05/11/11 by Cellit Staff | Blog, Industry Blog | No Comments »
NFIB, the Voice of Small Business, just release an article outlining tips for boosting sales through text messaging, which featured Cellit’s David Wachs. The tips include targeting current customers, driving new business and going viral.
“Text message marketing is a low-cost way to get deals into your customers’ hands to drive sales. Texts are more convenient than email or print coupons, so it’s no surprise that they’re effective. Coupons sent via text message are redeemed eight times more often than those sent via email, says David Wachs, founder and president of Cellit, a mobile marketing company in Chicago.
To start sending texts, sign up for a mobile marketing service. Most charge a monthly fee, and some provide additional support, such as advertising materials and coupon-redemption tracking. You can send and schedule texts through an online account.”
Read more at nfib.com.
02/16/11 by Jarrett Klein | Blog, Cellit News, Marketing Blog, News | No Comments »
We were thrilled to see this article from Nation’s Restaurant News about Tropical Smoothie Café and how they have used Cellit’s SMS messaging to build their business, even during the awful weather this winter.
“In our markets where those huge blizzards hit, we told our franchisees to get an e-mail or a text out to catering customers and deliver their orders to the offices if people were stuck,” CEO Mike Rotondo said.
“We try to teach our franchisees to use something like that to their advantage, especially if your competitors are rolling over and cutting staff in bad weather.”
Tropical Smoothie Café has been a great client to work with because they aren’t afraid to be creative with their marketing and are always looking for ways to use technology to help their franchises connect with customers.
Call me at 602-714-3185 or email jklein@cellit.com so we can talk about how Cellit and text messaging can help your store, too!
11/01/10 by David Wachs | Blog, Industry Blog | No Comments »
Mobile marketing budgets are growing by 43% in 2010, with 48% predicted in 2011, says eMarketer’s new study on mobile marketing budgets. This new report, published last month, predicts that mobile marketing is set to continue to accelerate, growing to 1.1 billion by 2011.
According to the article:
“The expansion of the smartphone market and the attractive usage and demographic profile of smartphone owners have forced more marketers to pay closer attention to mobile,” said Noah Elkin, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the forthcoming report “Mobile Advertising and Marketing: Moving Past the Tipping Point.”
More of the the growth of mobile is here.
10/30/10 by David Wachs | Blog, Marketing Blog | 1 Comment »
We get asked all the time for the “best practices” of mobile marketing, so I wanted to share just five little hints that can improve your campaigns.
- Follow the Three C’s: Content, Cadence and Commitment: We’ve written about the three C’s in the past (here, here and here), and they stand on their own as the tenants we live by at Cellit, so I will just summarize them here. Deliver the (1) right message (to the right people), (2) at the right time (and at the correct frequency) and (3) stay committed to your mobile program! The commitment is what I always stress. We have so many clients that think mobile is a “if you build it, they will come” phenomenon, and it simply doesn’t work this way. You must remain committed to mobile: come up with fantastic content, and make sure people know about it!
- Respect your customer! If you send non-interesting messages (or non-valuable coupons), nobody’s going to want to be a part of your program! I know this sounds obvious (let’s face it, marketing is not rocket science) and yet, so many people forget it. Additionally, stick to the cadence you promise your subscribers. If you tell them they’re going to receive 4 messages a month, well, send them four messages a month, and not a message more. Not only is it a good practice, but it’s required by the MMA. Our system, Cellit Studio automatically ensures that you don’t send too many messages a month (but of course, it can’t come up with the content or offers to ensure that you send all of the messages you should).
- Keep it Simple. So many people think mobile marketing is about the “biggest, newest thing”. I disagree. Mobile marketing should be about allowing everybody to engage. For example, so many people think “QR Codes” (2D barcodes) are the “wave of the future”. I think they’re a big hurdle to participation! Why have people download an app and try to take a picture of a bar code when they can much easier just send a text to a shortcode (they get the same results back, it’s just much easier and quicker…not to mention more trackable! I put together a fun little video about it). Just remember the end goal is engagement. The only way you’re able to do this is by keeping it easy to participate.
- Create a Conversation. Mobile marketing does not have to be a one way street! Our technology makes it simple to create dialogues. Ask questions! Run surveys! Collect feedback. Play games. And–better yet–use this information to tailor what messages users will get.
- Integrate! Mobile doesn’t live in a vacuum. Incorporate mobile sign-ups on your web site. Integrate mobile coupon redemption in your point of sale (POS) system. Include calls to action in your advertising. A good mobile program extends into both the online and brick-and-mortar environments. Make sure yours does too.
If I had to sum up these five points into one, I’d say: It’s not about Mobile Marketing… it’s really about Mobile CRM. I know I titled this article “5 Rules for Mobile Marketing”, but I feel one of the keys to marketing to people is…not marketing to them! Shoving offers down their throat via their phone is not a way to build a loyal, engaged customer base. A much better way is using the rules above to shift your thinking from “marketing” to “targeted, ongoing dialogue”. Building trusting, loyal customers takes time, but in the end the results will be much greater.
As always, feel free to contact us and we’d be happy to help you put these rules into action.
