What do General Mills, Macy’s, Resee’s, and Starbucks have in common? Yes, they all end in S’s, but they all also ran exciting SMS campaigns in Q1. Mobile Marketing recently published a “Top 10” list for SMS campaigns in Q1, and among the list are several donation drivers, database growers, and informational campaigns. General Mills and Rite Aid made the list for encouraging people to donate to First Books and Children’s Miracle Balloons, respectively, via their mobile devices. Several brands grew their databases by incenting consumers to subscribe to their mobile program (Ace Hardware with weather alerts, Aveeno with free samples, and Reese’s with a text-to-win), while others used SMS to drive sales by providing their existing database with special promotions (JCPenney’s one-day only sale and bunny-ear giveaway, and Macy’s sale on NBC’S “Fashion Star” looks). You can read the full “Top 10” list here and see the exciting ways brands are making waves in the sea of SMS. Even the most aggressive estimates still only put smartphone penetration in the U.S. at 48% (Neilson, January 2012), which makes SMS (which can reach feature phone owners and the smartphone savvy) the mobile marketing channel with the greatest reach. So what else do these businesses have in common? They’ll all end Q1 with $’s.
