The Text Works

New Website Design

Wed, 27 Oct 2010 08:16:46 GMT+00:00

Thanks to a lot of hard work from our team our brand new The Text Works website has been finished and launched successfully!

Our new site is much smaller and clearer than its counterpart. We have made your needs central to the content and layout - focusing more on the features of our product range. We have lowered our prices dramatically, for instance you can send a message for as little as 4 pence.

The way you can pay has changed too. We accept all major cards including Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, Solo, Discover and Amex. The most recent update allows you to pay using your PayPal account.

You can buy message credits using our Pay as you Go or Monthly Payments.

Top 10 broadcasting tips

Fri, 14 May 2010 14:42:59 GMT+00:00

Only send relevant offers. The most important aspect of any SMS broadcast is the content within the message, and more importantly, the relevancy of the message to your target audience. High relevancy will give you a high conversion rate.

Refine your lists. Lists should be refined to remove any failures (messages which were not delivered) from previous marketing sends, as well as any customers that have previously opted out.

Remove duplicate numbers. Most mobile marketing platforms automatically remove duplicate entries in uploaded lists. This prevents the same marketing message being sent to a customer twice which can lead to unnecessary costs.

Only send to mobile numbers. As with removing duplicates, most modern SMS platforms also strip out landline numbers. In the UK, numbers starting 07 are reserved for mobile phones.

Tailor your message. Think about the target audience and tailor it to their needs based on other customer information collected such as date of birth, or last product or service purchased.

Personalise each message. If you have managed to collect a customer's name - use it to make your broadcasts more personal.

Calculate the best time to send. Try to think about when your customer will be most likely to take action on the message.

Measure the response. If you are planning to broadcast to a large amount of customers, why not try several messages test messages on a smaller.

Stagger the send. In most cases a promotional marketing message will a call to action such as "Visit our new website here..." or "call our sales hotline now on 0800..". If this is the case, make sure you stagger your broadcast to help manage your workflow as you won't be able to meet the demands of the customers.

Use long messages. It is sometimes difficult to get your offer across in 160 characters so look for a provider that allows you to send long messages.

Which mobile phones support SMS?

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 11:26:41 GMT+00:00

Well the great news is all mobile phones support SMS messaging, even the original mobile phone handsets. So if you don't want to limit your marketing reach you should use SMS and consider MMS - depending on your experience.

Other types of mobile marketing technology includes:

Bluetooth (proximity) marketing - http://www.nextgenbluetoothmarketing.co.uk/
GPS (proximity) marketing - http://www.gps-marketing.co.uk/
Smartphone applications and advertising
Mobile Internet websites
QR code and mobile bar code marketing

None of the above are supported by all mobile phones in your target market. So if you want to be absolutely sure everyone gets your message, choose SMS messaging.

Something that's worth mentioning is the percentage of people opening and reading their messages. At least 98% of UK based mobile phone users opened any text messages according to Event Mobile Marketing Blogs research.

What can I do to start SMS messaging?

If you want to dip your toe in the SMS messaging world then the next thing to decide is whether or not to just send or to send and receive messages.

If you think sending, or one way, messages are perfect for your needs then you should take a look at our SMS broadcasting service.

SMS broadcasting at 4 pence a message without rental

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:52:38 GMT+00:00

TheTextWorks.com have launched a brand new SMS broadcasting product allowing people to send bulk SMS messages without a recurring monthly fee.

All our customers have to do is pay 4 pence per message and that's it! You can buy 200, 500, 1000... all the way up to 100 thousand messages all at just 4 pence each. There is no set up fee or any other charge for this service meaning you can pay as you go.

Read about SMS broadcasting.
View our packages and prices page.

Government SMS health alerts in partnership with Johnson and Johnson

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:17:52 GMT+00:00

The USA government have teamed up with health specialists such as Johnson and Johnson, and Pfizer to create health alerts specifically for pregnant women.

The service "text4baby" is targeting new mums and pregnant women with health related messages. Using the baby's due/birth date the service is guaranteed to be timely and concise.

Because some mothers are unable to attend all appointments or just cannot pay medical insurance the health standards and survival rate of children is in decline. To combat this worrying trend the US government have decided that SMS is the only way to assist and advise mothers.

The decision to use SMS as the main communication method came from the fact that pregnant women use SMS more than any other communication method; presumably because its cheap, instant and easy to use.

The health reminders are sent thrice weekly with helpful information, developmental advice, dietary information and other health related suggestions.

The service, just like our own default SMS reminder campaigns, only costs the standard network rate to enter. All resulting reminders are absolutely free to the end user.

SMS Reminders can improve retention by 70%

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:50:42 GMT+00:00

A local hairdresser near Brighton have used the SMS reminders service to increase their repeat visitation rate by 70%.

As with many services of this kind, the hairdressers clients were missing appointments and consequently having to reschedule and in some cases loose customer appointments. Forgotten appointments also meant some members of staff were without work for up to 3 hours, reducing profit margins exponentially.

By reminding their clients of their appointments they claim there has been an increased attendance resulting in a 70% reduction in losses.

What a great example - SMS marketing is not necessarily a gold mine, but it is a way to apply leverage to your business and amplify your efforts and marketing exponentially.

'SMS Dominance to Continue' Frost and Sullivan report

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:40:01 GMT+00:00

According to the research company Frost and Sullivan in the report "The Future of Messaging" text messaging will continue its prolonged dominance.

The report was compiled from 18 separate interviews of leading Telecom providers across the globe.

"Simple accessibility, ubiquitous network interoperability, ease of use, affordability and price predictability" were the words used by Ronald Gruia in reference to the SMS marketing medium.

With nearly 4 trillion messages sent globally every year and with this added accessibility, SMS is still the No.1 choice for mobile marketing professionals throughout the UK and beyond.

What does bulk rate mean?

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:23:47 GMT+00:00

Definition: Bulk rate means the cost per SMS message in pence.

With the Text Works you will not be charged for your standard allocation of SMS messages. The bulk rate only applies when you are topping up your account.

To see how many message you will receive for free with each package visit our mobile marketing price page.

What is a bulk SMS message?

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:14:42 GMT+00:00

Definition: A bulk, or free message, is an SMS text message sent from an SMS marketing service provider to a phone without any charge to the end user.

The best way to use bulk SMS messages

We recommend using bulk SMS messages for service related campaigns such as SMS broadcasts, SMS alerts and SMS group messages.

Another powerful use for bulk SMS is to send targeted promotions for your products and services.

If you want to know more about our SMS campaigns why not visit our SMS services page.

Win an iPod touch!

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:23:21 GMT+00:00

With only 22 days left before the SMS competition closes who will be out lucky winner.

Take our SMS marketing quiz and find out how much you know about SMS terminology and marketing. Some parts of the quiz help to diagnose any issues you may have had in the past.

For the three runners up there are consolation prizes in the form of a link from our blog to a page of your choice!

Text Works - the greener marketing company

Tue, 2 Mar 2010 11:08:49 GMT+00:00

With every passing year it seems our environmental awareness increases and the ongoing efforts to reduce our carbon footprint as individuals and businesses are improved by innovation and technology.

Globally governments are discussing carbon fixing strategies such as nurturing and encouraging the growth of Phytoplankton. Another clever invention to reduce the worlds carbon levels is the production of thousands of artificial trees that simulate the same carbon cycle of trees, fixing the carbon permanently. More experimental attempts include pushing air through sandstone on a huge scale to lock the carbon within the rock forever.

We at the Text Works believe that being green is essential in this day and age and have started implementing some simple and manageable ways to reduce our companies carbon footprint. For instance we are part of the national cycle to work scheme and even supply our employees with bikes on request. The remaining staff either walk or take public transport to get in.

If you have any suggestions or ideas to make our company even greener we would love to hear them get in touch with support any time.

Where to send sms online free?

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 08:59:39 GMT+00:00

We do offer an introductory free trial for mobile marketers using SMS but none of our services are completely free forever.

Our service best suites small to medium businesses who are trying to use the simplicity and accessibility of SMS to reach their prospects, existing customers and draw brand attention.

If this is right for your business why not view our SMS marketing prices page for more information.

I want to start my own bulk sms provider website service?

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:20:12 GMT+00:00

I am pleased to tell you that we our SMS web interface allows you to create your own SMS business and even take payments on line through our white label SMS payment gateway.

Because we have worked with various types of businesses spanning various industries our interface has grown to accommodate any type of mobile marketing campaign. You can resell our services as if they were yours.

If you are interested why not get in touch with an account manager or view our mobile marketing prices and specifications page.

Can you send SMS from your computer to a mobile?

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 09:11:10 GMT+00:00

In short yes you can. However, if you are trying to find a website to send text messages to your friends The Text Works is NOT for you.

Our SMS computer to mobile service is designed for small to medium businesses who want to send bulk SMS broadcasts or set up two way SMS campaigns.

I recommend you visit our mobile marketing prices page; if you want to test our service visit our mobile marketing introductory trial page.

SMS Mobile marketing for media businesses

Fri, 8 Jan 2010 17:03:00 GMT+00:00

Presently, media organisations such as radio stations, publishers, and TV stations use premium SMS as a way to generate revenue through audience participation, typically voting - think X-factor, Strictly, I'm a Celebrity... and who could blame them. With X-factor recently receiving 10m votes for the 2009 final, it's certainly lucrative. One issue that's always surrounded premium rate competitions is the uncertainty over cost to the audience. Wouldn't it be good if we could still have audience participation and make money for the organiser without it costing the audience an arm and leg? I think we can achieve this, but through a slightly different model - let me explain.

Lets pretend I'm a publisher producing a monthly magazine about the latest Computer Games, chances are my audience is primarily interested in new game releases, Consoles, news, and gaming peripherals. Secondary interests could range from Personal computers, gadgets, and general technology. Proof of this is the type of advertising in the magazine relating to these types of product. Now, once the reader has finished reading the magazine, how else can you contact them with advertising relating to them? SMS of course! If the reader has entered a competition, voted, or contacted the editor via an SMS campaign, you have a direct route to market back out to that reader with details on a product relevant to them.

To insure you have plenty of numbers to promote to, make entry to your call to action campaigns as cheap as possible to the end user, or charge a nominal value to cover operating costs, for example 25p. I spoke to the marketing director of a publishing firm this afternoon who agreed that in a few years, this will most likely be the approach taken by all publishers.

Now, sending the promotional messages. Media agencies, advertising firms, and brands are currently willing to pay up to 20 pence per message to send marketing messages or redeemable vouchers (think colour WAP vouchers, Web redeemable unique voucher codes). With the cost of sending free messages via such interfaces as The Text Works as low as 4 pence per message, you could be looking at a profit of 16 pence for every message sent. This starts to look interesting when you manage to build a list of 10,000 customers!

Let's look at an example. I'm a video game retailer looking to drive footfall to my store upon the release of a new computer game. The computer game company is set to run some high profile magazine, tv, and radio ads to drive sales. To cash in on this publicity, I need to drive potential customers to my chain of stores to buy the game.

I can do this by (1) broadcasting to my existing database of customers, or (2) working in conjunction with another company that already has a list of relevant numbers, providing of course they have permission (or opt in). The second option is where the publisher of computer game titles will make their money by charging me a per number rate for each mobile lead to which I will send my offer - providing of course they've built a mobile database!

Wishing all our readers a Merry Christmas!

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:05:02 GMT+00:00

Whether or not you celebrate Christmas The Text Works team wish you all a happy holiday and a happy new year.

We hope 2010 will be prosperous, and there might even be a few special offers coming your way (hint hint).

Christmas Time SMS

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:38:10 GMT+00:00

As the holiday season approaches it seems that a substantial amount of marketers are levering new and diverse marketing techniques including:

Viral marketing
Web 2.0 branding
Interactive billboards
and SMS mobile marketing

The problem with increased marketing initiatives is the general spam affect experienced by certain demographics - for example business owners with young children.

So how can you market with SMS and not contribute to the spammers of Christmas past?

The best recommendation we can make is give them something in exchange for permission to promote your brand or service. It's easy at this time of year to give away gifts or opportunities to win seasonal prizes such as hampers, toys and shopping vouchers. Football tickets at Christmas do not sell because it is out of season, so the more relevant and timely the better your response will be.

Whatever you do consider your audience first, your message second and your end goal last. If your attitude is what can I give them to get something back you've nailed the Christmas marketing spirit.

New York Alerts Us to SMS

Mon, 7 Dec 2009 12:49:11 GMT+00:00

The NYSEMO, New York State Emergency Management Office, have set up an SMS service for New Yorkers to receive appropriate hazard alerts and notifications. Through the SMS web interface New York public sector staff can set up emergency alerts and private notifications for New Yorkers. It is claimed the service will help raise public awareness and obtain vital information for the emergency and local government services.

The service received 4.7 million subscribers with 2.3 million opting in to receive related promotional messages. The opt in population covers 64 college campuses and the the New York City University network. The subscription is free and allows subscribers to register one or more mobile devices to receive alerts and notifications.

The alert systems is said to include major road closures, weather warnings and state recommendations with regard to public safety, as well as notification for local governments and universities.

British government bodies could learn a lot from New York's modernisation, local governments could offer a text message support channel and subscriptions for public announcements.

Numoro Uno for SMS Previews

Fri, 4 Dec 2009 10:05:47 GMT+00:00

Numo's SMS preview application has achieved 600,000 new registrations in the last two months. The application displays a preview of SMS messages of any inbound text messages.

The app is targeting Android and Symbian mobile devices, it is free and remains one of the most popular download at app stores. The app is available for download from Numo's website.

For those who are using SMS as a marketing tool this is not bad news - I promise! The previews, lets call them snippets, are just like a search engine result. The opening to your SMS message can give it context and appeal. So design you messages with this in mind, experiment with this application - for instance do attached images appear in the preview?

Developments and obstructions to existing strategies can be turned to your advantage and don't forget the iPhone allows SMS preview by default anyway, so make the first 8 words an encouragement to open the entire message.

Positive Web Survey Results for T-Mobile

Thu, 3 Dec 2009 15:37:15 GMT+00:00

Some really great news for T-Mobile recently as their mobile website has been ranked No.1 for the second year running. Global reviews announced T-Mobile the best of its assessed mobile phone websites this week.

Mobile web design is still the under dog

Mobile web is still largely an untapped lead generation resource - so does this mean their success will be short lived, who knows. Another interesting factor derived from the Global reviews findings is that the mobile web development is not keeping pace with the vast growth and evolution of mobile related offerings.

With Google and Yahoo looking to dominate search for the mobile web will T-Mobile and similar industry leaders be able to rely on their mobile websites being a real web referral? Only time will tell.

The criteria

The survey measured user experience on the T-Mobile, Orange, Vodafone, 3, Virgin, O2, Carphone Warehouse and Tesco mobile websites for a reasonable cross section analysis of the industries services.

They assessed each mobile service provider using the following criteria:

content and tools
customer support
prospective customer information
purchasing process
site utility

The results

T-Mobile received a total score of 66%, O2 were a close second with 61% - an improvement on last years results. Vodafone are still in third position with 59%. I think all companies could invest in mobile web optimisation and facilitation - the question is can you afford to miss out on mobile?

Email Strategies recycled for Mobile Marketing

Tue, 1 Dec 2009 10:50:46 GMT+00:00

Email marketing has always been a favourite marketing method in the past and no doubt for the future. Email and mobile marketing have a lot in common, this article has some great information for email marketers. Using a variation on their advice I have compiled the following tips for mobile marketers;

Customer Engagement
Use profile information from previous SMS campaigns to engage users with opinion poles, promotions and competitions.
Stay on target
Always make sure your campaigns and promotions are as relevant as possible. One way to make sure participants are willing to spend money is to have them text in to start the campaign. That way you know they are interested in your offer, competition or opinion pole.
Twitter
Use mini blogs like Twitter.com to promote campaigns, people share a lot of information very readily on social networks - can you afford to ignore them?

For a comprehensive introduction to our service see our full list of features.

Mobile Marketing versus Mobile Advertising

Tue, 1 Dec 2009 09:49:06 GMT+00:00

We have noticed a couple of blogs appear around the subject of mobile marketing and advertising. In short mobile advertising can be described as having a paid advert hosted on a mobile facing website or application. One or two blogs mentioned SMS messages as being "strictly" mobile advertising, and I wanted to discuss the distinction between sending an SMS advert and SMS mobile marketing.

If an SMS message is a stand alone advert then it is mobile advertising - I can't argue with that. But mobile marketing by definition is building a group/demographic of mobile device users from an array of mobile campaigns, sending them targeted messages and perhaps finishing with some follow up contact with other campaigns or promotions. SMS is one of the BEST ways to profile, promote and persuade mobile users.

My advice to anyone interested in learning more about mobile marketing is Google the term "mobile marketing" and have a look at the real industry news. SMS is still a core foundation to many mobile marketing success stories, from ABC's Heroes interactive initiative to Future Publishings editorial profiling campaigns.

We offer a free trial and live demonstrations of SMS mobile marketing. Don't just take our word for it, research and try it for yourself.

MMA Redefine Mobile Marketing

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:17:49 GMT+00:00

MMA officially released a new definition of mobile marketing recently. They say that mobile marketing is "a set of practises that enables organisations to communicate and engage with their audience in an interactive and relevant manner through any mobile device or network".

Insisting that mobile marketing is so much more than spamming people with SMS coupons, MMA discuss the functionality and definition of mobile marketing at the Mobile Marketing Forum, LA.

You can read their press release from the forum here - prnewswire.com.

Engage prospects with SMS

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:03:30 GMT+00:00

Before you send any messages its important to think about your engagement strategy from your target audiences perspective. Put yourselves in their shoes, would you like to receive a message saying "We are offering cars for even less, buy now!", no. You need to think outside the box, surprise them and make them feel like you understand them.

How do people achieve this? Here is a quick guide to customer attraction and engagement;

Create a campaign to attract attention - for example a competition, auction, SMS coupon or other loyalty scheme
Use Point Of sale, websites, emails, cold calling - anything you can think of to get the word out
Group your new users by age, geography and interests (campaigns entered of answers to profiling questions)
Build a promotional campaign to target EACH specific group
Run your campaign right away or at a more appropriate time

You might be saying at this point, why bother? Because we are seeing an exponential interest in SMS from all areas; retailers, marketers, publishers, broadcasters, hosting companies and many more. The Internet as a whole agrees on one thing - SMS mobile marketing will be widely used. Its success, like so many things, relies on your innovation and persistence and you need to be in it to win it (sorry for the cliché).

HAPPILY we are here to help, get in touch now or sign up for a free trial and have a play, if you get stuck you will have direct access to our support and marketing team.

Good luck with all your marketing campaigns and initiatives.

Mobile Content Not Always Available

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:21:06 GMT+00:00

A Xiam Technologies survey indicated that mobile phone users are having difficulty accessing certain mobile content and how this is a barrier for a number of potential consumers.

80% of US and UK mobile device users at some time have had difficulty accessing mobile content. The major issues included slow search/download times, device issues and interface bugs. A whopping 27% said they could not access mobile content at all.

63% said they wanted to spend money on mobile content if only they could access it. Previous claims that there is not enough content for mobiles is no longer the case. One of the most popular services accessed by mobile users is weather content and apps, closely followed by social networking and games.

I think the key here is don't go mobile until your ready and test your content thoroughly; don't claim to be a mobile content provider until you can provide a version of the service for everyone. The negative attributions of a bold claim and poor delivery can stay with brands for years.

Bluetooth Ache

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:26:52 GMT+00:00

Is Bluetooth a good mobile marketing method? Blismobile claimed their recent promotion was a success with over 205,000 downloads of their new film preview.

Sounds impressive? Not when you learn only 1% of the total commuters exposed to the bluetooth promotion actually downloaded the trailer. Blismobile claimed to use posters and promotions to opt in to this promotion, but in reality it seems they continually spam you with Bluetooth requests until you either download the promotion of turn Bluetooth off. Something else to bear in mind when promoting through Bluetooth; most mobile devices have it turned off to save power and have authentication to prevent unwanted requests.

Bluetooth is sadly a dying mobile marketing strategy and is not as controllable as SMS mobile marketing. The future of Bluetooth seems bleak.

LA Mobile Marketing Forum 2009

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:03:37 GMT+00:00

The 2009 Mobile Marketing Forum saw a decrease in attendance this year with only 300 visitors in total. But the atmosphere seemed more positive and competitors less defensive, a sense of collaboration for the greater good - public confidence in mobile marketing.

The forum was held in Sheraton, downtown Los Angeles and offered rich networking opportunities for mobile marketing service providers and specialists. There was a definite theme; how do we overcome the 2009 mobile marketing problems as an industry. Perhaps they have finally learned from the other technical industries such as hosting - global conferences that share valuable information to secure the future of the industry and prevent monopolization. Many people were asking "is this the year of mobile marketing?", clearly the industry leaders still feel mobile marketing has not peaked.

Some of the higher profile attendees included Tom Daly, CO of Coca Cola, and Louis Gump of CNN. The industry will need to be supported by the larger corporations to increase public opinion.

I've said it before and I will say it again people need to be bold and step into the mobile marketing world, it is an untapped resource for branding and service monetisation. Are you sure you can afford to not invest?

MMA Education Plan

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:42:51 GMT+00:00

Mike Wehrs, President of MMA, unveiled the "Certified Mobile Marketer Program" in Los Angeles this week. The course provides marketers with the skill necessary for mobile marketing careers and increases the validity of mobile marketing as an industry in its own right.

The course is available to individuals and organisations helping them master industry related terminology and mobile marketing campaign management. The program consists of three tiers with courses aimed to produce comprehensive mobile marketing professionals at its conclusion.

Hopefully the spam-like reputation of mobile marketers will be softened by this certification and others like it.

Mobile marketing with Twitter, QR codes and viral concepts

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:15:20 GMT+00:00

The Brazilian equivalent of Amazon.com, Editoras online, built a very effective strategy using Mobile Marketing in the form of QR codes.

Their employees placed 4000 QR codes at key locations throughout Sao Paola. When people used their mobile handsets to take a picture of the image (including the QR codes) their mobile handset were directed to a strategic selection of Twitter mini blogs they affectionately refer to as their "living book". Each tweet contained a viral call to action leading the reader to their Editoras on-line website.

Their ROI was massive and added to their brand reputation. The full details of their campaign an be seen in this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG4thXVM2qk.

95% of Digital Budgets Include Mobile

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:32:34 GMT+00:00

95% of UK digital budgets are said to include mobile marketing. 73% of marketers believe there will be substantial mobile marketing growth over the next 5 years. There is said to have been substantial growth in MMS and video shortcode awareness with only 20% of marketers without any experience in 2009.

Many agencies are expecting to spend more on mobile marketing in the near future and a number already have a solidified mobile marketing strategy. Jon Mew, Head of Mobile at the IAB, said "It's extremely encouraging to see that agencies in the UK are adapting to the changing landscape, allocating bigger budgets to mobile and hiring more specialists to plan mobile campaigns."

10 Reasons Why Mobile Has Not Reached Its Potential

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:21:47 GMT+00:00

An interesting article discussing the various reasons why mobile marketing and advertising has not peaked. Offering rich statistics and full length explanations Mark Jaffe writes with great confidence and knowledge on the subject of mobile advertising. He talks about how personal mobiles are, how they can be highly interactive and the communication ecosystem that can be achieved if you do it right.

All in all Mark is a great blogger and I after chatting to him on-line he is approachable and genuine. I recommend adding him to your RSS reader to keep up with general mobile marketing news.

Source: http://mobilemandala.com

80% Say No to Monetising Mobile News

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:09:20 GMT+00:00

Forrester research suggests that moving from free digital news to paid content is proving more unpopular than expected. The study shows 80% of US consumers will not access the content if it is not free, so its highly likely the UK will follow suit. Reducing readers by 80% means advertising exposure is reduced heavily and their current advertisement income will reach an all time low.

There are other ways to make money from content without loosing the vast majority of your readers. Keep your mobile news content free, instead find a way to encourage your mobile readers to opt into SMS campaigns. One way to do this could be publicising an SMS competition or opinion pole. Once our systems realise they are happy to receive promotional content a profile of each mobile owner will be constructed based on their responses. The profiles can be used to send relevant SMS messages from third parties. How much you charge for direct promotions is up to you, this strategy has and still works for major publishers, for instance Future publishing.

Our experienced team are highly experienced in developing marketing strategies with directors and innovators of business. Contact us to discuss this further.

Charities can recover with SMS

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:58:08 GMT+00:00

Charities are loosing out by not using SMS mobile marketing to raise funds, according to mobile payments firm paythru.
The whit paper 'Fundraising issues facing the charity sector, and why the mobile may be able to help' recommends that all charities should consider the personal approach that SMS offers to potentially 72 million mobile devices in the UK. The report also discusses other factors obstructing charities from reaching their potential. It seems charities are too reliant on existing donors, an absence of new regular donors during the recession and loosing regular donors as consumerism becomes the priority.

The study shows how SMS can open the door to younger generations encouraging impulse donations driven be television advertisements, media and web publications. Paythru claim the time to promote through mobile is now.

Bronze solution perfect for Tanning Salons

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:46:54 GMT+00:00

Research shows that tanning salons are loosing credibility with recent accusations surrounding sunbeds and the increased risk of skin cancer. As a result more and more competing salons have turned to SMS mobile marketing to communicate the truth about sunbeds and inject positivity into their brand.

Businesses like tanning salons are perfect for this type of marketing as they have regular contact with their customers, their business relies on local trade and they can promote SMS campaigns at Point Of Sale. SMS mobile marketing is a lot more diverse than people think and the interactivity and impressionability can potentially separate you from your competition.

56 million US Mobile social networkers by 2013

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:07:27 GMT+00:00

Social networking is one of the fastest-growing activities among mobile users domestically and worldwide, so marketers must follow the eyeballs and develop a mobile social strategy. It is the primary way people communicate with each other in 2009. Younger people are using technology to improve their friendships and grow their social networks on and off line.

SMS mobile marketing is still a very valid way to offer targeted promotions to the younger generations, current research shows that social networks are more tolerant of promotions and anything on their mobile phone is both opened and read more than email and social media sites.

BlackBerry leaves a mark

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:46:37 GMT+00:00

"I have an iPhone and thank God for that. One of my colleagues has a BlackBerry and I borrowed it for a story I was writing. It was the most miserable times of my life." say Gizelle of mobilenewsleader.com. He claims it took over one hour to download the BlackBerry app world, the Internet was slow, and the app he was reviewing took 15 minutes to download.

It seems that BlackBerry in functionality terms is more like a PC than a smart phone. Gizelle recommends using an iPhone over the BlackBerry.

Rapper Gucci Mane promotes his CD through mobile

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:40:32 GMT+00:00

Rapper Gucci Mane is using mobile to promote his new album, "The State vs. Radric Davis." Using twitter to advertise his shortcode and keyword Gucci tweeted "Txt DecemBURR to 484848 to hear a preview of 'Worst Enemy' from The State Vs Radric Davis, new album in stores DecemBURR 8th - RT!". Once again another example of leveraging the social media networks to achieve hype and promote mobile marketing campaigns.

To achieve this as an SME set up a twitter account and from the offset offer a link on your site and use it to support your customers. Once you have a number of customers following you and you know they are interested in your promotions you can set up a campaign with a keyword and a shortcode, why not try this with our SMS mobile marketing free trial.

2014 the NFC revolution?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:33:05 GMT+00:00

NFC or Near Field Communications is a short range wireless communication technology covering a range of approximately 100 centimetres. It is said that 1 in 6 mobile phone users will regularly use NFC by 2014. It offers significant benefits for businesses and mobile marketers with the ability to allow POS promotions through mobile phones.

There are some sales and promotional opportunities for mobile marketers, for instance offering loyalty rewards in the form of mobile vouchers for regular shoppers or perhaps referral scheme promotions.

Japan has taken to the technology without hesitation but it seems western society won't be ready till 2014 for the NFC payment revolution.

The FL interactive Mobile Marketing Tender

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:48:41 GMT+00:00

FL interactive have Internet and mobile rights for 80 football clubs in The Football League, Premier League and Football Conference. Kieran Kilbride said "FLi is one of the largest football networks in Europe and its websites receive more than 120 million advertising impressions every month. This is a great opportunity for the right company to make a connection with our network's six million individual users."

The Text Works is not in a position to offer anything other than SMS mobile marketing so our vote goes to Piri Ltd. Piri offer WAP and SMS services with the added value of experienced support to implement, optimise and monetise mobile marketing campaigns and initiatives.

Whoever applies for this tender needs to be able to deal with a huge volume of WAP/mobile internet and SMS traffic. How they want to implement mobile marketing and what they expect to achieve from their campaign is not clear.

Google mobs the mobile ad world

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:54:54 GMT+00:00

Google announced acquisition of Admob, a mobile display advertising specialist, for $750 million ($450 million).

Research has shown the Apple's iPhone and Google's Android access the mobile web substantially more than other mobile devices. Admob was established in 2006 and boasts working with Coca Cola, Ford and Procter & Gamble.

Reference: Google turns to mobile

SMS spam gives consumers indigestion

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:45:29 GMT+00:00

Mobilemarketingwatch.com released an article about the recent study by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). It showed that SMS marketing users want to have more control over the messages they receive. The studies aims were to quantify the issues surrounding the "unwritten rules of engagement" within the realm of SMS promotions.

Companies levering SMS to promote brands are not being clear enough about the opt in process the DMA study found. Two thirds of users wanted to choose the time of day they received the promotions, others had no idea where the SMS came from or how they opted in.

The DMA advise that if you want to maintain trust you have to be explicit about the optin process and confirm opt outs instantly.

Reference: Consumers Seek Control Over SMS Marketing

UK surfers lack of trust

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:34:27 GMT+00:00

UK on-line shoppers are suffering from a lack of confidence in e-commerce vendors. A recent Office of Fair Trading (OFT) report found that over 30% of Internet users don't shop on-line, 20% clearly stating they don't trust on-line vendors.

It's obvious that some UK shoppers do not trust vendors with their card details and even more won't store their personal information on-line. The OFT report does show that in recent years on-line consumer confidence has improved but doesn't full explain what caused the negative shift in confidence in the first place. On-line shopping cannot be fully realised with current attitudes.

John Fingleton, chief executive of OFT, said "On-line retailing is the future for many businesses and increasingly important to the economy... If consumers are not confident on-line, demand will grow at a slower rate. So we must tackle these concerns right now if the on-line market is to grow at its full potential,".

So what could have caused this lack of trust? The media has covered countless data protection flaws on-line in recent years, from Monster's database leak to Facebook profiling users personal data, news coverage has developed an awareness of database hacking and unbecoming marketing through social media.

One positive reaction to the OFT's findings is that on-line vendors are asking their hosts the right questions and doing all they can from the ground up to secure their users data, after all a major vendor like Amazon being hacked would prove to be a costly mistake.

What can we do to boost Internet consumer confidence?

Buy an SSL certificate and secure order and account pages
Display authority and card trust logos clearly
Show existing customer testimonials
Offer a free trial without taking any card details (if applicable)
Offer a money back guarantee
Increase visibility of terms and conditions
Where applicable have real photos of directors and personal information

Contact me if you have any other questions of suggestions, best of luck.

Understanding the marketing mix

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:05:08 GMT+00:00

The term "Marketing mix" refers to the 4 P's of marketing; Price, Place, Promotion and Product. When marketing you need to build a long term strategy and often it helps to think about the mix and, just like in baking, the mix of ingredients is essential to the results.

Here is how each element of the marketing mix breaks down:

Price
Giving your customers the right price is always important, some things however cannot be lowered in price for example, wages, license fees and marketing tools. If you cannot get your prices any lower then you can still focus on value, spend less time focusing on the price and more time telling people why it is valuable - for instance we offer SMS advertising as a Value Added Service and we tell our customers about the money they can make and the customer experience improvements they will see.

Place
Location is a very important thing, having a shoe shop in an industrial estate is a mistake, having it on the high street set apart from competition is perfect. The same applies to the Internet, find a niche market either by geo-targeting or buying the right domain name, for instance if there is a demand in the UK for widgets make a website specifically for the UK and buy a domain like ukwidgets.co.uk.

Promotion
This refers to your promotional strategy and execution, very often this is a large part of any marketing campaign so requires more attention. Spend time researching what has worked for other similar industries and assess current trends and buzz to determine what works best for your products and services. Mobile marketing can help build market segments for targeted promotions, its easier than ever to profile subscribers in a natural way. Publishers use text the editor and campaigns, radio broadcasters use text the DJ and opinion poles, event organisers use viral promotions and retailers use loyalty schemes and discount SMS vouchers. However its done, the targeting process has been completely automated and prices are lower than ever.

Product
Adapting your product range or services to meet customer demands is a smart move, the best way to keep up with your customers is to speak to them. You could try email, setting up special events and other more direct approaches. I have always found cold calling to be a bit of a turn off, mobile marketing is highly appropriate because it reaches them wherever they are, it is less obtrusive than cold calling and the open rate is higher than traditional methods such as email.

It is expected that a huge proportion of SME's will adapt their marketing mix to include SMS, those that are strong innovators and get to grips with the technology early on will be the most successful.

The marketing mix should not be the same for all businesses, different products and industries require a different ratio. Contact us if you have any further questions or comments and good luck.

Telemedia 360 Post Show Review

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:50:58 GMT+00:00

The Liverpool based Telemedia show, sponsored by Mobile Marketing Specialists - Piri ltd, boasted a range of speakers offering suggestions and solutions to combat the decline in media monetisation during the recession, and in my opinion they delivered just that.

The fact that so many media consumers spend their spare time glued to the TV, laptop by their side and a mobile in reach proves that media is centric to our personal life. Professionals too are becoming more and more reliant on media peripherals and terminology, bizarrely during the introductory talk when asked who owned an iPhone the majority of the left spectators raised their hands, and when asked the same about Blackberry's the right side raised their hands, a select few roughly central to the room owned both. What does this prove, is it a coincidence or do birds of a feather buy the same brand and sit together?

I sat through a number of talks regarding Mobile, media, UGC and CRM concepts.

CASE STUDY How the FT uses apps to drive people to online subscriptions

Panel and Speaker
Stephen Pinches, lead product development manager, FT.com
Panel
Rick Gleave, head of interactive & mobile, Trinity Mirror Group
Oli Roxburgh, MD, Bluestar Mobile
Paul Wright, digital director, Lifestyle, Bauer Media
Gary Corbett, commercial director, Oxygen8
Chair
Mark Challinor, european director, INMA

A presentation outlining mobile application and mobile web initiatives employed by FT.com and their outcomes. It was clear from their statistics that mobile websites were the way to go, considering the expected shift from desktop to mobile web consumers and the low cost of development. FT.com demonstrated some great interactive apps too.

NEW CHANNELS: Engaging consumers through Social Networking and UGC

Panel and Speakers
Tom Weiss, CEO, TV Genius
Andrew Yates, chief executive, Artesian Solutions
Panel
Steve King, technical director, Jigsaw
Ivan Ali-Khan, head of digital, Virgin Media
Chair
Paul Maidment, business development director, BBC Worldwide

Although the presentations for IPTV and Artesian Solutions were largely a sales pitch there was a measure of useful information. Better still the panel thrust full force into a heated debate, the arguments largely were about giving people enough choice, building systems to deliver content to the user in a relevant way and how users searching Google feel like they are trying to take a sip from a fire hydrant.

I concluded that the fragmentation of media is a problem that won't go away any time soon, the Internet should be the channel for all media and relevant content should find the viewer not the other way around. There is a fine line between delivering relevant content and spamming people with sales pitches, marketers would do well to take care when targeting new leads.

DATA & CRM: Getting to know you...

Panel and Speakers
Nick Weatherall, Future Publishing
Panel
Tajinder Jagdev, Head of Communications, Media and Entertainment Practice SAS UK
Andrew Yates, Chief Executive, Artesian Solutions
Chair
Paul Skeldon,editor, Telemedia 360 and Telemedia-news.com

Nick from Future gave a detailed and precise presentation outlining a great Mobile Marketing case study, his strategy for monetising SMS was as follows:

Use mobile as entry point for competitions, votes and text the editor
Give them a chance to opt out
Market third party products and services to relevant users

Nick, one of our biggest customers, found that only 0.01% of entrants opted out - meaning that they were willing to receive relevant news and offers direct to their phones. This is an exciting step towards User Generated Content, content that finds you!

All in all the whole experience was very helpful and I met some really interesting people, I have learned a lot about the media's struggle with measurability, monetising content and fragmented delivery mediums. Where will the future of TV lie, IPTV? Sky? and will the publishers still offer on-line content for free in the years to come? One thing is certain, the SMS world will take off in 2010 - its time to diversify and solidify your position in the Mobile Marketing world.

Text Works goes to Telemedia 360

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:49:02 GMT+00:00

The Text Works will be one of the many companies visiting the Liverpool Docks T360 show. Promoting and discussing all things media, the show boasts good company and speakers. There is an evening opening party on Tuesday 20th October, between 20:00 - 0:00 at the Alma de Cuba, warming the business and networking attendees up and offering an informal social meeting place to speak to old and new contacts and affiliates. Wednesday 21st opens at 9:00 am and carries on until 2:00 am the next day!

We will be attending the day events and taking some pictures throughout. The Text Works will attend to learn, share and promote our mobile marketing solutions as well as make marketing and business contacts to better our products and services. I have often found networking meetings to be both helpful and inspiring and am looking forward to meeting new people within the media industry.

There will be a post show blog on Thursday 22nd October. If you are attending the T360 show I look forward to meeting you and I hope you have a successful day.

NBC - the "Heroes" of SMS marketing

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:11:20 GMT+00:00

For some time now NBC has enjoyed the new found success of their TV hit show Heroes. The series follows the lives of ordinary people gifted with extraordinary powers that corrupts some and purifies others descending them into a good versus evil showdown. Heroes have suffered from low ratings recently triggering NBC to make the leap into mobile marketing.

NBC are using interactive SMS in real time with TV broadcasts as well as offering $25,000 if they solve a mystery using various hints as the story unfolds. The marketing campaign includes:

graphic novels for mobile handsets
a game of survival
various snippets of Heroes
a micro site

Users could text "HPLAY" to 62288 at any time to start interacting, the number and keyword were promoted during Heroes broadcasts.

Stephen Andrade, NBC senior vice president of digital development and general manager said "Mobile is another device like the PC Web or interactive TV or anything else that can deliver digital content... It's small and portable and for us it makes sense to combine it in our overall marketing plans."

NBC have displayed tremendous marketing dexterity in years gone by and this campaign is no different. They have recognised that email and web cannot completely compliment television. Mobile is perfect as the viewer will have their mobile phone near them while watching the show, SMS is instant and quick to read. The interactive potential of mobile and television has not been fully realised but there is no doubt NBC have taken a huge leap.

Customer service and mobile marketing

Mon, 5 Oct 2009 14:47:45 GMT+00:00

Many of us have experienced poor service and inconsistent levels of support as customers. It is increasingly frustrating when you are unable to make any progress, especially when what your working on is time sensitive. This article aims to highlight some of the problems surrounding modern customer service and explain how our mobile solutions can solve these issues in a cost effective way.

Here are the major customer service failures that I have experienced in recent years:

Poor quality phone and email service
Language barriers on phone and in text
Being put on hold due to lack of knowledge or being directed to the wrong department
Lack of training causing delays
Lack of manners
Low customer awareness
High level of training and manpower can be expensive

Very often this poor service is not a reflection of the products or services on offer and companies are spending a lot of time and resources monitoring and training their customer representatives.

So how can mobile messaging solutions help?

99% of adults between the ages of 18 and 45 have a mobile phone at hand during working hours. Mobile phones allow them to read messages and respond instantly with the added benefit of being able to contact you while on the move. Here are some specific ways that our mobile solutions could improve your customer awareness and increase loyalty:

Promotional messages sent directly to their phone
Automatic account verification - mobile phone numbers are unique to each customer
Offer a two way message flow for standard support enquiries
Request a callback if no one is available or lines are busy
Service status enquiries - such as network outages or similar

There are countless other applications of mobile marketing within the customer service industry, many of which are dependant on your specific needs and the type of services you offer.

Speak to our mobile marketing specialists for more information.

How to implement mobile as a support channel

All of our packages allow complete access to our range of messaging solutions. It requires no integration and little training. We offer live demonstrations on request. Once registered you can start using the interface instantly. If you do choose to plug our SMS gateway into you current support systems its as easy as copying and pasting a link.

As an added bonus we have developers available on the phone if your technical team have any questions or experience any integration issues.

Mobile marketing drives BMW

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:19:59 GMT+00:00

As one of the first mobile marketing innovators BMW has set the bar for manufacturers looking to target a specific demographic on a service level. Like BMW 62% of companies are increasing their mobile marketing budget and in some cases disregarding all other marketing campaigns. Many marketing experts are realising that mobile offers a completely unique way to interact with their customer base and reach full sale potential.

The head of BMW digital media, Marc Mielau, made the call to start channelling marketing campaigns through mobile media channels and hasn't looked back. Most recently BMW promoted their 1 series saying they could "conquer young people through the mobile channel". BMW even launched Nokia mobile phones with preinstalled 1 series content and developed a downloadable racing game with customisable cars showing off the cars fresh rear design during game play. Mielau said "We got 75,000 downloads which - at that time - was an amazing success".

BMW avoided straight forward advertising through mobile marketing saying "advertising in not value!" BMW believe you can save time or kill time; save time when their busy and kill time if they are not. So they target the appropriate demographic and only deliver useful content rather than spamming their entire customer base with every campaign regardless of their current service needs.
One of their campaigns actually converted over 30% of their recipients to sale which is a huge success for any marketing campaign. Other successful BMW initiatives include:

Texting German customers reminding them to fit winter tyres before the snow season with a call to action leading them to a local dealer
A downloadable game following on from their Z4 TV adverts with the model spreading colour around a large canvas

BMW have followed a few simple rules to achieve success:

Accurate targeting
Viral concepts
Appeal on a personal level
Be helpful not annoying
Optimise content for recipient technologies
Use mobile as a service channel not advertising

BMW for now are looking to continue servicing their clients through mobile innovations. It will be interesting to see what they come up with next.

Measuring mobile marketing results

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:10:32 GMT+00:00

Our team of developers have been working to improve our SMS interface and measurement tools. One of the main topics of discussion was making campaign responses more measurable and displaying the data in a meaningful way.

We have added the following features to our statistics engine to meet the aforementioned requirements:

Statistics can be restricted to a custom date range
Users can view results by type of message, revenue, costs and profits
You can view specific trends, for example popular days of the week or popular times
Three dimensional graphs for all statistics
View and download statistics in spreadsheet format

Click here to see an example of our analytical software in action.

Mobile marketing - much more than just sending messages

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:41:43 GMT+00:00

After some research and networking the general assumption seems to be that mobile marketing is simply broadcasting to a group of individuals that are likely to have an interest in a specific product or promotion. For example someone said "Sending offers or advertising through Mobile SMS is known as Mobile Marketing."

Other marketing professionals are saying that mobile marketing requires Bluetooth proximity alerts, picture messaging innovations and market driven mobile applications. Whilst all of this is true to some degree it is a very limited approach to improving brand attention, customer awareness and lead generation. Here are some recommendations to achieve maximum results when mobile marketing:

Publish a call to action to your audience with your shortcode and keyword, for example "Send TextWorks to 87474"
When customers respond TheTextWorks interface will store their response and in turn send a custom reply
Their numbers and messages will be stored in your database
Build a list of customers from your interface
Develop a viral or promotional message with a free or discounted offer
Send your message

Some of the larger companies have spent a lot of resources on building viral mobile marketing campaigns on a grand scale, for example using billboards in times square allowing people to control a persons emotions by texting one or two keywords to a shortcode.

Most SME's are using the 6 steps in conjunction with advice from our team of specialists, but that doesn't mean you have to do the same. If you have an idea and want to sound it out contact us or try our free trial to make sure mobile is right for you.

Retail Mobile Marketing

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:27:54 GMT+00:00

What is it?

Retail mobile marketing consists of sending SMS text messages to customer mobile handsets to promote products and developing incentives to persuade customers to send messages using your designated shortcode and keyword. Some retailers use the two methods in conjunction and others use our service to simply broadcast a specific group of consumers.

Why do it?

Now more than ever retailers need to diversify their approach to promotional marketing. Mobile marketing is still fresh and allows marketers to:

Reach thousands of customers in seconds
Drive customer loyalty through promotions
Gain insight into customers
Improve marketing response rates
Measure responses instantly

Who does it?

Tesco joined forces with Marie Curie Cancer Care to "raise money on the move" linking to a mobile website for Marie Curie donations and news. Sainsbury's have started an in store viral marketing campaign to promote latest wine offers. Many other large and small retailers are adopting the mobile advertising initiative.

How it's done

Build a strategy to encourage customers to text a shortcode to subscribe to news, events and special offers. Make sure you publish the shortcode and any other details clearly across all the usual channels, just like you would with emails and web addresses. You could even train staff to collect numbers at Point Of Sale by offering rewards or loyalty schemes. Make sure any participants know that they will be receiving promotional messages and allow them to unsubscribe at any time. Consider all of the above carefully when training retail staff.

Once you have an audience you can begin broadcasting strategic and even viral messages. Use as much information about your customers to determine if your messages are appropriate and avoid over messaging; spam will result in customers removing themselves from your database.

Contact us for any further queries or marketing advice, our UK support team will respond to your email within 1 working day. Real time demonstrations are available on request.

Customer service closes the gap between SMEs and Corporations

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:36:22 GMT+00:00

If you are an SME or sole trader then you probably already know that customer service is essential to repeat business. Larger companies such as Google or Amazon envy your relationship between you and your customer. They are too busy handling the volume of new customers to afford the time and care you can offer.

It is highly likely that a relatively large number of customers have received poor customer service from large companies and a smaller company with the personal touch is exactly what they need. In fact you may find that a lot of burned customers will stay longer because of the personal support even if your products are not as beneficial. UK based businesses are increasingly appreciating being able to pick up a phone and speak to a UK specialist, they are turned off by non UK call centres who don't understand the product.

This is where text comes into its own. When used correctly it can be a powerful tool for customer service. It can help you gather and store information about your customers and their preferences, so that you can keep them informed about new developments and offers you know they will be interested in. It can also be used for 'live chat' giving your customers a direct link to support wherever and whenever they need it.

Here are some tips to improve your customer service:

Low paid support staff will not perform well
Staff will treat customers as they are treated
Understand your customers on a personal level
Let your customer get to know you - for instance have a more personal blog and photos on about pages
Go that extra mile
Welcome your customers when they sign up
Give customers the benefit of the doubt
Do as much as you can to say yes
Make sure your support staff are well trained and up to date
If in doubt ask your customers - via text, email or online survey

A lot of SMEs are already taking customers away from large companies and some are beginning to work with other smaller companies within the same industry to oppose the larger corporations effectively.

Don't get left behind - network with other SMEs and be prepared to share information and resources to harden each other against those who could otherwise monopolise your market.

Telemedicine - medical information through mobile phones

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:23:15 GMT+00:00

Telemedicine is the process of communicating medical information through mobile phones or email. It can be used for consultations and examinations; for example photos of ailments sent via mobile phones or web cams. If geography is a problem then one or more consultants can review a case remotely without expenditure of precious funds or time spent travelling.

Another effective application of telemedicine is video conferencing. Time sensitive and complex cases require a detailed conversation, video conferencing is more appropriate than email or text messages as it allows for a real time conversation, as opposed to turn based questions and answers.

Absentia care, or care from a distance, has existed for decades. In some cases medical communications and prescriptions have been sent via post. As technology has evolved so have the medical professionals.

Mobile marketing in the form of SMS is perfect for telemedicine for the following reasons:

Surgery registrants can be added to the gateway on mass
Patient details can be attached to phone numbers within the interface
Text messages are quick and easy to compose
Messaging is cost effective and instant
Automated messages can be set up for regular check ups and feedback

Direct marketing to patients is frowned upon so if you decide to set up a campaign make sure all of the recipients are aware that they will receive promotional messages and avoid sending to many messages. Allow people to unsubscribe from marketing messages without being excluded from telemedicine subscriptions.

If in doubt do surveys and research on the internet, look at successful case studies and avoid repeating other companies marketing faux pas.

Coca cola - mobile marketing on a global scale

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:12:49 GMT+00:00

Back in 2007 Coca Cola stormed into the mobile advertising marketplace with click-to-video mobile ad technology. "Coke is eager to reach its customers on the mobile phone as it is a highly personal device." said Tom Daly, group manager for strategy and planning at Coca Cola. Around the same time Coke produced a WAP only social network called the Sprite yard. Subscribers text a short code and receive a link to register, they can follow the link, login and begin socialising through the WAP site. The idea was to offer free wallpaper, ringtones and multimedia promoting their recent brands alongside advertising their latest offers and products.

More recently Coca Cola positioned point of sale promotions encouraging consumers to text a keyword to a short code and in turn receive a free drink. A text based voucher code allowed them to claim a bottle of Dr Pepper, Sprite or Fanta through Paypoint technology. Coca Cola received great feedback from retailers and customers, and the campaign was said to be a complete success.

Somewhat predictably Coke further promoted the aforementioned brands in July 2009 by offering 50 pence credit with each purchase. All shoppers had to do was text a keyword to a short code from the drinks packaging and their phones contract or balance received credit within 48 hours. Once again sales peaked and their strategies proved to be sound.

Many other brands including Uniliver are already experimenting with coupon based promotions. Could mobile marketing work for you?

Record label adopts mobile marketing

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:52:50 GMT+00:00

Record label Geffen recently developed a mobile marketing strategy to promote the girl band Mini Viva. The debut single, "Left My Heart in Tokyo" was released on the 7th September and sales are on the up. The marketing strategy was specifically designed for iPhone and iPod touch and targets the 13 to 24 age range. Using CPC advert links and CPM banner adverts distributed across Admob's social networks, mobile websites and applications the marketing campaign is set to appeal to young people more dynamically than previous promotions.

Colin Barrow, the Geffen UK President, says "Technology now enables acts to raise their profile and start a dialogue with their fans in many new and exciting ways. The mobile channel provided an ideal opportunity to reach Mini Viva's prospective fan base. By working with AdMob and promoting the single on iPhone and iPod touch devices, we're hitting a digital generation of music lovers that are becoming increasingly used to interacting with their favourite artists via technology."

As the music industry becomes increasingly saturated with new artists of all genres, top record labels are finding fresh and inventive ways of building accurate demographics of their target population and appealing to their consumerism on a personal level. Whether or not they decide that mobile is appropriate, marketers need to diversify their broadcasting medium to maintain high impact marketing and ROI.

Here are some useful guides for potential mobile marketers:

Nissan and Yahoos joint venture

Tue, 8 Sep 2009 08:55:53 GMT+00:00

Japanese car manufacturer Nissan and Internet giant Yahoo have joined forces through a mobile marketing exercise. The theme of the campaign is simplicity; using Nissan Micra, Pixo and Note models to illustrate the theme. Yahoo has created an application enabling their users to publish reviews of places to stay and city breaks on a global scale. Yahoo will promote its guides through mobile phones and online networks with the main focus being on Nissan's simplistic car design. Other car manufactures that have used mobile marketing include Ford, Jaguar and Volvo. What separates this campaign from previous efforts is that it is promoting two brands at once. It will be interesting to see how successful this joint venture is.

Ford marketed their new Flex model successfully in Dallas targeting a culturally broad spectrum of consumers in the barber shop and beauty salon trade using uVIP and bCODE technologies. Jaguar promoted its XF model advertising on mobile sites such as admob.com, Yahoo Mobile, cars.mobi and MSN.mobi.

Volvo set up a Switzerland based mobile marketing competition giving away a V50. To enter the competition entrants had to text "V50" followed by their postal codes to a dedicated short code. In response they received a special code and details of their nearest Volvo dealership. By visiting the dealership and presenting the code they were given respective prizes. In addition visitors were also entered into the Christmas draw for the V50 model.

Small to Medium Enterprises still have the opportunity to reanimate their marketing strategies through mobile for a reasonable price. The amount of companies using mobile based marketing is increasing and consumers are discovering new brands through these campaigns. Contact us for more information on mobile marketing and other initiatives to put your products in your target audience's hands.

Predictive text encourages young people to be impulsive

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 16:29:06 GMT+00:00

Predictive text is an input technology built into the majority of modern mobile handsets. It attempts to predict or offer a list of possible words within a few key presses. Traditional text messaging required multiple key presses to achieve certain letters, for instance pressing the "2" key 3 times would write the letter "c" but pressing it only once produced "a". Predictive text requires only 1 key stroke per letter, so the letters "c" and "a" would only require a single press of the key "2", the letter is only determined as part of a word when enough keys are pressed - for example pressing the keys "26868" produces the word "count", the following image shows mobile phone keys and their respective letters.

Recent studies have shown that more than 9 out of 10 sixteen year olds now own a handset and as much as 40% of school children own a mobile phone. Professor Michael Abramson performed various tests and found that a quarter of 11 to 14 years olds send more than 20 text messages per week. IQ type tests revealed that using mobile phones during early years actually altered the way young people think.

Hitting a few keys and seeing the desired result is said to cause young people to not think things through and become more impulsive. Abramson says that "The kids who used their phones a lot were faster on some of the tests, but were less accurate. The use of mobile phones is changing the way children learn and pushing them to become more impulsive in the way they behave."

Abramson assures us that texting does not produce enough radiation to affect their behaviour; it is predictive text that is to blame. Other similar research suggest that predictive text messaging as a whole actually improves young people's spelling, forcing them to use real English words instead of slang or abbreviations.

QR Code Marketing

Wed, 2 Sep 2009 14:20:29 GMT+00:00

QR codes are open format two dimensional bar codes developed by Denso-Wave in 1994. QR or Quick Response allows mobile phones with QR readers to access websites and messages simply by photographing a QR barcode. Most Japanese mobile handsets already have a QR reader installed by default. If you do not have a QR reader installed and your mobile handset is modern it's likely you can search for a QR reader application and install it for free.
The codes can be decoded at speed and are extremely reliable. Take a picture of the following QR code to see our website home page.

How have QR codes been used?

There have been literally hundreds of ways that businesses and individuals have promoted products and concepts through QR code marketing. Here are just a few ways that QR codes have been displayed:

Business cards
Electronic billboards
Fliers
Websites
Email marketing
Confectionary decoration
DVD covers
CD covers

In fact the Pet Shop Boys clearly display a QR code on their CD covers. Companies of all sizes are using the QR barcode technology from local decorators to electronic billboards in Times Square.

Future application of QR codes

There are a tremendous amount of applications for this technology - it could be placed on designer clothing, public transport vehicles, television advertisements, search engine results and even restaurant crockery. The trick is to react quickly and be innovative.
Like all other technology this will evolve and become increasingly compact and accessible. But for the time being it still has the wow factor for consumers.

The British love of mobile phones

Tue, 1 Sep 2009 14:04:09 GMT+00:00

The British love of mobile phones is set to grow with 1 in 5 people in the UK spending a quarter of their day on their mobile phones. Despite handset sales declining mobile phone use is at an all time high. The British Empire loves their mobiles so much that next to nothing can stop their compulsion to open a text message or answer an incoming call. A large number of handset owners obsess over the latest mobile phone peripherals, upgrades and applications.

There is said to be 200 million calls a day in the UK on mobile phones showing that information exchange on a personal and business level is centred on mobile phones. People seem to fear they will lose out if their mobile phone is off or if they don't have it with them wherever they go. The need to have a mobile phone at any time is so great that clothing manufacturers are adding mobile phone pockets to bags, trousers and jackets. Some mobile phone pouches even have a hole for handset headphones.

Mobile phones are a fashion commodity and with the aggressive competition between the mobile networks; they are forced to offer higher priced complementary handsets with lower priced tariffs. Access to the latest handsets on contract will only strengthen the bond between the average Brit and their phone.

Text messaging is on the up and recent studies suggest that mobile phone subscriptions will increase by one billion over the next few years. Current mobile phones are already more powerful than some desktop computers. Some of the handset features include a clock, thermometer, light meter, GPS, accelerometer and in some cases a compass. The kit packed into these tiny devices is more complex than some of NASA's lunar modules.

Mobile phones are future safe because the technology is open for developers to produce software and solutions for most handsets. Google blog suggests the following could be available to handset owners:

Smart alerts

Dynamically notifies you when something requires your attention, for example if you have passed your usual stop on a train.

Augmented reality

Making full use of the mobile phones devices to automatically predict relevant information without the users input. For example a phone might use the camera and GPS to scan the local environment, recognise a restaurant sign and proximity then preload its menu, price list and recent reviews.

Work tool

Mobile phones could become the one-stop-shop for your working day. They could replace your PC, Blackberry and Global Positioning Systems.

The future of mobile is secure with businesses discovering innovative ways to communicate with their current customers and win new business too. Long live the mobile phone.

How to build a Mobile Marketing subscription list on the web

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:31:33 GMT+00:00

The most important part of any mobile marketing campaign is having a long standing subscriber list; there is no value in acquiring a random selection of mobile numbers and spamming them intensively. It is thought that on average you must contact someone 7 times before they show any real interest, so you need to be sure your subscribers want to hear from you before sending any messages. Spend time identifying your target audience and their interests.

Before storing any information with the intent to distribute marketing or promotional material you need to tell them what they are agreeing to, making sure the checkbox is not ticked so they have to opt in.

Here are some suggestions to help you gather and collate subscriber information.

HTML subscription forms
Offer a web based subscription form to all site visitors with as little requirements as possible, I would recommend name and mobile number only.

Opt in opportunities
Whether it's purchasing a product, subscribing to news and site updates or contacting support you should include extra fields on your web forms to allow them to store their mobile number and opt in to your subscriber list.

Offer incentives
Potential subscribers will be more inclined to join in exchange for rewards. Determine what your audience will want and display offers clearly throughout your site and email newsletters.

If your business distributes paper based publications or you sell physical products or services you can offer incentives that are attainable if they text a keyword to your short code. If your customer responds to you, you know they are interested. Viral email campaigns can be even more convenient with either a simple text message or a colour WAP voucher.

Referral schemes and rewards
The ideal scenario is using existing subscribers to recruit others in exchange for affordable rewards. How you do this depends largely on the industry you work in, for example a hosting company could offer free web space that may never be used and is increasingly inexpensive.

Have a meaningful website
If your website is appropriate and has helpful content then other people may read what you have and subscribe to your mobile list on the basis that they are genuinely interested in what you have to say.

Optimise your website
Find a way to make your website content more appealing to search engines and descriptive to encourage searchers to click through when they do find you. This is a very specialist subject and we recommend you speak to your web master or consider employing a search engine optimisation expert.

Listen to your existing subscribers
Customer feedback, surveys and support channels are good ways to build a demographic of potential subscribers. Speak to people in relevant groups on networking sites and use forums openly to learn more about your target audience.

Once you have your subscriptions you can begin your mobile marketing campaign. We recommend at this stage you read about the available mobile marketing services for inspiration.

Profiling is a great way to determine genuine customer interest, and it's automated. For example, after 4 interactions, why not ask the customer if they would like to hear about special offers or promotions. If they respond positively you know they are interested.

Pepsi are using Mobile Marketing as part of their marketing strategy

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:43:43 GMT+00:00

Pepsi have revealed recently that they use Mobile Marketing in their promotional strategies and marketing. Ugur Oglu says "The mobile channel allows us to target and reward our customers on a real time basis setting mobile aside from other forms of marketing".

Pepsi will be taking part in the 2009 Mobile Marketing forum in Germany. Others to attend include Coca Cola, Sony Ericsson, Nike, Lufthansa and Auto trader. The event starts on September 9^th and is said to have attracted some of the giants of modern marketing.

Larger companies cannot achieve the same level of personalised support that SME's can, as such smaller companies have the opportunity to use mobile marketing on a personal level and secure a relatively large portion of the market.

Top tips for Mobile Marketers

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:19:32 GMT+00:00

Mobile marketing is a fairly new and high impact approach to communicating with an existing or potential audience. With that in mind we thought it might be helpful to write an introduction to do's and don'ts of mobile marketing.

DO: Think about your target audience demographic
There is nothing more annoying than receiving a text message, email or letter that is completely irrelevant and in some cases inappropriate. Know your audience and gather information from people who are likely to appreciate your marketing messages.

DON'T: Obtain a database of random mobile numbers
Such sources won't check that these users are relevant or that the mobile phones are still active. Further these users may well have been heavily spammed by other database subscribers.

DO: Use your messages to link to other channels
WAP/ Web Sites, Vouchers to push people to POS (Point Of Sale), WAP payment sites and Telephone booking lines.

DON'T: Broadcast to numbers which you don't have an Opt in from
If you don't have a Mobile Originating message or proof of terms and conditions from other data collection sources, steer clear of sending promotional messages to these numbers.

DO: Think about how to measure the response
Using unique codes and adding a call to action at the end of broadcasts for example.

DON'T: Lose sight of the value of mobile numbers.
Even running a free to enter campaign can be immensely valuable in terms of number collection. Each number collected can be profiled and used in telemarketing exercises to cross sell.

DO: Send relevant offers
You will get the best conversion from well targeted lists.

DON'T: Send irrelevant offers.
This is the quickest way to lose numbers from your existing customer database.

DO: Make it clear how to opt out of future broadcasts
All broadcasts should make it clear to customers how to opt out from future marketing messages. This involves detailing the short code to which to send the STOP command.

DONT: Just trust industry gurus - do extensive research
Build your own unique strategies and messages, the more personable and innovative your campaigns the more your customers will show interest.

DO: Make your terms and conditions, including pricing for all campaigns clear
Make sure at some point during your campaign that they agree to terms and you exclusively publish prices clearly. Hidden charges and small writing will cause customers to opt out.

DO: Stay alert and be ready to react
Regularly review your customers, competitors and marketing news and alter your strategy to increase its value.

DON'T: Become complacent at the first sign of success
If something works don't rely on it; try new things as well and make sure you don't get labelled as a spammer.

DON'T: Market to minors without parents' permission
This could cause lots of potential issues, make sure you know your audience and avoid offending your existing customers.

If you are new to mobile marketing we highly recommend reading the official Code of Practice before going any further. Good luck and happy hunting.