The Mobile Marketing Blog - TellMyCell

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

Text Messaging Still Far More Popular Than Mobile Twitter, Other Social Networks

We'd like to quickly point your attention to a recent Deloitte survey:

Don’t tell Twitter’s Dick Costolo, but it seems everyday users are completely content with the ability to SMS their friends. So says a recent Deloitte study , which found that 90 percent of smartphone users send at least one text message per day. Compare that to only 40 percent of smartphone users who “hit up” their social networks, including Twitter and Facebook, at least once per day. In other words, reports of the text message’s demise have been grossly exaggerated.

Head over to MobileCrunch for more.

mConnect -- an Affordable Mobile Learning Platform -- to Reduce Skills Gap in Emerging Markets

Publisher McGraw-Hill and Indian software firm Wipro made an interesting announcement yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland:

The McGraw-Hill Companies, a premier global financial information and education company, and Wipro, a leading technology solutions provider, will work together to develop "mConnect," an open-standard mobile learning platform designed to bridge the skills gap in emerging markets.  Initial pilots in India will focus on the most critical needs for India's students and workers:  test preparation for entrance into universities that will best prepare them for the workplace and English-language training, an increasingly essential skill in the global economy.  The intention is to extend this program later to other countries in Asia and in Africa.

mConnect will offer low-income, rural or otherwise underserved students and workers personalized, adaptive education and assessment programs that can provide direct feedback in multiple modalities through cell phones, laptops and other mobile devices.  For students who want to establish and advance their careers by learning English, for example, mConnect will provide opportunities to hear conversations, review new vocabulary delivered via SMS and get personalized instruction that customizes the pace and presentation of material to match their learning needs.

Sounds like a great usage of text messaging. Read the entire release here.

SMS Marketing Q&A: What Is Mass Text Messaging

Mass Text Messaging goes by more than one name. If you're here you might have been trying to learn more about Mass SMS or Mass Texting. We're talking about the same thing. So what is it? Mass Text Messaging is an affordable -- and dramatically effective -- form of mobile marketing. Mass Text Messaging is the process of sending the same message to many recipients.

Before the advent of software platforms like TellMyCell, you could have done this one by one on your own phone. Aside from being an incredible waste of time, it is most likely against the terms of your contract to send commercial marketing messages from your personal mobile phone. Mass Text Messaging works like this:

Want to learn more? Take the TellMyCell tour and try our service for free.

Getting Personal: Location-Based Text Messages

Thanks to a new program designed by Placecast and Location Labs, companies such as North Face can make their mobile messages more personal through location-based SMS messages. Smartphone users are not the only ones who have access to this program, users with standard telephones can use this as well, which means that potentially 180 million people in the United States have access to this. The North Face is the first retailer to use this program. They have created geo-fences around their stores and hiking areas which are popular among their customers. When a customer, who has opted in for their SMS messages, has entered a geo-fenced area, they will receive a message tailored to their whereabouts.

"If they're near a store, customers may receive a message about a new item in the store. But, if they're at Lake Tahoe, and they have noted that they are a biker, they might get a msg about a great biking trail. A different customer may receive a msg about a great swimming spot, based on their preferences," according to a representative from Placecast.

To read the entire article, click here.

To learn more about mobile marketing, visit TellMyCell.

TellMyCell Creates A Useful Guide For Texting Beginners

We recently created a new and extremely helpful 'texting dictionary'. It includes 70 texting terms and definitions which prove to be extraordinarily useful while texting. Every new texter has to read this!

To check it out, click here. 

New Trends Due To The Popularity Of The Mobile Phone

In recent polls, people have said that they would rather lose their wallets than their mobile phones. And now, with numerous smart phones on the market, people can do just about anything with the click of a few buttons. Here are some new growing trends due to the popularity of mobile phones.

1-Bargain Hunting: “Bargain hunting has become extremely popular with apps like RedLaser that allow users to scan product bar codes and discover its various prices at different retailers.”
2-Mobile Ticketing: “Mobile ticketing transactions are expected to exceed $100 billion world wide by 2012, according to a study released this month by Juniper Research.”
3-Marketing: “Text message marketing, where customers opt-in to receive news about deals or offer coupons, has been a widely adopted practice as it’s a direct way to engage with consumers that has a high likelihood of being read.”

Want to learn about more mobile trends? Read the entire article here.

To learn about mobile marketing, visit TellMyCell.

JCPenney's New Marketing Technique

JCPenney is embracing new technological trends with their "New Look. New Year. Who Knew!" back-to-school campaign. They created an iPhone  application which allows teens to upload their own looks and to vote on their favorite outfits. For those teens without iPhones, they can opt to receive text messages which allows them to view the newest styles from the tip of their fingers.

“Through our mobile marketing initiatives, we able to reach teens where they are and provide them exciting, media-rich, interactive content that allows them to explore and discover the JCPenney brand,” said Kate Coultas, a spokeswoman at JCPenney

To learn more about this new marketing approach click here

Want to learn more about mobile marketing for retail? Visit TellMyCell

Memo To Marketers: Texting Is Best Medium To Reach Teens

Mobile Marketer reports on the results of a recent survey by ChaCha - teens and young adults were asked how they like to communicate. If you're relying on email, well, you're in big trouble:

The company polled about 1,500 teens and young adults on their favorite way to communicate. Sixty-eight percent responded that they prefer SMS, as opposed to 10 percent who chose mobile calls, 9 percent who opted for Facebook, 3 percent selected instant messaging and 0.3 percent liked email.

If you haven't launched your first SMS marketing campaign, maybe now would be a good team to learn a bit more :)

Read more about the study @ Mobile Marketer.

The Five Minute SMS Marketing Primer

By now you’ve heard about mobile marketing, and if you’re reading this you probably want to know how you can use mobile marketing to benefit your business. Is it difficult? Is it expensive? What exactly is mobile marketing?

We’re going to look at SMS marketing, also known as text message marketing. We’ll explain its place in the world of mobile marketing, its advantages, its costs, and how you can launch your business’ first SMS marketing campaign today – in five minutes flat.

What is Mobile Marketing? Let’s go straight to the source, The Mobile Marketing Association: Mobile Marketing is a set of practices that enables organizations to communicate and engage with their audience in an interactive and relevant manner through any mobile device or network.

Now let’s translate that into plain English: Mobile marketing is a way for you to connect with your customers (and potential ones) on their mobile phones.

How Can I Market To My Customers On Their Mobile Phone? There are a few different forms of mobile marketing. There’s mobile search, which is search advertising on a mobile web browser, ads on the mobile web, Bluetooth ads that communicate with your phone, and apps (think downloadable iPhone or Android programs). And then there is SMS, better known as text messaging.

Why Is SMS Marketing The Best Form Of Mobile Marketing? SMS Marketing has three advantages that dramatically set it apart from all other forms of SMS Marketing:

1. Broadest Reach & Familiarity: Nearly every phone in the United States supports text messaging. Americans sent well over 1 trillion text messages last year. They love text messaging. All other forms of mobile marketing are growing rapidly, but they can only reach selected groups of your customers.
2. Cost: Hiring an app developer is expensive. Buying mobile display ads is a major commitment. Bluetooth requires the lease or purchase of physical hardware. Contrast that to text messaging. Many SMS Marketing services allow you to get started for free. A successful campaign for a small business can be launched for less than $50. As for consumers, most either have an unlimited texting plan, or at least one that comes with a couple hundred text messages every month. If not, messages only cost a few pennies. 
3. Ease: Simple yet powerful software like TellMyCell’s SMS Marketing service is easy enough for anyone to use. Signup in 60 seconds. Login. Add some contacts. Type your message. Click send. Want to build a customer list? Rent a keyword on a shared short code.

How Do Keywords & Short Codes Work: A short code is a special 5 or 6 digit phone number. It is a unique number that anyone can send a text messages to. Short codes are at the heart of SMS Marketing.

A Keyword is a unique phrase that a consumer can use to interact with you via a short code. A Keyword is unique to its short code. This means that you might see the same Keyword used on different short codes. Short codes are nearly universal in the United States. So, a short code can power a relatively inexpensive national marketing campaign. Keywords work when they are paired with a short code. A customer will use their mobile phone to send a text message to a short code. The best way to understand how keywords work with short codes is to try it yourself. From your mobile phone, text the word Joes to 88202. In this example, Joes is a Keyword, and 88202 is the shared short code.

How Do I Get Started? Head over to TellMyCell to check out our plans and pricing. Signup is free and takes 60 seconds. Your account comes loaded with ten credits so you can try it for yourself. Got more questions? Get in touch with us.