The website of Alex Kinch, live from London
Posts tagged text messaging
CardBoardFish offer 3.9p business SMS with new TextTank service
May 27th
SMS messaging specialists CardBoardFish have unveiled a new low cost text messaging service designed for British businesses – with all the whistles and bells you’d expect plus recession-busting message pricing.
TextTank.co.uk empowers businesses to reap the benefits and savings of SMS communication without compromising features and quality. Messages to UK destinations are just 3.9p plus VAT, with delivery reports, custom sender IDs, replies, and incoming SMS included as standard.
The web-based service also allows users to securely manage number lists or individual contacts online, import data from Excel or CSV files, or just type out the numbers you wish to send to at the time you send your message. TextTank also has a built-in mail merge tool to customise individual messages, and a scheduling option allowing users to choose exactly when your messages arrive, whether immediately, manually as desired, or automatically at a future date and time.
$7.7bn spend on mobile advertising in Asia-Pacific in 2011 – report
May 20th
Mobile advertising worldwide in 2011 will be more than $16 billion – with the Asia-Pacific region grabbing the lions share – around $7.7 billion, according to a report from ABI Research.
“Spending on mobile marketing and advertising in 2009 worldwide is at least flat compared to 2008 if not slightly growing,” says ABI Research senior analyst Jeff Orr. “That’s very encouraging compared to the numbers for advertising in other media. It’s less money per campaign, spent more intelligently, with greater benefit per dollar.”
Why has mobile marketing and advertising been more widely adopted in some Asian countries than elsewhere? Particularly in the most broadband-enabled countries — Japan and South Korea — SMS text messaging, the downloading of ad-supported games and applications, and the mobile web were adopted widely and quickly by consumers. People understood how to use these services and rapidly built them into their lifestyles. Add a cultural predisposition to becoming a fan of the latest popular trends, and you have a consumer receptive to mobile marketing.
Orr notes that successful mobile marketing demands a new way of thinking about ad campaigns. “Mobile advertising is intrinsically more targeted than ads in conventional media or even online. It also offers much greater potential for interactivity: it’s really a ‘conversation’ with your customer, one that can allow the consumer to take direct purchasing action. And it offers extremely accurate measurement of campaign results.”
Despite its intrinsically lower campaign cost, however, even mobile advertising is not completely immune from the recession. If an advertiser or brand owner had mobile in their experimental budget, chances are it has been cut. But if mobile was already a more significant and established part of the marketing mix, spending has been maintained or even increased for 2009.
The findings form part of ABI Research’s new study – Mobile Marketing and Advertising. More details on their website.
SMS Text Service – A Quick Fix to Reach Youth Audience
May 19th
Leading mobile marketing firm www.txtlocal.co.uk has witnessed a surge in organisations adopting an SMS strategy to target the 16 to 24 market. Every organisation from big brand names such as L’Oreal to SME’s, Councils, Churches and Sports Clubs are all turning to mobile in a bid to engage with youth audiences.
Txtlocal MD, Darren Daws claims that text has always been a popular medium for targeting youth’s, however, he claims it is growing in popularity as marketers realise its potential in reaching this sector. “This year we have seen a real growth in the number of SME’s adopting a mobile strategy and we expect this trend to continue during 2009 as Marketers realise the huge potential in targeting the 16 to 24 sector by mobile phone.”
Daws continues, “Overall, it makes sense to target the 16 to 24 sector by text, this group have grown up in the new media digital age, they are also the biggest users of SMS and MMS. The mobile is a way of life for this audience.”
These views are demonstrated by Islington Council who use SMS to communicate with youth audiences in campaigns such as their drug & alcohol awareness and local sports initiatives. The council teamed up with local organisations such as Arsenal football club and Access to Sports to deliver a program of events for youths in the area. People could text HEAT to 60777 for a program of events on offer and a schedule was relayed back. Laura Hales of the Council claimed that sms has worked well for the council “We are pleased with the results from our SMS campaigns; the tactic generates a greater response than other mediums.”
Religious organisations including a number of Churches are also moving towards a text messaging strategy to engage youth audiences. Jamie Anderson of The Commonwealth Church at St Marks reports “The response to our text campaigns has been overwhelming; we have definitely had an increase in attendance at our events.”
Many Churches also use SMS to communicate with parishioners with daily prayers sent by text or messages of support to parishioners who may be going through tough times. Whatever the cause a quick text is a personal way for a Church to keep in touch with a large volume of people, quickly and easily.
Theatres are also benefiting from SMS marketing to target youth audiences. The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester use SMS to target students with special offer promotions for events at the Theatre. Marketing Manager Vicky Bloor claims “Mobile marketing is a great way to target the student & youth market with special offers & promotions.” Bloor continues “We have had great results from using text marketing, with many recipients making a box office booking directly after receiving one of our promotional text.”
Reports published in Marketing Week’s Interactive magazine suggest that Mobile Marketing offers huge opportunities for marketers during 2009 particularly in targeting the 16 to 24 group. Everyone from big brands to local businesses will need to at least explore the potential of integrating mobile into their marketing strategy in an attempt to deliver a more targeted and interactive approach.
Clickatell Social Network Customers Poised to Monetize Demand; SMS Proven to Build Communities, Increase Interaction and Enable Advertising Revenues
May 12th
Even during tough economic times, the mobile social networking phenomenon is here to stay. People want to stay connected and in touch while on the go, and the addition of text messaging to social networks makes it possible anywhere, anytime. Especially in times of high job loss, people want to stay in touch with friends, colleagues, past employers, and others to keep up to date on job status and conversations regarding possible work opportunities. Immediately opened when received, text messaging is the fastest growing communications method in mobile social networking today. Brightkite, mig33 and Mobiluck agree—they’ve chosen Clickatell as their trusted SMS provider to deliver reliable text messages to millions of their community members around the world.
Brightkite, available independently on Brightkite.com or via Facebook, is a mobile location-based social network, which allows friends to be found or find others–a great way to meet up any time. “Finding the best party, meeting up for dinner, or meeting new people are some of the reasons customers enjoy Brightkite,” commented Brady Becker, Co-Founder. “Working with Clickatell made it incredibly easy for us to implement our SMS strategy and we count on the reliability, ubiquity, and global appeal Clickatell provides. We look forward to working with Clickatell as we expand in 2009 and beyond.”
As Twitter bursts into the mainstream, the social networking phenomenon continues to astound Wall Street – billions of people engaged, yet little monetization. People won’t pay for services to connect with peers, but companies are highly interested in reaching these people in new ways. Growing three times faster than the overall rate of Internet growth, social networking applications stand to attract many customers as they connect and interact with friends, family and business associates around the globe.
“Read within minutes, text messages can reach millions instantly. Research has shown, SMS is surpassing voice as the preferred way to communicate – it’s quick, easy, direct. As social sites continue experiencing phenomenal growth – they are introducing mobile advertising and location-aware services via SMS,” said Pieter de Villiers, CEO of Clickatell. “If, for example, a restaurant or retailer sent a text message offering a free beverage or point-of-sale coupon to someone passing the physical store, chances are customers would stop in for a free drink and maybe also purchase other items as well. They might also text friends, further extending the value of mobile communities. Sent to the masses via mobile social networking, retailers of all kinds could drive traffic into their store during slow times, reaching new customers through these circles, ultimately increasing the bottom line.”
At pennies per message, implementing SMS is the best way to get started immediately. Using www.Clickatell.com — the world’s #1 mobile messaging self-service website — all developers and marketers simply need to do is go to www.Clickatell.com, create an account, enter a credit card number to purchase future message quantities and then access their favorite social networking messaging solution. Clickatell has made it incredibly easy to SMS-enable any existing application. There is no need for heavy software installation, long purchase processes or complex implementation. In a matter of minutes, organizations of all sizes can rapidly deploy SMS-based mobile social strategies and campaigns. Clickatell’s easy-to-use social mobile messaging solutions include seven API choices, developer tools and provide one central point to quickly integrate new SMS capabilities into existing or new offerings. And, Clickatell has years of experience and deep relationships with mobile carriers and can reach more than 775 networks in more than 200 countries around the world.
The uptake in social networking is being driven by popular global sites, including mySpace, Twitter, Facebook, Friendster, Hi5, Orkut, Bebo, and others. Further, the social networking sector is undergoing a rapid transformation as these and other community sites are embracing mobilization strategies of their rapidly growing communities to facilitate even more member interaction and collaboration. eMarketer predicts that over 800 million people worldwide will be participating in a social network via their mobile phones by 2012, up from 82 million in 2007. The global social networking market will grow to a massive $28.9 billion for revenues generated from all business models in this industry by 2012, according to Informa. Within that market, SMS is rapidly being used to mobilize the social networking experience to create greater member stickiness, usage and community growth, as well as to achieve monetization business objectives.
For more information about Clickatell’s solutions for Mobile Social Networking, please visit http://www.clickatell.com/solutions/social_networking.php
Clickatell Customers Agree: Mobile Social Networking via SMS Adds Value
Founded in 2005, Brightkite brings social networking back into the real world. Brightkite’s location-aware mobile service helps people connect with friends and share real world experiences. More than two million people use Brightkite’s free service every month. Use Brightkite to meet people, keep track of friends, explore and discover new places, and annotate places with notes and photos. Best of all, Brightkite is available to anyone, anywhere, worldwide. All you need is a mobile phone or Web browser to bring friends together in the real world, wherever you are.
mig33 is a leading mobile community with more than 18 million users, globally, providing a choice of communications and entertainment services for users to connect on their mobile phone. In over 200 countries, members engage in the vibrant chat community, instant messaging, email, photo sharing, virtual gifting, profiles, as well as cheap voice calls and SMS. “Clickatell has been a good partner over the past four years in helping us build our global community, so we can deliver the kind of service our customers deserve and have come to expect,” said Steve Boom, CEO, mig33.
Mobiluck, the world’s fastest growing mobile location-based social network, now has one million mobile members with 5,000 new people joining daily from all over the world. Mobiluck allows people to find nearby people, places and events, sorted by distance. In just a minute, people and businesses can create a free mobile webpage in order to be easily found on the mobile web. Mobiluck is available on all cell phones and PCs, in all countries, on all operator networks, and without any download. Members receive free Clickatell-powered SMS alerts to inform members of interesting events such as nearby friends or recent profile views. “Clickatell has proven to be the best choice for us in terms of global reach, performance and price point to deliver the millions of monthly SMS alerts around the world that are essential to the interactivity, relevance and fun of our service for members’,” said Olivier Chouraki, Mobiluck CEO.
Infotechnology Solutions Chooses Clickatell to Deliver Text Banking; 15 Million Messages to be Sent per Month, Expected to Grow
May 5th
As banks around the world continue to benefit from interactive text alerts to reduce fraud, reduce call center costs, and ultimately increase revenue, Infotechnology Solutions has chosen Clickatell to offer interactive text alerts to banking customers in Nigeria – one of the fastest growing African economies. Banks can offer customers real time SMS alerts with every transaction, giving customers immediate knowledge of account movement on their cards. Using Infotechnology’s new solution, named MoneyGuard, customers have the ability to immediately respond to alerts on transactions considered fraudulent.
It takes an average of two weeks after a “stop” request is made before a card is blocked – and it only takes a few hours to empty an account. With MoneyGuard powered by Clickatell SMS, it takes only minutes to effectively block a card. This solution arms cardholders with the ability to respond interactively and in real-time. Moneyguard was co-developed by Transec Pty Ltd from Australia, F12 from Hungary and InfoTechnology from Nigeria, and has proven success in countries like Hungary where card fraud has been reduced to 0.22%, one of the lowest in the world.
“Banking customers automatically receive text alerts on transactions and can determine immediately if the transaction was authorized by the account holder. If it is considered fraudulent, customers can immediately respond by sending an SMS to stop the payment. Imagine the vast reduction in fraud by combining the freedom of mobile phones and the immediacy of text messaging,” commented Abiodun Adesina, CEO of Tripplea Group, Inc; Infotechnology’s holding company. “Having an established track record among the strongest global financial companies, Clickatell came highly recommended by financial and mobile experts from around the world. With the ability to send more than 15 million messages per month, our banking customers are pleased with the speed and quality of this innovative real-time solution during the pilot recently concluded by several banks in the country.”
Mobile banking is fast becoming a greater contributor to the economy as mobile payments drive additional subscribers to mobile providers. Pyramid Research identifies Nigeria as the largest and fastest growing market on the African continent and has over 61 million of the 4 billion global GSM lines. In 2008, Nigeria’s mobile market experienced a CAGR of over 5.7% ranking them as one of the top 10 mobile countries in the world.
“Mobility is driving economic, financial and social change throughout the world, especially in emerging markets like Africa,” said Pieter de Villiers, Clickatell CEO. “With continued shifts in the global economic system, people want even more direct involvement in and control over their finances. We look forward to working with Infotechnology’s banking customers and further participate in the tremendous growth as leading banks continue to deploy text banking.”
Clickatell is attending the Banking and Technologies West Africa Conference this week at Muson Centre, Lagos, Nigeria.
Nokia E71x launches on A&T
May 4th
Nokia announced that the slimmest smartphone on the market, the Nokia E71x, will be available in AT&T retail stores and online beginning today. Priced at just $99.99, this much-anticipated full QWERTY smartphone arrives at a time when one in two people surveyed say they would prefer to communicate via text message or email over phone calls.
“The trend for messaging, whether email, IM, texting or social networking, is stronger than ever – we are seeing a real shift in the way people prefer to communicate,” says David Petts, Vice President and General Manager, AT&T Account, Nokia. “The E71x is one of the most stylish and sophisticated QWERTY smartphones on the market, and it’s the ideal companion for people who enjoy easy messaging and connecting with their friends. We are thrilled to now bring this sleek smartphone to people across the United States with AT&T.”
In a recent survey conducted with 500 American adults aged 18 and above, 52 percent said they would prefer to use texting or emailing if they had to use only one communication method for two weeks. The option of only making voice calls for two weeks trailed behind at 40 percent, according to the people surveyed. The survey, commissioned by Nokia, looked at the way people use messaging and social networking on their mobile devices.
The results revealed that both texting and social networking from the mobile device are playing a part in the romantic side of life. More than one in four, or 26 percent, have made plans for seeing a special someone via social networking on their mobile, and 64 percent have made plans for a date via text messaging. Additionally, 32 percent of those surveyed have responded to a text message during a romantic dinner, and more than one in ten, or 11 percent, have actually interrupted a romantic engagement or dinner to respond to a social networking message. The same percentage of people say they have ended a romantic relationship via text, and seven percent have ended a relationship via social networking from their mobile.
Nearly three in four people, or 69 percent, said they send text messages at least once a day. What they use it for is revealing – nearly one in three, or 29 percent, say it is acceptable to tell friends/family they just got laid off via text message and one in ten would “call” in sick to work via text messaging.
In fact, actual behavior trumps intended behavior – 13 percent have called in sick to work via text. An additional 12 percent of respondents say they actually have spread news of their lay off to friends/family via texting. According to the survey, people are also using messaging and social networking to stay ahead in a tough economy. Eleven percent said they have secured a business deal via text and 6 percent have successfully used social networking to nab new business.
“Cutting-edge smartphones like the E71x are a huge hit with our customers who see their mobile phone as a hub for their digital lives,” said Michael Woodward, vice president, Mobile Phone Portfolio, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “Our customers rely on smartphones to stay connected using e-mail, text messaging, and social networks. The E71x is ideal for that.”
The thinnest QWERTY smartphone on the market, the Nokia E71x, has high-speed 3G connectivity, WiFi, and features a built-in music player and a 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera to connect people to their passions -be it messaging, social networking, listening to music, taking and sharing images or even navigating to a date or job interview with AT&T Navigator.
The Nokia E71x is available from AT&T stores and online from http://www.wireless.att.com at a retail price of USD 99.99 with a contract and mail-in-rebate. Additional information is available from http://www.att.com/nokiaE71x .
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