The Mobile Marketing Blog - TellMyCell

More and More Research Tells Us Millennials Can’t Do Without Text

Many recent studies into the preferences and habits of millennials found that they are more engaged with mobile technology than any other group. They also delivered some important insights about the ways in which millennials use smartphones.

Some 500 young people, surveyed by Retale, responded to a series of questions about mobile usage; the research found that 94% of millennials regularly use geo-location technology, and 84% say they act on push notifications. Nearly two thirds use their smartphones to look for coupons or discounts for immediate use, while a third use them to research product information for later purchase.

Whatever they use their mobile device for, the very presence of the device on or near their person is non-negotiable. Zogby reports that 87% of millennials are never without their phone, and 80% start their day by reaching for their device.

Another piece of research - from the OpenMarket - reveals that 76% of millennials would rather sacrifice phone calls than text messaging, citing convenience as the reason. But most interesting to mobile marketers is the fact that millennials would rather receive text messages for business transactions, including payment and appointment reminders, and special promotions. 

Furthermore, a Gallup poll surveyed 18 to 29 year olds and found monthly texting rates have more than doubled in the last two years.

And still the number of phone calls made by this demographic continues to decline. According to the Zogby research, 4/5 of young people spend at least two hours per day on their phone. Yet hardly any of them use it to make calls. For older generations, this may be hard to understand, but there are a few factors at play:

 

• Many young people view phone calls as intrusive and presumptuous, putting expectations on the recipient of the call to drop everything they’re doing and pay attention to the caller. Texting eliminates this problem because it doesn’t require a real-time response. 
• Privacy is not something millennials care too much about. They’ve been giving up personal details and consent regarding how their data is shared since they can remember, all in exchange for the convenience of increasingly sophisticated technology. The notion that you would mind companies knowing what you’re talking about is an alien one, and thus no bar to sending reams of your most personal information into the digital ether.
• Texting does away with a lot of the niceties of a phone call, while maximizing the useful information. If you need to simply find out where you’re meeting people for a night out, an address can be stated in a text message - a message that’s also a hyperlink to the map of the location which you can plan the best route to with GPS, all while checking out the menu as you walk. If a millennial texts such a request to their friend, a phone call returned would be annoying!

 

This understanding of what phones are for is so radically different to what baby boomers and - for their childhood at least - Gen Y-ers used them for, it can be difficult to get your head around. But seeing the smartphone from the perspective of young people will help you craft a more effective mobile marketing campaign. Hope we’ve helped!

Can Mobile Technology Revolutionize Healthcare?

One of the hottest topics to hit the campaign trail this year is healthcare. Both Democrats and the GOP have spent time discussing the sustainability of President Obama’s universal healthcare system (Affordable Care Act), spurring much political debate along the way. However, what you haven’t heard any of the presidential candidates talk about is mobile technology, and how smartphones could be the key to revolutionizing our crippled healthcare system. 

 

A Booming Industry 

This year, at the Mobile World Conference and South by Southwest Interactive Conference, people were talking about mobile technology and healthcare—and they weren’t just talking about new jogging apps and calorie calculators. More than 100,000 mobile health apps are in app stores worldwide; it is estimated that by 2017, these apps will reach a combined total value of $26 billion. If apps are any indication of smartphone users’ interests, it’s clear that healthcare and wellness are fast becoming a priority in the online mobile space. 

Improving healthcare in the mobile age isn’t just about people and their phones; it’s about streamlining cumbersome administrative costs and adding much-needed transparency to insurance. This is where a lot of the current debate stems from—financial missteps that have cost the American public its peace of mind. However, these worries might soon have a solution. 

 

Better Technology, Improved Treatment 

One of the greatest challenges faced by our healthcare system today is the lack of resources we have to treat one of our largest aging populations: baby boomers. These individuals will need better access to healthcare, and they’re going to need more of it, as they get older. Mobile technology could greatly reduce the strain of this burden by offering patients more access to their physicians, as well as reducing administrative costs with automated reminders for appointments, prescription refills, emergency services and more, all available via text. 

Reducing administrative costs will also be achieved by streamlining communications among patients, providers, and insurance companies. Digitalized communications, as well as electronic records, will reduce the time it takes to receive services. Electronic healthcare records will also allow physicians to offer more personalized care. Increased data and analytics can provide contextual clues about patient behavior that doctors have never had access to. This is especially true in developing areas of the world, where healthcare is often limited. 

Saving Lives 

Advancements in mobile technology, including Near Field Communication (NFC), iBeacon technology, and geo targeting are tools that we can use at home and abroad to improve healthcare on a global scare. Take text messaging, for example: SMS has already been used in several studies to help manage the treatment of diseases like diabetes. It’s also helped patients kick bad habits like smoking and combat maternal and child mortality rates in countries like Rwanda. We may take SMS text for granted, but when healthcare is severely lacking, it could be the only lifeline available. 

This is a reality that Penn State Associate Professor Richard Lomotley knows all to well. In 2015, Lomotley lost a family member living in rural Ghana to a snakebite. 

“It shouldn’t happen when information about symptoms and emergency instructions [is] only a fingertip away,” said Lomotley. 

But it does happen, all the time. 

Mobile technology is going to give us the tools we need to revolutionize the medical industry, in ways we can’t yet predict. From wearable technology and better user experiences, to real-time monitoring of sick patients, mobile technology should be at the center of the political discussion. 

 

Clear Majority of Millennials Respond to Push Notifications

A recent study into the preferences of millennials found that, unsurprisingly, they are the most highly engaged group when it comes to mobile technology. The research provides yet more evidence that any forward-thinking marketing campaign must take this demographic seriously. 

Among the key findings:

 

• 94% of millennials regularly use apps with geo-location technology, with both Android and Apple users equally keen on such tools
• A majority of millennials (84%) say they act on push notifications, with men responding at a slightly higher rate than women, and more iPhone users (92%) responding to push notifications than Android owners
• In terms of the kinds of information millennials are looking for, 61% like coupons or discounts for immediate use; 35% prefer to receive the latest product information; only 16% of respondents said they used mobile devices for ‘in-store guidance’

 

The 500 millennials surveyed also described the circumstances in which they would not respond to a push notification. The most common reasons were: lack of relevance (39%); intrusiveness (34%); receiving too many notifications (25%) and a lack of attractive deals.

As esoteric as they can appear, these studies provide crucial information to the modern business. Millennials now outnumber baby boomers, and their buying power is at an all-time high. Even with a slower economy and higher cost of living than their parents enjoyed, one can reasonably expect millennials to continue increasing their financial clout. Right now, the median income for those at the younger end of the demographic (ie born in the 90s) is around $25,000; thirtysomethings towards the top of the range earn double that. With 23% having a bachelor’s degree or higher, millennials are the most highly educated generation in history. 

The study - conducted by Retale - is just one fraction of the market research honing in on millennials, and how to predict and capitalize on their preferences and habits. Research from Zogby corroborates the suggestion that millennials are more wedded to their mobile device than any other group, with 87% reporting that their phone ‘never leaves their side’ and 80% claiming the first thing they do in the morning is to reach for their smartphone. Around 78% said they spend at least two hours per day on their phone. 

 

mHealth Wearable Market Set for 135 Percent Annual Growth Rate

Pharmaceutical companies are the driving force behind rapid growth in the mHealth wearable market; an estimated 97.6 million devices are expected to ship by 2021. The compound annual growth rate of mHealth is set to increase by 135 percent in the next five years, and the hope is that these mobile healthcare devices will provide quality care to patients and help providers make better decisions.

These healthcare statistics are from a recent study published by Tractica called, “Wearable Devices for Healthcare Markets.” The study covers current devices available, how they’re being used, and adoption timelines within the industry. 

Some wearables are more familiar to us than others. For example, smart watches can track everything from heart rate to dietary habits, and fitness trackers are already being used to monitor patient activity levels. There are new technologies like wearable patches and delivery pods that are administering pain medication and management therapies, as well as a slew of other devices under review by the FDA. 

 

Why Wearables?

The healthcare industry in particular has a lot to gain from mobile technology, such as the wearables just mentioned. Most healthcare providers have taken on more patients as a result of mandatory healthcare legislation, which means medical resources have thinned in some areas. Mobile technology provides doctors and insurances companies with assistance during this dramatic growth by automating, tracking, and administering basic care in some instances, without the need to go to the doctor’s office. It also gives doctors greater insight when following up with patients, to ensure treatment plans and therapies are as effective as they can be. 

Similarly, patients have more freedom to go about their lives while tracking their health concerns via mobile. 

 

Challenges Ahead

Digital health solutions are focused on decreasing quality care costs and expanding patient services, but that goal is not without its own set of obstacles. 

For one thing, mobile healthcare is still very much in its infancy, and early adopters are managing high costs with the prospect of more affordable solutions in the near future.  Moreover, the FDA review process can be lengthy, sometimes taking as long as a year. 

Patient challenges are even more unique. The generation that will benefit most from wearable technology in the midst of our fluctuating healthcare system is also a generation of less technically savvy patients. Tractica’s report suggests that elderly patients have a difficult time using the mobile devices because they’re less familiar with computers and smartphones. Educating patients about mobile healthcare is still too expensive and time consuming, so providers aren’t able to offer much of a solution yet. 

The other major obstacle providers, insurance companies, and clinical trials must overcome involves aggregating and analyzing large amounts of data. In addition to storing and organizing this data, doctors have to become familiar with interpreting it, which means there’s a learning curve for them as well. 

Despite these challenges, mHealth and wearable devices are predicted to make huge waves in the healthcare industry during the next five years—most likely out of necessity.  

5 Things Healthcare Professionals Want From Mobile Tech

Electronic health records (EHRs) are digital tech cornerstones for many in the healthcare industry. However, physicians cite several complaints regarding these records. These include patient management, communication, and scheduling issues, among others. Physicians are subsequently calling for numerous mobile tech reforms to make their jobs easier, with the top five including: 

 

1. Privacy and Security

Privacy and security are among the top physician concerns in terms of EHRs. Physicians often use smartphones to access patient records, communicate with members of their staff, and handle personal communications. Keeping patient information secure and confidential is an essential component of the healthcare industry, and mobile tech must ensure the information remains private. Samsung’s KNOX Workspace is among the containerization solutions utilized so physicians may separate professional communications from private ones while still using the same device. 

 

2. Patient Management Medical Apps

Physicians increasingly use apps that make it simple for patients to share data about their medical conditions, such as diabetes and COPD, and learn more about them. These apps must be able to connect with EHRs for physicians and patients to use them effectively. 

 

3. Patient Scheduling Tools

Device-based appointment scheduling tools are something both physicians and patients applaud as highly convenient, as they seriously decrease no-shows and therefore assorted costs. ZocDoc is one example, with the app allowing patients to schedule appointments and enjoy connections with medical facilities. It also allows physicians to further advertise their services and ensure patients remember the days and times of their appointments. If a patient must cancel, the medical facility can easily schedule another patient in the time slot. 

 

4. Reference Tools and Journals

Physicians often use mobile tools for reference reasons. The ability to access medical journals, reference data, textbooks, and other continuing education materials through mobile means is an invaluable asset to physicians, as it increases efficiency as well as convenience. 

 

5. Remote Patient Monitoring

Physicians also want remote patient monitoring, which is now available on their smartphones in addition to their patients’ devices. Longer-term data trends regarding blood pressure, weight, glucose management, and heart rate offer assistance and guidance in between doctors’ visits, resulting in improved care and patient safety. A great example is a patient being able to view his or her insulin pump data on a smartphone, and wirelessly transmit the data from implantable pacemakers and defibrillators.

The ability to communicate with patients, access important resources, schedule and re-schedule appointments, and more equals the ability to transform the healthcare industry and arguably make the jobs of physicians around the country much more streamlined. The healthcare industry is considered “late to the game” in regards to mobile tech use, however both physicians and their patients are eager to see changes implemented. Making certain mobile options for physicians and patients are completely secure is probably the most important issue of the moment, with many more convenient possibilities likely to follow once the security issue is resolved. Physicians are quite tech-happy, after all. 

Mobile Shopping & the Mom Majority

Marketers know that, in many households, moms control the purse strings, making daily judgements on what to buy for their families. It’s safe to assume that a significant portion of those purchases are made using mobile devices. But a recent study suggests an increase in mobile shopping far beyond what anyone could have predicted.

The research, conducted by BabyCenter.com, highlights a rapidly growing trend among mothers to use smartphones as a smarter, more convenient shopping portal. It shows a 33% increase in completed purchases over the last year - bigger than the average figures across all demographics. Interestingly, much of this mobile activity begins as so-called ‘showrooming’ - 70% of respondents report using a mobile device for shopping and price-checking while inside a brick and mortar location. 

This is not all that surprising. Moms who make regular purchases of a wide variety of goods and services are in touch with up-to-the-minute market values, and know how to save money by comparing prices across competing brands. According to the survey, 56% of moms do this in-store, using their mobile devices. Mobile commerce for moms, then, is principally a money-saving endeavor, and any mobile marketing tactics used to target them should bear this in mind.

Of course, saving money with mobile goes beyond comparing costs. One of the most effective mobile marketing tactics - for all demographics - is the mobile coupon. Of the 1100 moms surveyed, 61% said they used mobile coupons. More than half reported using retailer apps, directly engaging with a specific brand from their devices.

Scanning, too, has experienced a surge in popularity among moms. Apps such as RedLaser and similar proprietary offerings from name brands allow users to scan for coupons, price comparison, or product information. Moms surveyed were 55% more likely than others to make a purchase after scanning an item.

The lessons for retailers? Offer a streamlined mobile experience that considers the needs of moms working to tight budgets and tighter schedules; provide scanning capabilities and in-store apps; give mobile coupons to loyal customers and to potential new customers as an enticements.

Moms (and, let’s not forget, stay-at-home dads responsible for running the household) are using mobile devices as part of their daily shopping habits, but that doesn’t mean they’re sitting ducks. They are some of the savviest shoppers out there, and will use the power of mobile to wring every last saving they can on behalf of their families. Connect with them in the right way and you’ll foster a sense of brand loyalty that will last after the youngest kid has been packed off to college.

Fighting Teen Smoking Rates with SMS

 

Almost all of us have had trouble kicking a bad habit. There are all kinds of remedies available to support the necessary changes in behavior, and one of the newest is text messaging. 

Mobile-based text messaging, or SMS, is currently taking on one of the most dangerous habits on the planet: cigarette smoking. QuitText, paid for by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, is focusing its effort on young smokers, particularly teens and individuals in their early twenties. 

What’s unique about this demographic is its sensitivity to mobile technology. According to Amelie Ramirez of the Texas Health Science Center, “…people in their early twenties spend a lot of time text messaging anyway, so this is a good way to reach them where they are.”

The program has a fairly simple design and function. Users just text IQUIT to a five-digit number and are then prompted to receive a set number of text messages per day encouraging them to stop smoking. The free service has users regularly update their smoking status and report relapses. Additionally, it offers emergency help for those that qualify. 

"This way if you are a teen who is smoking, your personal coach is there with you all the time," Ramirez said. 

So far, the default setting (four to eight daily messages) has been the most accepted with median use reaching 27 days of activity. While about half of the users did fail to report at least one update, relapse reports were considerably lower. 

In a recent study published by the Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research, the most important feature of the program was its variability—the fact that young smokers were able to stick (more or less) to the program. 

According to the report, “Some users complied fully with the requirement to report status changes, while even among those who did not, many found QuitTxt to be very helpful, suggesting that perfect congruence between message content and quit status is not essential.”

In other words, whether or not users followed the program perfectly, they still felt good about the service—and sometimes that’s all you need to kick a bad habit.  

Nicotine remains one of the most addictive drugs and the most challenging for people to quit, despite overwhelming evidence of its risks to personal health and the health of others. 

If texting can somehow manage to break through to a few smokers and get them to quit, perhaps it’s a safe model that could be implemented to help aid others in ceasing addictive habits.

 

SMS Messaging for a Healthy Heart?

 

Is texting the proverbial wave of the future regarding heart health? A new study says yes.  

This study’s findings were recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Some 700 Australian heart patients participated in the study, which involved sending them information resulting in significant changes in blood pressure, as well as physical activity and cholesterol levels. It is proving to be an inexpensive, effective method of dealing with heart disease, the leading cause of death worldwide.

Research was led by Dr. Clara Chow of the University of Sydney’s George Institute for Global Health, and built on smaller studies that connected health-related texts to physical improvement. Dr. Chow and her team of researchers randomly assigned participants to receive their usual healthcare only, or usual care along with automated “healthy” text messages. The study, entitled TEXT ME, lasted six months. Message examples included: 

• Walking is cheap. It can be done almost anywhere. All you need are comfortable shoes & clothing.
• Try avoiding adding salt to your foods by using other spices or herbs.
• Studies show that stress, worry & loneliness can increase the risk of heart disease. Please talk to a health professional if you need help.
• Try identifying the triggers that make you want a cigarette & plan to avoid them.

Nearly one-third of the text message group reached “target levels” regarding four or more heart disease risk factors compared to just ten percent of the non-text group. Factors included exercising five times per week or more for at least 30 minutes, not smoking, and having blood pressure below 140 over 90. 

The study wasn’t long enough to determine if heart disease risk factor improvement resulted in fewer heart attacks. Additional problems included counting on patients to report physical activity levels, and not experimenting with more text messages to see if larger improvements would result.

However, the benefits have the power to potentially “reduce risk of recurrent heart attacks by at least a quarter if they were maintained long-term,” said Chow. “We think it is really important to see if they can be repeated elsewhere in Australia and internationally, and maintained long-term.”

Dr. Chow noted her involvement with a more sizable study that involves 20 centers in Australian rural, urban, and indigenous settings. The study will find out if “healthy” text messages sent to patients provide long-lasting benefits.  

"Well-conducted randomized clinical trials like TEXT ME demonstrate that mobile health interventions, even simple ones, can influence patient behaviors and improve risk profiles in the short term," remarked study co-author Dr. Zupin Eapen, an assistant professor of medicine at Duke University in North Carolina. “Other text-messaging trials promoting things like weight loss and smoking cessation have shown equally as promising results.”  

Dr. Eapen also said that, while there are many, many apps available to help patients monitor their heart health, few controlled studies concerning the apps’ effectiveness have been conducted.  

Will text messages or apps be proven to benefit heart health in the long term? Time will certainly tell. 

How to Hack a Corvette with SMS

 

New research has shown that it’s entirely possible to hack a Corvette...with an SMS message. Four security researchers from the University of California San Diego recently presented a paper at the USENIX WOOT 2015 conference in Washington showing how they hacked a Corvette using mobile Telematic Control Units (TCUs). The units are more frequently referred to as tracking/insurance dongles. Researchers showed how these dongles, which are used by Uber and car insurance companies such as Metromile, are easily reversible and controllable via SMS.  

Such devices are connected to vehicles through the ODB-II port. This gives a person access to the vehicle’s CAN bus, which allows interaction with assorted features, such as brakes and windshield wipers. 

“We acquired some of these things, reverse engineered them, and along the way found that they had a whole bunch of security deficiencies,” said Stefan Savage, the computer security professor and project leader at University of California at San Diego. He noted that dongles “provide multiple ways to remotely…control just about anything on the vehicle they were connected to.”

 

What the Research Says 

Researchers discovered different methods of obtaining TCU details from online sources, such as the dongle’s correlating phone number and IP address. Once the Corvette’s number was found, researchers used special SMS messages to connect to the CAN bus. They then used the vehicle’s firmware vulnerabilities to control both the brakes and windshield wipers. And while these were the only two features tested, researchers could have easily accessed a slew of others, including door locks, transmission, dashboard data, etc.  

Unfortunately, TCUs are capable of receiving SMS messages while vehicles are in operation, resulting in serious risks to both drivers and passengers. The University of California security researchers subsequently recommended a number of actions, including improved key and password management, SMS authentication, and the disabling of WAN administration. 

"Metromile was concrete in its plans to disable all SMS access on its branded devices, consistent with our recommendation," said the researchers. 

The Corvette isn’t the only vehicle to be hacked successfully. Last month, researchers demonstrated how easily they could hack Jeeps featuring uConnect software. This means a staggering 471,000 US Jeeps are in danger of being controlled through IP addresses. Following the Jeep revelation, security researcher Samy Kamkar announced how a $100 gadget could be manipulated to control GM vehicle functions. 

Technological advancements may have helped vehicles and their drivers in regards to safety, however as with any advancement the opportunity to exploit vulnerabilities is present. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has created a group to analyze the “security and privacy of Web-related technology” utilized by the automotive industry.

 

Apple Edges Out Samsung in Canadian Smartphone Market

 

The 2015 reports are in, and according to the international authority of leading internet technology company comScore, Canadians prefer Apple smartphones over competitors like Samsung and Blackberry. In comScore’s annual report, titled Canada Digital Future in Focus, the company outlines several metrics explaining how Canadian users navigate the digital world, and to what end. 

Like the rest of North America, Canadian users prefer smartphones to the feature phone predecessor. Eighty-one percent reported owning a smartphone; within that segment, Apple leads in market share at about 38%. Samsung follows in close second at 32.4%. What’s more, Canada’s own creation — the Blackberry — ranks third with less than 9%. 

In another mobile segment—the feature phone—Samsung leads the way with 36.8% market share; LG ranks second with a respectable 25%.  

As for the mobile operating systems, Android enjoys an incredible 50.5% market share; Apple’s iOS follows at about 38%.  

Among other findings, Canadians were shown to prefer mobile devices to desktops for nearly all online activities including: browsing the web, watching videos and playing games. Paralleling this data, tablet usage was shown to have increased as well.

comScore also reported on the activities of users and sited a few notable trends. From December 2013 to December 2014, social media interaction increased by 19% as a result of more smartphones and users increased daily usage of social networks. comScore reports 53% of Canadian users access social networking sites through their smartphones; 48% play games; almost 80% access and share photos; and 52% listen to streaming radio. 

Two notable trends of the report point to a large increase in app usage relating to retail and banking services. Canadians are also shown to use their smartphone or tablet while watching TV. comScore reports that 32.2% of Canadian smartphone users use their phone while watching television; 35% of Canadian tablet users do so while watching television.  

In December of last year, smartphone users equaled nearly 20 million users, a 19% jump from the year prior. But that’s nothing compared to the 56% increases in tablet subscribers, which is now estimated at just under 10 million users. From this critical information, insights and actions will be taken to maximize the digital investments of thousands of companies. But without digging too deep into the data, it’s plain to see that Canada is steadily increasing both its base of smartphone and tablet users. Further, both mobile devices are increasing the mobile access Canadians have to apps and social media.

If nothing else, the report shows clear indications that Canada users are wising up to the speed, ease and portability of mobile devices.