Wednesday, August 17, 2011

The Skinny On SMS

Some interesting data;
(CNN) -- Among U.S. adults who go online, 13% use Twitter -- and more than half (54%) of these people access the popular social media service with their mobile phone, according to new research from the Pew Internet and American Life Project.  - source CNN Tech
 This is interesting as the 13% is based upon adults who go online, nearly everyone has a cell phone and according to this most of those cell phone users aren't paying much attention to Twitter.

The report also revealed some interesting details about the demographics of Twitter users. For instance, 25% of adult African-Americans who use the Internet are on Twitter, as are 19% of Hispanic Americans, compared with only 9% of whites.
Where you live also may affect whether you're on Twitter: About 15% of both urban and suburban U.S. adult Internet users are on Twitter, vs. only 7% of rural dwellers. - source CNN Tech

Don't get me wrong, I thing Twitter is a brilliant and useful idea, however it has obvious limitations especially when compared to SMS and facebook. My opinion is that there can be a terrific synergy in reaching your market with your message by including a simple recipe of Mobile Media linked with facebook & Twitter. It is definitely a good idea to bring some varied value to each outlet in a way that makes sense. It may make great sense for some business and information models to specialize in their media outlets and differentiate and cross pollinate with purpose

For instance Dell Outlet has a great twitter where you may find deals that are not announced elsewhere. Southwest Airlines uses facebook to promote give-aways, garner up to date praise from customers, and share various tidbits about the company and travel ideas. There are both very appropriate uses for these media. 

Since nearly 100% of Text Messages are opened and 84% are viewed within 4 minutes, and since nearly everyone age 13 and up carries a cell phone with SMS messaging and as the CNN article notes: 
Texting is the most popular activity across nearly all mobile demographics & on all types of mobile phones.”
It simply makes good sense that the hub from which all your media flows from and is linked by should be where people are likely to look. In other words, Go Where The Eyes Are!

If you receive a marketing text message that does not include an opt out then file one of these http://www.fcc.gov/guides/spam-unwanted-text-messages-and-e-mail.
Many small businesses understand the power of text messaging to stay in touch with their clients, customers, and prospects, however by simply broadcasting from their personal account they are at risk of really losing people and not complying with the FCC codes.
 

This is a perfect example of why using iZigg 90210 is such a powerful asset. Not to mention the power and flexibility the platform provides to manage information and streamline your messaging across your market demographics. Of course the Opt out message is a default. The irony is this; the more Opt-Outs your have. the better you are doing, because this is an indication of a higher volume of Opt-Ins!

The final truth about implementing these cutting edge instant forms of delivering your message to the marketplace is this unchangeable fact; One will always have to build their list in the traditional way, face to face, press the flesh, radio, print, TV, fliers, salespeople etc.. The beauty of SMS Mobile Media is that one may use it for an authentic ad tracker and the larger your list of SMS Opt-Ins grows the amount spent of the aforementioned media will be reduced, reassigned or more effectively targeted. What I mean by reassigned is that if you own five sandwich shops and spend $25k annually on print and media promo, you may get a better result by spending 15K on print and media and 10$ on product giveaways. This makes for a happier more engaged growing customer base.





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