The Mobile Marketing Blog - TellMyCell

Global Ad Platform Rolled Out by Chinese Mobile Firm

 

Chinese mobile ad network Youmi launched its first global platform last month. First announced at the 2015 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Adxmi is leading the explosion in mobile internet services currently underway in China - and garnering international attention along the way. 

The MWC attracts the best and brightest from the international mobile web industry. With more than 200 countries represented by nearly 100,000 attendees, it is easily one of the biggest, most influential mobile events. 

Chinese companies are always well-represented, but 2015 marked the first appearance of Adxmi in Europe. They immediately made a mark, negotiating partnerships with developers and mobile service providers from around the world. 

Though Chinese hardware and games have long been a dominant force on the world tech stage, the past twelve months has seen rapid mobile development in China. Concurrently, the country continues to look increasingly outward, with a growing number of firms expanding their operations overseas. Adxmi plans to provide their countrymen with first-rate international services in mobile marketing and traffic monetization. 

Their prospects look good. Adxmi has already road-tested their expansion plans across Asia, opening up new markets in Hong Kong and Taiwan; they also have a presence in both North and South America.

PC Password Security via Mobile

 

In an effort to help individuals secure their digital identities, Yahoo took a leap forward introducing “on-demand” passwords, perhaps the first step towards eliminating passwords altogether. SMS messaging is playing a central role in this development.

Several industry leading tech companies swear by two-factor authentication as the best alternative to regular password protection. Yahoo’s new approach is similar in that user will be sent unique, time sensitive codes through an app or text message when they wish to access their private account.

However, Yahoo users who sign up for this service will become some of the first to do away with primary password protection. When a user wants to log into their account, they’ll simply be sent a password directly to their mobile device—no primary password required.

For some people, this is a great step forward. Having to remember multiple unique passwords can be daunting, especially without the assistance of a password manager. Yahoo’s new feature eliminates the burden of both. 

But don’t get too excited just yet. Users will still be responsible for a few things, including: keeping a charge on their mobile device, ensuring signal access, and protecting the mobile device from other compromises. If those things are manageable, the service is easy to set up and simple to use.

Creating better account security is a hot topic for many tech companies aside from Yahoo. The FIDO Alliance in cooperation with Google and Microsoft are pushing for even further measures to get rid of passwords, experimenting with biometricks like fingerprint and eye scans—the final frontier of protecting our digital identities. Yahoo brings their one-step authentication to the table while these other technologies require further development. 

Yahoo deserves credit for attempting to solve one of the greatest threats on the Internet. Yahoo also updated its end-to-end GPG email encryption plugin back in August. A video posted to YouTube shows users easy comparisons on how to get the plugin working with GPGTools, an exclusive suite fro Mac OS X desktops. 

Unfortunately, this feature will not be available for everyone until the end of 2015. What’s more, the system won’t be enabled on every email. Instead, Yahoo intends the use of this particular security feature will be reserved for sensitive content. 

Whether or not Yahoo’s new on-demand service will take off is yet to be seen. Few would argue that more security isn’t needed when it comes to protecting personal information on the Internet. But until users activate this feature, it does little else than nothing.

 

​Why Are Some iPhone SMS Messages Blue and Some Green?

 

Own an iPhone and always wondered why some messages in the message app are blue and others green? You’re one of (most likely) many.  

The short answer? Blue messages are those sent or received using Apple’s iMessage technology, while green ones are “traditional” text messages exchanged through Short Messaging Service, or SMS. 

If you’re pondering why you should care about this at all, the answer is yes….and no. Let’s start with SMS.

Any standard SMS text message gets delivered over the same voice networks used for phone calls. In days of yore, carriers were charged by the message, usually 10 to 25 cents per text. A fixed number of messages were bundled into a calling plan, whereas now most plans offer unlimited text messaging.  

Eventually Apple launched iMessage, which looks and performs like standard SMS but relied on cellular or WiFi data networks. This provided freedom from carrier rates for SMS if dealing with a capped plan or similar issue, and also offers a sizable set of messaging features. iMessage makes it possible to do things standard SMS simply cannot, such as send walkie-talkie-style voice messages, check message delivery, and whether someone is currently writing you back or not via three dots appearing below the last sent message.  

However, iMessage only works with other iDevice owners. Using the Messages app to contact Android, Windows Phone, and Blackberry users means an automatic switch to SMS mode, or green instead of blue word bubbles.  

Surprisingly, it’s also possible to “see green” even when communicating with a fellow iPhone user. This occurs when iMessage isn’t activated on your or your recipient’s device, or there’s no data network available. If your phone can still connect to a voice tower, it will automatically return to SMS. 

So what does this all mean? Are there times when it makes sense to opt for one messaging method over the other? Text messages may be small, but picture messages often eat a large chunk of data, so if your service plan features unlimited texting but limited data, you may want to switch off iMessage for SMS. The flip side of this is when communicating with other iPhone users and still only seeing green messages. Request that the other person enable their iMessage service so you may enjoy the numerous benefits of said service.  

Many users don’t even know iMessage is “a thing,” and therefore do not realize it’s not enabled. 

 

How to Ensure Marketing Success at SXSW 2015

 

As head of a brand, it’s important to constantly think of ways to improve your marketing strategy. SXSW is an annual tech, film, and music festival in Austin, Texas, and draws more than 25,000 people every year. Attending this festival with your company is an excellent way to increase brand awareness, but how to capitalize on the event and get the very most out of it? Check out a few inspirational ideas: 

 

Showcase Your Product/Service to the Right Audience

Plenty of parties happen at SXSW, and while it’s easy to think of said parties as a way to drink and have fun, some companies took advantage of the partying. For example, two years ago 3M offered to put screen filters on iPhones at the annual Mashable MashBash party. Since most attending the shindig had iPhones, there was a line of people waiting for their filters, and they tweeted about it while in line. A fantastic way to showcase a product in a crowded environment, 3M didn’t resort to desperate sales techniques, nor did they look irrelevant or completely out of touch. The company got the exposure they wanted with little effort. 

 

Offer Convenience Consumers Can’t Turn Down 

Lines are often dreadfully long at festivals, so last year PPLConnect took this annoying event aspect and made it work for them. An app company that links smartphones to computers and other mobile devices, PPLConnect enticed consumers to download their app by providing 40 people to wait in SXSW lines for them. Nice, right?

Another example of fabulous perks consumers couldn’t turn down at SXSW is the Refresh Lounge provided by Cottonelle. The lounge offered free massages, makeup touches, and even hair blowouts, all while snuggling Cottonelle pillows. An excellent idea for any makeup, hair, or massage company, going a step further could include QR codes written on pillows or other freebies as a way to score exclusive deals or sign up for digital newsletters featuring monthly coupons and the like. 

 

Pique Consumer Curiosity

Two years ago at SXSW a company called Higi encouraged consumer curiosity by featuring cards and flyers all around the festival with the words, “Looking to score at SXSW?” Further reading of said cards and flyers pointed consumers to various health-oriented, Higi-branded kiosks where festival-goers could get their weight analyzed and blood pressure taken. Consumers most likely walked away with a few freebies and literature about the company, which perhaps inspired them to visit the company’s mobile site, like their Facebook page, etc.  

These are just some examples of the unique ways to ensure marketing success at SXSW….

 

SMS & the Fight Against Ebola

 

Mobile communication is capable of reaching people in the furthest flung corners of the planet. Many parts of the African continent are benefitting from SMS messaging, which is doing everything from facilitating cash transfers to Rwandan refugees to sending weather forecasts to Malawian farmers.

In Sierra Leone, SMS messaging is being used to tackle Ebola. The SMS Voice project (follow the link to donate) was set up by Christian Aid. It enlists ‘volunteer citizen reporters’ to share vital information about the virus and which regions are the most badly affected by sending text message alerts.

Raising awareness is the most effective strategy for combating Ebola. Why? Because it’s not all that easy to contract. The virus has a reproduction number - or R0 - of 2, which means the average number of people who catch the disease from one person is two. By way of comparison, HIV has an R0 of 4, measles has an R0 of 18 (assuming nobody in the population is vaccinated). For Ebola to spread, it required close contact with bodily fluid like blood or vomit. 

With such a low susceptibility risk, the answer to the recent outbreaks in West Africa comes down to a lack of education about how Ebola spreads. Every culture has an instinctive tendency to increase human contact whilst caring for the sick. Misinformation and basic lack of information is responsible for the ongoing epidemic.

Which is where programs like the SMS Voice project come in. Even in the poorest areas of Sierra Leone, basic feature phone ownership is high but far fewer people have access to the internet. SMS messaging is the most reliable way of exchanging the spread of Ebola for the spread of information capable of halting the disease.

SMS Voices isn’t just dealing with healthcare. Social ills are being addressed by the program, which enables the ‘citizen reporters’ to raise concerns with local councilors via anonymous ‘microreports.’ Fitting inside the 160 character limit of a standard text message, each report contains crowdsourced information regarding youth, governance, access to services, gender and justice and security. 

Issues raised via text message alerts include the scarcity of teaching resources in school, poorly maintained roads, bridges and other infrastructural components, and conflicts between local interest groups. The project is also tackling clean water, FGM, domestic violence and teen pregnancy. 

The SMS Voice project is not alone in facilitating text message alerts for health and social crises. Similar programs, backed by charities, businesses, governments or a combination of all three, are connecting people in some of the most deprived parts of the world in the only way possible: by SMS messaging.

 

This is How to Combine Social & Text Message Marketing

 

The old saying, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” is true for a reason, and certainly extends to mobile marketing. It’s possible to reach consumers with one type of marketing effort, but an integrated marketing strategy is the best way to reach the greatest number of consumers. If already utilizing mobile and social media as part of marketing, you’ll definitely reach your target audience. If looking to maximize the impact of your marketing campaign, it’s best use the two channels together. Check out a few tips on how to accomplish this: 

 

Popular Social Media Networks and Your Audience 

To ensure you make the very most of your marketing campaign, you’ll want to learn which social media channels are most popular among your target demographic. This is achieved through informal conversations with those patronizing your business, as well as through formal customer service surveys regarding social networking behavior. You don’t want to waste time sharing content on channels infrequently used by your audience, so the more you know about what networks they enjoy, the better. 

 

Social Media’s Networking Power 

Once you know what channels are most popular with your audience, you’ll want to create accounts for your business and share on-point content that consumers find engaging. Don’t use social media exclusively for promotional purposes, as this turns leads and customers off. Instead, create a fun dialog between you and your audience. Add personality to your social media feeds and make them entertaining; and since most social media awareness is through word of mouth, you’ll do well to have one or more intriguing channels. 

 

Texting and Sharing

Using social media and text message marketing correctly means one complements the other. Many businesses frequently use social media to obtain information about their customers, such as age, location, sex, and interests. Using such information to personalize marketing campaigns definitely helps your business stand out to customers, especially when sending promotional text messages containing exclusive coupons to a specific sample within your target demographic. 

An integrated approach to your marketing campaign is one of the best ways to reach a larger audience, so determine which social media channels are most useful to your business needs and start creating engaging content consumers will love. Share information about special promotions and events via text message, and subsequently improve social media marketing efforts. While excellent advertising sources on their own, the impacts of social media and text marketing are compounded when used together. 

 

Four Floor-Filling Mobile Marketing Tactics for your Nightclub

 

We’re two months into the New Year, and if you haven’t stepped up your game attracting new patrons, there’s no better time than right now. Whether your establishment is new in town or you’re simply looking to implement a few marketing changes, there’s a number of innovative promotional strategies that might just help fill your club’s dance floor in 2015. Check out four approaches for making your club the hottest ticket in town: 

 

Learn What Customers Want 

Find out what customers want from your business this year as a way of making your club more patron-friendly. Conduct a formal or informal survey and collect feedback; consider asking about food and drink menus, dance floor music choices, specials and promotions customers enjoyed in the previous year, general ambiance, restroom facilities, DJs, and anything else that could help narrow in on what event goers want. Use the information to make improvements to your establishment, and track how patrons respond. 

 

Utilize Social Media

Start a social media campaign if you haven’t already, as various social networks are an ideal way to connect with the younger section of your target audience. Celebrated as the new word-of-mouth marketing option, spend a little time finding out which channels are most popular with your audience and create accounts. Add links in your profiles to print marketing materials and menus to help yourself establish a following, and use channels to promote events, create posts on special deals, and engage in personalized conversations with customers. 

 

Take Advantage of Text Messaging

Use text messaging as another effective method of connecting with younger customers. Young people communicate via text message much more frequently than they do traditional mail or phone calls. As people use their mobile devices more than ever, they’re more likely to connect with businesses on the go. Choose a creative SMS platform to create a text message marketing campaign that invites customers to opt-in and receive special discounts and information about upcoming events and promotions. 

 

Try Theme Nights

Introduce theme nights, such as a designated weekly ladies night where female club goers get in for free or can enjoy special drink discounts. A singles night is another option, or those that involve costumes, such as cat parties. Theme nights show the fun, playful side of your establishment, which will help keep customers coming back. And make sure to integrate your touch points, promoting all promotional ideas throughout your social media and mobile marketing channels.