JCPenney Leverages SMS Marketing In Its Favor

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Recently, the department store chain JCPenney was able to use SMS marketing to its advantage and saw the great rewards and dividends it can bring. Their campaign, which started on February 7th, focused on reminding consumers of their pledge to consistently offer low prices. It was a part of a larger, multichannel marketing effort that JCPenney is currently enacting. Their success story is just another in what is becoming a staple with SMS and mobile marketing campaigns. We’re here to show you how JCPenney was able to do this.

The SMS campaign started on February 7th when the brand sent out an SMS message to all of its users. The message read “We’re making it easier to see the value with simple comparisons that show our price vs. elsewhere.” A link in the original messaged urged users to shop. They were then prompted to click through to a link which brough them to a landing page designed specifically for this campaign. The page, since it was optimized for mobile, allowed consumers to swipe through rich media and content which featured the brand’s promise to offer the lowest prices.

For example, on one page a woman’s t-shirt was listed at $6. The competition had the same t-shirt listed at $19.

Another page showed a men’s t-shirt at $5 at JCPenney, while the same shirt was $15 at a competing store.

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Tabs at the bottom of each page let users search through the looks featured by JCPenney.

Blending with their mobile and SMS campaign, JCPenney also used TV as a big part of their larger marketing campaign. Users were able to click on a tab featured on the landing page so they could watch 15 second TV ads. All of the commercials were easily viewable on mobile devices.

As a part of JCPenney’s multichannel push, they also announced that they would be installing mobile devices in place of all their cash registers in order to become more consumer check-out friendly and improve customer satisfaction. Along with this, they drove consumers to stores during the holidays by using location-based ads which promoted an in-store campaign. Consumers, after shopping at JCPenney, could receive buttons in the store with a 7-digit code which could be entered online to win rewards and prizes. Using SMS marketing, they were able to do all of this very easily.

Derek Johnson, CEO of Tatango in Seattle, Washington, reminded us of the importance of SMS messaging in mobile marketing, “While Twitter, Facebook and email are becoming more mobile  – and in turn a viable option for capturing attention on a consumer’s mobile phone – SMS is pure mobile. This makes SMS messaging the premier choice for an announcement such as this, as 90 percent of text messages are read within three minutes.”

Realize that the original SMS campaign started on February 7th. At the time of writing this article that was literally 5 days ago and JCPenney already saw returns for their investment in SMS. Imagine the returns youcould get if you launched an SMS marketing campaign today! The best part is it’s not even expensive. SMS marketing is the cheapest route you can take if you are planning on implementing a mobile marketing campaign into your company’s marketing strategy. Add the fact that not every phone is a smartphone yet, and SMS becomes even more attractive due to the fact that EVERY mobile phone, regardless if it’s smart or not, is capable of sending and receiving text messages.

So the question is, why are you waiting? Hop on the SMS marketing bandwagon today and watch your bottom line grow!

Mobile Marketing Winners of Super Bowl XLVII

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Every year when the Super Bowl comes around in early February, you are watching for one of two reasons. One, you’re a football fan and you’re looking forward to the biggest game of the year, or two, you are watching for the commercials. The $4 million commericials to be more specific. With such an expensive price tag on a 30 second time slot, it’s no surprise that the pressure was on for companies and brands to deliver. Of course, that’s the case with every Super Bowl these days, but this year it was a little different. It’s 2013, so mobile marketing and social media were expected to be integrated into the commercials and bring added interactivity to their campaigns. Fortunately, some companies were able to do this, while others, unfortunately, were not.

It’s already known that mobile is continuing to grow as a mutitasking device. However, incorporating that into effective TV commercials is not always that easy. Mobile call-to-actions (CTAs) do not work for everyone. The effectiveness usually depeneds on the brand’s campaign message and target demographic. Still, marketers who choose to ignore what TV and the second screen have to offer are missing out on the HUGE opportunities they can provide. One 30 second ad could turn into a long-term, one-on-one relationship with your consumers.

According to Lora Schaeffer, Executive Director of Social at Resource in Columbus, Ohio, “The second screen winner really appeared to be Twitter as phones across America lit up the Twittersphere during the Beyonce halftime show and again during the blackout.”

So with that in mind, let us take a look at the mobile marketing winners of Super Bowl XLVII.

Paramount Pictures

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Paramount Pictures released an app earlier in the year specifically designed for their upcoming movie “Star Trek: Into Darkness” to help them build hype for its release on May 17th. The app was designed so that viewers could sync the app with the commerical while it was airing on TV. The app, using audio recognition, was able to recognize that the user was watching the ad on TV and unlocked a video teaser for the movie. On top of this, users of the app were also able to get exclusive tickets to the movie before its release. Before the game, the app sent out a push notification to anyone who had downloaded the app reminding them to interact with the app during the game. After the commercial aired, users were directed to the movie’s website to unlock the content.

Bottom Line: The campaign was able to combine mobile and televison while also getting consumers to use the app multiple times leading up to the May premiere. That’s a definitive win.

Oreo

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Oreo focused on mobile photo sharing and social media in their ad campaign. They also had one of the funnier commericals of 2013, featuring several people whispering it out with each other in a library over which was better, the creme or the cookie. The end of the spot prompted viewers to pick their favorite of the two on Instagram. Almost immediately after the spot aired, Oreo had over 37 THOUSAND new followers. Before the ad? Oreo had 2200 followers.

Bottom Line: Oreo emphasized social media beautifully by creating a funny Super Bowl ad that made their Instagram explode literally overnight, and had consumers feverishly taking and sharing photos with them on their smartphones and tablets. They also created a memorable tagline in the commercial with “Something we can all disagree on.”

The NFL

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The National Football League was able to efficiently use CTAs during the course of the Super Bowl to build up its SMS database. They prompted viewers with text keywords like MVP and REWIND to their short code 55171. An example was when viewers texted in MVP, they were sent back a text message with a link to a mobile site which allowed users to cast their vote for the game MVP as well as receive future messages.

Bottom Line: The NFL was able to build up their SMS database while also allowing fans to interact with the MVP vote as well as establish a connection with the league over a the long-term. This will only help the league maintain a good relationship with its fans now, as well as into the future.

Lincoln

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Automaker Lincoln ran an ad which featured its partnership with comedian Jimmy Fallon. They teamed up with Fallon as a part of a larger company-wide rebranding effort on a crowdsourced spot that advertised their MKZ sedans. Viewers were able to tweet Fallon using the hashtag #SteerTheScript to help tell the story of Lincoln’s rebranding. The top five tweets were then aggregated into a 90 second commercial. A CTA at the end of their 30 second ad compelled viewers to visit their website steerthescript.com which is also optimized for mobile, which means viewers could easily see and use the site on their mobile devices.

Bottom Line: Lincoln was able to put together a mobile marketing campaign that tied directly into their commercials using social media giant Twitter. They also used the help of mini-celebrity Jimmy Fallon to encourage viewers and users to interact with them through Twitter and had people talking about the MKZ during the game, most of them conversing through smartphones and tablets. A great way to tie social media, mobile marketing, and their Super Bowl commercials together while also promoting the MKZ. A terrific effort.

Samsung

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Samsung has historically been very aggressive with its TV advertising. This year for the big game, they decided to bring in comedians Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd for a spot that centered around them competing to be “the next big thing.” The commerical took a comedic turn when, after pitching several ideas to Samsung’s “executive”, basketball star LeBron James ends up stealing the spotlight from Rogen and Rudd and wins the title of “the next big thing.” Samsung wrapped up the commercial beautifully by encouraging viewers to join in on the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #TheNextBigThing.

Bottom Line: Samsung incorporated Twitter into its commercial allowing viewers to interact with them while also running banner ads on ESPN’s and CBS’s mobile sites and The Weather Channel’s iPhone app during the game, and in turn drove YouTube viewership up. Can’t get much better than that.

Axe

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Axe was able to connect their TV promotion with their time sensitive web sweepstakes which allowed them to promote their new product. Their sneakily funny commercial featured a lifeguard rescuing a woman from the ocean, but when she is revived, she ends up running towards an astronaut who is also on the beach, which in turn promoted Axe’s new Apollo line of personal care items. The end of the commercial urged viewers to go to their website axeapollo.com before midnight for a chance to win a trip into space.

Bottom Line: Axe was able to optimize all of their content for mobile devices, so they could ask viewers to fill out a registration form to enter the sweepstakes without it being a hassle for people who wanted to enter. The microsite was also able to compel viewers to sign up for email offers which allowed Axe to build their database as a part of their campaign to connect traditional TV marketing with their new digital apparatus. They also made it possible to share content about the commerical and brand through social networks like Facebook and Google+.

These were just some of the commercials which took advantage of mobile marketing through their Super Bowl ads. As you can see, mobile marketing has become essential to making any marketing campaign effective, and companies large and small are starting to take note. This was obvious while viewing the Super Bowl ads. Now, you are probably not a large enough company to be able to afford a $4 million spot in the Super Bowl, but there are several ways to implement mobile marketing into your marketing campaign, and that can start with us here at Anchor! We have extensive knowledge in mobile marketing and have done it long enough to know what works and what doesn’t. The best part is that you don’t need to drop $4 million or more to launch a mobile marketing campaign. We have helped companies launch and run mobile marketing campaignssuccessfully without putting a hurt on their wallets. Mobile marketing WORKS and it is CHEAP! Get started on your mobile marketing campaign today and reap the rewards the giant companies are already taking advantage of!

White Castle Takes Advantage of Mobile Marketing | Another Success Story

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White Castle has become another example in a long line of success stories involving companies who have implemented mobile marketing. Recently, they integrated a mobile campaign into their marketing strategy and have seen the robust returns mobile marketing can bring. They launched their SMS campaign using a Text2Crave service which, whenever customers are near or around any of their restaurants, sends customized alerts and unique mobile coupons to them. Their customers are then given the opportunity to opt-in to White Castle’s service any time they are around or near a White Castle location. This allows them to control what and what isn’t sent to them, while also connecting into White Castle’s mobile campaign to get coupons and deals on the food they crave.

Shuli Lowy, Marketing Director at Ping Mobile, pointed out, “Mobile coupons delivered through SMS are known to have the highest redemption rates—dwarfing those of all of all other forms of distribution including direct mail, newspaper ads, mobile applications, television commercial and mobile banner ads.”

Lowy continued, “Particularly when it comes to fast food restaurants, SMS has proven to be widely effective. SMS coupons in this vertical can easily have redemption rates of 10-30 percent – especially when location targeting is added to the recipe.”

White Castle’s mobile campaign is simple and easy to understand, and that’s the beauty of it. Any normal street-goer who uses a mobile device or a smartphone is easily capable of opting-in to White Castle’s service. We’ll you how their campaign works.

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Customers or potential customers who choose to opt-in to the service can do so by texting the keyword CRAVE to the short code 25787 (you’re welcome, White Castle, for the free
promotion). Now that the customers have opted-in to the service, they will now receive real-time text mesage alerts from White Castle any time they are within a 1-5 mile radius of any White Castle location. Now, you may think this could become a problem, especially if any of these customers are near White Castles often, but White Castle has implemented a setting into their mobile marketing campaign which limits the amount of texts they send to one customer to 6 per month. This prevents them from bombarding their customers with text messages and possibly annoying or irritating them to the point where they opt-out of the service, which is obviously not something you would want.

The coupons sent through the text messages range from from discounts for the company’s Angus Steak Chili and Brownie on a Stick to deals on Sliders and other favorites. Ms. Lowy chimed in, “The mobile marketing industry has been blessed with tremendous innovation in the space and the addition of many new, exciting forms of advertising. However, the majority of those campaigns can only be executed on smartphones.14481Smartphone penetration is currently at just over half of the market.” Luckily, the smartphone market is growing rapidly and the younger generation already dominates the smartphone market with 74% of 25-34 year olds already owning smartphones. This is a growing trend that you DO NOT want to fall behind on. If you do, you and your company WILL feel the effects of it.

In addition to the Text2Crave service, White Castle is also offering two free Original Sliders to anyone who opts-in to their service. So on top of the incentive to opt-in for deals on White Castle food and products, customers also have the added incentive of just opting-in for the free Sliders.

Ms. Lowy summed up, “The beautiful thing about SMS messages targeted by location is that it enables brands to catch the right person, in the right place, at the crucial decision making moment. Opted in consumers have already expressed interest in the brand and are therefore likely to engage with it further. They are being contacted in the right place as the system can gauge whether they are within the vicinity. Additionally, messages are often pushed out pre-meal time when consumers are beginning to contemplate where to eat their next meal. That is targeting.”

Study Shows Overwhelming Use of Mobile Marketing

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A recent study conducted by The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and MediaVest has revealed that an overwhelming 96% of marketers are currently using, or are planning to integrate mobile marketing into their marketing strategy. On top of this, 85% said they planned on increasing their mobile budgets in the near future. If it hasn’t been made apparent to you yet, it should be obvious now, mobile marketing is not just the future of marketing, it is the here and the now! ANA President and Chief Executive Bob Liodice specifically stated, “Mobile is a huge opportunity for marketers. [It’s] territory that has yet to be fully tapped.”

Of the marketers surveyed, 83% reported that brand building was the main objective for their mobile campaigns, 78% stated that creating brand awareness was also a key objective, and 74% said they intended to create customer loyalty and retention. The three biggest draws of mobile marketing for marketers was its ability to reach unique audiences (85%), its ability to deliver content on-the-go (80%), and its ability to create location awareness (78%) both for the mobile users as well as the marketer. The top two uses for mobile marketing was the use of website ads, which comprised 84% of those surveyed, and search, which made up 78% of those surveyed.

Considering that 91% ogoogle-research-shows-how-people-use-smartphones-to-help-them-buy-stuff_2f all adults in the U.S. now own smartphones, it is no surprise that marketers are seeing the vast possibilities that mobile marketing has to offer and want to take
advantage of this. MediaVest CEO Brian Terkelson stated, “There is no doubt that Mobile is a powerful vehicle for creating deep experiences with consumers. It has transcended beyond a connection and convergence device. Mobile is not just changing consumer behavior; it is impacting business through customer service, e-commerce, awareness and more. The potential is huge!” Terkelson also noted that, “At MediaVest, we are investing in new partnerships and technologies to help us continue to add value to our clients in the mobile space because marketers will clearly be using it as a vital part of their planning in 2013.”

The fact is, you know people are using and interacting with smartphones. So what are you waiting for? You can already tell by this article that the competition has recognized the need for mobile marketing and is now clearly taking advantage of it, you should be too! If you don’t you will find yourself scratching and clawing to get back into the game. That is, if you even survive. Too many companies have fallen by the wayside because they lacked a mobile marketing campaign, don’t let your company be one of them! Jump on the mobile marketing bandwagon today and see what it can do for your brand, customer loyalty and retention, and most importantly, your ROI!

SMS Marketing Software Improvements

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In a world where everything is constantly evolving, we thought we’d keep up! We’ve recently made quite a few improvements to our SMS Marketing Software to stay up with mobile marketing trends.

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For starters, the whole statistics reporting system has been upgraded. Within the system, you now can go 18 months back into your records from the statistics search page. This lets you see just how well mobile marketing is working for you.

You now have the power of image uploads from the wysiwyg (What You See Is What You Get) editor on mobile landing pages and the Applications tool.

Speaking of the Apps tool, it’s got its fair share of upgrades as well. Now, within our platform, our apps tool has a template system, footer images and descriptions, domain masking, and more.

In the upgraded QR Code portion of out SMS Marketing Program, you can now have colored codes and vCards. So, instead of havng just the standard black and white QR codes, you can add that little “something extra” in QR Codes with a pop of color.

Overall, system throughput has increased substantially. (Throughput meaning the average rate of successful message delivery–this means more messages getting to where they need to go and getting your marketing messages out there!)

In our SMS marketing Software, we offer our digital publishing tool. We’re currently working on a few more nifty bells and whistles, including a QR Code based coupon redemption system. Stay tuned for the latest and greatest with our platform changes!

Not a user of out SMS Marketing program yet? Give us a yell and get started today.
Not sure about mobile marketing? Check out some stats and see for yourself: mobile marketing is a smart choice for any marketing plan. Own a small business and still not convinced? Check out our recent blog post about how we can help you work mobile marketing into your plans today, without breaking the bank.

Mobile Marketing for Small Business

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It seems a lot of small business owners are afraid to launch a mobile marketing campaign for a number of reasons. First, they don’t understand it and they don’t feel they could launch and run it successfully, or second, they feel like mobile marketing is for larger companies that have more money and more resources. They also fear that the campaign will not give them the ROI they desire. If you’re a small business owner and you believe any of these things STOP! Take everything you’ve ever thought or assumed about mobile marketing and throw it out right now! We’re going to show you how cheap and easy mobile marketing can be for your small business, and more importantly, how it can greatly affect your bottom line.

For small business owners, you are more likely to connect with your customers rather than amass fans and followers. This is because small business owners have a smaller customer base than the big corporations, but this is a good thing because small business owners are more able to actively engage with their customers. This is where mobile comes in.

Mobile marketing is, simply put, marketing on or with a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet. Considering a majority of the U.S. population owns smartphones, this is a no-brainer for any business that wants to grow their customer base. Small business owners can more directly connect with their customers through mobile marketing than through any other form of advertising. Why are we saying this? Because when you mobile market, you are marketing directly into the hands of your customers and potential clientele. It’s already known that people who have smartphones are constantly looking at them, playing with them, and checking them multiple times within an hour and even more times across a day. That means you are guaranteed to reach them! In fact, the open rate of text messages is literally 99%, and 90% of text messages read within 3 minutes of their arrival! So not only are people reading your messages, they are reading them promptly.

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So we already know mobile marketing is effective and a great way to personally advertise to your client base, but how much is this going to cost? To be honest, you can operate a mobile marketing campaign on a shoestring budget. Of course, it will depend on what kind of features you want incorporated into your mobile marketing campaign, but a simple SMS campaign would literally be pennies per text. Considering how dirt cheap this can be, imagine the type of returns you would get! We have had several small businesses do work with us and they have all been happy with their results. Of course, we would tailor each campaign to each client’s wants and needs, but they have all been happy with their results as well as their ROI.

Now probably the best thing about mobile marketing, besides the fact that it’s cost efficient, is that it is easy!We would provide you with all the platforms and tools you need to make launching your mobile marketing campaign as smooth and seamless as possible. We would of course be doing most of the work, but there would be transparency and constant interaction between us and your company to ensure the final products and results are what you desire.

If you remember anything from this, remember that mobile marketing is NOT something to sweat. It is cheap, easy, and efficient! Any current expert in the industry will tell you that mobile marketing is THE way to market to customers, especially if you’re a small business. Tons of money and resources are NOT required to successfully launch a mobile marketing campaign. Also, not only is mobile marketing already a successful way to market, but the industry and market are growing. That means mobile marketing is not going away! So if you’re a small business and you haven’t incorporated mobile into your marketing strategy yet, you are going to lose to the competition! Why? Because a majority of your competitors have probably already jumped on the mobile marketing train. If you don’t hop on today, you WILL be left behind!

Smartphone Addiction | Why It’s Great For Mobile Marketing Pushers

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The first step of any effective mobile marketing strategy is identifying the best way to reach your consumers. A lot of companies have stuck to traditional methods such as television, radio, billboards, etc. But is that still really the best way to reach people nowadays? Think for a minute, if your radio was taken away, would you be able to cope with that? Probably. What if your television was taken away? Could you live with that? You’d probably be very unhappy, but there are other ways to watch TV in today’s digital age. But what if you were told to go without your cell phone for an entire day? That’d be a little different wouldn’t it? In fact, a majority of people would probably experience a severe feeling of emptiness or nakedness without their cell phones. Add smartphones to the mix and these feelings get even worse. In fact, according to a study done by Time Magazine, it has been found that 84% of people feel that they could not go one day without their smarthpones and 50% of Americans sleep with their phones next to them (80% of them being 18-24 year olds). It was also found that this is not an epidemic found purely in the U.S., but smartphone addiction is something that is prevalent worldwide! That means there is an entire GLOBE of people addicted to their smartphones, constantly around their smartphones, and constantly USING their smartphones. What better medium to market your company through!?!?!

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A Harvard Business School study found that 70% of people check their smartphones within an hour of waking up and 56% of people check their smartphones within an hour of going to sleep. Another study found that 40% of people check their smartphones while sitting on the toilet. Do we need to continue? The fact is that smartphone use has become so rampant and widespread that it’s hard for a lot of people to imagine life without them. This is where you come in. Knowing the above information, and that 91% of all U.S. adults have a smartphone, wouldn’t you want to market on them?! If you ask any marketing experts today, the answer would be a loud and resounding YES! Mobile marketing is THE way to market to consumers today because EVERYONE has them. Considering the fact that 90% of ALL texts are read within 3 minutes of arrival and the average user checks their smartphone 35 times a day, for about 30 seconds each time, mobile marketing isn’t just effective, it’s also amazingly efficient! Using mobile marketing, you know you are not just reaching your intended audience, but they are also opening, seeing, and responding to your marketing since it is such a personal medium. You also have an extremely low likelihood of ever annoying anyone because they always have the option to opt-out, or request you to stop sending them text messages.

But text messaging isn’t the only way you can take advantage of people’s smartphone addictions. If you have a company website, but it is not optimized for mobile, you are cheating yourself and your company. Anyone looking for your website on their smartphones can find your site, but it will be extremely irritating and frustrating for them to navigate it without mobile optimization. If they become irritated enough, they will leave your site, and they will leave it quickly. This results in lost business, which is obviously not what you want. Optimizing your website for mobile will make it much easier to navigate and end users will be much more willing to stay on your site longer, which naturally results in more purchases and more business. So why are you waiting? Optimize your company’s website today and snag those consumers who browse your site on their phones!

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We’ve already given you a number of reasons why you should start to integrate mobile marketing into your company’s marketing strategy, but realize this is a GROWING trend. Smartphones have only been around since 2001, and didn’t gain popularity until 2007 when the iPhone came out. So people are still learning how to use them and exploit their full capabilities. This is just the tip of the iceberg! If you and your company wait too long to enact a mobile marketing strategy, you will find yourselves left in the dust! Many, many companies have already seen what mobile marketing can do for them, and they could not be happier with their results. Now it’s your turn to see what mobile marketing can do for YOU!

Infographics Credit: http://www.searchcowboys.com/mobile/1950 

SMS Mobile Marketing Best Practices

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It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned SMS mobile marketing expert, or you are just beginning, you MUST be aware of the DOs and the DON’Ts of mobile marketing. Yes, we know every marketing campaign is unique unto itself, but you will either fail or get in trouble if you do not follow these guidelines.

DO NOT Send Messages Without Permission

Never, ever, ever, EVER send a message to someone without first getting their permission first. This is the GOLDEN RULE! People need to opt-in to your text messaging service before you can start messaging them. Not only will you upset the people you messaged without permission, but it is non-compliant with regulations.

But don’t look at this as a bad thing. SMS is powerful because you have to get permission. By texting only people who have opted-in to your service, you now know you are messaging people who want to hear what you have to say! So not only will you know people are opening and reading your messages, but you will get responses and interaction from them. This only strengthens and enhances the business to customer relationship, which makes them more willing to spend their money with you!

DO Advertise Your Keyword Call-To-Action

You’re probably asking yourself, “How do I get people to opt-in to my service?” This is simple. You want to market and advertise your short code (this is your call-to-action) on any and all print materials, social media, and if you’re still traditionally marketing, on all of your TV and radio spots.

A call-to-action (CTA) looks like this: Text SHOES to 54896 for Coupons & More from Sally’s Shoe Shop!

You’ll notice there was an offer included with the short code so people have added incentive to opt-in to your service. Remember, you want to also include at the bottom of your texts a way for subscribers to opt-out of your service.

An opt-out instruction would look like this: Msg & Data rates may apply. Text STOP to opt-out.

This is good for you because it gives freedom to your subscribers. If you text them without including the opt-out at the bottom, you will not only irritate your subscribers, but this is also non-compliant. Giving subscribers freedom to opt-out of your service will make them happier and, believe it or not, less likely to opt-out of your service. Why? Because you are giving them the choice.

     DO Add Incentive To Your CTAs

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This was mentioned earlier, but this cannot be stressed enough. People really have no reason not to opt-in to your service if you are giving them something.

For example, a GREAT way to incentivize your opt-in text would be like this: Text SHOES to 54896 to get 25% of your next pair of shoes at Sally’s Shoe Shop!

Who doesn’t want a discount? On another note, the BEST way to get people to opt-in to your service is to offer FREE stuff. Now this isn’t always feasible, but it’s something to keep in mind. Always remember that incentivizing your CTAs brings guaranteed results!

DO NOT Send Text Messages Without Value

Text messaging can be the most powerful tool you use in your marketing strategy, but you need to be careful. Since SMS is such a personal and immediate medium, it can be easy to become annoying or aggravating to your subscribers. You want to remember that a lot of people still pay per text, and no one wants to be bombarded by constant texts every second of every day. This is a SURE way to lose all of your subscribers. Don’t do this! You worked hard for your opt-ins, don’t just give them up for worthless text messages. Make sure you have something to offer in EVERY text you send, or you are wasting your time and your subscribers’ time. A good guideline for sending messages out is 4-5 messages a month.

DO Make Opting-Out Easy

You may be wondering why in the world you would want to do this, but hear us out. Remember, SMS marketing is permission based. A majority of people who subscribe to your service are only doing it because they know they can opt-out at any time. You also want to note that you still spend per text (yes, it’s pennies per text, but this can add up!), so you don’t want to be sending messages to people who don’t want to hear what you have to offer. Don’t waste your money on people who are never going to listen to you, make opting-out easy!

DO Track Your Results

Don’t just run a campaign without tracking your results! You are spending money so you want to make sure you are reaching the people you want to reach. If you get the right mobile marketing platform, you can measure when’s the best time to send messages, what content is intriguing your subscribers the most, and who you are getting the most responses from. If you’re including web links in your campaign, be sure to use a link shortener such as “bit.ly” that allows you to track who is clicking on your links.

These guidelines may sound like a lot to digest right now, but in actuality they really aren’t that hard to implement. We just want to make sure that you are aware of these rules and make sure that you are compliant, while at the same time running a successful SMS mobile marketing campaign.

Godsend mobile marketers!

SMS Marketing vs. Email Marketing | What’s Better?

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sms_vs_email

At first glance, SMS marketing and email marketing are actually pretty similar concepts. Both of them are ways to obtain customers’ contact information and both are ways to market to your customer directly. They’re also great ways to build a database of clients and potential clients. Once you’ve made contact with the customer and have gotten a response through either a text message or email, you are already in the lead nurturing process, which means you are that much closer to making the sale and bringing you and your company money. However, the basic concepts of both mediums, building a client list and then marketing directly to them, is about all that SMS marketing and email marketing have in common.

To look at the differences, you have to start with the numbers; and the numbers are absolutely staggering. Firstly, 90% of all emails are spam; the percentage of text messages that are spam? A paltry 1%. So it is no surprise that 98% of text messages are opened compared to email, which only has a 22% open rate. Knowing this, now you know customers and potential clients are clearly more likely to open up a text message you send them than an email. In fact, it’s almost guaranteed. So what about mobile use? Only 34% of people use their phones to email, while 72% of people use text messaging on their phones. You’re also one of few if you text them, with the average person receiving only 178 text messages a month compared to the 1,216 emails the average person receives. Obviously, most of those messages are spam. Did we also mention that 95% of text messages are opened within 15 minutes? Forget about people opening your email in 15 minutes, 20% of emails aren’t even opened ever. Think about what you do personally, are you more likely to read a text message that’s sent to you, or an email?

So, after looking at the numbers, it should be obvious that text message marketing is a much better route to go than email marketing. Using a mobile SMS campaign makes it easy for customers to sign up at any time. Mobile calls-to-action (CTAs) are easily integrated into print, radio, television, store signs, and online networks such as Twitter and Facebook. All they need to do is text your keyword to the shortcode. However, if you were to use email marketing, your customers would have to go to your company’s website and enter their contact information. This can be especially inconvenient for mobile users if your site isn’t mobile friendly yet.

Using SMS marketing, you can literally increase your sales the same day you sent out your messages. Because people respond so quickly to text messaging, it is possible for you to get sales through your doorwithin an hour after sending the messages. And if they’re not coming through your door, you can easily market to them through their phones now that you have their information. Either way, contact has been established. Remember, email marketing does work with mobile phones, but very, very few people read emails on their phones. A majority of people will just go to a computer to read an email; and if they do that they have to print off any offer you may have sent them. With SMS messaging, they can simply show you the text you sent them to receive the offer. It’s much quicker, much easier, and is much more likely to give you the return on investment you and your company desires.

So what are you waiting for? A laundry list of companies have already realized the information you’ve learned here, so NOW is the time to start planning and enacting an SMS mobile campaign for your company. DON’T WAIT, or you will be left behind!

SMS Marketing Statistics 2012

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In today’s world, anywhere from 95-98% of text messages received are opened and read within minutes of receipt. Because of this, SMS marketing is growing quickly as a means of delivering marketing messages to clients and customers. This kind of marketing can be a great benefit to any kind of company. However you use text message marketing to reach your audience, you’re sure to get attention. Still not so sure? Take a peek at these SMS Marketing Statistics 2012 and see just how powerful SMS marketing can be.

For starters: With Four billion mobile phones out there, 86% of mobile users said that they receive or send at least one text message per week, though often it is much more. Last year alone, 7.8 trillion SMS messages were sent. It is estimated that SMS traffic will reach, if not surpass, 9.6 trillion messages by the end of this year,

25% of all of those four billion registered phones are smart phones and of those consumers using mobile phones, 30% of households said that they no longer even had a landline in their homes. Over one third of mobile phone users said that they actually prefer text messaging as a means of communication over a phone call on that same mobile device. 44% of people said that they are apt to check their phones an average of at least 10 times a day.

95% of all mobile users (both smartphone and non-smartphone users) have been connected to by brands that are using SMS marketing to reach their customers. Regarding ad awareness, the average mobile based campaign utilizing SMS marketing significantly outpaces online ads. One third of consumers say they interact with a brand via text message on a regular basis. They do this by opting in to regular messages with promotions and incentives on the brand’s website, scanning QR codes, or texting in keywords to a mobile short code.

Of the 250 million mobile users in the United States, about one fourth use their phones to access the internet for browsing, searches, shopping, games, and more. 9/10 mobile searches lead to action, and half of these searches eventually lead to a purchase. With 50% of local searches being performed on mobile devices, it’s pretty clear that mobile isn’t going anywhere. Why not use it to your advertising advantage?

Speaking of advantages, here are some that SMS marketing offers:
In all the emails received each day, so many are spam: upwards of 30%! Users have found their way around this with spam filters, and are less likely to open an email they find unfamiliar because of this. In SMS marketing, though, only about 10% of daily received messages are considered spam. Because of this, users aren’t as prone to brush them off without first reading through them. This reading through often leads to further action. For some facts: Only about 6% of marketing emails are opened and responded to, while SMS Marketing campaigns have a much higher response rate-45% to be specific.

texting

With all the marketing images consumers see daily, marketers constantly have to create new, engaging imagery and campaigns all the time. The fact that SMS messages are direct to the customer is definitely a big plus- even if someone is on the go, they’re very likely to check their text messages and see what you have to say. Another perk is that there is so much less need to compete with other media in this form, because it is a fairly new way of marketing products and ideas to clients.

With all of these statistics in your favor, it’s not hard to see why SMS marketing is a great tool to add to your marketing repertoire!