benefit in the game itself.
For example, Blizzard Entertainment ran a promotion that if you bought a Mountain Dew soda and entered the code printed on the product online, you would get a free in-game pet for the game World of Warcraft.
If more online games utilized mobile apps for their game, a user could simply browse through the app for their game of choice anytime for products they could buy to get something beneficial in the game. This would serve as a great promotion for the companies participating because it provides the gamers with a real incentive to purchase products they may not otherwise.
Another way that gaming companies can utilize marketing to gamers is through a mobile app for integrating social networking, similar to what Blizzard Entertainment has already done with Battle.net, although they do not yet have a mobile app.
Battle.net essentially connects players of Blizzard’s various games together
through advertisements while the user is chatting with their friends. The app could also include using GPS to track the person’s location and pop up ads for products or services near their geographic location.
The possibilities are truly endless for integrating mobile apps in with online games. The main benefit, as mentioned earlier, seems to be that if an in-game incentive is provided, the users may go out and purchase products they may not have otherwise opening the doors for companies to gain new customers.
By Rachael Webb
Short Message Service (SMS) mobile marketing, also known as texting, is an outstanding avenue for small business owners to reach their customers. Almost all cell phones have the capability to send and receive text messages and cell phone owners have the ability to opt-in and opt-out of receiving text messages.
