11/05/10 by Ilyssa Goncales | Blog, Marketing Blog | No Comments »
Every week, our phones ring with business owners asking us the same question again and again, “If mobile marketing isn’t just sending text messages, then what is it? What is mobile marketing today and how do I do it?”
Rewind 8 years, and you will remember the time when mobile marketing first reared its head into the world of marketing communications. This was a time when mobile marketing was a simple text message solution to help companies interact with their consumers in new medium. This CRM tool enabled the interested participant to join a mobile club by texting a keyword to a short code. Exclusive SMS content, messages, discounts and offers would then immediately start appearing as text-only SMS messages right on their mobile devices.
As we wrap up 2010 and prepare for 2011, mobile marketing has evolved into not just a way to send text-only messages to opted-in users, but has become one of the most reliable forms of technology to stay connected with customer databases. As technology continues to advance and the possibilities for interacting with customers expands, it is more important now than ever to incorporate mobile marketing into your CRM strategies.
Mobile now means more than just a making a phone call. Mobile is the internet in your pocket. Mobile is sharing videos and pictures with your friends. Mobile is downloading applications. Mobile is donating to Haiti. Let me give you three examples of how our clients use mobile in new and different ways to drive their customer interaction.
- Mobile is social media integration – Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare can all be accessed on mobile devices. With the click of a button, mobile allows MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas the ability to directly tie their Facebook page posts with their mobile loyalty messages. Cellit has built a custom program that automatically updates MGM’s Facebook page each time an sms message is sent from their Cellit account.
- Mobile is motivating teens to wake-up and go to school. In 2008 the Ad Council was looking for an innovative way to help Boost students to graduate from high school. Cellit teamed with the Ad Council to create the BoostUp mobile campaign, featuring wake-up calls and ringtones recorded by NBA star Amare Stoudemire. These pre-recorded mobile “alarms” could be scheduled by friends and family, and were then delivered right to the cell phone to help give that extra encouragement in the morning for students to wake-up and go to school.
- Mobile is couponing. With the help of mobile marketing, IKEA Seattle hosts a quarterly exclusive mobile-only “IKEA Mobile Shopping Day”, inviting their mobile loyalty club members to visit the store and use their special 15% off mobile coupon. During the first mobile shopping day, IKEA Seattle was able to generate over $250,000 in additional sales. Now, that number has nearly doubled.
As you can see from above, there are endless ways that mobile is used today. Whether you’re looking for social media solution, a voice campaign, or mobile couponing, Cellit can help you integrate mobile into your marketing mix in ways that were unimaginable just years before.
Please feel free to give us a call so we can help you get your mobile campaign off the drawing board and into the hands of your consumer.
04/12/10 by Brian Bauer | Blog, Marketing Blog | No Comments »
I get emails almost weekly from friends and family asking me for donations to a charity that they are supporting: usually a run, walk, triathlon or some other physical activity. It’s very effective, as I’m always game to not only support a good cause, but also the improved health of that loved one. Plus, the lengths that some will go to in an effort to get behind the cause is hilarious! A very masculine friend recently ‘lost’ a bet and ran a race in all pink, showing his support for Breast Cancer awareness. That, by itself, was worth donating for.
Usually, I try and go watch my friends as they complete these goals. Running a marathon or half-marathon is a big deal, and may be the first and only time that they’ll accomplish something physically like this. As I was standing at the ‘pink’ race, excitement welling upside as my friend approached, I thought: wouldn’t it be great if I could add $10 to my donation right here, right now?
Much was written about mobile donations in and around the Haiti earthquake. Rightfully so – over $32 million was raised via text message to aid the relief effort. With such huge success, almost every charitable organization in the country asked the question: can we raise money via text message? However, the truth is that it is currently only effective for certain types of causes or organizations to do so.
Currently, mobile donations work well when they are directed at large causes with no direct personal champion. The other method is a pledge based system, when a personal champion solicits in an effort to achieve a goal. The AIDS Marathon, Susan G Komen events, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society triathlons all use this system, and mobile donations – at this time – just don’t fit. The truth is that while I am willing to donate to support the cause overall – I really do want my friend to receive credit (and know) that I made an instant donation in his honor. My $10 mobile donation would currently just go into the bulk of other uncategorized donations. After-all, he has set a goal of $2,000 and not only do I want to ensure he maintains some level of dignity for having successfully fulfilled his end of the bet, I also want to make sure that he’s appropriately recognized by the organization for the financial success he achieves on their behalf. And I bet that the other dozen or so people that woke up early on that Sunday to cheer him on feel the same way.
Cellit doesn’t specialize in mobile donations as I talk about in this blog post; however, we’re always looking at ways that we can improve the mobile experience. I challenge the companies out there that do work in mobile donations to figure out a way for me to text in my friends bib number, participant id, or other such unique identifier … so that as I’m cheering him on emotionally, I can also cheer him on financially.
01/25/10 by Brian Bauer | Blog, Industry Blog | No Comments »
Cellit isn’t in the business of collecting charitable contributions from mobile customers. It’s a specialized business, and there are some very good companies that have focused on it. None-the-less, I’m very intrigued at the use of mobile to support the relief efforts in Haiti.
The numbers are staggering: as of Friday morning, the latest estimate had over $30 million in donations as having come in via text message. At an average donation of $10, it means that 3 million phone users have heeded the various calls to action and texted in. Looking at it another way, Mobile Commons has published a list with 31 domestic and international aid organizations collecting donations via mobile. 31 organizations, 3 million people!
The mobile total represents roughly 10% of total donations to date, as the Chronicle for Philanthrophy reported an updated grand total of over $355 million. Not to be scouffed at, 10% is still 10%, and a significant increase over any mobile campaign to date. Of more interest to me are the thousands of news articles that have focused on the mobile aspect, even to the exclusion of more traditional phone, email, web or mail methods of donation. Even major relief organizations have jumped on the bandwagon, with The Red Cross having splashed their homepage with the headline “Cellphones save lives in Haiti” and an appropriate mobile call to action.
Why the interest by me? There seem to be inflection points in the adoption of a technology platform. Malcolm Gladwell would suggest we call them tipping points; times when something gains critical mass. Mobile so far has had two major milestones that elevated various aspects of the technology into the collective conscious. The first was the use of text-voting in American Idol, as ordinary Americans rushed out to buy an AT&T phone so they could text “IDOLS01” and propel their favorite candidate forward another week. The second was the widely written about use of mobile during the Obama Presidential campaign – and most notably when he announced his choice of Vice President via a text message.
I’ll argue that today, we sit in day 5-6-7 of another inflection point: the real dawn of mobile commerce. It is fundamentally huge that 3 million people have donated to such a worthwhile cause; it’s even bigger that so many of the media outlets have popularized the idea of mobile donations/mobile commerce to a much larger audience. The implication for businesses is that their consumers are now ready to engage in real, monetary transactions via SMS or mobile web site. Cellit is pioneering this field, launching several client projects in early 2010 that will significantly expand the number of large retailers and food service industry players with a mobile commerce presence.
Most importantly, please donate to a charity of your choice. The devastation in Haiti is unbelievable. If you’re compelled to donate to a cause related to the relief effort, or another equally worthy cause closer to home, the key is to donate. And if it’s over mobile, even better.
