Customer retention is ultimately driven by value. Even the best segmentation, targeting, positioning, creative messaging, or promotion with flawless execution will fall flat in the absence of value.
Therefore, in developing a plan to maintain and upgrade a customer base, it is necessary to build on a solid foundation. Only then will the plan lead to greater customer retention and overall organizational success.
To succeed, customer retention must be a top-down, companywide initiative. Truly committing to customer retention is hard work because it affects virtually every aspect of your organization, but the payback in sustainable growth and profitability makes the effort worthwhile.
The path to customer retention involves six key steps:
1. Ask
Ask your customers what they want and what they like and dislike. Include customer surveys on your mobile channel, website, at the point of sale, and in package inserts. You'll likely get "extreme" feedback from customers who love you or hate you. Customers who are mildly satisfied are not as motivated to speak their minds.
But ask only if you're prepared to deal with the responses. Turning a deaf ear to a problem is the kiss of death.
Please remember that customers expect you to take action when they complain, especially if you initiated the dialogue. Use feedback from your surveys to make improvements to your product or service. Customers love it when you listen to them!
2. Evaluate
Evaluate your customer data to find out who your best customers are. That may sound obvious, but the devil is in the details. There may be trends that you've overlooked.
And keep an eye on profitability, not just transactions. In the credit-card industry, for example, deep spenders who pay off their balance each month usually are not as profitable as moderate spenders who carry a balance.
When you know who your best customers are, you can tailor your marketing programs to keep those customers and encourage them to spend more with you.
3. Stimulate
If you have sold your customers a service and they're not using it, get them to activate (e.g., online bill pay, long-distance service, and credit and debit cards).
At the start of a new relationship, there's that warm and fuzzy feeling when new customers sign on. You got them to say yes. Four months later, you're wondering why those customers don't love you. Is it something you did?
No. It's something you didn't do: You sold to them and moved on. You assumed that they would fend for themselves and figure out all the great things about doing business with you.
The first few days and weeks of a new business relationship are critical. Shower them with your kindness. Send direct mail and email reminders. Thank them for their business. Do everything you can to make the "honeymoon" phase of your relationship special.
In the long run, if they're not using your product or service, they're likely to bail when a better deal comes along.
4. Reward
Reward your customers with meaningful perks for doing business with you. It seems like everyone has a loyalty program these days. Customers are getting weary of "me too" programs that don't offer substantial value.
Instead of always giving customers what they expect, give them the unexpected. For example, a midsize accounting firm rewarded some of its best customers with a box of Haigh's chocolates for their business. It was an unexpected, tasty little perk that came out of the blue.
Results? Those customers had above-average retention rates the following year. Sometimes the little things can mean a lot.
5. Aggregate
Try to get all the customer's eggs in your basket. In other words, cross-sell other products and services. Doing so is much easier when you already have a relationship with the customer. Offer customers one-stop shopping, consolidated billing, free postage, and other benefits for giving you more of their business.
Everyone's busy, and consumers are looking for service providers that can make their lives easier. It's what they want, so why not give it to them?
6. Take action
A great product and great customer service are the foundation for customer retention. And positive word-of-mouth is by far the best marketing tool in your arsenal. But you can't control when that happens, so you need a marketing plan to keep the customers you want.
Don't just hope your customers love you—be proactive. Put your plan in writing, and make it stick. Follow through and take action. Use direct mail, email, newsletters, and other marketing tools to make your best customers feel special.
Treat your best customers with respect, and they'll reward you with loyalty beyond your wildest dreams. Send them targeted messages. Give them special incentives. Keep in mind that it's easier to cultivate your current customer relationships—not to mention less expensive—than it is to begin new ones.
The role of customer retention in the overall organizational strategy is one of protecting and managing the primary source of resources. It is also one of defending and enhancing market position, and of optimizing resources and opportunity.
That is why although seemingly a purely tactical approach, customer retention also belongs in the realm of strategic market planning and is a required strength of any successful organization.
It costs about five times as much to acquire a new customer as it does to keep a current customer. That's why it pays to pay attention to your best customers. In the end, they'll buy more, stick with you longer, and tell their friends how great it is doing business with your company. Isn't that what we all want?
by Chintan Bharwada
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Implementing the latest marketing initiatives
Shopper marketing has traditionally been about developing a marketing relationship with consumers in the store. It involves the strategy and tactics that are employed within the framework of a retail environment in order to attain a specific business objective, not the least of which is driving top-line revenue for brands.
Shopper marketing is now evolving at a very quick pace and is becoming much more involved in what is called "the digitally fueled path to purchase".
Brand marketers and retail clients should view the digital path to purchase as a three-step process:
In deriving shopper insights, develop an engagement strategy that is contextually relevant to the actual shopper. It’s not just purely about putting a product on the shelf and offering a coupon or some form of a discount anymore. Shopper marketing is much more about the process of connecting with shoppers when, where and how they would like to engage. Most often, it’s through a digitally oriented methodology.
There are some standard elements in the shopping experience—pre-shopping, while shopping and post-shopping. Those factors focus on the “when” and the “where” aspects but the “how” is becoming increasingly more important. It’s being driven more by individual product categories. For example, how shoppers engage with a commodity like paper towels is significantly different than how they would engage with a durable good or entertainment-based item. The path to purchase varies across categories.
The next generation of shopper marketing is no longer defined by traditional brick-and-mortar stores or ecommerce for that matter. Consumers don’t really have to search for information in the pre-shopping phase. They can have it delivered to them wherever they are and on their own terms based on their predisposition toward different types of communication and technology.
Moving forward, we should see more two-way dialogues taking place between brands and shoppers. We see more preferential treatment for brand loyalists, influencers and those who are actively engaged with brands. Brands will reward loyalty in a more impactful way as it relates to digitally fueled shopper marketing.
Physical retail stores are still important but more and more, we see that how retailers and brands interact with someone digitally, on their terms and through the device by which they want to interact, is becoming much more important. We’re becoming more channel-agnostic and contextually relevant.
Marketers need to understand shopper segmentation based upon purchasing behavior, while also focusing on consumers’ digital lives. They must create digital shopper segmentation models in order to arrive at contextually relevant and holistic shopper marketing opportunities.
Marketers should evaluate the strategic needs of the brand, particularly at the pre-shopping phase. We see that shopping is taking place constantly. The lines are blurring between the pre-, in-store and post-shopping phases. It all counts as shopping, even as you’re consuming and using a product. These lines are blurring, particularly as the path to purchase is more digitally influenced. We should try to understand how a shopper behaves along the entire continuum.
There’s an insight-driven digital component for almost all engagement marketing programs that includes metrics and measurement from an ROI perspective. It’s really important to understand not only the future needs for the brand’s growth, but also the needs of the shopper segments as they evolve and change over time. For example, conduct a research into understanding younger consumers, diverse ethnicities and baby boomers in order to better understand their digital lives.
For more information on how to digitally fuel your business, please contact MODI$club.
Shopper marketing is now evolving at a very quick pace and is becoming much more involved in what is called "the digitally fueled path to purchase".
Brand marketers and retail clients should view the digital path to purchase as a three-step process:
- understanding the brand, its positioning, target and overarching essence.
- create an engagement strategy.
- activate across relevant touch points.
In deriving shopper insights, develop an engagement strategy that is contextually relevant to the actual shopper. It’s not just purely about putting a product on the shelf and offering a coupon or some form of a discount anymore. Shopper marketing is much more about the process of connecting with shoppers when, where and how they would like to engage. Most often, it’s through a digitally oriented methodology.
There are some standard elements in the shopping experience—pre-shopping, while shopping and post-shopping. Those factors focus on the “when” and the “where” aspects but the “how” is becoming increasingly more important. It’s being driven more by individual product categories. For example, how shoppers engage with a commodity like paper towels is significantly different than how they would engage with a durable good or entertainment-based item. The path to purchase varies across categories.
The next generation of shopper marketing is no longer defined by traditional brick-and-mortar stores or ecommerce for that matter. Consumers don’t really have to search for information in the pre-shopping phase. They can have it delivered to them wherever they are and on their own terms based on their predisposition toward different types of communication and technology.
Moving forward, we should see more two-way dialogues taking place between brands and shoppers. We see more preferential treatment for brand loyalists, influencers and those who are actively engaged with brands. Brands will reward loyalty in a more impactful way as it relates to digitally fueled shopper marketing.
Physical retail stores are still important but more and more, we see that how retailers and brands interact with someone digitally, on their terms and through the device by which they want to interact, is becoming much more important. We’re becoming more channel-agnostic and contextually relevant.
Marketers need to understand shopper segmentation based upon purchasing behavior, while also focusing on consumers’ digital lives. They must create digital shopper segmentation models in order to arrive at contextually relevant and holistic shopper marketing opportunities.
Marketers should evaluate the strategic needs of the brand, particularly at the pre-shopping phase. We see that shopping is taking place constantly. The lines are blurring between the pre-, in-store and post-shopping phases. It all counts as shopping, even as you’re consuming and using a product. These lines are blurring, particularly as the path to purchase is more digitally influenced. We should try to understand how a shopper behaves along the entire continuum.
There’s an insight-driven digital component for almost all engagement marketing programs that includes metrics and measurement from an ROI perspective. It’s really important to understand not only the future needs for the brand’s growth, but also the needs of the shopper segments as they evolve and change over time. For example, conduct a research into understanding younger consumers, diverse ethnicities and baby boomers in order to better understand their digital lives.
For more information on how to digitally fuel your business, please contact MODI$club.
Monday, November 1, 2010
How to Avoid Advertising $1 Billion Mistake
The advertising industry is undergoing a massive shift in how its dollars are spent. Money is moving from the offline world to the online and wireless world at a rate of roughly $3 to $5 billion a year.
However, in that rapid shift of spend, a major mistake has been made. Almost all marketers are guilty of it, and it is costing them more than $1 billion a year as time goes on.
Most advertising networks and websites that are delivering ads have a very simple goal: launch a campaign based on the advertiser's requirements and improve the campaign over time based on where they find success.
The goal of the delivery team (or optimization engine if a technology is being used) is to improve the marketer's metrics by employing tactics such as geotargeting, demographic targeting, time of day, frequency capping, etc.
Ideally, a campaign starts with a certain baseline that improves over time as the network, site, or demand-side platform (DSP) optimizes the campaign.
If a campaign is being measured to an action—let's say a purchase—a network can analyze results, see where it is best achieving success, and improve the campaign metrics and return on investment over time.
If a campaign is being measured to clicks, then over time the click-through rate (CTR), or number of times an ad is clicked per impression, should increase.
Although most campaigns are looking to drive conversion goals, many still use the click and CTR as their primary metrics, because those metrics traditionally have been used to measure success and because they're easy to measure.
There are no extra tags to install, and there is no work to do to confirm the tags are operational. The CTR is easily calculable and comes directly from the ad server, so it doesn't take any additional work to access it. Optimization routines (often spreadsheets) are largely set up natively to handle the CTR as the metric to optimize to, which makes it easy to "flip a switch" to get to the proper goal.
However, the click's days are numbered. There is an increasing awareness of some "cracks" in the click's validity, and recent studies by comScore, Microsoft, and others have effectively invalidated the click as an important measure for display advertising.
Bizo's recent study of hundreds of B2B advertising campaigns that ran from January through June of 2010 revealed some interesting findings.
Among campaigns that were being measured and optimized to actions (conversions, downloads, etc.), the CTR was approximately 10% lower than that of campaigns that were being optimized to clicks. In short, campaigns with actions as their goals drive 10% fewer clicks.
The data also shows that of the top 25 inventory sources based on CTR, only six of them fall in the top 25 from a conversion-rate perspective. That means that sites that have great CTRs typically do not offer great conversion rates. Thus, using CTR as a meaningful metric on publisher sites is just as big a mistake as doing so on ad networks, as it would lead a campaign astray almost 80% of the time.
Considering that the goal of any advertising investment is to drive a prospect to a conversion action (e.g., purchase, engagement, a user filling out a form, etc.), the fact that the click-through rate is lower when optimizing to the end action has a profound and clear implication: Optimizing to the click harms a campaign's success.
If you value the online display advertising industry at $10 billion, and we assume that most networks and sites are optimizing to the click today, we estimate that the value lost to the industry is well over $1 billion and growing rapidly as the industry expands.
In fact, the Google Content network (the display adjunct to search) actually forces marketers to make the same giant mistake because they are paying by click and Google is optimizing the delivery of ads to maximize the number of clicks (and revenues for Google).
Unfortunately, the ad exchanges are no better. Considering the ease with which the click is measured, the DSPs are primarily doing the same thing today: measuring to the wrong metric and, in doing so, harming advertisers from reaching the goal they're seeking: an educated consumer who buys from them.
The notion that a user would click on a display ad is just as erroneous as thinking a user watching a TV ad for Lexus would pick up the phone and order a Lexus while viewing the ad. Users viewing the ad are not looking to click on something.
As an advertiser, your goal shouldn't always be to drive a click. In many cases, you're looking to educate and ultimately drive an action at some point down the road. So the click can be a highly misleading metric if it's not the right people who are clicking.
In fact, most ads today get 1 click for every 1,000 views, and, on average, more than 40% of those "bounce" from the landing page (i.e., leave as soon as they arrive), suggesting that many of those banner clicks are user mistakes.
To recap: Unless the measurement, and thus optimization, is based on the action, you will often optimize away from success.
So what's an advertiser to do? All advertisers need to start thinking about how to measure beyond the click to drive success in their advertising campaigns.
Here is a quick four-step plan to display-advertising success:
For more information on SMS marketing or tools that will provide clear conversion metrics, please contact us.
Source: Marketing Profs
However, in that rapid shift of spend, a major mistake has been made. Almost all marketers are guilty of it, and it is costing them more than $1 billion a year as time goes on.
Most advertising networks and websites that are delivering ads have a very simple goal: launch a campaign based on the advertiser's requirements and improve the campaign over time based on where they find success.
The goal of the delivery team (or optimization engine if a technology is being used) is to improve the marketer's metrics by employing tactics such as geotargeting, demographic targeting, time of day, frequency capping, etc.
Ideally, a campaign starts with a certain baseline that improves over time as the network, site, or demand-side platform (DSP) optimizes the campaign.
If a campaign is being measured to an action—let's say a purchase—a network can analyze results, see where it is best achieving success, and improve the campaign metrics and return on investment over time.
If a campaign is being measured to clicks, then over time the click-through rate (CTR), or number of times an ad is clicked per impression, should increase.
Although most campaigns are looking to drive conversion goals, many still use the click and CTR as their primary metrics, because those metrics traditionally have been used to measure success and because they're easy to measure.
There are no extra tags to install, and there is no work to do to confirm the tags are operational. The CTR is easily calculable and comes directly from the ad server, so it doesn't take any additional work to access it. Optimization routines (often spreadsheets) are largely set up natively to handle the CTR as the metric to optimize to, which makes it easy to "flip a switch" to get to the proper goal.
However, the click's days are numbered. There is an increasing awareness of some "cracks" in the click's validity, and recent studies by comScore, Microsoft, and others have effectively invalidated the click as an important measure for display advertising.
Bizo's recent study of hundreds of B2B advertising campaigns that ran from January through June of 2010 revealed some interesting findings.
Among campaigns that were being measured and optimized to actions (conversions, downloads, etc.), the CTR was approximately 10% lower than that of campaigns that were being optimized to clicks. In short, campaigns with actions as their goals drive 10% fewer clicks.
The data also shows that of the top 25 inventory sources based on CTR, only six of them fall in the top 25 from a conversion-rate perspective. That means that sites that have great CTRs typically do not offer great conversion rates. Thus, using CTR as a meaningful metric on publisher sites is just as big a mistake as doing so on ad networks, as it would lead a campaign astray almost 80% of the time.
Considering that the goal of any advertising investment is to drive a prospect to a conversion action (e.g., purchase, engagement, a user filling out a form, etc.), the fact that the click-through rate is lower when optimizing to the end action has a profound and clear implication: Optimizing to the click harms a campaign's success.
If you value the online display advertising industry at $10 billion, and we assume that most networks and sites are optimizing to the click today, we estimate that the value lost to the industry is well over $1 billion and growing rapidly as the industry expands.
In fact, the Google Content network (the display adjunct to search) actually forces marketers to make the same giant mistake because they are paying by click and Google is optimizing the delivery of ads to maximize the number of clicks (and revenues for Google).
Unfortunately, the ad exchanges are no better. Considering the ease with which the click is measured, the DSPs are primarily doing the same thing today: measuring to the wrong metric and, in doing so, harming advertisers from reaching the goal they're seeking: an educated consumer who buys from them.
The notion that a user would click on a display ad is just as erroneous as thinking a user watching a TV ad for Lexus would pick up the phone and order a Lexus while viewing the ad. Users viewing the ad are not looking to click on something.
As an advertiser, your goal shouldn't always be to drive a click. In many cases, you're looking to educate and ultimately drive an action at some point down the road. So the click can be a highly misleading metric if it's not the right people who are clicking.
In fact, most ads today get 1 click for every 1,000 views, and, on average, more than 40% of those "bounce" from the landing page (i.e., leave as soon as they arrive), suggesting that many of those banner clicks are user mistakes.
To recap: Unless the measurement, and thus optimization, is based on the action, you will often optimize away from success.
So what's an advertiser to do? All advertisers need to start thinking about how to measure beyond the click to drive success in their advertising campaigns.
Here is a quick four-step plan to display-advertising success:
- Admit that the click is the wrong metric and you need to change how campaigns are being measured.
- Figure out the right action that you need to measure to for success. Is it a purchase? Download? Text-in? Form submission? Engagement? All of the above?
Ultimately, what key actions are clear indicators that your prospects are progressing toward your goals? - Optimize your campaigns using tools that will give you clear metrics on where those conversions are coming from.
For more information on SMS marketing or tools that will provide clear conversion metrics, please contact us.
Source: Marketing Profs
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Gaining Consumer Trust Online and Offline
Marketers must leverage trust, not just popularity
Trust and credibility are the gold standards by which relationships are measured. This is true of personal relationships as well as connections between people and brands.
The rise of social media has reinforced the importance of trust. Successful and enduring social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn are built on a foundation of trust and transparency. But social media has also distorted the notion of trust and put an emphasis on the size of a person’s network and connections.
“Marketers seeking to maximize their reach should focus on the quality of social network connections rather than their sheer size.” said Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst.
According to Invoke Solutions, quantitative measures such as the volume of content and participation, the length of time people have been fans or followers, or the raw number of followers or fans mattered far less in inspiring trust than the openness of the dialogue, the quality of the comments, and the responsiveness of the sponsor or author.
And Vision Critical found that among US consumers overall as well as daily social network users, friends and family were trusted for product recommendations far more than brand-originated content or people consumers did not know.
And marketers around the world agree that popularity does not equal influence on social media sites.
“The level of influence over one’s friends, followers or fans is the real key, and influence does not necessarily correlate to the size of the network,” said Verna.
In addition, there is a feedback loop between online and offline word-of-mouth, and marketers must understand the connections and differences between the channels.
For more information on how to build trustworthy connections with your audiences, visit our SMS portal or contact us.
Source: eMarketer
Trust and credibility are the gold standards by which relationships are measured. This is true of personal relationships as well as connections between people and brands.
The rise of social media has reinforced the importance of trust. Successful and enduring social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn are built on a foundation of trust and transparency. But social media has also distorted the notion of trust and put an emphasis on the size of a person’s network and connections.
“Marketers seeking to maximize their reach should focus on the quality of social network connections rather than their sheer size.” said Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst.
According to Invoke Solutions, quantitative measures such as the volume of content and participation, the length of time people have been fans or followers, or the raw number of followers or fans mattered far less in inspiring trust than the openness of the dialogue, the quality of the comments, and the responsiveness of the sponsor or author.
And Vision Critical found that among US consumers overall as well as daily social network users, friends and family were trusted for product recommendations far more than brand-originated content or people consumers did not know.
And marketers around the world agree that popularity does not equal influence on social media sites.
“The level of influence over one’s friends, followers or fans is the real key, and influence does not necessarily correlate to the size of the network,” said Verna.
In addition, there is a feedback loop between online and offline word-of-mouth, and marketers must understand the connections and differences between the channels.
For more information on how to build trustworthy connections with your audiences, visit our SMS portal or contact us.
Source: eMarketer
Thursday, October 14, 2010
MODI$club is helping save the planet one text at a time
MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MODI$club is helping save the planet one text at a time
CALGARY, AB, October 12, 2010 – Waste Reduction Week taking place from October 18-24 acts as an annual reminder to reduce, reuse and recycle. With ever increasing awareness of the environment and pressure upon organizations to demonstrate social responsibility, more and more people are gravitating to products and services that subscribe to the green philosophy. One such product that is growing in popularity is MODI$club. The website offers mass SMS (texting) technology as a greener method of business communications and marketing.
SMS marketing has the lowest carbon footprint of all types of mass advertising. Environmental benefits include the reduction of paper usage, elimination of toxic printing ink, omission of gasoline usage in the distribution of printed materials, and so on. The opportunities to reduce cost and reduce waste through this communication tool represent incredible ROI for marketers and recovery for our environment.
“In this ever-more socially conscious and digitally focused world, mobile marketing can’t be beat for its ecological benefits and speed of communication,” says Kean Tan, co-founder of MODI$club. “With the widespread adoption of text messaging, to leave SMS marketing and its benefits unattended, will cost many organizations their future.”
MODI$club is a “freemium” website that businesses and organizations can use at no-cost. It is an easy tool that can be used to target and engage audience beyond traditional media - a new mix to conventional marketing and communication campaigns. It caters to any business, regardless of size or industry. MODI$club is currently being used by many industries, including retailers, restaurants, expos/tradeshows, golf courses, distress centres, health and body companies, charities and non-profits. Some of the more familiar brands are Habitat for Humanity, SwizzleSticks SalonSpa, Yamaha Music School, Chianti Italian Restaurant, Honens International Piano Competition, Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo and Calgary Mens Expo.
Canadians sent a total of 4.2 billion text messages in March 2010 and 538 million text messages were sent to mobile campaigns. Clearly organizations need to start investing in SMS marketing to appeal to the technology savvy and social conscious audience. Mobile giving, an innovative mobile donation campaign and AMBER alerts campaigns are just some of the latest activities in which Canadian cell phone customers are now participating. Also, more and more Canadians are embracing SMS marketing since the industry established a strict anti-SPAM regulation.
SMS marketing makes sense in this day and age, and MODI$club is here to offer the tools for businesses and organizations to make an impact in many ways. Not only does SMS marketing make a positive impact on the environment, it is also changing the way we save time and money. For more information, visit www.modisclub.com.
ABOUT MODI$club
MODI$club is a product of a full service marketing, design and technology company that started in 2000 called nexusV. It helps brands find a place within the wireless (mobile), online (web) and offline (print) environments where they can connect and engage with customers.
Other services provided include:
- 30 -
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Kean Tan
MODI$club
403 209 5988
keantan@modisclub.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MODI$club is helping save the planet one text at a time
CALGARY, AB, October 12, 2010 – Waste Reduction Week taking place from October 18-24 acts as an annual reminder to reduce, reuse and recycle. With ever increasing awareness of the environment and pressure upon organizations to demonstrate social responsibility, more and more people are gravitating to products and services that subscribe to the green philosophy. One such product that is growing in popularity is MODI$club. The website offers mass SMS (texting) technology as a greener method of business communications and marketing.
SMS marketing has the lowest carbon footprint of all types of mass advertising. Environmental benefits include the reduction of paper usage, elimination of toxic printing ink, omission of gasoline usage in the distribution of printed materials, and so on. The opportunities to reduce cost and reduce waste through this communication tool represent incredible ROI for marketers and recovery for our environment.
“In this ever-more socially conscious and digitally focused world, mobile marketing can’t be beat for its ecological benefits and speed of communication,” says Kean Tan, co-founder of MODI$club. “With the widespread adoption of text messaging, to leave SMS marketing and its benefits unattended, will cost many organizations their future.”
MODI$club is a “freemium” website that businesses and organizations can use at no-cost. It is an easy tool that can be used to target and engage audience beyond traditional media - a new mix to conventional marketing and communication campaigns. It caters to any business, regardless of size or industry. MODI$club is currently being used by many industries, including retailers, restaurants, expos/tradeshows, golf courses, distress centres, health and body companies, charities and non-profits. Some of the more familiar brands are Habitat for Humanity, SwizzleSticks SalonSpa, Yamaha Music School, Chianti Italian Restaurant, Honens International Piano Competition, Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo and Calgary Mens Expo.
Canadians sent a total of 4.2 billion text messages in March 2010 and 538 million text messages were sent to mobile campaigns. Clearly organizations need to start investing in SMS marketing to appeal to the technology savvy and social conscious audience. Mobile giving, an innovative mobile donation campaign and AMBER alerts campaigns are just some of the latest activities in which Canadian cell phone customers are now participating. Also, more and more Canadians are embracing SMS marketing since the industry established a strict anti-SPAM regulation.
SMS marketing makes sense in this day and age, and MODI$club is here to offer the tools for businesses and organizations to make an impact in many ways. Not only does SMS marketing make a positive impact on the environment, it is also changing the way we save time and money. For more information, visit www.modisclub.com.
ABOUT MODI$club
MODI$club is a product of a full service marketing, design and technology company that started in 2000 called nexusV. It helps brands find a place within the wireless (mobile), online (web) and offline (print) environments where they can connect and engage with customers.
Other services provided include:
- Brand strategy, logo and stationery design, print publications and other graphic design services;
- Website design and development, content management system (CMS), email management system, timesheet management system, custom web application development, web hosting and more;
- Traditional (print and radio) and internet marketing (SEO).
- 30 -
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Kean Tan
MODI$club
403 209 5988
keantan@modisclub.com
Friday, October 8, 2010
Case History of Mobile Marketing
Obama for President 2008: “Celling of the President”
After three election cycles in which the Internet was expected to play a significant role in the campaign process but ultimately was a marginal factor, 2008 was the breakthrough year. In particular, the role of mobile communications in the Barack Obama campaign has prompted some to describe it as the “Celling of the President.”
The Pew Internet Project found that a record-breaking 46% of Americans used the Internet, cell phone text messaging or e-mail to obtain information about the campaign. In some categories Internet usage was triple the levels of the 2004 campaigns. For example, about 6% of Americans made political contributions online, compared to 2% who did so in 2004.
Mobile communications played a major role in the efforts, particularly in the tech- heavy activities of the Obama campaign. Text messaging was a fundamental component of the plan, used on an opt-in basis. This established relationships with supporters, especially young voters. For example, the Obama campaign blasted text messages at key moments of their campaign, notably the announcement of Joe Biden as the vice presidential running mate. An estimated 2.9 million people received that text message early on the Saturday morning (August 23, 2008) just before the Democratic National Convention began. The Obama campaign has not officially released the number of supporters who signed up to receive mobile text messages and other online communications.
For the mobile campaign, the Obama team set up a dedicated mobile Web site: http://obamamobile.mobi. Supporters who logged in to the campaign’s primary Web site, with an M (for mobile) prefix—http://m.barackobama.com—were automatically redirected to the .mobi site. The mobile site invited visitors to “Get involved: Sign up for mobile alerts”—basically to register to the short code 62262 (the keypad numbers corresponding to the letters O, B, A, M, A). This opt-in procedure enabled the campaign to identify its contacts.
From the Obama mobile server, supporters could download ringtones, wallpapers and campaign videos. Users could also get candidate information—such as campaign stops and schedules, as well as news reports and social networking opportunities (e.g. the link to “ask a friend to join”). Most significantly, the mobile site—like other Obama online components—permitted individuals to make financial contributions. The mobile site also enabled supporters to request white papers and other documents, which were automatically sent via e-mail to their desktop or portable devices.
In addition to the text alert for the Biden selection, the Obama campaign dispatched messages before local appearances, prior to the debates, as well as on the eve of primary and general Election Days. There was also a “thank you” message after the November 4 victory.
Supporters who signed up for the service paid an average of 10 cents per message, although that figure varies widely. It is assumed that many in the young, tech-savvy Obama cadre subscribe to their wireless carriers’ “bulk text messaging” packages. Casual and occasional users pay about 20 cents per message.
Each text message blast generated a cost for both sides (the Obama transmission and the individual reception), whether it was a per-use fee or a click on the bulk bundled subscription fee). One analysis of the Biden message blast concluded that the total expense for that event could have ranged from about $1.2 million to $1.8 million, depending on the fees for each individual message (in the range of 3 cents to 10 cents per message). If there were 5 million participants, the range rises to $1.95 million to $3 million.
One objective of a political campaign is to build a contact list of supporters, contributors, volunteer workers and other citizens. The Obama campaign gathered e-mail addresses, phone numbers and other data about supporters, securing relationships that can be used in future political efforts by Obama and other political allies.
Strategically, the use of SMS—and online messages as well—represented an integrated marketing plan. Among its attributes: it bypassed traditional media as a way to communicate with and energize a large and widely dispersed audience. The interactive features enabled financial contributions and viral social media connections, which the Obama campaign exploited.
The Obama campaign’s activities have been widely hailed as a prototype for the digital era. Advertising Age declared Obama as the “Marketer of the Year,” citing the digital campaign and especially its mobile marketing component. In the polling of marketing industry executives, the Obama campaign (36.1%) scored ahead of familiar brands such as Apple (27.3%), Nike (9.4%), online shoe seller Zappos (14.1%) and Coors Brewery (8.7%). The John McCain campaign (4.5%) was far behind.
The McCain campaign also used mobile marketing, but far less aggressively. It was difficult to find the SMS sign-up information on the primary McCain campaign Web site, www.JohnMcCain.com. There appeared to be few efforts to dispatch text messages consistently during the campaign. One significant promotion for the McCain SMS capability came during the Republican Party’s convention: an SMS appeal to donate funds to the American Red Cross for victims of the hurricanes that were hitting the southern U.S. during that period. (The Obama campaign also urged $5 text donations to the Red Cross during that period.)
To read more about how to setup your own SMS campaign, visit MODI$club.
Source: Simba Information
After three election cycles in which the Internet was expected to play a significant role in the campaign process but ultimately was a marginal factor, 2008 was the breakthrough year. In particular, the role of mobile communications in the Barack Obama campaign has prompted some to describe it as the “Celling of the President.”
The Pew Internet Project found that a record-breaking 46% of Americans used the Internet, cell phone text messaging or e-mail to obtain information about the campaign. In some categories Internet usage was triple the levels of the 2004 campaigns. For example, about 6% of Americans made political contributions online, compared to 2% who did so in 2004.
Mobile communications played a major role in the efforts, particularly in the tech- heavy activities of the Obama campaign. Text messaging was a fundamental component of the plan, used on an opt-in basis. This established relationships with supporters, especially young voters. For example, the Obama campaign blasted text messages at key moments of their campaign, notably the announcement of Joe Biden as the vice presidential running mate. An estimated 2.9 million people received that text message early on the Saturday morning (August 23, 2008) just before the Democratic National Convention began. The Obama campaign has not officially released the number of supporters who signed up to receive mobile text messages and other online communications.
For the mobile campaign, the Obama team set up a dedicated mobile Web site: http://obamamobile.mobi. Supporters who logged in to the campaign’s primary Web site, with an M (for mobile) prefix—http://m.barackobama.com—were automatically redirected to the .mobi site. The mobile site invited visitors to “Get involved: Sign up for mobile alerts”—basically to register to the short code 62262 (the keypad numbers corresponding to the letters O, B, A, M, A). This opt-in procedure enabled the campaign to identify its contacts.
From the Obama mobile server, supporters could download ringtones, wallpapers and campaign videos. Users could also get candidate information—such as campaign stops and schedules, as well as news reports and social networking opportunities (e.g. the link to “ask a friend to join”). Most significantly, the mobile site—like other Obama online components—permitted individuals to make financial contributions. The mobile site also enabled supporters to request white papers and other documents, which were automatically sent via e-mail to their desktop or portable devices.
In addition to the text alert for the Biden selection, the Obama campaign dispatched messages before local appearances, prior to the debates, as well as on the eve of primary and general Election Days. There was also a “thank you” message after the November 4 victory.
Supporters who signed up for the service paid an average of 10 cents per message, although that figure varies widely. It is assumed that many in the young, tech-savvy Obama cadre subscribe to their wireless carriers’ “bulk text messaging” packages. Casual and occasional users pay about 20 cents per message.
Each text message blast generated a cost for both sides (the Obama transmission and the individual reception), whether it was a per-use fee or a click on the bulk bundled subscription fee). One analysis of the Biden message blast concluded that the total expense for that event could have ranged from about $1.2 million to $1.8 million, depending on the fees for each individual message (in the range of 3 cents to 10 cents per message). If there were 5 million participants, the range rises to $1.95 million to $3 million.
One objective of a political campaign is to build a contact list of supporters, contributors, volunteer workers and other citizens. The Obama campaign gathered e-mail addresses, phone numbers and other data about supporters, securing relationships that can be used in future political efforts by Obama and other political allies.
Strategically, the use of SMS—and online messages as well—represented an integrated marketing plan. Among its attributes: it bypassed traditional media as a way to communicate with and energize a large and widely dispersed audience. The interactive features enabled financial contributions and viral social media connections, which the Obama campaign exploited.
The Obama campaign’s activities have been widely hailed as a prototype for the digital era. Advertising Age declared Obama as the “Marketer of the Year,” citing the digital campaign and especially its mobile marketing component. In the polling of marketing industry executives, the Obama campaign (36.1%) scored ahead of familiar brands such as Apple (27.3%), Nike (9.4%), online shoe seller Zappos (14.1%) and Coors Brewery (8.7%). The John McCain campaign (4.5%) was far behind.
The McCain campaign also used mobile marketing, but far less aggressively. It was difficult to find the SMS sign-up information on the primary McCain campaign Web site, www.JohnMcCain.com. There appeared to be few efforts to dispatch text messages consistently during the campaign. One significant promotion for the McCain SMS capability came during the Republican Party’s convention: an SMS appeal to donate funds to the American Red Cross for victims of the hurricanes that were hitting the southern U.S. during that period. (The Obama campaign also urged $5 text donations to the Red Cross during that period.)
To read more about how to setup your own SMS campaign, visit MODI$club.
Source: Simba Information
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Five Fatal Communication Errors–and How to Avoid Them
Below are the five most common errors that businesses commit in using mobile platforms for their marketing communications, along with ways to solve the problems that result (or to avoid those problems altogether).
Error 1: Failing to consider the audience first
Jumping on the latest, greatest communication bandwagon without first asking, "Who is my audience and is [insert new media platform here] the best way to reach them?" is the leading cause of ineffective marketing communications. That certain media lacks an entry barrier (i.e., it's easy and cheap) magnifies the problem; even marketers who should know better are led astray.
Without understanding your audience's needs, expectations, and preferences, you can make only guesses about how best to reach them.
Solutions: Sometimes, profiling your target audience based on knowledge that exists inside your company can be enough to determine whether a particular communication path is worth pursuing. Audiences can also be interviewed, surveyed, or polled to determine their communication preferences. But the most effective strategy will be a combination of solutions, including those provided below.
Error 2: Assigning ownership of messages
Companies will often make individuals owners of important key messages. Thus, numerous people throughout the company are given incentive to do whatever they can to "get their message out," and they will tend to measure their results in terms of volume. The result is a great deal of noise for those on the receiving end of these dispersed communications, because no one has an incentive to make the needs and preferences of the target audience a primary concern.
Solution: Assign ownership of audiences, not messages. For example, "business partners" may be one target audience with whom your business needs to communicate. "Attendees of event X" may be another. Assign an individual or department to own each audience for your company; it's then the owner's job to represent the needs of the audience and to ensure that the messages delivered to the audience match what the audience really needs. This approach also helps to reduce noise because one entity has complete visibility into the messages that audience is receiving.
Error 3: Offering too much or too little choice
Offering audiences too much choice for communicating with them creates noise. For example, if they receive the same information via Twitter, LinkedIn, emails, online groups, and your newsletter, at some point they will tune out and potentially miss important new information.
Offering too little choice is just as problematic. For example, many organizers now use Facebook to advertise events and contests to the exclusion of traditional websites and advertising. However, the assumption that "everybody" is on Facebook—or that everyone who is on Facebook and needs the information will receive it—is flawed.
Solutions: Choose the best mix of communication vehicles for your audience and purpose. Enable audiences to filter your information and messages by topic. Enable opt-in communication and allow audiences to choose their preferred format to receive information (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly email; SMS; social media group or fan page). Above all, provide a single place that audiences can go to get all available information on one topic and use certain media (eg. SMS) to highlight or direct them to the information.
Error 4: Failing to consolidate messages and information
A key problem with relying on quick-and-dirty methods to disseminate information (e.g., Tweets, Facebook, and LinkedIn updates) is that no one ever gets the complete picture at once—if ever at all.
You also lose control of the message through "re-tweeting" and status sharing, so it's important to have a method in place that allows you to own the whole picture even while the message is being disseminated by others.
Solutions: Assigning ownership of audiences (No. 2 above) can eliminate this problem. Here's another strategy:
First consider how many messages the audience really needs about the topic, and how often they need to receive updates.
Next, follow the advice in No. 3 above.
Then, for each topic or event, provide a single place where audiences can go to get all the information they need. These days, this is most likely to be a Web page—but it may also be a toll-free number or a physical location like an information kiosk.
Finally, in every message you send out on the topic, tell people where they can go to get complete information.
Error 5: Falling prey to "easy" and "cheap"
The primary problem with easy and cheap is that it's easy and cheap. With no premium or barrier to entry, user-driven communication vehicles like Twitter and Facebook arrive on the market already commoditized. By becoming distracted by easy-access commodities, companies erode the value of tried-and true foundations of communication.
Examples of how this can happen include:
Creating too much noise for truly important messages to be effectively heard.
Inadvertently training your audiences to ignore messages from you because there are too many messages of low value.
Succumbing to 11th-hour communication (because it's so easy to do) rather than planning out well-timed information delivery.
Solution: Consider new communication channels (eg. SMS mobile) within the context of the bigger picture: your business and marketing goals, your audience's needs and preferences, your marketing communications mix. The marcoms mix should always be open for tweaking, but make changes only after you have a solid business case for it. Once the need for change is determined, take the time to map out your audiences, the messages they need, and the best channels of delivery for each audience-message combination.
An Aside: My Favorites
Two marketing communication vehicles are my tried-and-true favorites. Here's how I like to fit them into an overall marcoms mix:
SMS alerts/updates. Ideal for consolidating information into one location. Summarize important information and provide links to Web pages where complete information can be found. Stick to a reliable distribution schedule that people can come to expect and appreciate as part of their daily or weekly routine.
Dedicated Web pages. Ideal for collecting all the information and answers to frequently asked questions about single topic. Easy to link to when communicating updates on the topic and easy for others to link to when forwarding or recommending the topic to friends. It may be a traditional HTML page, a blog entry, or a LinkedIn or Facebook Group page. Just remember that not everyone can access applications like LinkedIn. Your audience should never feel forced to sign up for third-party applications to get the information they want from you.
Partial Source: MarketingProfs
Error 1: Failing to consider the audience first
Jumping on the latest, greatest communication bandwagon without first asking, "Who is my audience and is [insert new media platform here] the best way to reach them?" is the leading cause of ineffective marketing communications. That certain media lacks an entry barrier (i.e., it's easy and cheap) magnifies the problem; even marketers who should know better are led astray.
Without understanding your audience's needs, expectations, and preferences, you can make only guesses about how best to reach them.
Solutions: Sometimes, profiling your target audience based on knowledge that exists inside your company can be enough to determine whether a particular communication path is worth pursuing. Audiences can also be interviewed, surveyed, or polled to determine their communication preferences. But the most effective strategy will be a combination of solutions, including those provided below.
Error 2: Assigning ownership of messages
Companies will often make individuals owners of important key messages. Thus, numerous people throughout the company are given incentive to do whatever they can to "get their message out," and they will tend to measure their results in terms of volume. The result is a great deal of noise for those on the receiving end of these dispersed communications, because no one has an incentive to make the needs and preferences of the target audience a primary concern.
Solution: Assign ownership of audiences, not messages. For example, "business partners" may be one target audience with whom your business needs to communicate. "Attendees of event X" may be another. Assign an individual or department to own each audience for your company; it's then the owner's job to represent the needs of the audience and to ensure that the messages delivered to the audience match what the audience really needs. This approach also helps to reduce noise because one entity has complete visibility into the messages that audience is receiving.
Error 3: Offering too much or too little choice
Offering audiences too much choice for communicating with them creates noise. For example, if they receive the same information via Twitter, LinkedIn, emails, online groups, and your newsletter, at some point they will tune out and potentially miss important new information.
Offering too little choice is just as problematic. For example, many organizers now use Facebook to advertise events and contests to the exclusion of traditional websites and advertising. However, the assumption that "everybody" is on Facebook—or that everyone who is on Facebook and needs the information will receive it—is flawed.
Solutions: Choose the best mix of communication vehicles for your audience and purpose. Enable audiences to filter your information and messages by topic. Enable opt-in communication and allow audiences to choose their preferred format to receive information (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly email; SMS; social media group or fan page). Above all, provide a single place that audiences can go to get all available information on one topic and use certain media (eg. SMS) to highlight or direct them to the information.
Error 4: Failing to consolidate messages and information
A key problem with relying on quick-and-dirty methods to disseminate information (e.g., Tweets, Facebook, and LinkedIn updates) is that no one ever gets the complete picture at once—if ever at all.
You also lose control of the message through "re-tweeting" and status sharing, so it's important to have a method in place that allows you to own the whole picture even while the message is being disseminated by others.
Solutions: Assigning ownership of audiences (No. 2 above) can eliminate this problem. Here's another strategy:
First consider how many messages the audience really needs about the topic, and how often they need to receive updates.
Next, follow the advice in No. 3 above.
Then, for each topic or event, provide a single place where audiences can go to get all the information they need. These days, this is most likely to be a Web page—but it may also be a toll-free number or a physical location like an information kiosk.
Finally, in every message you send out on the topic, tell people where they can go to get complete information.
Error 5: Falling prey to "easy" and "cheap"
The primary problem with easy and cheap is that it's easy and cheap. With no premium or barrier to entry, user-driven communication vehicles like Twitter and Facebook arrive on the market already commoditized. By becoming distracted by easy-access commodities, companies erode the value of tried-and true foundations of communication.
Examples of how this can happen include:
Creating too much noise for truly important messages to be effectively heard.
Inadvertently training your audiences to ignore messages from you because there are too many messages of low value.
Succumbing to 11th-hour communication (because it's so easy to do) rather than planning out well-timed information delivery.
Solution: Consider new communication channels (eg. SMS mobile) within the context of the bigger picture: your business and marketing goals, your audience's needs and preferences, your marketing communications mix. The marcoms mix should always be open for tweaking, but make changes only after you have a solid business case for it. Once the need for change is determined, take the time to map out your audiences, the messages they need, and the best channels of delivery for each audience-message combination.
An Aside: My Favorites
Two marketing communication vehicles are my tried-and-true favorites. Here's how I like to fit them into an overall marcoms mix:
SMS alerts/updates. Ideal for consolidating information into one location. Summarize important information and provide links to Web pages where complete information can be found. Stick to a reliable distribution schedule that people can come to expect and appreciate as part of their daily or weekly routine.
Dedicated Web pages. Ideal for collecting all the information and answers to frequently asked questions about single topic. Easy to link to when communicating updates on the topic and easy for others to link to when forwarding or recommending the topic to friends. It may be a traditional HTML page, a blog entry, or a LinkedIn or Facebook Group page. Just remember that not everyone can access applications like LinkedIn. Your audience should never feel forced to sign up for third-party applications to get the information they want from you.
Partial Source: MarketingProfs
Wanted: Not More Communication, but More Effective Communication
August, 2010
Your target audiences almost certainly don't want more communication. What they surely do want is more effective communication, which is to say communication that delivers the information they want or need, at the time they need it and in the formats they prefer.
To create an effective marketing communications program, you need to decide which media platforms will work best with other ingredients in the marketing mix to help you reach your marketing communications objectives.
Choosing platforms and ingredients strategically, with an eye to how they will complement one another, will create much better results than using them simply because they have become available. Pursuing the latter course—communicating via any and all platforms just because they're there—merely creates noise.
For more information or help on the best media platform for your campaigns, visit our marketing, design and technology company, nexusV or our mobile marketing platform, MODI$club.
Your target audiences almost certainly don't want more communication. What they surely do want is more effective communication, which is to say communication that delivers the information they want or need, at the time they need it and in the formats they prefer.
To create an effective marketing communications program, you need to decide which media platforms will work best with other ingredients in the marketing mix to help you reach your marketing communications objectives.
Choosing platforms and ingredients strategically, with an eye to how they will complement one another, will create much better results than using them simply because they have become available. Pursuing the latter course—communicating via any and all platforms just because they're there—merely creates noise.
For more information or help on the best media platform for your campaigns, visit our marketing, design and technology company, nexusV or our mobile marketing platform, MODI$club.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Targeting Parents with Mobile Alerts
AUGUST 19, 2010
Busy parents of young children seek to simplify with SMS.
Marketers looking to convince mobile subscribers to opt in to SMS marketing campaigns should look to target parents, especially those with young children, based on research conducted by Harris Interactive for mobile marketing platform Placecast.
The May 2010 survey found that among US mobile users with children, 33% were at least somewhat interested in receiving mobile alerts from their favorite merchants. Among those without children, just 26% were equally interested. The age of children in the household also had an effect on user interest levels; the presence of children under 6 boosted interest levels most, while those with teenagers in the house acted somewhat more like couples with no kids.
Parents considered several mobile activities at least somewhat important at higher rates than mobile users without children, including searching for retail locations (57% vs. 42%), making purchases (40% vs. 26%) and accessing the internet in general (63% vs. 48%).
Most of parents’ desire for mobile text alerts points to time-strapped families looking to save money. Grocery coupons and promotions were the most popular text alert among all parents, including among the subgroups with older children and teens. The biggest interest of parents of the youngest kids was in products like movie tickets. The only promotions that appealed more to the child-free were deals for coffee and travel.
The typical early adopter of consumer electronics may be male, but its families who have the most potential to drive mobile marketing efforts based on opt-in text alerts.
Keep your business ahead of the digital curve. Learn more about becoming a MODI$club client today.
Article Source: eMarketer
Busy parents of young children seek to simplify with SMS.
Marketers looking to convince mobile subscribers to opt in to SMS marketing campaigns should look to target parents, especially those with young children, based on research conducted by Harris Interactive for mobile marketing platform Placecast.
The May 2010 survey found that among US mobile users with children, 33% were at least somewhat interested in receiving mobile alerts from their favorite merchants. Among those without children, just 26% were equally interested. The age of children in the household also had an effect on user interest levels; the presence of children under 6 boosted interest levels most, while those with teenagers in the house acted somewhat more like couples with no kids.
Parents considered several mobile activities at least somewhat important at higher rates than mobile users without children, including searching for retail locations (57% vs. 42%), making purchases (40% vs. 26%) and accessing the internet in general (63% vs. 48%).
Most of parents’ desire for mobile text alerts points to time-strapped families looking to save money. Grocery coupons and promotions were the most popular text alert among all parents, including among the subgroups with older children and teens. The biggest interest of parents of the youngest kids was in products like movie tickets. The only promotions that appealed more to the child-free were deals for coffee and travel.
The typical early adopter of consumer electronics may be male, but its families who have the most potential to drive mobile marketing efforts based on opt-in text alerts.
Keep your business ahead of the digital curve. Learn more about becoming a MODI$club client today.
Article Source: eMarketer
Monday, July 12, 2010
Why Many Teens Are Moving on from Facebook and What they are saying about mobile phones and texting
JULY 12, 2010
The main reason? They just lost interest
There’s no question of Facebook’s position at the top of the social networking space, and one thing that makes the site so powerful is that when it comes to social networking, a user’s friends must be users too. But among some teens, Facebook may be losing its stickiness.
According to a study from OTX and virtual fashion site Roiworld, nearly one in five teens with a Facebook profile had decreased or discontinued their use of the site as of April 2010.
What’s more, the decreases seemed to speed up in recent months, with two-thirds of the lapsed users having turned away from the site in the past six months.
In addition, 9% of teen internet users said they had a Facebook profile but had completely abandoned it.
This turnover does not approach the level of MySpace, where 22% of teens had completely stopped using a profile. YouTube and Twitter both sported relatively high 15% abandonment rates.
In Facebook’s case, decreased usage does not appear to be related to the privacy issues raised in spring 2010, or even to the influx of older users on the site. Instead, the plurality of lapsed users simply find the site boring.
Reasons for using Facebook less, Apr 2010 (% of US teen lapese Facebook users)
Keeping fickle teens’ interest will be important both for Facebook and the marketers who want to connect with them where they are - their mobile phones.
Nearly half (47%) of US teens say their social life would end or be worsened without their cell phone, and nearly six in 10 (57%) credit their mobile device with improving their life, according to a national survey from CTIA and Harris Interactive.
Four out of five teens (17 million) carry a wireless device (a 40% increase since 2004), finds the study titled “Teenagers: A Generation Unplugged,” which probes how the growing teen wireless segment is using wireless products and how they want to use them in the future.
The main reason? They just lost interest
There’s no question of Facebook’s position at the top of the social networking space, and one thing that makes the site so powerful is that when it comes to social networking, a user’s friends must be users too. But among some teens, Facebook may be losing its stickiness.
According to a study from OTX and virtual fashion site Roiworld, nearly one in five teens with a Facebook profile had decreased or discontinued their use of the site as of April 2010.
What’s more, the decreases seemed to speed up in recent months, with two-thirds of the lapsed users having turned away from the site in the past six months.
In addition, 9% of teen internet users said they had a Facebook profile but had completely abandoned it.
This turnover does not approach the level of MySpace, where 22% of teens had completely stopped using a profile. YouTube and Twitter both sported relatively high 15% abandonment rates.
In Facebook’s case, decreased usage does not appear to be related to the privacy issues raised in spring 2010, or even to the influx of older users on the site. Instead, the plurality of lapsed users simply find the site boring.
Reasons for using Facebook less, Apr 2010 (% of US teen lapese Facebook users)
- Lose interest/it's boring 45%
- More interested in visiting other websites instead 28%
- Too many notifications 27%
- Most/all of my friends do not use Facebook 21%
- Got tired of typing to keep up with all the activities 21%
- Too many ads 20%
- Had trouble finding people I know 18%
- Most of my friends are using other social networking sites 16%
- Other social network sites are better now 16%
- Facebook does not offer the features I want 16%
- Because my parents joined 16%
- Facebook has lost its novelty 14%
- Too many adults/older people 14%
- Uncomfortable people seeing my personal stuff 13%
- Do not like the change Facebook has implemented 12%
- Did not like the people I met on Facebook 11%
- Other 5%
Keeping fickle teens’ interest will be important both for Facebook and the marketers who want to connect with them where they are - their mobile phones.
Nearly half (47%) of US teens say their social life would end or be worsened without their cell phone, and nearly six in 10 (57%) credit their mobile device with improving their life, according to a national survey from CTIA and Harris Interactive.
Four out of five teens (17 million) carry a wireless device (a 40% increase since 2004), finds the study titled “Teenagers: A Generation Unplugged,” which probes how the growing teen wireless segment is using wireless products and how they want to use them in the future.
Impact on Teen Life
- A majority (57%) of teens view their cell phone as the key to their social life.
- Second only to clothing, teens say, a person’s cell phone tells the most about their social status or popularity, outranking jewelry, watches and shoes.
Providing Entertainment and Security
- More than half of the respondents (52%) agree that the cell phone has become a new form of entertainment.
- One-third of teens play games on their phone.
- 80% say their cell phone provides a sense of security while on the go, confirming that the cell phone has become their mobile safety net when needing a ride (79%), getting important information (51%), or just helping out someone in trouble (35%).
- Teens carry cell phones to have access to friends, family and current events.
- Though only one in five (18%) teens care to pinpoint the location of their family and friends via their cell phone, 36% hate the idea of a cell phone feature that allows others to know their exact location.
Texting Replacing Talking
The study also confirmed that texting is replacing talking among teens. Teens admitted spending nearly an equal amount of time talking as they do texting each month. The feature is so important to them that if texting were no longer an option 47% of teens say their social life would end or be worsened - that’s especially so among females (54% vs. 40%).
Teens say texting has advantages over talking because it offers more options, including multitasking, speed, the option to avoid verbal communication, and because it is fun - in that order, according to the study.
With more than 1 billion text messages sent each day, it is no surprise that 42% of teens say they can text blindfolded, the study found.
“Teens have created a new form of communication. We call it texting, but in essence it is a reflection of how teens want to communicate to match their lifestyles. It is all about multitasking, speed, privacy and control,” said Joseph Porus, VP & chief architect, Technology Group, Harris Interactive. “Teens in this study are crying for personalization and control of exactly what a wireless device or plan can do for them.”
Devices of the Future
The survey asked teens what future changes they’d like to see in wireless services and devices and found that respondents want cell phones that break boundaries and are personalized to fit their lifestyles.
Teens remain excited and open minded about the wireless possibilities and their ideal future mobile devices would feature five applications - phone, MP3 player, GPS, laptop computer and video player, according to Harris.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Mobile Users Ready for Location-Based Text Marketing
JULY 6, 2010
Mobile marketing is not just for smartphones
Though smartphone shipments are rising and expected to surpass shipments of feature phones in 2011, according to Morgan Stanley, feature phones are still the devices in the hands of most mobile users. An April 2010 ExactTarget study found 58% of all US internet users ages 15 and older had one, compared with 31% who had a smartphone.
That means a large swathe of mobile users cannot be reached by more sophisticated mobile marketing efforts like sponsored apps, in-app ads or campaigns on the mobile web. According to location-based advertising network 1020 Placecast, opt-in text alerts are the smart way to target a fuller mobile audience.
A May 2010 survey conducted for Placecast by Harris Interactive found that while most mobile users still have not signed up for any text alerts, there was a small rise in interest since a similar poll in 2009: 28% were at least somewhat interested in the alerts, up 2 percentage points, and 8% were extremely or very interested, up 3 percentage points. For under-35s, interest was significantly higher.
Those who wanted the alerts were most interested in coupons and promotions from grocery stores and restaurants. Respondents who had signed up for text alerts said it made them more likely to visit the company’s website (34%), visit the store (33%) and purchase the product being promoted, either in online (28%) or in the store (27%).
Many agreed that making those text alerts location-based, so that recipients would get the right offer at the right time, could make the channel more useful or interesting.
While awareness of location-based text alerts is still building, there is the potential to reach a broader audience than with check-in apps such as foursquare or Gowalla, which are designed with smartphone owners in mind. And despite negative attitudes of many mobile users toward SMS marketing, Placecast reports low opt-out rates among recipients.
SMS alerts in marketing is viewed by the brand faithful as a service, not just marketing or an intrusion, according to Placecast. To learn more about SMS marketing, please contact MODI$club.
Source: eMarketer
Mobile marketing is not just for smartphones
Though smartphone shipments are rising and expected to surpass shipments of feature phones in 2011, according to Morgan Stanley, feature phones are still the devices in the hands of most mobile users. An April 2010 ExactTarget study found 58% of all US internet users ages 15 and older had one, compared with 31% who had a smartphone.
That means a large swathe of mobile users cannot be reached by more sophisticated mobile marketing efforts like sponsored apps, in-app ads or campaigns on the mobile web. According to location-based advertising network 1020 Placecast, opt-in text alerts are the smart way to target a fuller mobile audience.
A May 2010 survey conducted for Placecast by Harris Interactive found that while most mobile users still have not signed up for any text alerts, there was a small rise in interest since a similar poll in 2009: 28% were at least somewhat interested in the alerts, up 2 percentage points, and 8% were extremely or very interested, up 3 percentage points. For under-35s, interest was significantly higher.
Those who wanted the alerts were most interested in coupons and promotions from grocery stores and restaurants. Respondents who had signed up for text alerts said it made them more likely to visit the company’s website (34%), visit the store (33%) and purchase the product being promoted, either in online (28%) or in the store (27%).
Many agreed that making those text alerts location-based, so that recipients would get the right offer at the right time, could make the channel more useful or interesting.
While awareness of location-based text alerts is still building, there is the potential to reach a broader audience than with check-in apps such as foursquare or Gowalla, which are designed with smartphone owners in mind. And despite negative attitudes of many mobile users toward SMS marketing, Placecast reports low opt-out rates among recipients.
SMS alerts in marketing is viewed by the brand faithful as a service, not just marketing or an intrusion, according to Placecast. To learn more about SMS marketing, please contact MODI$club.
Source: eMarketer
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Canadian Mobile Subscriptions to Climb 20% by 2014
June 10, 2010
Smartphone ownership and mobile ad spending also rise
Mobile phone penetration in Canada is more than 5 percentage points lower in the US as of 2010, according to market survey estimates, but set to increase steadily over the next several years.
Forecasts number of mobile subscribers in Canada will rise from 24.5 million this year to nearly 30 million by 2014, an increase of about 20%.
Subscriber growth will level off as the market approaches higher penetration levels, reaching 84.7% by 2014. The US is set to hit 80% penetration by 2013. Forecasting model takes into account both prepaid and postpaid subscriptions.
A rise in overall mobile penetration will go hand in hand with increased smartphone penetration in Canada. A Cisco Systems study predicts smartphones will increase from 31% of all handsets this year to 50% in 2014. The US will be slightly ahead of Canada by this measure.
Marketers in the country are gearing up for increased usage. About one-half of those surveyed by Ipsos Reid said they would be increasing their mobile spend this year, while another half would hold spending the same as in 2009.
Canada was the fifth-largest source of mobile advertising requests in March 2010, with more than 554 million ads. That was up from 332.5 million mobile ads served to Canada in December 2009, a nearly 67% increase.
For more information on mobile advertising, including text-in mobile campaigns and SMS campaigns, please contact us at http://www.modisclub.com.
Smartphone ownership and mobile ad spending also rise
Mobile phone penetration in Canada is more than 5 percentage points lower in the US as of 2010, according to market survey estimates, but set to increase steadily over the next several years.
Forecasts number of mobile subscribers in Canada will rise from 24.5 million this year to nearly 30 million by 2014, an increase of about 20%.
Subscriber growth will level off as the market approaches higher penetration levels, reaching 84.7% by 2014. The US is set to hit 80% penetration by 2013. Forecasting model takes into account both prepaid and postpaid subscriptions.
A rise in overall mobile penetration will go hand in hand with increased smartphone penetration in Canada. A Cisco Systems study predicts smartphones will increase from 31% of all handsets this year to 50% in 2014. The US will be slightly ahead of Canada by this measure.
Marketers in the country are gearing up for increased usage. About one-half of those surveyed by Ipsos Reid said they would be increasing their mobile spend this year, while another half would hold spending the same as in 2009.
Canada was the fifth-largest source of mobile advertising requests in March 2010, with more than 554 million ads. That was up from 332.5 million mobile ads served to Canada in December 2009, a nearly 67% increase.
For more information on mobile advertising, including text-in mobile campaigns and SMS campaigns, please contact us at http://www.modisclub.com.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Mobile Privacy and Opt-in
In the world of business, owners who hope to stay ahead of the competition have to always be on the cutting edge of advertising. And as many business owners can tell you, one of the biggest things in advertising right now is mobile advertising via SMS, or short message service. If you've ever texted a word or phrase to a short code of numbers, in order to get something in return, then you've participated in mobile advertising through a mobile opt in. A great recent example of a mobile opt in is how the Red Cross is accepting donations through text message.
In this example of an opt in, cell phone users text the word "Haiti" to 90999, and a $10 charge is placed on their cell phone bill, which goes to the relief efforts in Haiti. This is just one example of a mobile opt in, and as you can see, SMS can be used for many different applications, from advertising an upcoming sale to gathering money for aid relief. And as you'll read later on, advertising isn't the only use businesses and organizations are finding for SMS opt ins.
For most businesses and organizations, setting up a mobile media campaign is as simple as hiring a mobile marketing company. From there, the company chooses a keyword to represent themselves. When customers text this keyword to the company's short code (90999) from the example above), a database saves that cell phone number, in order for the company to be able to send out notices, adverstisements, coupons or other information to their customers who have opted-in.
While the most obvious use of mobile opt in is for advertising, it is also starting to be used for other things as well. For example, high schools across the country are experimenting with using SMS to be able to contact students and parents via cell phone in the even of an emergency. Large corporations are also beginning to use mobile opt in for contacting employees about any variety of things. These alternative uses of mobile media haven't become mainstream yet, but definitely demonstrate the diversity of mobile opt in campaigns and programs.
If you liked this article and want to know how to dominate any niche using mobile traffic, contact MODISclub before your competition does.
Friday, June 4, 2010
SMS will Revolutionize Your Business
If 2010 is the year that the world truly embraced mobile technology, then SMS communication is the mobile medium of choice.
Among Teens, Texting Tops E-Mail, Facebook
While some e-mail marketers fear losing the attention of their audience to social media, research suggests that the strengths of both media can be combined, and that the bigger threat may be text messaging.
An ExactTarget survey of adults and teens on their favorite communication methods showed that was also true among the younger set. Asked to choose between e-mail and Facebook—their preferred social network—33% of respondents ages 15 to 17 picked e-mail and 31% Facebook. About one-quarter liked both equally.
When Facebook went head-to-head with text messaging, it performed even worse: 48% of teens would rather communicate via SMS, compared with just 12% who chose Facebook.
Texting also won out over e-mail. Among adults, however, a preference for e-mail was still strong.
Texting was the communication activity teens were most likely to report having increased over the past six months, according to the ExactTarget survey. Adults are doing more texting too: One-quarter of respondents ages 18 and up told ExactTarget they were upping their usage.
SMS WILL WORK FOR YOUR COMPANY - LET US SHOW YOU HOW TO DRIVE REAL RESULTS. MODISclub has various solutions that will fit your budget and meet your marketing criteria. You will see a huge return on investment through this web to mobile platform.
- 87% of people own a cell phone
- 95% of cell phones are SMS capable
- Almost 100% of SMS messages are opened
Among Teens, Texting Tops E-Mail, Facebook
While some e-mail marketers fear losing the attention of their audience to social media, research suggests that the strengths of both media can be combined, and that the bigger threat may be text messaging.
An ExactTarget survey of adults and teens on their favorite communication methods showed that was also true among the younger set. Asked to choose between e-mail and Facebook—their preferred social network—33% of respondents ages 15 to 17 picked e-mail and 31% Facebook. About one-quarter liked both equally.
When Facebook went head-to-head with text messaging, it performed even worse: 48% of teens would rather communicate via SMS, compared with just 12% who chose Facebook.
Texting also won out over e-mail. Among adults, however, a preference for e-mail was still strong.
Texting was the communication activity teens were most likely to report having increased over the past six months, according to the ExactTarget survey. Adults are doing more texting too: One-quarter of respondents ages 18 and up told ExactTarget they were upping their usage.
SMS WILL WORK FOR YOUR COMPANY - LET US SHOW YOU HOW TO DRIVE REAL RESULTS. MODISclub has various solutions that will fit your budget and meet your marketing criteria. You will see a huge return on investment through this web to mobile platform.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Getting Shoppers into Stores with Mobile
Mobile shoppers are simultaneously in the physical world and in the online world at all times. They’re always considering both options. They want you to find the item for them at a store nearby and, when they’re in the store, they want to know if it’s cheaper online. It doesn’t always indicate that they want to purchase the item online, but they just don’t want to feel stupid by finding out later that it’s 35% off on an online shopping site. It’s almost a peace-of-mind thing.
It’s very smart for a retailer to use mobile to get in front of consumers because if they end up going to Amazon.com, that retailer is going to get underbid—guaranteed. Retailers need to reward people for showing up in their stores.
The truth is there are a lot of things that people want to try before committing to a purchase—like electronics. Most people want to hold it in their hands first, they want to see if the shutter speed on the camera is fast enough and what the big screen looks like. Trial before purchase remains an important step.
MODISclub provides the tools for retailers to bring shoppers into their stores via mobile. It also allow retailers to reward the shoppers who show up in their stores.
If a retailer can’t sell a certain SKU of dresses but it knows a bunch of people want that style, they should offer them a private sale. The retailer gives them the first shot to purchase the dress when it goes sale with a special invitation. Or the retailer might alert someone’s wish list if or when the item is marked down.
Visit MODISclub.com for more information.
Ref: eMarketer, Scott Dunlap
It’s very smart for a retailer to use mobile to get in front of consumers because if they end up going to Amazon.com, that retailer is going to get underbid—guaranteed. Retailers need to reward people for showing up in their stores.
The truth is there are a lot of things that people want to try before committing to a purchase—like electronics. Most people want to hold it in their hands first, they want to see if the shutter speed on the camera is fast enough and what the big screen looks like. Trial before purchase remains an important step.
MODISclub provides the tools for retailers to bring shoppers into their stores via mobile. It also allow retailers to reward the shoppers who show up in their stores.
If a retailer can’t sell a certain SKU of dresses but it knows a bunch of people want that style, they should offer them a private sale. The retailer gives them the first shot to purchase the dress when it goes sale with a special invitation. Or the retailer might alert someone’s wish list if or when the item is marked down.
Visit MODISclub.com for more information.
Ref: eMarketer, Scott Dunlap
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Receive FREE Text coupons, alerts, prizes and more directly on your cell phone
What is MODISclub?
Save time. Save money. Save the environment.
MODISclub is an online community that lets you search for FREE mobile coupons, consumer and community alerts, health and safety alerts, VIP passes, trivia, contests, savings and more from familiar brands and organizations. Once you have joined the campaigns want, you will periodically receive what the brands and organizations are offering as Text messages (aka SMS) directly on your cell phone.
Imagine being text-alerted about a huge sale with an additional text-coupon at your favourite shoe or clothing store before the item you like is sold out, or receiving a text about your soccer practice cancellation before you had driven across town? MODISclub gives you the timely knowledge to make smart and informed decisions. Best of all, it is all FREE within the Standard Text Plan you have with your mobile phone carrier.MODISclub also makes it easy for you to unsubscribe individual mobile Campaigns at anytime and we keep your contact information hidden from the Providers at all times. As an extra privacy measure, we monitor the Providers and remove any spammers from our Providers list. Ultimately, you control what and how much mobile coupons, alerts, reminders, contests you want to receive.
MODISclub saves you time and money. Also, it helps you save the environment by reducing the need for printing, mailing and disposing of paper.
Why MODISclub?
- It is a FREE service and if you already have a Text message plan, it is also FREE to receive and send messages!
- You are in control from SPAM.
- Easy sign-up, opt-in and opt-out.
- Saves time: subscribe once and receive alerts, savings and other offers pro-actively. No more searching the newspapers for a bargain from the same brands.
- Saves money: receive the targeted messages you want from the Providers you choose to hear from. No more expensive surfing on your phone.
- Save the environment:A paperless way to stay informed, receive incentives and be in touch with your favourite brands, sports, community and other professional or social organizations.
Join for FREE and start saving your time and money now!
Mobile - A more effective way to reach and engage your audience in 2010.
Looking to get your business into mobile before the rest of your competitions beat you to the punch? Don't know where to start? How about a free platform like MODISclub?
MODISclub is a self-serve web tool that lets you reach and engage your mass audience directly on their cell phones through Text Messaging (SMS). More uniquely, this turnkey platform is industry compliant – with a built-in user opt-in opt-out feature – and is readily connected to a growing and receptive community of mobile users who regularly visit MODISclub in search of text coupons, health and safety alerts, time sensitive information and services, fun mobile trivia, contests and more. Advertising on the site is free and each business benefits from other promotional campaigns, eliminating the need to generate one's own subscriber list through other means.
Best of all, you are able to use the basic tools for FREE! The tools include:
MODISclub is a self-serve web tool that lets you reach and engage your mass audience directly on their cell phones through Text Messaging (SMS). More uniquely, this turnkey platform is industry compliant – with a built-in user opt-in opt-out feature – and is readily connected to a growing and receptive community of mobile users who regularly visit MODISclub in search of text coupons, health and safety alerts, time sensitive information and services, fun mobile trivia, contests and more. Advertising on the site is free and each business benefits from other promotional campaigns, eliminating the need to generate one's own subscriber list through other means.
Best of all, you are able to use the basic tools for FREE! The tools include:
- Campaign Management Tool to create as many targeted mobile campaigns as you want;
- Publish and advertise for free your mobile campaigns on the MODISclub community site to attract your subscribers;
- Subscriber Listing Tool to view for free who and how many have joined your campaigns;
- Outgoing Texting (SMS) Tool that is already connected to all the wireless carriers in Canada and the United States;
- Reporting Tool to show you the history of your account activity, track user-behaviour and more.
How will MODI$club work with your other media
MODISclub can be easily incorporated into your multi-channel strategies. Tailor your MODISclub campaigns that will allow you to:- Track the responses of the other media, such as radio and print ads;
- Grow your contact database once they have been directed from the other media to join your campaigns. MODISclub's Keyword Opt-in Feature allows your audience to take action instantly because it is mobile;
- Conduct surveys, trivia or voting to provide valuable user-behaviour insights that can help you fine tune your products and services.
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