The Mobile Marketing Blog - TellMyCell

5 Ways Mobile Has Affected the Fitness Industry

It’s the same old story every January in gyms and fitness centers around the country: a high sign-up rate starts the year off, then membership declines steadily as the months progress. For four out of five Americans with a gym membership, those lofty New Year’s resolutions are just that—good intentions that never come to pass. 

A solid membership standing is challenging for any fitness center. However, mobile marketing  for gyms is playing a substantial role in transforming what the fitness world calls the “New Year’s Bump” into actual brand loyalty and fitness accountability. 

So how does text messaging marketing benefit gyms? Check out a few of our favorite ideas: 

 

Personalized Workout Plans 

Any quality fitness regimen requires adjusting as time goes on, since the person is losing weight and gaining strength. Additionally, many respond well to morning workout reminders, including what it entails, and duration of regimens. As a trainer, you’ll want to determine a long-term strategy with a member and schedule daily texts that go out right before their workout begins. Motivational texts sent halfway through the workout also help. 

Alerts

New gym members are often concerned about working out during the fitness center’s busiest times, whether self-conscious about weight or simply wanting more personal attention. Regulars also like to know how busy the gym is, so sending mass alerts during “quiet hours” is a great way to ensure members are clinking those dumbbells.  

Diet Plans

Creating a nutritious, varied diet plan for yourself isn’t difficult, but staying on said plan often is. It’s even challenging for some to remember when and when not to eat. Scheduled SMS messages are therefore very helpful, as messages can feature recipes, nutritional information, shopping lists...all of which go out at particular times. 

Class Schedules

Using SMS to issue class schedules is another highly-effective marketing practice for gyms. Texting about different instructors and cancelled classes helps reduce client irritation, and sending information about what classes are happening when significantly increases participation.  

Promotions

Text messaging is an excellent way to let clients know about promotions, discounts, and incentive programs. For example, create a referral incentive and reward clients for bringing in friends. 

These are just some of the text message marketing ideas that lend themselves to gym owners and personal trainers. Try out a few and see if you don’t notice a positive difference in attendance. 

 

What’s Next for Samsung?

 

Samsung’s chief of mobile marketing, Kim Seok-pil, recently resigned due to health reasons at what many consider a critical time for the company. Mobile division struggles have resulted in the technology juggernaut announcing its plan to cut smartphone production by up to a third in 2015, leaving critics and fans alike asking, “What will become of Samsung?”  

While still a powerful force in the mobile industry, Samsung isn’t doing very well in China, one of its key markets. The South Korean company is being eclipsed by main competitor Xiaomi, a company that has made a point of offering higher-end devices for budget-conscious prices. Additionally, Apple is offering smartphones with larger screens, namely the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, something Samsung had previously cornered the market on. Fellow competitors Lenovo and Huawei are experiencing rises in product popularity as well. This rise in competition is merely one reason Samsung is cutting smartphone production. 

At the end of October of 2014, Samsung reported its operating profits were the lowest they’ve been since 2011. They captured 28% of the mobile market share last year, compared to 32.5% in 2013. That number is expected to be around 26.6% this year.  

Strained margins in marketing costs are harming the company as well. In the third quarter, Samsung generated 7% margins on smartphones, which is down 15% from previous years.  

Despite these setbacks, Samsung is hoping to focus on a “core set” of devices in 2015, and is preparing to launch new products on March 1 at their Unpacked event in Barcelona, Spain, the site of the Mobile World Congress trade show. The company is expected to unveil its Galaxy S6 smartphone at this event, which is rumored to be a “curved” device. Samsung representatives note the tech giant is looking to “fundamentally reform” their product line.  

Samsung also appointed Lee Sang-chul as their new mobile marketing chief. Sang-chul is the former head of the company’s Russian operations, and also reportedly served as the head of Samsung’s Latin American division. 

With this appointment and the streamlining of company “offerings,” Samsung can reduce overall costs and improve production efficiency. The company is looking to use the same components in numerous products as another method of cutting costs.

It will be up to Sang-chul to promote the new Galaxy S among other Samsung devices, and save the company’s “troubled” mobile division. The new year will tell whether the mobile giant will bounce back to previous numbers or continue a gradual decline.

 

The Best Valentine's Day Marketing Campaigns Ever

 

Valentine’s Day prompts more consumer spending than any other holiday bar Christmas. No wonder companies invest huge amounts of money in getting their annual marketing strategy just right. In honor of the big day, we’ve trawled the web to bring you three campaigns that get our hearts all a-flutter…

 

Scribbler

In 2013, UK greeting card firm Scribbler launched a brilliant user-generated content campaign. They asked their audience to share definitions of ‘love’ on their blog, with the response deemed the best winning an iPad mini. The runners-up were compiled into a special Valentine’s Day e-book. 

It was a winning campaign for a number of reasons. It’s a classic example of ‘joined up’ marketing: the campaign was announced on the company blog and directed participants to submit their definitions of love to Twitter; the best responses were posted on Facebook. As a lead gen tactic, it takes some beating. It was also a good example of crowdsourced content, which engages the audience more effectively than passively-consumed content as well as alleviating the burden on in-house resources, freeing the creatives up to come up with more innovative ideas. Low brand commitment and high user engagement = result.

 

Orange

More British innovation from mobile network Orange who, in 2011, launched a multi-platform, interactive animation campaign for Valentine’s Day. Another good example of crowdsourcing, the project asked for ‘how-we-met’ stories from couples - and turned the winning entry into a short cartoon. 

Again, one of the requirements of the campaign was to engage via Twitter. Applicants had to fit their stories into the 160-character limit. Orange’s marketing reach was further extended by posting the winning entries on their YouTube channel. Orange drove more traffic to their channel, and the winners loved it - after all, what better Valentine’s gift than your very own animated film?

 

Ikea

Mobile coupons were a well known marketing tactic in 2013, which is one of the reasons why Ikea’s Australian campaign for that year - a traditional cut-out print coupon - was so brilliantly off the wall. The main reason was the idea itself: a free crib for babies born on November 14, exactly nine months after Valentine’s Day. With so much fluff around at this time of year, Ikea pulled off a masterstroke by generating a marketing campaign that became a talking point even among people with no plans to, er, ‘take part.’ 

There’s no information on whether or not Ikea’s concept resulted in any conceptions, but   anyone who saw the ad didn’t forget it in a hurry. A classic example of keeping - and in fact starting - a brand conversation offline.

Text Messaging Can Improve Clinical Trial Participation

 

In the business of clinical trials, it can be difficult to raise interest and acquire volunteers for participation, due to the challenges associated with patient engagement. The analysis of a recent study of clinical trial patient recruitment has determined that SMS text messaging can produce dramatic results. While there are many ways to garner patient participation – via letters or through email – firms that conduct clinical trials are finding that the most effective way to reach new volunteers can be achieved through the simplicity of text messaging technology. 

The study examined the evidence from the Johnson County Clin-Trials (JCCT), a research facility that conducts between ten and fifteen vaccine clinical trials every year. Primarily using email to reach their volunteers, they have come up against some resistance when trying to reach prospective recruits. Studies regarding the effectiveness of electronic correspondence have revealed that emails have an open rate of about 22% – a far cry from the response rate necessary to conduct these clinical trials.

As a result, the Johnson County Clin-Trials decided to employ SMS text messages as a means for electronic communications, based on the effectiveness of text messages in reaching individuals. As opposed to email, 98% of SMS users read their messages, and 90% of these users open their text messages within three minutes of receiving them. Here are the key findings from JCCT’s method:

 

1) A marked increase in response to messages

The use of text messages to reach potential volunteers produced a response five times greater than that of their previous method, via email. The study achieved a 1% increase in enrollment for every 1.5% increase in text messages sent. This was much greater than the response increase expected in the hypothesis for the study.

 

2) Positive responses to the SMS method

JCCT patients responded positively to the SMS method. The method practiced compliance with HIPAA and 21 CFR Part 11, making sure that the process was validated. Also, all users were required to opt-in to receiving SMS (per FCC regulations). Overall, the individuals who were contacted welcomed the correspondence, and preferred text message to other forms of communication.

3) Effective two-way communication via SMS

Many patients used the SMS platform to respond directly to the outgoing SMS message. Patients expressed their concerns, questions, and queries for more information. The platform, created by Mosio, provided a framework to have both interactive and automated conversations with future patients, and consequently allowing them to enroll directly. This also reduced the burden of JCCT personnel, freeing them up for other tasks necessary for the clinical trial. 

4) A balance of resources for the clinical trial firm

The SMS text messaging method employed by JCCT allowed the firm to free up resources due to the effectiveness of the technology. Not only did the method boost trial recruitment, but there was evidence of cost savings for the firm. Finally, the study benefited from effective scheduling with the technology, as well as a subsequent improvement in the quality of the clinical trial’s results.

Upcoming studies of clinical trials like that of the Johnson County Clin-Trials will compare the SMS method to other common recruiting approaches in order to quantify the effectiveness of each approach. With a focus on trial retention, future researchers hope to reduce attrition rates and increase adherence with existing clinical trial participants using the SMS method. Clearly, the simple technology of SMS text messaging has been a breakthrough for patient recruitment and engagement, and we can expect to see a great deal more communication taking place through SMS and text messages in the future.

 

AT&T’s Text Message Alerts are Too Easy to Mimic

 

AT&T Text Messages are a simple way for AT&T to communicate with its customers. The texts, however, are much too simple and easily duplicated, which presents a big problem for AT&T customers.  

Due to the simple technology of text messages, there is no way to authenticate the identity of the sender. Also, the body of these text messages contains only a brief message that can be mimicked by hackers and scammers. Consumers could be receiving bogus text messages that have links leading to dummy websites, which then steal the customers’ information. 

Essentially, it’s a classic phishing scheme akin to the ones we’ve seen in our email inboxes.

Computer programmer Dani Grant discovered the breach of security when she received a text message from AT&T. “If the official texts look like phishing, it’s impossible for the customer to distinguish between what’s phishing and what’s not,” she said in a recent interview with CNN Money.

Because AT&T’s text messages originate from a “short code” rather than a verifiable phone number, customers have no way of knowing exactly who is trying to alert them. Short codes are four or five digit numbers that can send and receive texts, and can be acquired by anyone – not just cell phone companies.

Furthermore, the links within these text messages are not always obvious links to AT&T’s official site. While AT&T will sometimes use the link “att.com” – clearly a link to their official website – sometimes they will use the URL “dl.mymobilelocate.com.” This creates confusion for the consumer: how is a customer to know if a strange URL will lead back to AT&T’s website, or some dummy site that a hacker created?

Dani Grant went ahead and created her own false website, as well as a fake text message to see if these official AT&T texts could be duplicated. As it turns out, her text message is identical to AT&T’s official alert. Grant then reported this error to AT&T as a security flaw, though they have declined to comment on the matter.

There is no easy solution to this problem. Cell phone companies prefer to use SMS for their alerts because it is inexpensive and has a broad scope in terms of reaching their customers. Clearly, this method of texting is open to security threats, though, so consumers should insist on greater security measures to be taken by their mobile carriers.

Remember, don’t be fooled by all “official” text messages from your service provider, because these messages could be coming from a clandestine source. Carefully monitor messages, and delete when it seems “phishy.” By practicing prudence when interacting over SMS, you can protect yourself from scammers.