A weekly roundup from September 19 to September 25 of the most important articles from all around the world that have a direct impact on SMS marketing, and a couple that are just awesome!
SMS Marketing Industry News:
Americans and Text Messaging
Some 83% of American adults own cell phones and three-quarters of them (73%) send and receive text messages. The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project asked those texters in a survey how they prefer to be contacted on their cell phone and 31% said they preferred texting over talking on the phone, while 53% said they preferred a voice call to a text message.
T.G.I. Friday’s uses QR codes on kids’ menus to drive social engagement
T.G.I. Friday’s is using QR codes on the back of its children’s menus to engage customers and bring them to the company’s Facebook page so they can become a fan.
Pepsi exec: mobile builds loyalty and engagement up until the point of sale
The campaign, which runs through Oct. 29, lets consumers snap pictures of X Factor-branded Pepsi products for a chance to win prizes. The company decided to use image recognition for the campaign to reach as many customers as possible.
Fox, NBC barred from text-to-win sweepstakes as part of settlement
The lawsuit stems from several years ago when the companies involved with text-to-win sweepstakes for American Idol, The Apprentice, and other reality shows allegedly violated gambling and lottery laws.
California bill would ban warrantless cell phone searches
If you get arrested in California, the photos, emails, and other personal data on your cell phone soon could be a bit safer from prying police eyes soon. A bill passed by the state legislature would require law-enforcement officers to obtain a warrant before searching the cell phone of a person placed under arrest.
Mobile phones to blame for high-rate of myopia among students
According to the 2010 survey commissioned by the Department of Health’s Bureau of Health Promotion and conducted by National Taiwan University Hospital, 65% of the country’s sixth-graders are myopic, of whom 3.4% are seriously so, and 21.5% of the first-graders are nearsighted.
22 Percent Changed Their Mind, While In the Store? Why every retailer needs a mobile strategy
I was hit by three significant statistics this week. They came from different sources, different countries, and might seem innocent if taken alone. But when we look at all three, we have a huge story here, this week (especially for anyone working in retail).
iLoop Mobile Demo Fail
Having attended one of the many webinars put on by mobile marketing firm, iLoop Mobile, I visited their website and noticed the following among their rotation of hero banners on their main page.
Seen on the Mobile Scene – Martha’s Help at Home Depot
We saw a print ad in the paper featuring a coupon to Martha Stewart’s Kitchen collection. After scanning the code, we were led to a video featuring Martha herself; she walked us through some of her latest kitchen sets on display at Home Depot.
How to Identify and Measure a Successful 2D Barcode Campaign
Recently, an interesting question surfaced on a LinkedIn discussion board, which read, “What set of criteria or indicators are used to determine the success of a barcode campaign?” Perhaps this is an area that you and your company are struggling with as well, so I will attempt to answer.
FCC Moves Toward Texting, Video for Emergency Calls
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Thursday took the first step toward updating the nation’s 911 emergency dialing system to receive text messages, pictures, and videos, in addition to voice calls.
Women will be texted reminders about their abortion
Britain’s largest abortion provider said it is introducing reminders because some girls and women had forgotten about their procedures. Critics said the move, by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), gave a disturbing insight into casual attitudes to abortion.
Hey, I’m Talkin’ Here: New York Subway Succumbs To Cell Phones
The New York Times reports that several stations in the Chelsea neighborhood will be lit up for AT&T and T-Mobile users, but that the subway tunnels themselves won’t have wireless equipment to carry calls and data services.
SMS case study – Frisch’s Big Boy Restaurant
The goal of the campaign was to drive traffic to Frisch’s restaurants and to promote a newly released product range including new burgers, shakes, and smoothies. The campaign also sought to increase brand awareness among the target demographic and ultimately drive sales in specific local markets.
Tatango SMS Marketing News:
Emerald City Smoothie – Worst SMS Campaign of 2011
This SMS campaign is by far the Worst SMS Campaign of 2011, and to make it official, check out the blog post I wrote at Mobile Marketing Fail, explaining why this SMS campaign deserves the title.
What is SMS Marketing? – Tatango University
Are you not sure what is meant when a marketer says “SMS Marketing”, and maybe too shy to ask? Good news for you as this week, Derek breaks down what SMS marketing is and how it can work for your business.
How Are Smartphones Being Used? [Infographic]
Did you know that just recently smartphone penetration hit 40 percent? Have you ever wondered though how those smartphone users are using their mobile phones?
Unsolicited Text Messaging Class Action Lawsuits
With attorneys now on the prowl for class action lawsuit defendants, be sure you talk to Tatango before launching any type of SMS campaign. One quick phone call to Tatango can save your business both the embarrassment and costs of an expensive class-action lawsuit because of your SMS campaign.
15 Killer Custom QR Code Designs
Recently I’ve been seeing QR codes pop up almost everywhere. Most QR codes are pretty boring, usually just black and white, not very pretty to look at. Some brands though aren’t content with boring and have taken it upon themselves to create their own custom QR code designs.
SMS Marketing’s Most Influential Twitter Accounts
Have you wondered who’s the most influential people in the SMS marketing industry? No need to wonder anymore, as we’ve put together a list of the most influential Twitter accounts in SMS marketing.
Tatango Customer Spotlight: Boy Scout Troop 831
Make sure that if you are camping, you have adequate charging abilities for the phones, or group text messaging is all moot. In our case, we used solar devices from PowerFilm to recharge and it served us fairly well.
Top 7 Text Messaging States
I just came across an interesting study put out by The Nielsen Company from 2010, which gives insight into which states are on average sending the most text messages per person. I’ve listed the top text messaging states below, but to be honest, these seven states would have never crossed my mind as being some of the heaviest texters in the U.S.
One in Five Smartphone Users Use Mobile Coupons
Last week eMarketer put out some dramatic numbers to support the claim that Americans are rapidly adopting mobile coupons. This year, nearly one in five smartphone owners ages 18 and older will redeem a mobile coupon, such as one received by SMS, representing a growth of 117.6%.
Time Spent on Mobile Devices Outpaces Newspapers and Magazines
Last week at the Paid Content Advertising Conference, Geoff Ramsey, the eMarketer CEO, gave some interesting statistics on the average amount of time adults spend with each type of major media.
