The Mobile Marketing Blog - TellMyCell

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. 

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. 

 

World Cup Goes Mobile: Keep up with the Action You Missed

Each World Cup comes with a flush of new technologies, from the goal line cameras that help the games themselves be fairer, to the apps and websites developed by web and mobile-conscious marketers.

And heaven knows there is a hunger for smart tech among football fans. With multiple matches taking place each day, and live coverage starting at potentially anti-social hours (depending on your timezone), followers of the tournament are lapping up developers’ offerings that can help them keep up to date.

In the U.S., every match is available with English-language commentary via FIFA’s official network coverage, on ABC and ESPN (and their respective websites). The Spanish broadcast can be accessed through Univision’s website and the Deportes app. These options all have plus points, and none are perfect.

WatchESPN runs replays of every match. The interface is a little clunky, and the feed lists a running time of more than four hours, presumably to allow for the pre-match hype and any extra time or penalty shootout situations. You can’t help but feel ESPN could have come up with a better offering than this, which only gives you the actual broadcast somewhere in the middle. The usual problems of navigating less-than-stellar video sliders apply – go too far by mistake and you might see a scoreline you were hoping would come as a surprise (especially problematic on mobile devices).

Other features range from the good to the bad to the downright ugly. In the latter camp sits the inappropriately named ‘highlight reel’, which in the case of Argentina vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina was longer than the game itself!

On the other hand, the ‘tactical cam’ pleases this writer’s eyes immensely. I’ve longed for the chance to watch a (nearly) birdseye view of the action from start to finish. It’s not for everyone, but the geometrical shapes formed by the ant-sized players and ant-football-sized ball is mesmerizing, and really demonstrates ‘The Beautiful Game’ at it’s free-flowing, pattern-making best. Neither ESPN’s highlight reel or the tactical cam include commentary, which is either a boon or a bummer, depending on your point of view regarding play-by-play announcers. 

Over on Univision Deportes, the interface is much better - but full match replays are not possible. Instead, you get a good highlights clip (with commentary!) and multi-angled shots so you can savour the goals. And despite there being no love lost between me and commentators, it’s a much more passionate, thrilling experience in Spanish. Though that could be simply because I don’t understand the drivel. 

There’s no shortage of other World Cup apps out there. So get on your mobile, browse the web, and get plugged in to the greatest sporting competition on the planet.

Texting Tops the League for Sports Marketers

Once upon a time, supporting a sports team was an almost entirely passive pursuit (bar the shouting). Fans would sit on the sidelines rooting for their outfit, their engagement with the club never going further than buying a match programme or replica shirt. 

With the dawn of the mobile age, that all changed. Stadia and stands around the world are filled with smartphone-toting fans, willing and able to engage directly with the action.

As is so often the case, collegiate athletic departments in the US have been among the first to catch on. Nearly half of all people between the ages of 18 and 35 follow a sports team, and 35% actively comment on the latest results and news via social media. Mobile marketing is an essential part of any right-thinking sports marketing campaign. 

Colleges and universities across the country are using the power of mobile to propel support and harvest crucial data on attendance and opinion. Christine Kudelk from Concordia University’s marketing department has identified four key strategies for sports marketers:

• Offer incentives through mobile to engage your audience.
• Give your user newer, deeper ways to experience your brand.
• Help the mobile user to achieve a goal or solve a problem.
• Make the user experience with your brand easier.

Smartphones are acting like interactive dashboards, allowing fans to monitor live stats, social media feeds and peer commentary – all whilst watching a game. As a generator of interest, mobile is invaluable.

But it’s more than that – mobile marketing can directly drive revenue through sponsorship and promotional campaigns. Data gathered from crowds can be used to target potential partnerships and garner crucial sponsorship dollars.

From collegiate sports departments to professional leagues, engagement driven by the power of mobile is helping maximize the fan experience, and generate much-needed cash to foster grass roots talent.

 

Comic Relief Gets into Text Donations for Sport Relief 2014

Events and stunts Sport Relief’s 2014 campaign are already well underway – and this year, fundraisers are using the power of text to drive donations. Run by UK charity Comic Relief, the sporting offshoot distributes funds to various charities and causes across Britain and the developing world, culminating in a special televised event on March 21. 

Sport Relief has turned to a mobile system provided by OpenMarket to help them raise cash from donors who don’t usually engage via the website or through more direct involvement with the charity. Users can donate money by sending a text to a five digit short code. Four codes allow for swift pledges of differing amounts. For example, donors who wish to send £5 simply text FIVE to 70510.

Says James Stokes, an OpenMarket spokesman:

"It's a simple process - the donation is taken directly from a users' phone bill or PAYG credit. They send the advertised keyword to the short code, and the donation amount is taken once they receive a confirmation message.

"The full amount of the donation is then passed on to the charity by all networks, making text donations not only easy, but also extremely cost-effective for fundraisers."

Comic Relief is not the only charity to use the OpenMarket Mobile Engagement Platform. The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) is currently using the system to collect donations for its Philippines Typhoon relief appeal. Children in Need, the UK-based charity for disadvantaged young people, also used OpenMarket for text donations during 2013.

If previous fundraising campaigns are anything to go by, text donations should be a winning strategy for Sport Relief. In the US, a number of good causes have scored big with text message campaigns. A text-to-give commercial run by United Way during the 2007 Super Bowl raised $10,000 within seconds for the then-recent tsunami in Asia. The Haiti relief effort was given an enormous boost by a Red Cross text campaign, which raised a total of $32 million for victims of the earthquake.

The success of text-to-donate is put down to the simplicity of the process, which attracts people too busy or otherwise disinclined to make a phone call, or visit a website to give money with a credit card. By comparison, texting is almost entirely free of hassle, and as smartphone adoption continues its inexorable rise, potential donors have their access point to hand at the moment they see an ad for a campaign.

Crucially, text messaging also engages a young audience, which is statistically less likely to give money to good causes. Once opted in to the contact list, those donors are more likely to give more in the future. 

When executed well, text campaigns like Sport Relief can not only raise huge sums of money, they can help organizations develop long-term relationships with donors - and as any commercial enterprise will tell you, those relationships are more lucrative than one-time engagements.