The Mobile Marketing Blog - TellMyCell

‘We Didn’t Violate the TCPA’ says Yahoo

 

A Philadelphia man has applied to the Court of Appeals to revive his lawsuit against Yahoo, in which he claimed the company sent thousands of unwanted messages when he purchased a used phone from T-Mobile.

The original lawsuit claimed Yahoo had violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by using automated dialers to send SMS messages without the recipients’ consent. But Yahoo denied the charge, asserting that they did not rely on auto dialers – a claim upheld last year by U.S. District Court Judge Michael Baylson. In a brief filed last week with the 3^rd Circuit Court of Appeals, Yahoo stated:

“Messages sent through the email SMS Service were not sent randomly, in bulk or to sequential numbers – only to specific phone numbers manually inputted by individual Yahoo users.”

The company has requested that the appeals court dismiss the lawsuit, in which the plaintiff says he received dozens of messages every day after he bought the phone. His complaint indicates that the previous owner had agreed to receive SMS alerts from Yahoo whenever a new email was delivered to his inbox.

The complainant (who does not have a Yahoo account) says he received close to 5,000 SMS alerts from Yahoo in the five months prior to filing the lawsuit. He allegedly lodged a complaint with the company, but was told that only the previous owner of the phone could arrange to stop future texts.

In the most recent appellate papers, Yahoo suggests that the plaintiff should have gone to T-Mobile to get a new number.

It might look like game, set and match to the web giant, but there’s a twist in this tale: another lawsuit resulted in a different judge ruling that Yahoo’s SMS delivery system did constitute an automated dialer. A Californian resident alleged that Yahoo informed him via SMS that he had received an instant message from someone else – but the plaintiff had never given the company his cell phone number or opted in to receive text messaged from them. The judge specifically rejected Yahoo’s argument that it didn’t use an automated dialer to send the complainant a message. The complainant denied Yahoo’s request to reconsider the ruling. 

Texting Could Save the Healthcare Industry Billions

Antiquated communications technology is costing the healthcare industry more than $8.3 billion every year, according to a study by the Ponemon Institute. The report, published last year, surveyed 577 clinicians, IT workers and healthcare professionals.

Their response was clear: pagers and other outdated tools are decreasing productivity, increasing discharge times and hindering interaction between physicians and patients. On average, clinicians waste more than 45 minutes each day using pagers and other technological relics of the 20^th Century.

More than half the respondents blamed pagers for time wasted. Lack of wi-fi and inadequate email was blamed by more than a third of clinicians, and 36% said they were being slowed down by the fact text messages were not allowed, or severely restricted by HIPAA guidelines.

The report also stuck the boot into outmoded tech as a major impediment to discharging patients. It takes, on average, 101 minutes to fully discharge a patient. Around 37 minutes of that time is spent waiting for a physician or specialist to authorize the release of patients.

So why are medical practices so reluctant to implement text message systems? A commonly cited reason is the potential security risk. But the Ponemon report put the average economic impact of data breaches over the past two years at $2.4 million – a fraction of the $3.1 billion in revenue that secure text messaging could generate for the healthcare industry.

Secure texting is supported by 65% of respondents, who believe it could cut discharge times by 50 minutes. If healthcare providers are still hesitant due to security risks, they needn’t worry so much – as long as they do it right.

Not all staff members will need a mobile device. For some, paging will continue to make more sense – it would be a mistake to enforce a policy across the entire organization, just because it’s a new system.

Above all, hospital leaders must protect patient privacy if they want to avoid HIPAA penalties. Assess the risk, become acquainted with the regulations, and keep staff informed that unsecured texts containing Private Health Information (PHI) could result in a penalty of $50,000.

Are there security and financial risks involved in rolling out a text message system in hospitals? Yes, but only if the people involved are ill-prepared and ill-informed. Do it the right way, and your practice could save time and money in the long run.

When is the Optimal Time to Reach a Mobile Audience?

One of the most important things for mobile marketers to understand is the browsing habits of their audience. When do people most frequently use the web via their smartphone? More importantly, when are they most likely to look at promotional material and take advantage of special offers?

Though far from foolproof, click-through rates (CTRs) give a pretty good indication of when people are most likely to spend money online. Like a busy department store on a Saturday, there’s no guarantee that anyone browsing goods will buy anything, but most businesses will expect to make more sales compared to a rainy Tuesday morning when the store is empty.

Mobile users have spending patterns similar to bricks and mortar shoppers, according to recent research from AppFlood. The study analyzed around 300 million mobile ad impressions in the United States, taken between August and September 2013. The results show CTRs are 30% higher on weekends.

Click volumes are roughly the same on Saturdays and Sundays, starting at around 8am and continuing steadily until around 6pm. During the week, CTRs decrease throughout the evening, picking up again around 11pm (this is likely an indication of mobile users checking their devices before bedtime). Concurrently, desktop and laptop usage declines over the weekend, and after 5pm – when people knock off work – during the week. 

So what accounts for this dip in desktop/laptop usage at evenings and weekend? After all, almost everyone has one or the other (or both) at home. One explanation is a reluctance to use the same devices that people have been staring at all day at work. Also, mobile devices are so much easier to use; if you’re sitting on the couch with your phone in front of you, why get up and turn on a computer? It’s a few more unnecessary steps between you and the information you need.

For mobile marketing purposes, we can glean much valuable information from this data. Once you understand the motivation behind web habits, you can tailor your strategy to make the most of your audience. Studying CTR patterns will help you devise a more engaging, effective marketing campaign.

So if you’re a mobile marketing strategist looking to optimize ROIs, review your company’s CTR data and start creating solutions that target your audience at the right time, on the right day and in the right way.

Safeguarding Privacy in the Mobile Marketing Explosion

The recent boom in mobile marketing has brought success to businesses great and small, but a big part of this brave new world has been overcoming challenges regarding consumer privacy.

There can be little doubt that mobile-based advertising has generated exciting new avenues – and revenues – from customers to businesses. Data collection and geo-location technology have revolutionized targeted advertising, and forced companies to consider carefully the implications their actions have on ethical issues such as customer confidentiality.

To get the most out of apps and other mobile-based services, consumers must relinquish a degree of privacy. Some businesses require access to the GPS location of a smartphone in order to best serve their users. This necessarily places a much greater responsibility on businesses to provide transparency and honesty about the way they intend to use personal data.

Where text marketing is concerned, privacy is now governed by a new set of FCC rules, implemented on October 16, 2013. Customers must opt-in to receive communications from a company, thereby providing explicit consent in the form of a written, signed agreement. The obligations of companies offering text services include:

• A clear description of their text program (not a generic opt-in request)Providing the name of the sender
• Providing clear instructions for opting out
• An indication of the frequency of text messages
• An explanation of any additional carrier costs

The government has considered bringing in federal legislation to further protect data privacy for mobile users. Some progress has been made in local government, most notably Senator Al Franken’s endorsement of the Location Privacy Protection Act in 2011. The Senate has already given the go-ahead, but Congress is yet to deal with the issue. If passed, the bill would require companies to obtain explicit consent before collecting or sharing data.

Right now, the onus of data privacy falls on companies themselves, so it’s imperative that consumers choose wisely the brands they do business with. Any firm that uses text message marketing can look at the current situation as an opportunity to provide strong, personal customer relationships that are based on trust. Achieve this, and you will have developed brand loyalty long before any federal legislation is imposed.

The Don’ts of Mobile Marketing

As more and more businesses latch on to mobile-focused marketing strategies, there will inevitably be teething problems. It’s a brand new world for many - especially older companies who built their original model in a world that didn’t even require a website, let alone a mobile-optimized one.

Feeding into their anxieties is the white-noise of ‘good advice’ that hisses around the internet. The professional tipsters and consultants promise great things, but their advice is often contradictory and can make you wonder whether it’s worth getting involved with mobile campaigns at all.

Well, it is worth it – provided you don’t make the same common errors made by countless mobile marketing novices. So, instead of another list of things you really-definitely-must-do, let’s take a look at the pitfalls to avoid when embarking on your first mobile campaign:

Unnecessary Apps

Apps are great – but only if they’re great apps. One of the most common mistakes made by small to medium sized businesses is ploughing half their marketing budget into an ineffectual app that nobody wants. Remember, asking customers to download an app is a much bigger expectation than asking them to visit your site. Sure, big brands like Starbucks and Pizza Hut have really useful apps – but unless you have the financial heft to compete, it’s unlikely that your small-time developer is going to match them. Good apps are hard to come by, and there are more things that can go wrong (like annoying Android users by offering an iOS-only product). Plus, people tend to use apps once and then forget them. Unless you’ve got big money to play with, skip the app and optimize your site for mobile instead. Which brings us to mistake no. 2…

Mobile Unfriendly Websites

Optimizing your website for mobile is of critical importance. But it’s not just about making the on-site user experience a good one – it’s about making sure mobile users can find your site in the first place. Small business frequently make the mistake of approaching their search strategy from the same angle, regardless of which device is under consideration. The keywords that show up on a desktop browser are completely different to those that appear on mobile. Why? Because mobile users are more likely to have a particular location in mind, whereas desktop users search for broader categories. Let’s say you’re on a city street looking for a restaurant. You’re far likelier to search for “pizza restaurant near me” than if you are at home. Be sure to create your mobile campaign around typical mobile search terms.

Blocking Mobile Customers

Surprisingly, some firms make the mistake of blocking mobile traffic just because they don’t have a mobile optimized site. Sure, having a mobile friendly website will prevent you losing the interest of many visitors, but that doesn’t mean you should throw the baby out with the bathwater. Something is better than nothing, and not all mobile users are turned off by desktop sites on a small screen. Never block traffic to your site – you could be missing out on sales.

Mobile Marketers Can Reach More People With Smaller Budgets

Recent research published in American Life shows that more than nine out of ten adults in the US own a mobile phone. Over 50% of them own a smart phone. The mobile economy is in the middle of a huge boom, and marketing managers are competing furiously for consumers’ attention.  

In order to keep pace with a rapidly expanding market, it's vital to optimize your mobile marketing campaign using response analysis. Unlike other forms of marketing, mobile strategies have built-in, detailed analytics reporting and tracking - highly effective tools for helping you decide how to spread your budget. Before overhauling your budget, take into account a few vital statistics on the current state of mobile technology:

Apps
A recent Flurry report states that smartphone users are spending more time on apps than the average web user spends online.They are spending more on apps, which is why creating your own app is such a smart move. Pew Research indicates more than 50% of cell phone users download apps to their phones. It's important to start engaging the growing market with exciting, attractive, user-friendly apps.

Mobile Advertising
Mobile advertising is another key componenet of any successful campaign. According to one former JP Morgan analyst, over 50% of Facebook’s total ad revenue in the final quarter of 2013 was earned through mobile advertising. In 2014, that percentage is forecast to rise to 60% of total ad revenue. And Twitter announced that some 70% of its revenue came from mobile advertising. Follow suit if you want to think big.

Text Marketing
According to a 2010 study conducted by the Direct Marketing Association, SMS text marketing is far more successful at reaching an audience, with mass text campaigns converting at an average rate of 8.2% (compared to email and direct mail conversion rates which are typically around 1.7%). More than 90% of texts are opened, compared to email open rates of between 10 and 20 percent.

It's quite clear that the ability to improve users experiences is one of the most appealing facets of mobile marketing. Mobile has fast become one of the most intimate, personalized methods of engaging with customers. The growing mobile economy shows just how many consumers have bought into this idea. 

Why are Marketers so Slow to Embrace Mobile Technology?

The bewildering array of marketing channels now available to campaign managers makes it harder than ever to figure out where to focus your energies. Mobile platforms are the dominant platform for reaching 18-34 year olds, with:

• 50% of unique email open-and-reads happening on mobile devices

• 71% of all Facebook traffic now coming through mobile devices

• 24% of all IP traffic coming from mobile devices

Research from Emarketer indicates that the total revenue from US mobile ads will exceed $8.5 billion by year’s end. And yet – and yet – marketers still, on average, spend twice as much money on radio advertising than on mobile advertising. In 2012, former Morgan Stanley analyst Mary Meeker put a value of $20 billion on missed mobile marketing opportunities. For all its impressive, rapid growth, mobile still only accounts for 5% of the total advertising spending in the US. So what gives?

Some experts believe it’s a question of uncertainty on the part of marketers still suspicious of new technology. A culture of retreating to traditional platforms is especially notable among older, more established brands who stick to what they know – even when the evidence says it’s not working.

The upshot of this disconnect between market potential and market value is obvious: it’s all to play for. Putting some distance between you and your competitors using mobile marketing is easy if you do the right things. And once you’ve made that head-start, there’s no looking back. Here are a few tips to steal a mobile marketing march on your rivals:

• Educate yourself. If you’re a veteran of print advertising, don’t dig your heels in at the thresh-hold of a digital future – embrace it! Yes, the online universe can be overwhelming, but hire a digital marketing company and learn from them by requesting regular updates and 101 tutorials.

• Have a separate strategy for mobile and desktop. You need a mobile app – not just a mobile-friendly website. Instead of treating mobile marketing like an additional headache, spend the time developing a mobile-specific campaign. It will pay off.

• Know your audience. The beauty of mobile advertising is you can tweak it for each individual. Unlike a billboard or television commercial, you can send personalized text messages. The golden rule once you know anything about your customers’ favorite things: reference the preference.

• Take note of successful mobile campaigns. Look at models like Twitter, whose IPO filing recorded 65% of their revenue coming from mobile.

• Be innovative. Learn from successful mobile advertising strategies, but try your own, fresh approach to cornering your share of the market. The less orthodox your approach, the less likely it is to get lost in the crowd.

That $20 billion of untapped market real estate identified by Meeker is unlikely to be snapped up too quickly. A Markets and Markets report projects a mobile advertising market value of $76 billion by 2018. The task for mobile marketing campaign managers wanting to take advantage of the gap is to think big and think clever.

Microsoft Releases A New Bing Android App...On Verizon

Microsoft's recently released Bing app for Android comes with an interesting twist:

Microsoft August 30 released an official Bing for Mobile Android App for customers of Verizon Wireless, an exclusive arrangement that underscores how Android has become a significant mobile platform to rival Apple's iPhone.

Owners of Android-based smartphones such as the Motorola Droid, Droid 2, Droid X and the Droid Incredible can download the free application from the Verizon Wireless Marketplace.

...

The app is the latest step in Microsoft's $500 million deal to have Bing featured on Verizon smartphones and feature phones.

This pact was viewed as quite the coup when the companies announced it in January 2009.

The deal guaranteed customers could access voice and typed search queries, as well as location-aware searches to access maps, directions, traffic information, information on local businesses and other info from Microsoft Live Search, which has evolved to Bing.

Read more @ eWeek.

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.

SMS Advertising To Reach $3.2 Billion Dollars In 2010

If J.P. Morgan's Imran Khan is correct, spending on SMS Advertising is going to lead the mobile marketing industry by a huge margin this year. The numbers are astounding:

Turn to 2010, and mobile advertising is, according to Kahn, forecast to grow 45 percent to $3.8 billion ($3.2 billion SMS advertising, $253 million mobile display, and $31 million mobile search.)

$3.2 billion, up from $2.3 billion in 2009. That would 39% growth in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. So, does your business have a mobile marketing plan in place? No. Well the good news is, you can launch an SMS text messaging campaign on your own, at an affordable cost - even for the smallest of businesses.

Check out our SMS marketing plans at TellMyCell, which start at only $10 per month. Sign up in 60 seconds and try our service for free.