The Mobile Marketing Blog - TellMyCell

Marriot Appeals to Millennials with Mobile App

 

In most industries, trying to appeal to millennials occupies a lot of marketing resources. The hospitality world is no exception. If you assume the under-30s don’t pack enough of a financial clout to much concern hoteliers, think again: according to a recent Forbes article, millennials make up 50% of all hotel bookings. 

Even more surprisingly, they average twice the number of business trips as colleagues over 45, and they’re much more likely to order room service and take advantage of other perks (whether that spending should be attributed to the millennial whose name is on the card or the Gen X-er who’s probably footing the bill is another debate!).

According to Forbes, Millennials are not spendthrifts – but they are approaching the hotel experience from a different direction, and the big chains are doing their best to tune into this attitude. Marriott Hotels are leading the charge, tapping into – and in some ways helping to create – the idealistic Generation Y tourist. Their 2013 campaign ‘Travel Brilliantly’ fielded ideas about the future of travel from young people. Some of their suggestions have even been implemented.

The most notable of these millennial proposals to have reached fruition is the new Marriott Mobile app. It allows guests to check in and check out using their smartphones, and select which guest services they’d like to use during their stay. Marriott has also begun testing healthier vending machines. Partnering with Farmer’s Fridge, a Chicago startup, the hotel giants have installed a vending machine in the Windy City’s O’Hare branch. Instead of the usual array of candy bars and sodas, guests can grab a kale and quinoa salad, or fruit and yoghurt. Time will tell if healthier vending machines have a life beyond Chicago.

It’s not just regular guests that are benefitting from mobile apps. Business conventions who use the Marriott can now take advantage of Red Coat Direct, a meeting services app that allows event planners to change room temperature, order food and drinks, and request other amenities – all without leaving the meeting. It’s an executive butler service on a smartphone.

These changes are indicative of a hotel culture that’s evolving with the times. If you work in the hospitality industry and you haven’t yet taken advantage of the technology that’s helping the huge international chains grow bigger, it’s worth investing in a solid mobile campaign and a few bells and whistles of your own.

SMS Marketing Gives the Underdog a Leg Up During the Holiday Season

 

SMS marketing is an easy, cost-effective method of driving business to your online or brick-and-mortar store, no matter how “small” the store is. While smaller, independent businesses are often eclipsed by major retailers, especially during the holiday season, SMS marketing makes it simple to send exclusive deals, sales alerts, promotions and coupons directly to all customers, all at once. Group SMS gives smaller retailers a leg up on their competition, as one of the reasons to patronize small businesses is the personal service that comes with it. So don’t be deterred or feel overshadowed by larger retail chains, and remember that your business also has something to offer.

 

Direct Communication

While retail giants might use television and newspaper advertisements to announce big sales, a group SMS campaign allows small businesses to send store information and special deals directly to customers. Send alerts about extended store hours, new holiday products, exclusive deals and coupons, and promo codes. Reach targeted demographics by segmenting your text lists, rather than advertising to consumers who aren’t even local.

 

Getting Personal

Creating more personalized SMS campaigns is arguably one of the best marketing strategies for small enterprises to implement. Anticipate and address customer needs, and remember to “keep it exclusive.” Create a VIP feel in your text campaigns in order to remind customers why it’s so important to be a part of your communication lists. In addition to keeping your campaign exclusive and highly useful, remember to “get festive” as well. Thanksgiving and Black Friday mark the beginning of the holiday season, a time of peace and goodwill. So again, ensure your message is on the personal side, and reads as part of a conversation—this is what attracted many customers to your business initially. So keep it up!

 

The Time is Right

Now is the time to execute a mobile marketing strategy if you haven’t already. The holiday shopping season may be a seemingly unending shower of advertisements, but don’t be intimidated. An affordable option beneficial to practically every business in existence, the power of SMS enhances the holiday season and extends well into the new year. You’ll likely have a whole new list of consumers added to your database, and may alert them to sales, promotions, contests, special coupons and more throughout the year. With a little creativity and the power of SMS, you might be amazed at how many more satisfied customers you have when Black Friday rolls around next season.

 

 

SMS and Tourism: A Perfect Fit

 

Text messaging is a low-cost way of providing customers with information, sending alerts, mobile coupons, and other incentives. Consumers generally have their phones on and with them at all times, making text messaging an invaluable option for reaching customers, especially compared to email and other traditional channels. It therefore follows that SMS easily encourages repeat bookings and otherwise drives consumer loyalty, something the travel, tourism and hospitality industries certainly benefits from...

 

Airlines

Airlines such as Southwest Airlines utilize SMS as a method of cutting airport wait time and inbound passenger calls. Alerting passengers to flight delays, gate changes and cancellations via SMS are all part of Southwest mobile strategy. Other airlines take advantage of SMS for sweepstake-related reasons. Hawaiian Airlines created an SMS sweepstakes not only to build their mobile database, but also to promote its television sponsorship of the San Diego Padres baseball team. The campaign included a mobile call-to-action during every Padres game in the month of May for a chance to win roundtrip tickets to Hawaii. This encouraged Padres game viewership and offers consumers the chance to double-opt-in and receive targeted messages from the airline in the future.

 

Hotels and Resorts 

The hospitality industry turns to SMS as a method of improving customer service. Mobilizing existing loyalty programs and sending mobile coupons and alerts about on-site amenities, dining and entertainment options help hotels and resorts boost revenue and encourage customers to book again. For example, the MGM Mirage partnered with Acuity Mobile and interactive marketing services firm Acxiom Corp. to create mobile marketing programs for guests staying at MGM properties in Detroit and Las Vegas. The program allowed guests to opt in for access to special offers, contests, alerts and quizzes. 

The Hard Rock brand promoted its restaurants, hotels, shops and events via Air2Web’s mobile marketing service CampaignPRO to attract and maintain a customer base. The Eldorado Hotel targeted guests through SMS with instant special offers to area restaurants and nightclubs. As a hotel mainly patronized by the 35-65-year-old demographic, the Eldorado’s strategy to provide guests with hotel offers, dining deals and entertainment alerts proved an effective method for reaching guests in their 20s.

 

Tourism Organizations

Government agencies and tourism organizations are taking advantage of SMS marketing as well. CTM Media Group created the City-In-The-Pocket mobile marketing program to deliver targeted messages to New York City clients. The Pennsylvania Tourism Office used mobile marketing efforts to promote their most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil. Some 15,000 consumers signed up before February 2 (Groundhog Day) to receive alerts about the animal’s winter weather prediction.

Creative SMS short codes have proven the best means for helping brands and organizations establish essential two-way communications with customers, actual and potential alike. SMS technology is certainly proving to be a perfect fit for the travel and hospitality industry.

 

 

 

 

 

Wiper: The App that Lets You Delete Sent Messages

Privacy is a very big deal in the mobile age. All mobile devices are connected with the World Wide Web, and anyone using a cell phone with a data plan is subject to the prying eyes of the digital world.  Activities are tracked by businesses for advertising purposes, and everyone nowadays must consider that their actions may be viewed by government agencies – or worse, malevolent hackers. But there is a bit of hope, and its name is Wiper.

Wiper is an app that provides its users with the ability to delete unwanted text messages. This app is not the same as Slingshot or Snapchat, which simply make your messages disappear after an allotted period. With Wiper, everything in a given text, including photos, can be eliminated. Your sent messages, your received messages, even the text messages that were sent and received on other people’s devices. If you were in the conversation, you have the right to get rid of it with Wiper. The service they provide is exhaustive: they remove all evidence of your digital conversation, even from their own servers.

Wiper is simple. It functions like any other messaging system, allowing users to send and receive messages, photos, and videos. The Wiper app can also call the conversant, right from the text messaging console. It’s got a few fun features too. For example: since it’s automatically connected to YouTube, you can share videos just by clicking on them, right from the app. (Also, when and if you decide to “Wipe” a conversation, it gives you a warning – the app asks you to confirm that you want to delete everything.) 

The app was created by Manlio Carrelli, when he realized that consumers have little control over their data once it’s out in the cloud. Claiming that we don’t have much say over how long service providers retain our information, Carrelli set out to invent a service that gives that control back to the consumer. And Wiper does just that: with the push of a button, any text conversation you want to delete will vanish into thin air. 

The only caveat to Wiper is that it cannot prevent someone from trying to take a snapshot of the text messages. The developers at Wiper have been working to solve this too: users are alerted anytime someone attempts to take a screenshot of the conversation.

So if you’re the type of person to regret that 4 a.m. text, then consider the Wiper app. It’ll give you back the privacy you deserve.

5 Elementary Mistakes Made by Mobile Marketers

 

Not every mobile marketing campaign will be the success you’d hoped for. In business, as in life, you win some and lose the rest. Pay close attention to each loss, however, and you’ll start to learn where you went wrong. The more you learn about past mistakes, the fewer you’ll make next time.

If you’re devising your first mobile marketing strategy, you can get a head start on that learning curve by avoiding a few basic but common errors. Be as creative as you like, but avoid the following fundamental faux pas.

 

1) Fail to Optimize Content for Mobile

A mobile marketing campaign should provide quality content. It implies that your brand offers good value to its customers. But there’s little point having compelling content if people can’t easily view it from a mobile device. More than 50% of consumers only read emails on a mobile device, and for many people their smartphone is their primary point of access to the web. That’s why your website must be mobile-optimized.

Some of the culprits of this most basic of mistakes are major brands who really should know better. As recently as last year, Amazon sent a mass email that was not mobile friendly.

 

2) Use MMS Over SMS

Commensurate with mobile optimization, it needs saying all on its own: SMS messaging is the only text message protocol you should be using in a mobile marketing campaign. End of story. Many a company has tried to get clever with rich media messaging. Both Starbucks and Macy’s came unstuck after running MMS campaigns that only appeared as intended on a few devices. Resolution varies widely depending on what kind of phone the recipient has, and a significant minority of people still use older phones incapable of displaying images at all. Keep it simple. Send SMS messages containing links to all the rich content you've created and you can be certain people will see it.

 

3) Omit the Call to Action

A strong call-to-action is an essential element of any successful mobile marketing campaign. If you’re a retailer with a new in-store app you want people to know about, there’s no point waiting for them to visit your website to find out about it – foot traffic in a store won’t go home and do that unless there’s a problem with what they’ve bought. Clearly signpost the availability of the app around the store, and tell consumers why it’s of value to them. Equally, text message campaigns should state what customer x must to do get value y.

 

4) Fail to Tell the World

You might have the greatest special offer in your industry, but without a strong promotional campaign it’s all for nought. For maximum promo penetration, spread the word across multiple channels. Social media, website, SMS messaging, guest blogging, traditional ad buys – leveraging all available touchpoints will yield dramatic results in terms of traffic and, ultimately, sales.

 

5) Make Opting In & Out a Headache

There are two actions you should make as simple as possible for customers: opting in to receive notifications and opting out of them. If there’s a disparity between the two you’ll irritate people and even make them suspicious of your brand. QR codes are a good example of how to waste people’s time – and your budget. Can you be sure everyone in your target market has a QR scanner? Is it convenient for those that do to use it when they see your code? 

Instead of using gimmicks, offer something of real value to consumers who sign up to your contact list. Equally, include a clear link in every communication that allows people to opt out in a single step. People are fickle, chopping and changing brand allegiances as it suits them, so the more user friendly your experience is the likelier they are to return later - even if they’ve opted out. Make them jump through hoops and your brand will be mentally blacklisted.

Six of the Worst Group Text Messages

“Techiquette” is a continual struggle when it comes to email and social media, but what about text messaging? There’s no hitting ‘unsubscribe’ or ‘hide’ when a group chain message is coming through, no matter how annoying it is. Check out six of the most inconsiderate types of group text messages to avoid sending.

 

1. Late-Night Text Chains

It’s not exactly polite to send text chains after 10pm, is it? This particularly applies to weeknights. Trying to go to bed and repeatedly dealing with a buzzy phone is never fun, especially when the subject is hardly life-altering. There’s also time zones to consider—for example, a midnight text in California is a 3am text in New York. Unless it’s a dire emergency, skip the late-night texts. 

2. Big Announcements

Announcing a wedding? A baby? Something else of significance? That’s great—just save it for a phone call, email or individual text message, rather than giving people the “reply all” option. Some may know to change their settings to ‘reply,’ but others blindly ‘reply all’ and send to everyone on the message chain (including people they don’t even know) message after message.

3. Mid-Day Chains

Sure, it may seem like a good idea to send a group text message during the day when you’re bored at work at school, but it’s best to save such texts for after 5pm. You don’t want to annoy friends sitting in meetings or class, or have their phones go off and irritate bosses and professors. And what if recipients are giving presentations or doing other important work-related tasks? There’s a time and place for everything, and midday is not that time for group messaging.

4. Droid-Only

iMessage is only available on--shockingly--iPhones. Droid phone users will therefore not receive group texts, which gets complicated when planning events and the like. Remember, blue text bubbles mean texts are getting sent, while green bubbles indicate at least one group text member uses Android. Also check the top of your screen for “Group MMS” instead of “Group.” Make sure you know who you’re reaching and who you’re not.

5. “Data Killers”

Not every person on your contact list has unlimited data, and videos, Emojis, photos and GIFs consume enormous amounts of data. Rather than forcing friends and family to pay higher phone bills every month, save the data-hungry stuff for social media and similar channels. Everyone can enjoy that funny dog video for free when it’s posted in an email or on Facebook. 

6. The “Cliffhanger”

Another group text message no-no? Sending a mass text about an event or other happening, then failing to respond when everyone asks where it is or what time. If sending a group text, remember to follow up. Don’t be that person who leaves everyone hanging.

 

 

Texting Has Become a Recruitment Tool in Brazil

 

Unemployment in Brazil is at an all time low, and salaries are rising to historic highs. A number of factors are contributing to this employment bonanza. A declining labor force is the primary driver of increased employment rates and rising real wages, but one entrepreneur is doing his bit to help the out-of-work find employment – and he’s doing it with SMS. 

Founded by Jacob Rosenbloom and backed by a number of high-profile investors, Emprego Ligado is a staffing service where communication between worker and recruiter is virtual, but the jobs are very real. Since 2011, he’s connected millions of working class Brazilians to employers in Sao Paulo, and is expanding the company to serve the entire country.

Here’s how Emprego Ligado works: you upload a resume and filter job opening via text message. It’s as simple as that. It takes minutes, streamlining the process of job-hunting to it’s bare essentials. Applicants can start engaging with employers immediately, arranging interviews and answering questions – all from their mobile device. 

Stanford graduate Rosenbloom is very clear about his objectives and ambitions for Emprego Ligado. In a recent interview, he stated their business model has ‘clear environmental and social benefits.’ He also said:

“São Paulo has 22 million people. Everyone has a car. People will spend over 3 hours a day in traffic to get to the downtown area for work. Our thought: If we place people close to home, people can spend more time with their families, be more productive at work and stay longer in their jobs.”

Making such services available via text message has been crucial to growth in Latin America, where few people have data plans. Even in Brazil – easily the continent’s richest country – only 7.5% of the population has a data plan. SMS isn’t just a better way to reach more people – it’s the only way.

Rosenbloom has designs on expanding the business into neighboring countries including Mexico and Columbia. Right now, Emprego Ligado employs 40 people, all Brazil nationals. But they’ve been responsible for helping millions of Brazilians find gainful employment simply by recognizing SMS messaging as the most powerful, widespread form of communication available.