Ten Reasons You Shouldn't Ignore Social Media

Plenty of businesses thought social media was a passing fad—something that would dazzle everyone for a brief time and disappear. But as the Facebooks and Twitters show staying power, Christine Whittemore says many skeptics have come to the conclusion that traditional methods of attracting customers are no longer enough.
"They’ve noticed their mothers online, their friends using mobile devices to share YouTube videos, or even a co-worker circulating an insightful blog article about business innovation," she writes at MarketingProfs Daily Fix blog. "They're wondering how might this make sense for their businesses. Will it allow them to connect with customers?"
She believes the answer is yes—and suggests 10 ways your company can benefit from social media:

1. You demonstrate to potential customers that you are human and care about their world.
2. You bring to life an externally focused mindset.
3. You to bring to life your otherwise static brochure-like website with a dynamic presence.
4. You address in a public forum the questions and concerns your customers have about your products and services—which are being asked anyway without your participation.
5. You participate in the conversations taking place that relate to your business, products, industry—and have the opportunity to shape the agenda.
6. You manage your reputation.
7. You build a customer community.
8. You direct prequalified prospects—with whom you've already established a relationship—to your website, so you can engage in business.
9. You build your digital visibility and online presence.
10. You remain relevant to customers.

The Po!nt: It's really simple. If your customers use social media, you need to be there, too.

QR Codes Catching On With Smartphone Users...

QR codes are popping up in more and more places, from billboards to business cards, and mobile consumers are responding: 32% of smartphone users say they have used a QR code and 70% say they would be interested to do so, either for the first time or again, according to a survey from MGH.
Moreover, nearly three-quarters of smartphone users say they are very or somewhat likely to recall an ad with a QR code.

Below, other findings from MGH's online survey of 415 smartphone users.
A QR (quick-response) code is a two-dimensional barcode-like image that can be read by software on a smartphone, usually via downloadable app. Once scanned, QR codes direct users to mobile-optimized Web pages for more information.

Awareness for QR codes is relatively strong: 65% of smartphone users say they have seen a QR code, most often on product packaging (56%), in magazines (45%), on coupons (45%), and in newspaper ads (27%).

QR Code Users Seeking Deals
Among smartphone users who have scanned QR codes, the top reason is to find coupons or discounts (53%), product or service information (52%), and to enter a sweepstakes (33%).


Nearly one-quarter of smartphone users have scanned QR codes to make purchases online (23%), interact with social channels (23%), and access video content (24%).


QR Code Users Demographics
Women (51%) and men (49%) scan QR codes at nearly equal levels, while such users tend to be young (48% are age 18-34) and affluent: 71% have an annual income of $50,000 or more:

---

Looking for great digital marketing data? MarketingProfs reviewed hundreds of research sources to create our most recent Digital Marketing Factbook 2010, a 296-page compilation of data and 254 charts, covering email marketing, social media, search engine marketing, e-commerce, and mobile marketing.

---

Ad Recall
QR codes may help in ad recall: 31% of smartphone users say they would be highly likely to remember an ad with a QR code and 41% say they would be somewhat likely to recall such an ad.

Smartphone users who say they would either use a QR code again or for the first time (70%) cite the following top five motivations for doing so:

1. Finding discounts or deals: 87%
2. Entering a sweepstakes: 64%
3. Accessing additional information: 63%
4. Making a purchase: 60%
5. Signing up to receive more information: 53%

About the data: Findings are from a survey of 415 smartphone users via the Vision Critical Springboard America panel, conducted in February 2010.

SMS Marketing...Can U Afford 2 B Left Behind?...

Are you aware of the communication revolution occurring right now that is SMS Text Messaging?

What is SMS Text Messaging?

SMS, short for Short Messaging Service, is a text message service that enables short messages of generally no more than 160 characters in length, to be sent to, and transmitted from a mobile phone.
Mobile phones and the use of SMS, are having an un-deniable impact on our daily lives and the methods we use to conduct business. The fact that SMS also provides an enormous opportunity for companies to interact with their customers, is not really well known.

Some numbers…


Consider these figures. The ‘Mobile Data Association’ reported that in the UK alone, in a three year period from 2003, over 75 billion SMS messages were transmitted.

In the US, according to the ‘Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association’, the number of SMS messages has grown from 930 million per month in 2002, to 1.2 billion per month in 2003.
Recently, in the Phillipines, SMS Messaging played a major role in bringing down an unpopular political regime. Now that’s a lot of SMS messages.

The ‘Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association’, reported that during 2005, Australians sent more than 5 billion text messages. Considering, Australia’s population is only around 20 million, this is extraordinary.

Popular reality TV shows like Australian Idol, Big Brother, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, and others, use SMS technology to generate millions of dollars of revenue directly from the SMS votes that will be used to determine the winners.

more numbers…


A study of various SMS campaigns revealed the following outstanding results:
1. 61% response, 27% reply to a message, 19% visit a web site, 15% visit a store. 2. 94% of messages are read, which explains the high levels of response and brand impact.

During the last few years, SMS Messaging has developed into the most used service in the mobile data area. Also, when response rates, interactivity and cost to implement, are considered, SMS marketing is without doubt the most popular marketing method.

SMS is a high-response-rate method of communication, which can help to acquire and retain consumers, sell and promote products, drive loyalty, and reinforce branding efforts. Based on current growth figures, SMS Messaging will become an ever increasingly important component in future marketing communications.

Here are 6 reasons why:


1. SMS messages nearly always reach the recipient
Since there is a charge for sending SMS messages, they nearly always reach the intended recipient. SMS messages are forwarded to SMS Gateways, where they are stored until sent. This means, even if the recipient is not immediately available to receive them, or if the phone is powered off or out of range, messages are able to be delivered at the next opportunity. This high rate of deliverability makes SMS Messaging the most effective method of communication available.

2. SMS messages nearly always get read by the recipient
There’s nothing more irresistible, than the tone of an in-coming SMS message to the user anticipating, perhaps, a personal message from a friend. This reason alone nearly always guarantees that the SMS message that you send, will be read.

3. SMS messages nearly always get read within seconds of being received
Mobile phones are carried by their users wherever they go, even in the restroom. Thus when they receive a SMS message promoting a marketing offer from your business, they can’t resist checking it out and they will usually do this, within seconds of receiving your message.

4. SMS messages will usually get you an immediate response
Mobile users are usually addicted to their phones, whether they would like to admit it or not. A well crafted marketing offer, with an incentive to respond quickly via return SMS, will usually result in a response more quickly than via an e-mail or other type of marketing offer.

5. SMS messages are extremely cost effective
Compared to other methods, and considering it’s high deliverability, there is no contest. SMS Messaging is the most cost effective method of communicating and promoting of products and services currently available.
6. SMS messages can be either a 1 or 2 way communication
Using SMS Messaging to communicate or promote products offers a level of interactivity hard to replicate using other methods.

Case Studies


Case 1 – Around 2,500 mobile phone-users in the town of Lulea, Sweden, volunteered to receive SMS messages of special offers from 150 local organizations. The volunteers were sent an SMS for a well known fast food outlet’s burger offer, 25 per cent of the targeted users took up the offer.

Case 2 – A small club wanting to increase their patrons during slow nights during the week, decided to run theme nights. Having invested in maintaining a database of the clubs members, the club owner prepared and sent an SMS message to his member database, offering a 45% off discount for turning up with the text message. This was done the night prior to the event. The promotion was very successful with 29% of those sent the SMS message, taking up the offer and turning up.

Case 3 – A security business needed to automate and centralize their time sheet process for all of their remotely located security personnel. At each site a supervisor was supplied with a mobile phone with allocated SMS text credits. As security personnel arrived on site, the supervisor would text a keyword and an ID number. These SMS messages were sent to a central administration database, where they updated each officer’s individual timesheet. This process was repeated at the end of the day as officers left. The entire timesheet collection process, that used to take up to 2 days, was almost entirely eliminated. Further, because this process automatically updated the administration database, accuracy and prevention of loss of data was ensured.

Case 4 – A software service provider for media and advertising agents working in film, television and photography, wanted to provide casting agents a quicker and more efficient way to find out if their artists were available for castings. This provider leads the industry in casting solutions by combining, Web and SMS technology. All casting job details are entered into a database, and then queried for artist matches based on set criteria. Artists who match the criteria are then sent an SMS message instantly. Messages are only entered once, personalized, and sent to all of the relevant artists. When received, the artist simply replies with a yes or no. As the message is received at the administration database, records are updated immediately. Casting agents benefited by saving time, reducing costs and accurate recording of events.

SMS as an Effective Marketing Tool
Communication is vital in Marketing. SMS marketing makes it possible to directly interact with customers and provides a cost-effective method of data collection. Many leading companies have included this medium in their marketing strategies, and consequently, the number of companies using SMS continues to grow rapidly.

Client database
An important component of using SMS as a marketing tool is a client database. This database should be maintained with other relevant customer and contact information and of course should contain a valid mobile phone number. If applicable to your area, ensure that you are able to personalize your SMS messages by keeping first names in your database.

Ensure your database is opt-in
Perhaps the most vital factor when settings up an SMS campaign. Make sure your member database of mobile phone numbers is opted in. This pre approval for SMS communication ensures prevention of prosecution. Provision of a member opt out process will also help to avoid legal issues.

Keep it benefit focused and relevant
Ensure your marketing is relevant to your target. The relevance of the message is vital for success. Can the recipient see a real and tangible benefit to the message? If not, brand damage could result. Limit SMS messages to no more than 160 characters. Focus your message on benefits and don’t ramble. If messages are more than 160 characters, a second SMS will need to be sent. Avoid this. In addition to doubling the cost, the recipient may be irritated and discard the entire message.

Ensure interactivity by Inviting participation

SMS Messaging is an interactive medium. Invite participation through polls, logos, games, ring tones or vouchers. Use interactivity to obtain information for precisely targeted future promotions. Stick to the tried and proven techniques of database marketing Standard database marketing techniques and principles, as used by other marketing mediums, are what SMS Messaging requires. The marketing database should be dissected by various factors as required by particular businesses, including, gender, age, interests, location, purchasing patterns and frequency.

Create confidence with a Sender ID
The presence of a sender ID is useful as it invokes confidence with the recipient, as the receiver knows the source of the received message. A company name, brand or trade-mark name should always be included in the body of the text message.

SMS is a personal tool – Respect it

SMS marketing places your brand and message directly to a tool, that consumers consider highly personal. Marketers need to respect this method of communication and avoid over using the medium. Exercise restraint, and avoid jeopardizing your legal position to use SMS Messaging as a future marketing tool.

SMS as an Effective Communication Tool

SMS Messaging is widely accepted as the most popular and effective communication tool with a movable audience.  SMS can be easily integrated with a companies existing database and also enables the company to automate the dispatch of messages. It can also be sent immediately to large or small groups, manually or automatically. SMS messages can also be scheduled to be sent at preset times daily, weekly or whenever.

Summary
Right at this moment, literally millions of SMS messages are being sent around the world.

How to Engage, Attract, and Understand Customers...

by Brian Tracy, Mark Thompson

• Encourage customers to play a role in your marketing and product development efforts
• Avoid the wrong customers who can hurt your bottom line
• Identify the reasons prospects buy from your competition

Are You Turning Customers Into Evangelists?

How can you encourage your customers to participate and contribute more to your company's marketing and product development? How can you provide a place for your customers to talk with each other and share ideas, enthusiasm, and challenges in the market?

Marketing is about understanding your customers with such depth and clarity that you can empower and encourage them to be evangelists for your cause or company. When you walk into an Apple store, it is often hard to tell who's doing the sales and marketing and who are the bigger fans of the product: the customers or the staff? If they didn't wear Apple T-shirts, you wouldn't know. The company has hired evangelists—people crazy about Apple's products—to work in its retail stores.

Turn Passive Onlookers Into Active Customers

Great marketing and great communities of interest turn passive onlookers into active customers of and contributors to your product. One of the world's "50 Most Innovative Companies," according to Fast Company magazine, is PatientsLikeMe.com an online community in which patients share experiences about thousands of medical treatments and procedures. It is a place to compare notes, recommend ideas, second-guess products, and get advice and share concerns about treatments with other patients. The community itself is a content and marketing machine that gets the word out to potential customers all over the world.

Unilever makes Dove soap, but it also engages in community building that helps the company market Dove brand products and add value for customers at the same time. Dove makes heroes of its buyers by featuring their ideas about health and skin care. Physicians, dermatologists, supermodels, and ordinary consumers volunteer to pitch their best beauty secrets in public forums that, in turn, influence other buyers.

Equally important, all this conversation with potential customers about potential products provides a lab for testing Dove products and service ideas and for creating entirely new lines of products. It helps the company better understand whether there actually is a market for specific products, and if so, which customers would be the right fit for that product.

The Wrong Customers

Best Buy discovered, to its horror, that its massive advertising campaigns for ultra-low-priced products succeeded in attracting tens of thousands of customers. What's wrong with that? Millions of dollars and many years later, the company realized that in some cases too much of the increased store traffic came in the form of customers who bought only those deeply discounted items—and not much else. Looking intensely at the data, Best Buy found that some "teaser" sales lost money for the company, and some customers had a penchant for returning items (which created an expensive product-restocking exercise).

"One of the oldest myths in business is that every customer is a valuable customer. Even in the age of high-tech data collection, many businesses don't realize that some of their customers are deeply unprofitable, and that simply doing business with them is costing them money," Columbia University professor Larry Selden and Fortune magazine editor Geoffrey Colvin wrote in Angel Customers and Demon Customers. Selden helped Best Buy (and other major firms) scrub their client data to find that "it's typical that the top 20 percent of customers are generating almost all the profit while the bottom 20 percent are actually destroying value."

Why Do Customers Buy Somewhere Else?

Competitive analysis is the starting point of differentiating your product or service from all others. Consider these key questions:

• Who or what is your competition? Put another way, who else do your prospective customers buy from rather than you?
• What value do these customers perceive that causes them to buy from others and not from you? How can you neutralize this perceived advantage? How can you change your offerings in such a way that potential customers prefer yours over others'?
• Why would (or should) your ideal prospects switch to your product or service? (If you cannot answer this question in 25 words or less, your marketing strategy is probably in serious trouble.)
• What are your critical assumptions about your competition? Errant assumptions are at the root of most marketing failures. Could your assumptions about your competition be wrong? If they were wrong, what would you have to change or do differently?
•  

77we's  SMS marketing solutions are perfect for today's growing small and med-sized businesses and organizations to "engage" new customers/members and retain existing ones...

To learn more text "ken" to 64842 or call 856 795 7965...

Marketing solutions you can trust...

Nearly 60% of Texters Use Mobile Apps Multiple Times Per Day...

According to the latest findings from GetJar, the global open app store boasting some 1.5 billion downloads to date, 58% of mobile application users are now using the mobile apps on their devices more than once a day. More than one-third of mobile users, in fact, now spend at least one full hour engrossed in their favorite apps on a daily basis.

App usage is clearly on the rise with the survey results showing almost 34 percent of consumers spending one hour or more using apps per day, compared to 49 percent who spend the same amount of time watching television.

The global consumer survey commissioned by GetJar also suggests that advertisers have adequate reason to be pleased with the findings, as 73% of respondents said they have downloaded an app with advertising in it. 60% said they’d do it again.
Almost one in four made a purchase after having clicked on a mobile ad, Getjar reports.
Other interesting research findings include:

• Gaming apps are the most popular, followed closely by social networking apps
• The amount of free apps and the ease of search topped the list of things users look for in an app store
• The cost of an app was the biggest deciding factor in whether to download an app or not

Discovery, however, continues to “plague” app publishers. According to the report, “only 25% discovered the apps they were looking for using actual app stores. Nearly 50% had actually discovered apps while browsing online and nearly 17% had discovered apps through friends or social media.”...

Groupon To Roll Out Time and Location Specific Deals...

Groupon is poised to roll out the red carpet for its latest venture – one that aims to effectively influence our lives in a more direct way than Groupon ever has before. According to the company’s power players, “Groupon Now” will launch next month and supplement the daily Groupon deals “by offering time and location specific deals.”

When a user opens up the smartphone app, he or she will be presented with just two buttons: “I’m hungry” and “I’m bored.”

Groupon executives tell Reuters that either choice will spark a broad range of choices “depending on the time and location of the mobile user.”

In essence, the new service will bring actionable coupons and discounts to customers who can use them in the moment, rather than simply providing a random discount that may be fun to capitalize on next weekend.
The logic behind the offering is a win-win for both mobile customers and participating businesses. “By offering deals during slow business at specific locations,” Groupon says, “businesses can increase profitability, manage resources and reduce wastage… the hungry or bored consumer as they get a deal when and where they want it.”

“For merchants, the daily deal is like teeth whitening,” Groupon founder and CEO Andrew Mason tells Bloomberg, “and Groupon Now is like brushing your teeth. It can be an everyday thing to keep your business going.”

Last Thursday, MMW reported that Groupon is reportedly speaking with bankers about a potential Initial Public Offering (IPO) that could be valued at $25 billion.

By comparison, Google was only valued at $23 billion in its IPO.

Source: iPhone 5 May Have NFC Contactless Capability

By ELIZABETH WOYKE

Apple's iPhone 4 doesn't haveNFC. But could the iPhone 5?

One of the latest, juiciest rumors about Apple’s upcoming iPhone, dubbed iPhone 5, is that the device will not include a wireless technology known as Near Field Communication or NFC. That tidbit came from the UK publication The Independent, which said on March 14 that Apple had decided against incorporating an NFC chip into the next iPhone because it was “concerned by the lack of a clear standard across the industry.”

The revelation surprised many because NFC, which will enable mobile payments and other “contactless” communications between phones and special readers, has been a rumored iPhone 5 feature for months. Google also built NFC into the latest phone-specific version of its Android software. After Google’s NFC announcement late last year, it was widely presumed that Apple would embrace NFC, as well.
From what I hear, it is possible the iPhone 5 will include NFC. An entrepreneur who is working on a top-secret NFC product told me today that he believes the iPhone 5 will have NFC and cited a friend who works at Apple as a reliable source for the information.

To further bolster his statement, the entrepreneur said that manufacturers of NFC readers – whom he has been talking to for his own product – also expect the iPhone 5 to have NFC. These manufacturers are gearing up for the additional NFC traffic the iPhone 5 will bring, likely this summer, said the entrepreneur.
Barring an iPhone leak like the Gizmodo saga from last spring, we won’t know for sure until Apple holds its annual iPhone event, probably in June. But I trust this source and know he has connections in the NFC market because of his own project. Dan Frommer at Business Insider also thinks an NFC-enabled iPhone 5 is plausible.

Small Business Marketing: Social, Search Fastest-Growing Channels

Published on March 17, 2011

Despite a lack of investment in marketing technologies and staffing over the past two years, many small businesses are now stepping up investments in digital channels such as social media, search, and online advertising, according to a survey from Network Solutions and the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business.
Websites are the cornerstone of digital marketing for small businesses (fewer than 100 employees), the study found: 56% of surveyed small-business owners say they have a website, up 10 percentage points (PPs) (or 21.7%) from the 46% that said so a year earlier.
Meanwhile, more small businesses are embracing social media and search to drive traffic to websites, according to the survey:

• 31% of small businesses now use some form of social media, up 7 PPs (29.2%) from the 24% that did so in December 2009.
• 27% have a search engine optimization plan, up 8 PPs (42.1%) from the 19% that did so in the previous year.

Below, other findings from the fifth wave of results from the Small Business Success Index, based on a survey of 500 small business owners.
Over the next two years, social media is expected to be the fastest growing marketing channel—with adoption levels increasing to 46%, up 15PPs (48.4%) from current levels.
Online advertising is also a key priority over the next two years:

• 54% of small businesses expect to use online ads in industry/public directories within two years, up 17 PPs (45.9%) from current levels.
• 30% of small businesses expect to use online display advertising, up 9 PPs (42.8%) from current levels.

Similarly, in two years, 36% of small businesses expect to have a search engine optimization plan, up 9PPs (33.3%) from current levels.


Social Media Channels

Among small businesses using social media, over one-quarter (27%) have presence on Facebook, up 10 PPs (58.8%) from six months earlier. The use of LinkedIn has more than doubled over the same period, from 8% in June 2010, to 18% in January 2011.

The Business Case for Social Media
Social media's role has changed over the past year: Engaging existing customers (63%) has taken on a more prominent one (up from 46% a year earlier) while attracting new customers (59%) via social media is slightly less important than in the previous year (61%).

Small businesses are increasingly benefiting from stronger collaboration via social technologies—both inside (31%) and outside (44%) the organization.

---

Looking for real, hard data that can help you match social media tools and tactics to your marketing goals? The State of Social Media Marketing, a 240-page original research report from MarketingProfs, gives you the inside scoop on how 5,140 marketing pros are using social media to create winning campaigns, measure ROI, and reach audiences in new and exciting ways.

---

Social Conversations Improving Loyalty

More than three in five (63%) small businesses using social media say using social channels has improved customer loyalty by enabling them to talk directly with customers, whereas 56% say social marketing has used up more time than expected.
Some 40% say social media has resulted in allowing people to criticize their business, up from 17% who said so a year earlier. Only 5% say social media has hurt more than helped the business image because of negative comments.
The Bottom Line
Looking at the past 12 months, 25% of small business owners say social media use has been profitable (vs. 22% who said so one year earlier), while 15% say they lost money (vs. 19% a year earlier), and 46% say it paid for itself (vs. 53% a year earlier).
Social Media via Mobile
Portable devices play a role in some small businesses' participation in social media:

• 47% of small business owners using social media say they have responded to comments on social media sites via mobile devices.
• 47% have used mobile devices to send text messages to customers.
• 36% have sent status updates via mobile device.
• 35% have reviewed social content for their business via mobile. 

Mobile Marketing Still a New Frontier

Most small business owners are aware of various mobile marketing activities such as sending text messages to customers about promos (73%) and listing the company on location-based websites (68%), but far fewer have adopted those technologies, 9% and 19%, respectively. 

Staffing Increases
As the economy continues to recover, 28% of small businesses say they are planning to add staff in 2011, citing business expansion (73%) as the primary reason. Some 32% of small business owners say they're adding people to reduce the workloads of existing staff who are struggling to keep up.
About the data: The survey of 500 small US business owners (fewer than 100 employees) was conducted by Network Solutions and the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business in January 2011. Small businesses included in the study were privately owned (not publicly traded), for-profits with fewer than 100 employees, and had a payroll or contributed to at least 50% of the owner's household income.

QR Codes

---

Ok, so QR codes really aren’t new. Businesses have been generating QR codes for marketing purposes for several years now. But I have a confession to make — I simply do not understand the success of QR codes.

The technology itself is rather trivial and has been around for more than a decade, even though QR codes penetrated the mainstream market pretty recently. For example, on a recent shopping trip, I noticed the use of QR codes to collect additional information about products around the store. Considering I am admittedly secluded within the tech industry, I was anxious to know just how successful a somewhat “nerdy” marketing gimmick could be on the average, everyday consumer. So, I quickly asked a nearby sales clerk, “How many shoppers do you generally see scanning your QR codes each day?” Her response: “What is a QR code?”

Now, it’s obviously not fair to judge an entire strategy on a single participant, but this is where my own confusion lies. QR codes are everywhere. And yet, it’s as though consumers simply decided not to question them. Has this been your experience?

Regardless of how many scans a QR code will garner, it certainly appears that we will see an increasing use of them in 2011...

Verizon Wireless Denied Restraining Order Against Alleged SMS Scammers

Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:00 AM PDT

On March 10th, MMW covered the legal efforts by Verizon Wireless to end a reportedly fraudulent scheme perpetrated on wireless subscribers through premium SMS campaigns.
Verizon asked the U.S. District Court of Arizona “to put an immediate stop to the activities.”

On Wednesday, US District Judge David G. Campbell denied Verizon’s request for a temporary restraining order against Jason Hope and Wayne P. DeStefano, owners of companies Cylon, Jawa and EyeLevel Holdings. Campbell stated that the language of Verizon’s proposed temporary restraining order was “too general, and too focused on disputed factual matters, to give [the defendants] meaningful guidance as to precisely what actions would be enjoined.”

Verizon claims the defendants defrauded Verizon Wireless by misappropriating approved short codes for unapproved “shadow” campaigns that did not comply with Verizon Wireless’ consumer protection and disclosure policies. “Verizon Wireless recently became aware of the possible fraud and immediately launched an investigation,” the company said earlier this month in a prepared statement.
“This was a big victory for our company” said JAWA Founder and CEO Jason Hope. “Verizon Wireless is trying to use its dominant position in the wireless market to put third party content providers like JAWA out of business and we are going to fight them every step of the way.”

Despite Campbell’s denial of the restraining order, he recognized that Verizon “has submitted specific evidence that [the defendants] are doing business through shell corporations, using false business addresses, using websites that do not comply with industry standards and that trick consumers, and using diversionary software to prevent [the carrier] from discovering these activities.”

Verizon, however, believes it will be successful in court once the language issue is addressed.
“This case is about the fraud committed against us and against our customers, as we outlined in the initial complaint,” Debra Lewis, a spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless, was quoted by ConsumerAffairs.com. “There will be many hearings and decisions along the way.”

Merrill Lynch taps mobile to improve customer service and boost revenue...

---

March 16, 2011

Merrill Lynch is expanding its mobile reach

Bank of America Corp.'s Merrill Lynch has launched mobile applications for Apple's iPhone and iPad and Research In Motion's BlackBerry devices for clients of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and Merrill Edge.

Using the free mobile apps, clients can view their portfolio, holdings and account activity, as well as move money between linked Merrill Lynch brokerage and Bank of America N.A. banking accounts. Users can also trade stocks, mutual funds, ETFs and options in approved accounts.

"These mobile apps are part of our overall strategy to give our customers a full range of choices for how they want to do business with us," said Alok Prasad, head of Merrill Edge at Bank of America, New York. "Our customers work with us through the banking centers, telephone, online banking, mobile banking, ATMs and text chat.

"These mobile apps give our clients even more choice and flexibility in how they conduct their banking and investing," he said. "The target demographic is investors ages 35-54, people who want the choice and flexibility to be in touch with their finances on the go."

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. offers a range of brokerage, investment advisory (including financial planning), banking, trust and other financial services and products.

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management makes available products and services offered by MLPF&S and other subsidiaries of Bank of America Corp.

Merrill Edge is the marketing name for two businesses: Merrill Edge Advisory Center, which offers team-based advice and guidance brokerage services; and a self-directed online investing platform.

Mobile brokerage
In addition to accessing account information, transferring funds and trading, the Merrill Lynch applications let users track the latest market news and headlines.

Merrill clients can also use the application to customize their watch lists, alerts and other online features.

The iPad app's other features include personalized dashboards and access to the latest research reports from BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research.

Mr. Prasad said that Merrill Edge's mass affluent investors have consistently told the company that they want to interact with it at their convenience and want multiple, coordinated access and entry points.

These new applications are designed to give clients control and flexibility, as well as help them make confident financial decisions.

These new brokerage applications are designed to complement the existing banking applications available through Bank of America.

Merrill Lynch is taking a number of approaches to drive awareness and adoption of the applications, ranging from direct communication with its customers to digital advertising.

The firm sees apps for mobile devices as a way to improve customer service and boost revenue.

"Many of our customers want to be in touch with their finances on the go," Mr. Prasad said. "The app provides them a user-friendly and convenient way to manage their assets, follow market news, conduct research, move money and put in trades."

Half Of All US Adults Access Local News Via Mobile Device...

Mobile is the place for local news according to a freshly published survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Nearly half (47%) of all US adults surveyed admit to accessing local news and information on either their mobile phone or tablet computer. “One of the newest forms of on-the-go local news consumption, mobile applications, are just beginning to take hold among mobile device owners,” the report finds.

The most sought-after material was local weather. About 4 in 10 mobile phone and tablet owners (42%) use their mobile device to access local weather information. “That represents 36% of all American adults,” the Pew report says.

The next biggest category among cellphone and tablet owners was information on restaurants or other local businesses (37%). General local news came next (30%), followed by other news such as up-to-the minute information of local sports scores (24%) and the latest local traffic and transportation (22%).

Other interesting findings include:

• 35% of mobile local news consumers feel they can have a big impact on their community
• 65% feel it is easier today than five years ago to keep up with information about their community
• 51% use six or more different sources or platforms monthly to get local news and information
• 75% use social network sites
• 15% use Twitter

Creative Decisions for Your SMS Marketing Campaign

Of all the mobile marketing channels–SMS, MMS, banner ads, mobile websites, mobile video ads, mobile apps, and a couple of others–SMS is the least graphic-intensive. In fact, the completely text-based format of SMS offers marketers many benefits, including reducing both creative development time and resources needed to execute a campaign. Despite its simplicity, however, the SMS platform does still require marketers to make strategic creative decisions. Here’s a guide to shaping and designing the creative for your SMS marketing campaign.

SMS Message Options

Knowing the requirements, restrictions, and capabilities of SMS technology is essential to designing an SMS campaign. The 160-character limitation, for example, favors marketers with sharp copywriting skills–those who can write very economically but clearly motivate as well in just a few words.

Another example is compliance: rules about short codes and SMS messaging on different carriers (e.g., the requirement to add “MSG & DATA RATES MAY APPLY”) could also influence your design decisions, which is why working with a mobile agency who can guide you through the design process is really helpful. See below for the design elements for text message marketing.

Elements of an SMS Campaign

1. The Keyword: The word that users text in to the shortcode needs to be memorable, easy to type, and also relevant to your brand. It’s just a short word (usually 8-characters or less), but choosing that keyword (or keywords) can be one of the most parts of the creative picture for your SMS campaign.

2. Short Code: In many cases, because of the costs and timing involved, you’ll use a leased, random 5-digit short code that’s shared with other companies and that you can use for the length of your campaign. One strategic decision you have, though, is whether to procure a dedicated or vanity short code (e.g., BRANDS) instead of a shared and obscure one (e.g., 64842) for branding purposes. If so, another creative decision you’ll have to make is what the vanity code should be. CHASE and COKE are obvious choices for those brands, but for other companies the translation from brand name to short code may be harder to decide (e.g., Continental Airline’s short code is COCOM and The Weather Channel is CLIMA.).

3. Call To Action: As with other types of campaigns, the CTA is critical. Because there are so few elements of an SMS campaign, however, the call to action be the major factor. It involves the keyword and short code mentioned above (“Text KEYWORD to SHORTCODE”)–and should also include the benefit/value. Why should the consumer execute the CTA?

Therefore, another creative decision you’ll have to make is what to include as your value proposition in the call to action. “Text KEYWORD to SHORTCODE for a free trial” is not as strong as “Text KEYWORD to SHORTCODE for free music downloads”. The challenge for SMS campaign copywriters is to encourage action in just that one imperative sentence.

Considerations for the CTA include time-sensitivity (do you need to include words like “now” or “ending soon” to motivate your audience to take action?) and offer/value (are you communicating the best compelling–and obvious–reason for the consumer to interact with you?).

4. Supporting Media: This is the print, digital, or audio advertisement that invites the users to text the keyword in. The choice of media type, placement, and creative for that media placement (e.g., outdoor billboard or TV spot) will influence the success of the SMS marketing campaign more than anything else. The creative choices and options for other/mass media are many and varied and will require knowledgeable execution, naturally.

However, the extent with which SMS is integrated as an enhancement channel for those other media will determine the campaign’s success. For best results, the SMS call to action needs to be obviously and continuously displayed in the ads–a dedicated area on the TV ad, for example, that has the SMS call to action.

5. Message Flow: What happens when the user responds? Creative word choices for the call to action (keyword, short code, and offer) are just the first part of the equation.

After the user responds, you’ll need to send back a message in 160 characters or less, and that wordsmithing also needs to be considered. The reply message offers another opportunity to add some personality to your SMS messages, however short they are. You can say “thanks, dude” if it’s appropriate to your brand–but use carefully.

It’s helpful to create an SMS campaign message flow chart in Excel or other spreadsheet program, which contains a sort of script step-by-step of what should happen for each stage of the process, from the CTA displayed on the media, to the user texting in the response, to the system sending a reply with a link to the mobile website, etc. This can help you get a better feel for the elements needed and how to best select them.

Why QR Codes Will Go Mainstream [OPINION]

 593Share

800
inShare

email

share

This post reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of Mashable as a publication.

Hamilton Chan is CEO and Founder of Paperlinks. With the free Paperlinks iPhone app, featured previously by Apple as the #1 New & Noteworthy app, consumers can scan and view QR code content with a native app experience. Paperlinks also provides a powerful Content Management System for managing campaigns.

Observing QR code adoption by mainstream America is sometimes like watching Charlie Brown set up to kick a football: The moment always seems so promising, but in the end, the effort comes up empty.

Jimmy Fallon’s recent QR code moment and New York City’s QR-linked building permits are two more notches on the belt of early adopters. But were these just blips or an indicator of things to come? Will QR codes ever become part of everyday life or be relegated to “only-in-Japan” status?

I believe the answer is yes, QR codes are coming to an advertisement or object near you, and sooner than you may think. Here are the reasons why, along with suggestions on how advertisers can catalyze this movement by making QR code campaigns as useful and rewarding as possible.

---

Why QR Codes Make Sense

---

As I had mentioned in a previous article, hyperlinks are now making their natural migration from desktop monitors to objects in the real world. We no longer need to be tethered to a desktop computer in order to use the internet to interact with the world around us. When you see something that you want information about, you no longer have to make a mental note to look it up later on Google. You can simply point your smartphone at the object and obtain the desired information without typing or speaking. In essence, the QR code has become the shortest distance between curiosity and information retrieval.

The beauty of QR codes is that they are an open-source and freely licensed standard. They cost nothing additional to add to printed materials and can be scanned by free readers on all smartphones and even some feature phones.

Old habits die hard, so it will take some time for people to get used to engaging the real world with their phone, but the unique look of a QR code, a strong call to action, and valuable rewards will help further their surging popularity. The ability to measure click-through rates on real world items, while capturing temporal, geographic and demographic data will make QR codes a favorite among advertisers.

Meanwhile, here is what businesses, institutions and individuals can do to make QR codes an effective part of their marketing arsenal.

1. Optimize for Mobile

Advertisers who embed desktop URLs in a QR code are missing the point of real-to-mobile interactivity. People interact with their mobile devices with significantly shorter attention spans than they do on their desktops. Once a QR code is scanned, the resulting view should be thumb-interactive, easy to read, and purpose-driven.

2. There Must Be A Payoff

A QR code is like a scratch-off card — people have to apply some effort to engage, so the payoff better be worth it. Content emanating from a QR code needs to be useful or an easy redemption of an exclusive reward.

The use of QR codes on the Jimmy Fallon show was moderately effective in that the QR code led to a mobile-friendly music video featuring Tyler, the Creator, who was performing that night. However, viewers were already watching the band perform on TV. Did they need to see it on their phone at that moment as well? What if, upon scanning the QR code, a page was displayed asking viewers to download the artist’s single for a 50% off flash sale, with single-click purchasing ability through iTunes or Amazon MP3?

Other QR code applications, such as HBO’s recent campaign for Boardwalk Empire this past September, have gone further by offering exclusive content and rewards for those willing to scan. In this case, the QR code connected to a password to enter a themed “speakeasy” event. Even Starbucks is on board with a QR-linked mobile payment system that, with a quick scan, serves up convenience along with your morning coffee.

3. Be Patient and Stick With It

Given our late adopter culture, tech trends should be expected to take a while here in the U.S. CDs were popular in Asia long before they made a dent in America. The same was true of DVDs, mobile phones, and now QR codes. Given this predisposition, the only way forward for any new technology is to be relentless in providing inherent value and easy uptake. By experimenting with QR codes early, advertisers can become adept at engaging with users on a mobile basis, so that when QR codes do hit the mainstream, they will be ready.

---

The Tipping Point

---

If the volume of inquiries at my own company is any indication, it appears to me that QR codes are very steadily percolating up into the mainstream. I think there will come a day when URLs will be replaced by QRLs. Just as consumers were wary of e-commerce in the mid-’90s, so too are they now taking their first inevitable baby steps towards m-commerce.

I believe the tipping moment will occur as a result of a major media event, such as QR codes serving as an alternative to texting in your American Idol vote or QR codes being used regularly by a major retail brand such as Costco or McDonald’s. Those advertising icons are also pragmatic and they, along with us, will be watching for that magical moment of impact.