The Mobile Marketing Blog - TellMyCell

SMS Marketing Campaigns Lead 1 in 4 Consumers To Purchases

MarketingCharts has a good take on a recent study commissioned by Placecast:

Among consumers who have signed up for text alerts from retailers and merchants, 26% say that the information they received has led them to purchase the promoted product in the store, while 25% say they have purchased a different product from the store, according to [pdf] May 2012 survey results from Placecast.

 

A QR Code Concierge!

Marriot's Courtyard hotels recently upgraded their 'virtual concierges' to display QR Codes. We have mixed feelings about the usefulness of QR Codes, but this is a case where they make perfect sense:

The hotel chain has been renovating its lobbies as part of a strategy to better meet the needs of business travelers. The new lobbies feature 55-inch LCD touch screens showcasing information about local restaurants and other attractions that can be saved to a guest’s phone by scanning a QR code.

“QR codes allow Courtyard to better serve its busy on-the-go guests,” said Janis Milham, vice president and global brand manager at Courtyard by Marriott, Blacksburg, VA. “Instead of having to get paper and pencil, it can download automatically onto their mobile devices and they can have it handy  for future visits.

So how does it work?

The new touch screens are called the GoBoard, which guests can navigate to find restaurants, see current weather and local news as well as to download information to their smartphones.
Guests who approach the GoBoard will see several different tabs, including news, money and sports.

In the right hand corner, there is an area for local attractions such as restaurants and points of interest.

Guests can click on restaurants and the names of the restaurants pop up. When users touch the one they want, the contact information shows up with directions and a QR code.

By holding their phone up to the QR code, the information is downloaded to the guest’s phone.

Read more at Mobile Marketer.

Welcome To The Latest, Greatest TellMyCell!

If you've logged into TellMyCell since this morning you've already seen the brand new release of our SMS Marketing platform. Some great new features include:

• XLS/XLSX Uploading - No more CSVs!
• Updated Contacts - Sort, segment and browse your contacts with ease
• New APIs - Manage your contacts and Groups via the API
• New Interface - We've cleaned up TellMyCell's UI so it is even easier to use!

Login now to see all of the changes.

A Man So Distracted By His Texting He Walked Into A Bear!

Here's a quick PSA from everyone at TellMyCell: if you must text while walking, try to keep an eye on the street in front of you. If you don't you just might wind up walking into a bear. Yes, seriously:

 

More @ KTLA

Follow The Venture Capital Dollars To Mobile Marketing

2011 was a big year for the mobile marketing industry, and if investments made in 2011 pan out, expect an even bigger 2012:

Venture capital investments in mobile marketing and advertising grew from $128 million in 2010 to $592 million in 2011, according to a new report from research investment bank Rutberg & Co. Investment levels in  mobile commerce and payments companies was also up significantly, growing from $276 million to $558 million during the same period.

Overall, venture capitalists invested $6.3 billion in mobile in 2011, up from $4.5 billion in 2010. The Venture Capital in Mobile 2011 Review report found that investment in mobile by venture capitalists as a percentage of overall technology venture capital grew from 30.4 percent in 2010 to 42.4 percent in 2011.

“The numbers are tremendous,” said Rajeev Chand, managing director and head of research at Rutberg & Co., San Francisco. “Mobile is quickly becoming ubiquitous.

Read more at Mobile Marketer.

API Update & More To Come

Two quick notes to TellMyCell SMS API users:

First, We've updated our Keyword rental and Credit purchase APIs with new methods that all you to make purchases using a credit card stored in your account. Code samples are available in all languages.

Second, we'll be adding some great new features by the end of the month...we'll be sure to let you know.

Do Mobile Call To Actions In Store Windows Work?

The answer would be yes - your store's window is a great place to your mobile call-to-action, whether it's a keyword/short code combo or a QR code. From Mobile Marketer:

“Retailers are discovering that the store is one of the best locations to present a mobile call to action,” said Stephen Burke, vice president of mobile at Resource Interactive, Columbus, OH.

“There are more mobile calls to action because there are more and more mobile assets being created by retailers,” he said.

“The good news is that that technology works and consumers are embracing mobile calls to action.”

Read more at Mobile Marketer.

Text Messaging At The Pharmacy

We know that text messaging is popping up in all sorts of unexpected places, but every once in a while we come across a statistic that seriously surprisies us. Case in point - 2 MILLION Walgreen's customers are signed up receive text message alerts whenever their prescriptions are ready:

Called Refill Reminder Text Alerts, the new service delivers a specific text message to any mobile phone that accepts text messages, notifying patients when an existing prescription is due for refill. This goes beyond a mere notification, as the prescription orders can then be completed with a simple “refill” reply. And it’s free to users.

Early indications are promising, as more than 2 million Walgreen subscribers currently are signed up for its Prescription Ready Text Alerts–which simply notify customers when a prescription order is ready for pickup.

This is more than a matter of convenience:

The new Refill Reminder Text Alerts program aims to increase patient health by increasing the rate of prescription refills. The article mentions that for every 100 new prescriptions, only 15-20 percent are refilled as prescribed.

Read more @ iMedicalApps

New Feature: Alternate Auto-Replies For Your Keywords (And Sub-Keywords Too!)

If you're using a Keyword with your TellMyCell account (you are using a Keyword, aren't you?) you've probably noticed that if someone texts your Keyword to our short code multiple times we send your auto-response every time. While we are legally required to send a response whenever your keyword is texted to us, we can customize that response on subsequent opt-ins. Up unti now you need to use our API to do this...starting today you can do this with a few clicks inside the app.

See how it works:

Don't Place A QR Code On A Billboard If You Expect People To Scan It

QR Codes seem to popping up everywhere lately...but should they be slapped up just anywhere?

The placement of QR codes is very important. It is very easy to create a disastrous QR campaign just by selecting the wrong location, per web2mobile.

For example, placing QR codes on billboards is highly ineffective since consumers cannot reach or scan the QR code.

In addition, brands should monitor the mobile reception of the area in which they plan to place an out-of-home QR code ad. Using this mind-frame, subway ads would be a poor placement for QR codes.

Also, QR codes should not be implemented until a brand has a mobile-optimized site.

Leading consumers to a non-optimized site can cause frustration and lead to a bad brand experience.

As New Yorkers we know all about QR Codes on subway ads.

Read more about Mobile Marketer's Luxury Daily.