Text2VIP

How many people Don't want to hear from your business?

2011-06-16T11:07:00.000-07:00

If you've ever utilized e-mail marketing, you are well familiar with (or at least should be) your "open rates". When it comes to Text Marketing, the statistical percentage of those text messages being 'opened' or viewed, exceeds 98%. In e-mail marketing, you would be on your way to the Hall of Fame if you saw 40% opened.

Similar to e-mail, legal SMS Marketing programs require the opted-in consumer have the opportunity to opt-out at any time by replying Stop, Quit, Remove etc.

Last week one of the Moe's Southwest Grill locations Text2VIP works with sent a text blast offer to over 2,000 of their store's subscribers. It's fair to assume their message was seen by nearly all of those on the list. A quick glance at our reporting analytics shows that only 1 VIP member chose to opt-out of receiving that location's offers in the future. Pretty compelling I would say.

A Great Column in Today's Mobile Marketer

2011-06-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

As a SMS Marketing service provider, we are often looking around for the other guys in the room who, 'get it'. Robert Carroll's column in today's edition of Mobile Marketer was filled with great points and was spot on....

Text cannot be marginalized

Not only does texting have deep roots in friend-to-friend communication, it has much stricter rules governing its use than email does, lowering the level of innate resistance to messages received through the medium.

Mobile users have long since wired texting into their behavioral patterns. You get the alert. You read the text. You respond—because you want to.
Not only do text messages have an extraordinary open rate, evidence suggests the response rate also exceeds the performance of other marketing channels.
When used to make real-time, on-the-spot offers, texting has repeatedly yielded a better than 10 percent response.
As long as the offers made via SMS are perceived to be of real value to the recipient, the relationship of trust between consumer and brand only deepens with each exchange.
According to a 2010 research report from the Mobile Marketing Association, mobile advertising, too, vastly outperforms outreach in any other medium:
• 45 percent of consumers notice mobile advertising
• Of these, 29 percent respond to mobile advertising
• Of these, 39 percent make a purchase

In case you missed it, you can read the entire article here.

SMS Marketing Programs for Retailers

2011-06-07T05:21:00.000-07:00

Retail business owners rely on a loyal clientele, one that provides a steady, recurring business. Building loyalty is dependent on a variety of factors including location, hours of operation, advertising, inventory and quality of product, services, and competitive pricing.

SMS marketing is an ideal complement to a retailer’s marketing efforts, providing a direct and immediate channel to a business’ patrons.

When businesses have a Text Marketing or "SMS mobile program" in place they are, in fact, inviting their clientele to establish a one-on-one relationship with them, with the expectation that upon joining the program, the consumers will receive exclusive incentives that drive them to continue, and INCREASE their patronage.

Benefits of using Text SMS for Retail Stores?

SMS marketing programs are designed to increase the purchase frequency of a business’ existing customers, typically offering coupons or other promotional specials to prompt purchases. It should not be forgotten, however, that loyalty is not only based on the offer of lower price. A business should also use its Text Messaging Marketing program to send other information of value to its program subscribers. For example, an automotive service company could send out winterizing tips; a business could conduct a satisfaction survey through SMS. Put yourself in the place of your consumers and ask yourself what you would want from your business.

Whatever the nature of your business, remember that the people who've subscribed to your mobile program have provided you something of tremendous value; permission to market to their cell phone. Don’t abuse the privilege. Provide value in return, and you’ll see fantastic results.

SMS Marketing, hard at work on both coasts...

2011-05-26T07:23:00.000-07:00

I received a couple of pictures from two Text2VIP clients a few minutes apart yesterday. The contrast and juxtaposition grabbed my attention. One photo is a screen grab from a professional sporting event, the other, an independent carpet cleaner. The former uses mobile to engage thousands of spectators simultaneously, the ladder to speak with a single prospect at a time. In the next 10 days, the New Jersey LPGA event on the East Coast will host 40,000 fans, by contrast, the California based small business owner might harvest 3 new carpet cleaning customers. I believe this is yet one more illustration of how the ubiquitous nature of SMS effectively serves across all markets, and communicates with audiences - both large and small.

Website and Facebook Opt-in Features

2011-05-25T08:16:00.000-07:00

Here's an example of a web sign up form Text2VIP provides clients to allow their consumers to opt-in via their website or Facebook. It is fully customizable to collect whatever data you might choose and provides the ability to message consumers by name as well.

Mobile Phone: *

Carrier:

First Name:

Birthdate:

Alert Opt-In:

Msg & Data rates may apply

Activating Media Channels

2011-05-15T06:45:00.000-07:00

We've often touched on the value that mobile can bring when added to otherwise "traditional" media. This week, one of our text message marketing clients, Subway, took this to heart by incorporating a SMS call to action in their newspaper ad.

Considering that the average text message remains on the mobile device an average of 21 days in the U.S. before being deleted, Subway's text message coupon stands a much greater chance of drawing attention in the days to come -- substantially greater, than the alternative "clip-out" coupon that gets buried in the pants pocket and ends up in the washing machine spin cycle. In addition, consumers will always have access to the coupon since their mobile is with them at all times.

Making it Easy

2011-04-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been in a retail setting and wish you could convey your ideas or opinions to ownership or management? Maybe you don't want it to take up your entire day or delay your meal, maybe you didn't want to make a scene, worse yet...maybe there was no feasible avenue immediately available for you to do so.

If you are the business owner, the only thing worse than the consumer not getting to share their experience or comments with you...is the consumer sharing it instead, with others outside your establishment.

La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grill has taken a "fresh" approach to addressing this dilemma. In select locations, this brand has begun utilizing SMS and Text2VIP's "Open Dialogue" to allow consumers the opportunity to provide invaluable feedback. Through the use of SMS, consumers can quietly yet immediately convey whatever it is they wish. Lastly, consumers confirmation text messages contain follow up contact points including customer service phone numbers. This functions as a digital business card which the consumer can refer back to for follow up.

What's the ROI of your mother?

2011-03-13T09:20:00.000-07:00

The title helped capture your attention, but I can't take credit. "What's the ROI of your mother" is a frequent soundbite from Gary Vaynerchuk, founder of Winelibrary, noted author of "Crush It" and most recently, "The Thank You Economy". Gary has a cult-like following and has enjoyed visibility on Conan, Ellen, and CNBC, and is featured regularly in The New York Times. He is one of the first--and one of a few--Facebook users who has maxed-out his friend limit, with over 17,000 pending friend requests. He is in the top 100 people followed on Twitter.

As someone who speaks nationally on Social Media strategies and consults for large corporations on Mobile and Social marketing, Gary is always being asked;
"What is the ROI of mobile marketing and social media?" To which he always responds:
"What is the ROI of your mother?"

While his answer is known to draw laughter from the crowds, the message could not be more sincere. If you are a business owner, the benefits of mobile marketing and social media are so much more than just what you can immediately measure. Gary's famous phrase may be tongue-in-cheek, but let's look at the following scenarios...

1. What's the ROI of a patron bragging to their group of friends that they've got the "inside scoop" on what's going on at your bar or restaurant because, "XYZ brand sends me text alerts & offers"?

2. What's the ROI of being able to remind customers of the presence of your business anytime you wish, rising straight above the clutter despite the daily competition for attention from 500 cable tv channels, 200 satellite radio stations, and 100 e-mails, billboards and junk mail?

3. What's the ROI of making your clients and guests perceive that you are speaking directly to them-through the same channel with which friends and family communicate with them, and making them feel important to your business, and recognized for their loyalty?

These are all things that are incredibly difficult to measure, yet we'd all agree these are equally powerful!

For Text2VIP's valued clients, who to a some degree, measure text message marketing performance by the number of redemptions...we're thrilled to continually hear that a high % of VIP club members show up to redeem your texts. At the same time, just because we can't directly measure everything, doesn't mean it's not worth doing or generating other forms of less-direct benefit.

Mobile Marketing in Traditional Advertising Channels

2011-03-07T07:11:00.000-08:00

The emergence of "mobile" in today's global marketplace is unmistakeable, it's everywhere we turn. While it's true mobile marketing has surpassed some traditional media channels already, the use of properly integrated mobile presents as much of an opportunity to augment, highlight, and enhance traditional media as it does of replacing them.

One such example is Camden County College and their traditional marketing efforts. CCC continues to utilize large display ads in indoor shopping malls and on buses, as well as local TV spots. For 2011 however, they turned to Text2VIP to add a mobile call to action to these ads. Their use of a unique keyword in each of their Television, Mall, Bus, and Direct Mail media buys, not only made these traditional ads tremendously more actionable, but also provided an auditing tool to measure the effectiveness of their media expenditures in each of those channels.

If you've ever seen an info-mercial or heard a radio spot, the first half is usually to tell you why the widget is great, the 2nd half of the spot is usually dedicated to encouraging you to take action in the moment, "don't wait-call now". "The first 10 callers will also receive...." Finally, the phone number to call or web address is usually repeated so many times it's dizzying.

It's all about conversion.

Smart marketers know that our busy lives afford us very little chance of seeing or hearing something and committing it to memory for later recall. Ads which can somehow cause you to stop and interact with them, and more importantly to take immediate action, are marketing efforts found at the intersection of "effective" & "money well spent".

Another such example is that of Tony Luke's famous cheesesteaks. After the recent purchase of ad space in a local media publication, they added a unique mobile component to give readers an opportunity to connect with Tony Luke's immediately thru SMS, thus opening a line of 2-way communication for future texts and giving Tony Luke's a tool to measure the return on their print media investment.

Text Message Trivia Sparks Business

2011-02-08T05:51:00.000-08:00

For bar-going football fans there may be nothing more anti-climactic than the weekend between the final NFL playoff games and the Superbowl. Last Saturday afternoon at South Street Grill in Naples FL was no exception. Normally packed with Florida Gator faithful every Saturday, and snowbirds seeking the NFL package on Sunday, business was a bit slower than usual. Is anyone really interested in watching the NFL Pro Bowl?

Enter the Text Message Trivia Contest.

Members of South Street's Text2VIP club received an impromptu text inviting them to "reply" to enter the trivia contest. The trivia question was intentionally easy and gave 4 answers from which to choose. Nearly 1,000 of the text club members elected to participate, with over 800 of them doing so in the first 2 Minutes! Approximately 88% of those who participated answered correctly, and for doing so, received a text coupon for a free bar appetizer.

Within 30 minutes, patrons began walking into South Street and redeeming their winning text offer. Numerous groups had multiple rounds of drinks, and some stayed for dinner. The text trivia contest not only drove flash traffic on a slow afternoon, it put the South Street brand front of mind and provided some fun interaction for their fans.

Text Message Marketing at the Denver Convention Center

2011-01-19T18:42:00.000-08:00

SMS CASE STUDY

Bioline, World’s First Biodegradable Fishing Line

Mobile Provider: Text2VIP, Naples FL

Channel: SMS

Client: Eagle Claw/Wright McGill

Overview: Eagle Claw, a Fishing Equipment manufacturer and leader in the industry of fishing materials for 84 years sought to introduce the world’s first biodegradable fishing line -- BIOLINE. Releasing the product at the 33^rd Annual International Sportsmen’s Expo, Eagle Claw/Wright McGill contacted Text2VIP to establish a mobile SMS campaign to promote and market their newest product.

Objective: To provide the 84 year old company a modern day marketing tool to identify and engage their consumer base. To utilize SMS to issue a paperless coupon, allowing their marketing approach to be consistent with their environmentally responsible product.

When: January 5-8, 2011

Where: International Sportsmen’s Expo, Denver Colorado Convention Center.

How: Visitors expressing interest in BIOLINE, the World’s first biodegradable tackle, were encouraged to text BIOLINE to 74499 to receive an SMS coupon.

Finding: Interest on the part of Expo attendees far exceeded expectations. Response to the SMS component was so high, product inventory was depleted by the midpoint of the 4-day event and mobile call to action signage needed to be taken down. Eagle Claw product development executives analyzed all sales conducted at their exhibitor station and concluded that 23 percent of overall Eagle Claw product sales for the 4-day event, were directly related to the SMS campaign.

Take Away: Eagle Claw received numerous consumer comments and positive feedback surrounding the SMS component at the 2011 Expo. Consumers were noticeably excited to engage with their brand through mobile. Eagle Claw and Text2VIP are developing a new SMS campaign to be promoted on their product packaging in retail outlets throughout the U.S.

Quote: “SMS provided us with a new and engaging way to communicate with our customers, and we were able to easily identify target audiences interested in new products.” W. Kirkland, Eagle Claw

New Year ~ New Customer

2011-01-05T18:33:00.000-08:00

As we turned the page to 2011, we were again reminded of all things "new". While many business owners start fresh and step back to evaluate, there may be no better time then the present to recognize; the New Customer. The new customer isn’t a man. Or a woman. Or a Boomer, or a member of Generation Y, or X. The new customer isn’t a tween or a stay-at-home parent, or someone who lives in a city or suburb, or is single, married or divorced.

The new customer could, in fact, be any and all of these things. The new customer is the mobile customer.

The new mobile customer is an individual who uses their mobile device for just about everything, from traditional voice communication, to text messaging, to surfing the mobile web. That individual is also, increasingly, using their mobile device to inform their own purchasing decisions, and to shop from anywhere, at anytime.

The new mobile customer is a very powerful one, and one that is everywhere at once. More than 85% of Americans never leave home without their mobile phone, and nearly two-thirds of the World's population has access to a mobile device. The retail business owner who caters to the mobile customer is bound to gain market share, and the retailer that ignores the mobile customer does so at their own peril.

The cell carrier industry has estimated that in 2011, 7 TRILLION text messages will be sent. Those who fail to recognize SMS as an effective marketing channel and one with staying power-are likely the same individuals who still hold to the belief that Facebook is simply a fad.

If you currently utilize mobile to activate your other marketing, kudos to you. Challenge yourself to increase your use of mobile, to expand your brand and maximize ROI. If you haven't yet explored what mobile marketing can do for your business, or worse yet, failed to act upon it, the train is leaving the station. Don't have your business be left behind!

A Sign of the times

2010-12-03T05:14:00.000-08:00

The prevalence of text messaging on the part of young Americans is easy to observe. A closer look today, however, reveals that adoption of SMS as a means for communication among baby boomers is rapidly growing as well.

If you think Text Message marketing would not appeal to your more mature consumer demographic, think again. In fact, when you consider that many baby boomers in 2010 are also grandparents and utilize SMS as a tool to keep up with their ever-texting-grandchildren, the increased adoption of SMS among this consumer group is a natural fit.

Meet Mr. Connelly. He is the latest gift card winner in Elevation Burger Montclair's on-going mobile sweepstakes, and yet another illustration of the mobile demographic.

Congratulations Mr Connelly, those teenagers may still be leading the SMS charge, but at Elevation Burger this week-you are the Man! Also, a thank you to one of our top Account Reps Dan Doyle for bringing this to my attention.

Know your audience & how to reach them

2010-11-18T06:44:00.000-08:00

Texas features some of the largest Colleges and Universities in the United States. Today more than ever, the career-search challenges facing today's students are, at best daunting. The fact remains, organizations and corporations alike need an affordable resource to connect with potential hires and announce their presence. Enter SMS.

This year the Texas Colleges & Universities Career Center tapped Text2VIP to promote their annual job fair via text message. Through a simplistic "Got Milk?" type campaign approach, the committee advertised on the bus system and with hundreds of yard signs sprinkled throughout their campuses. The call to action was short & simple: "Career?" text "jobfair" to 74499. The message students received in response provided them with date, time, instructions, and a web link. Direct and effective. I think the odds of finding cell phone carrying college students, who use text messaging, interested in careers and internships, are pretty good!

Welcome to Moe's!

2010-11-04T07:30:00.000-07:00

If you've never been to a Moe's Southwest Grill, "Welcome to Moe's" is the resounding anthem heard each time a guest walks in the door. At a Moe's in Southwest Florida last Thursday, Text2VIP put their vocal chords to the test.

After collecting more than 500 sign ups in the first six weeks at one Moe's location, it was time to send out a text blast to the Moe's VIP members. The store's management collaborated with Text2VIP and decided that, since Thursday business had been trending slower, the first offer would be sent on that day. The text message coupon offer reflected a discounted meal & drink combo, was sent that morning, and would only be valid for 10 hours. Moes VIP's clearly got the message and reacted instantly, 101 of them redeeming that day. On average, that's 10-redemptions-per hour or just over 19%.

Have you ever stopped to consider that businesses which fail to create relationships with their customers, need to constantly find new customers? The first step in this relationship process is identifying who your customers are, then, implementing a means by which to collect relevant contact information to reach them on a go forward basis. Text2VIP provides clients this ability-and so much more.

E-Mail vs SMS Case Study

2010-10-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

The Tortilla Press is located in historic Collingswood NJ. (note: in So. NJ, "historic" also means...BYOB!) Dubbed "Best Mexican Restaurant" by My Fox Philly, and critically acclaimed "Best Brunch" by both Philly Magazine and South Jersey Magazine alike. Tortilla's Margarita serving sister location, The Cantina, is located just around the way in Pennsauken NJ. Text2VIP is proud to be the mobile provider for both, but were that not the case, the Burritos and made-to-order Guacamole would be well worth the trip! (the "Brandito" made w/ chipotle peanut bbq pork and side of jalapeno potato salad is outrageous)

Between the two restaurants they have an e-mail database of thousands. Recognizing the effectiveness of mobile, and living up to their awarded title as "Best Go Green Restaurant", The Tortilla Press recently sent out a series of e-mail blasts which featured a mobile call-to-action. The campaign successfully converted many e-mail subscribers to their mobile database for future SMS marketing promotions.

Interestingly, the e-mails which were sent on a series of Tuesdays, took up to 4 days to be opened and read...creating a conversion-to-mobile opt-in that took nearly a week. While this proved to be a successful outcome, the time it took for patrons to open their e-mails tells a larger story. By contrast, when Text2VIP sends out an SMS blast for our clients, over 92% of the text messages are viewed within 3 MINUTES of being received. Statistics have a way of sounding like white noise (2 out of 3 dentists say this :). But recently, Text2VIP conducted some comprehensive analytics to measure SMS-to-mobile-web click through behavior. The data was compelling, and supports the SMS industry read-rate statistics. Text Message marketing, like text messages in general...are viewed instantly...and often times cause recipients to take action immediately!

Are you ready for the Holidays? Is your mobile marketing?

2010-10-11T04:52:00.000-07:00

As the holiday shopping season approaches businesses will expect to see increased in-store traffic. Whether using this as an opportunity to launch in mobile-or simply enhancing your existing database...Jay Highley over at Pangea Partners highlights some key mistakes to avoid:

Mistake No. 1 – Wait until the last minute

Even though mobile offers a quick way to communicate changes in pricing or offers during the holiday marketing race, waiting until the last minute to plan how mobile will fit in your holiday marketing strategy is a sure formula for failure.

Take the time now to map out your plans for reaching out via mobile during the holiday season.

You can worry about the messaging and content as the race plays out. But by not creating a mobile execution game plan now you may find yourself behind the curve if you need to react quickly.

Mistake No. 2 – Not capturing mobile numbers to build your mobile database

Whether or not it is the holiday season, if you are not continuously building your mobile number database, you are missing a great way to engage consumers in a relevant and effective way.

Realistically, it may already be too late to build a big mobile database for this holiday season, but you should use the frenzy of the holiday shopping season to build your base for the future.

Just as an email database provides a media channel to change pricing or offers in near real time, a mobile number database can allow you to test, learn and test again in a matter of hours.

Mistake No. 3 – Not including a mobile opt-in option on all your media

If you are not already doing so, you should be making it easy for your consumers to opt into your mobile program via every media touch point you place this holiday season.

Make all of your media spend work double time for you by creating an easy pathway for your best consumers to engage with your brand on an ongoing basis.

Consumers are ready to receive offers and coupons via their mobile phones. But, for some strange reason, most retailers are still approaching mobile as a standalone marketing program and missing the leverage they could get by including mobile across all media platforms.

Research now supports that consumers are spending over twice the amount of time each week engaged with their mobile device as they are with radio, newspaper and magazines − combined. Why not use all of your media energy to drive more engagement to mobile, which is where the action is.

Mistake No. 4 – Wasting money on a smartphone app

Recognize the difference between what is hype and what is able to deliver great results.

I both appreciate and enjoy the use of some applications on my iPhone, but the statistics speak for themselves – more than 80 percent of the iPhone applications launched are never downloaded more than 10,000 times and less than 5 percent of all iPhone applications are used after the first six months of being downloaded.

Not to mention the fact that only 25 percent of mobile users can even download an application.

I am not trying to disparage all smartphone applications because some of them have achieved great reach and adoption.

However, for the average brand or retailer, spending the money on a smartphone application will not get them the biggest bang for their buck.

Mistake No. 5 –Not doing anything with mobile

The time for procrastination in the development of a well-conceived mobile marketing strategy is over.

If you do not have a plan, you need to huddle with a mobile expert quickly that can help you craft a game plan.

Most important, do not get overwhelmed and paralyzed by the fancy lingo and over-hyped news about mobile these days.

Have someone help you build an achievable and measurable phased plan − then take it one step at a time.

Do not worry about trying to fly at supersonic speeds coming out of the blocks − slow but steady is the right approach. Test, learn-and then test again.

Mobile is going to play a big role in marketing and consumer engagement this holiday season, so seize the moment and jump in the game. You can’t win if you don’t play!

Elevation Burger Montclair Case Study

2010-10-05T04:46:00.000-07:00

If you live or work near Montclair NJ, chances are good you're familiar with Elevation Burger on Bloomfield Avenue. This establishment is home to tasty organic burgers, fries cooked in heart healthy olive oil, and ridiculously good hand made milkshakes. While I'm not known for missing many meals, visit once--and this is a place you'll look forward to returning to.

If a weekly promotion makes returning easier, finding out about their promotions may be easiest of all. Owners Matt and Brian do a masterful job incorporating mobile into their brand and business. Here is the How & Why:

1. They send their subscribers a text offer an average of once per week. This keeps their brand in front of patrons routinely, but without being a nuisance or burying them with text messages.

2. Text Message alerts from Elevation Burger Montclair are great offers, such as, "come in today for a free milkshake". They also routinely take advantage of the viral aspect of mobile, encouraging text club members to recruit friends to join.

3. On the occasions in which a great discount coupon is not offered, they use their text club as a platform to notify patrons of community give backs and fundraising events being held at the store. Philanthropic efforts are made that much more effective when you get the word out.

4. They utilize Facebook and Twitter to effectively drive awareness of their text message club, incorporating calls to action converts "fans" and "followers" into mobile subscribers.

5. Mobile subscribers are entered to win gift cards. The names and photos of winners are posted regularly, in store-and on Facebook. If you don't see this as a sure-fire way to encourage more participation, ask yourself; Do you think the lottery would be so popular if we didn't see people holding Happy Gilmore sized checks on the nightly news?

Kudos to Elevation Burger Montclair!

The Pitfalls of a shared short code...

2010-09-20T05:27:00.000-07:00

So you're in the market for a bulk text messaging service for your business or organization. They're pretty much all the same, right? Not so fast. In the mobile marketing industry, each service provider signs agreements with each cell carrier. This "provisioning" process is what allows your texting platform to be connected to--and send SMS through--that particular cell carrier. When service providers establish this agreement, they become legally bound by the tenants of the cell carrier's guidelines. A "rules of the road", if you will. If at any time the carrier audits your activity and deems the use of your technology to be "inappropriate", they can and will pull the plug on you at anytime. Keeping in mind, the content need not be illegal, just determined inappropriate by the carrier. This can be as simple as profanity.

When a business shares a self service short code that they signed up for over the internet, the sanctity of their program continuing to work, for all of their customers--on all of the cell carriers, is at the mercy of other businesses' employees accessing that 5 or 6 digit number. It is also at the mercy of the service provider in deciding that they will just "sell to anyone". Imagine for a moment that you've created a robust mobile opt in database, you're benefitting from a well executed plan and see strong ROI when you send out text blasts. Now imagine that through no fault of your own, you lose the ability to reach 20-40% of those customers overnight!

That scenario just played out in real life for dozens of small business owners this month. A self service text message firm was caught licensing to a business that sells medicinal marijuana and was shut down by T Mobile, the 3rd largest cell carrier in some U.S. markets. The specifics here are the subject of great debate, much like the legalization issue itself. But while Shane and Amy from EZ Texting plead their case to the courts, thousands of subscribers who previously opted-in will no longer be reachable by small business owners nationwide. No matter what side of the marijuana debate you fall on, the REAL victims here are the restaurant, retail and bar owners who can no longer text their T Mobile patrons from the EZ Texting short code. The mobile programs of these businesses were put at risk, unnecessarily in my opinion, for what amounts to about $80 per month. There couldn't be a clearer example of why we at Text2VIP believe the managed service model is critically important to our client's well being.

This has been a hot topic in our industry the past couple of weeks. Mobile Marketer reported the story today here: www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/legal-privacy/7418.html

Interesting Texting Trends in the U.S.

2010-09-18T05:59:00.000-07:00

It should come as no surprise that the cell phone has become so wildly popular. With lower costs and more mobility than computers, cell phones have made text messaging the most widely adopted form of communication, and among teens, more popular than both Facebook and Twitter. It may surprise you to know, however, that text message usage in the U.S. trails that of the usage in nearly two-thirds of the globe. (Have no fear, we're gaining ground!) This is largely attributed to the U.S. cell carrier premiums that Americans were charged for SMS usage in the early years. Today? The number of Americans with Unlimited SMS packages on their cell plans just exceeded 60% and is growing weekly.

I believe a recent post by @shanesnow for Mashable contained some very interesting statistics. To view the entire Mashable texting graphic visit:

http://mashable.com/2010/08/17/text-messaging-infographic/

Mobile in the E-Commerce Channel

2010-08-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

When retailer Bare Feet Shoes launched their e-commerce mobile marketing campaign with Text2VIP in May 2010, they followed our suggestion and created a clear takeover ad for their website which included a direct call to action to join their mobile club. The response from their website visitors was immediate. As picked up by Yahoo News at the time, Bare FeetShoes acquired 1,500 opt-ins in only it's first couple of weeks.

Now, less than 4 months later, the number of subscribers is well over 5,000 and growing daily. A couple of times each month all of those VIP members receive a strong promotional offer exclusive to them, which can they can redeem online during the next 72 hours. One simple call to action is all it took!

Just the FACTS....

2010-08-12T17:52:00.000-07:00

The "Internet & American Life Project" was a recent study conducted by the folks at Pew Research to determine, among other things, the activities which today's consumers use their mobile phones for. The takeaways from the poll which just recently concluded June 1st were that, of those:

Age 18-29...95% use text messaging while 48%-or nearly half- use their mobile for Facebook.

Age 30-49...82% use text messaging while only 23% use their mobile to access their Facebook.

When it comes to marketing, business owners are wise to tap every channel accessible to them. That said, the poll results echo what many of us have known for some time; If you want to achieve your greatest reach, it only makes sense to use the most ubiquitous method...Text Messaging.

We live in a fast pace world and, as such, short-timely-relevant-convenient-easily accessible marketing messages...are the best way to communicate with would-be patrons. In time maybe this evolves, but for now, the smart play is to drop your pole where the fish are. I've yet to see any legislation, or bumper stickers, telling me to "stop checking my facebook" while driving.

How Text Message Marketing Influences Consumer Behavior

2010-08-02T07:03:00.000-07:00

Click on the image below to view latest mobile impact poll results!

Frugality is the New Black

2010-07-30T06:13:00.000-07:00

A Yahoo home page feature article today described the evolving nature of Americans as retail consumers. Many of us have felt the crunch. It should come as no surprise that those affected are making fewer purchases and often, waiting for coupons or incentives to do so. But interestingly, a recent Yahoo poll of those who have not been directly impacted by the economic downturn--an astounding 55 Percent indicated that they've changed spending habits and sought value, coupons, and signed up for loyalty programs whereas before they had not.

Value, discounts, and exclusivity are cornerstones of the most effective mobile marketing programs. It's the cost for having the ability to market to your customers wherever they may be. Increasing traffic, promoting your brand, and generating revenue are just some of the benefits received in exchange.

Our clients contact us regularly to ask, "what works?" Text2VIP gives you the support and redemption feedback to help guide your business' mobile strategy. Why go it alone?

Redemption Comparison

2010-07-29T04:30:00.000-07:00

The U.S. national average coupon redemption rate--for all coupons, is 1.5%. Our clients are reporting redemption rates between 6% and 28% on a regular basis. There, some comaparison aye? ...

While there may be a large variance between 6%-28%, so too are the discounts and expiration windows offered by our clients respectively. When an offer is valid for 3 days, consumers have a larger window in which to take advantage. Conversely, we might suggest to Text2VIP clients who are wanting to create buzz and sense of urgency in a particularly slow period--more narrow redemption periods, purposely. These text blasts usually contain words such as "now", "only" and "while supplies last". These methodologies are just one more example of the value added by Text2VIP's full service model. Tell us what you'd like to accomplish and we'll provide you with creative suggestions....not just the first week, but EVERY week!

Dynamic Functionality for Purpose

2010-07-24T17:26:00.000-07:00

SMS Marketing as a Service, not an Intrusion. That statement is something we at Text2VIP are mindful of and encourage our clients to do likewise. What makes the use of mobile so effective, is the ability to reach patrons and constituents at anytime. That opportunity brings with it a wealth of responsibility. SMS marketing messages should always be as succinct, relevant and timely as possible. The challenge is to make your brand's message available, but not at the cost of creating an annoyance.

Sometimes overlooked are the advantages present within an "auto-reply", or automatically generated return message whenever someone texts in. South Street City Grill makes for a recent client case study on this very point. Featuring live music 7 nights per week--and different artists each night, South Street was constantly fielding calls from patrons interested in band schedules. While the band schedule can be found on their website, 80% of cell phone users don't have web enabled phones and don't have that luxury. The solution...a keyword designated for their loyal music aficionados. Now, patrons can initiate the action and get the information they seek anytime they choose.

You Gotta Be IN IT to WIN IT!

2010-06-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

When it comes to marketing a mobile opt-in program one of the greatest, and most under-utilized tools in the business owners toolbox are contests and sweepstakes.

To be clear, I'm not so much a fan of contests as an alternative to immediate incentives--but rather, in addition to guaranteed incentives for opting-in at the point of sale. When used in conjunction, these fun and interactive patron engagements can keep our client's brand--front of mind and create interesting user experiences.

From beer glasses to vacations, many Text2VIP clients have captured the attention of their patrons with chances to win big! Of equal importance, the vast majority of these contests and sweepstakes never cost a penny. Show me a retailer of any sort, and I'll find you a neighboring non-competitor brand who would readily sponsor the cost in return for the exposure to your patrons.

Keep it fresh and mix it up. Contests should have beginnings and clearly defined endings. Let patrons know how and when they'll be notified and post pictures of past sweepstakes winners. This can be a painless way to give customers another reason to opt-in!

Text2VIP is happy to assist our clients in finding new ways to grow their mobile program so don't hesitate to give us a call.

Text2vip

2010-06-04T10:01:00.000-07:00

Sometimes...You Get What You Give!

2010-05-24T18:32:00.000-07:00

When Text2VIP client Tiger's Tale made the decision to go mobile, they meant business. The longstanding casual restaurant/tavern on the outskirts of Princeton was no stranger to success, boasting great food & drink served by excellent staff. They were however, new to mobile. The establishment owner's first priority was tapping Text2VIP's knowledge base for every marketing suggestion possible.

Four short months and nearly 4,000 subscribers later....Adrian Stevens' Tigers Tale has a mobile opt-in community that would rival the likes of a professional sports franchise. The costs associated with call to action signage, staff member contests, and guest incentives were considerable. But as one would expect from a successful business visionary, the long-term benefits were clearly within his focus. In response to a recent text blast promoting a one-day-only discounted gift card sale....the establishment ran-out of actual cards and needed to issue rain checks.

Short sightedness never gets us far, this also applies in mobile. Offering generous incentives to join your mobile club will increase response. More members will result in more impact and greater ROI. Patrons respond to being rewarded, yours will too.