What does Apple have planned for September

Posted by michael on Aug 28, 2009 in Mobile Marketing Watch

Historically, September is a big month for Apple and the mobile community at large.

Hosting annual events in September for the last few years, the ninth calendar month usually means some significant news or announcement from Apple.

And a lot of people are wondering if any major surprises are in store for Apple’s scheduled September 9th media event. According to numerous published reports, the company plans “to introduce its 2009 iPod offerings.”

But others expect more.

Will Steve Jobs appear? Will new products be unveiled? How many upgrades will be promised? And what will it all mean (if anything)for mobile marketing?

It’s enough to make one’s head spin.

For months, some Apple watchers have remained confident that September will mean the Nano and Touch will be upgraded with cameras and, naturally, the increased storage one would would expect to accompany such an upgrade. More likely, however, is an update to
iTunes. Rumors have swirled for a while that iTunes 9 would sport new visual organization features as well as Facebook integration and other social-networking attributes with mobile components.

Just as September is traditionally a big month for Apple, August tends to be a month when Apple is quiet, enigmatic, and utterly aloof. Since Apple hasn’t disappointed expectations for August, hopefully it won’t disappoint expectations for September either.

The countdown to 09/09/09 is on.

AT&T to Mandate Data Plans

Posted by Michael on Aug 25, 2009 in Mobile Marketing Watch.

Beginning September 6th, AT&T will mandate subscribers who activate or upgrade to a smartphone to also pick up a data plan.

If your smartphone was purchased before September 6th, you will likely be grandfathered in and, consequently, not forced to upgrade your present plan.

“We want our customers to have the best possible experience with their smartphones,” an internal AT&T email reportedly reveals.

“A predictable bill is a key factor in customer satisfaction, so effective September 6, 2009 smartphone customers will need to subscribe to a data plan, as the vast majority of customers already do. Data plans let customers fully utilize their device, without the worry of bill shock.”

In case you’re thinking that this is just a rumor, InformationWeek claims to have secured official confirmation of the policy change at AT&T.

“The sales representative is the customer’s expert resource in helping select the right device for their needs,” the email adds. “When a customer does not want a data plan, we will position other devices in our industry leading portfolio for the customer to choose from, as many devices do not require a data plan.”

Mobile Industry Still Trying To Figure Out SMS Spam

By: Mobile Marketing Watch
The problem has been around forever, yet the mobile industry is still fighting for a solution to SMS spam. As such a quickly growing problem, the FCC and several mobile-specific organizations are still trying to define what is and what isn’t considered mobile SPAM- a process that’s easier said than done.

Mobile spam can be sub-divided into two general categories: legitimate marketers not following best practices and sending unsolicited messages, and the more devious malware attacks, in which malicious messages are sent through text or e-mail to attack a phone’s operating system. Either way, this spam is annoying to consumers, and is giving legitimate rule-following mobile marketers a bad name.

Full Story here!

Text Message List Building's Biggest Myth

by Kim Dushinski - Mobile Marketing Profits

The biggest misconception around mobile marketing lies in
the idea that a business builds a database of mobile phone
numbers and then dives into a mobile marketing campaign
using these numbers.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is that in
order to build a database of opt-in mobile numbers you
have to do a mobile marketing campaign. Here's why.

Text messaging is a mandatory opt-in marketing channel.
It is never smart or ethical to send text messages that are
not explicitly requested. And in many places around the
world it is illegal to do so. This explicit permission is not
granted simply by being a customer or giving a business a
cell phone number for other purposes.

Opting in has very specific criteria. You have to get
someone to text in to opt in, sign up online with using a fill
in the blank form or reply "Yes" when you have gotten
verbal permission to add them to your mobile list. None of
these can be done without having a mobile marketing
campaign going.

The good news is that everybody starts at zero. Fortune
500 companies and small businesses alike all start with no
one in their mobile marketing database.

Even better news is that it only takes a smart marketing
strategy and powerful marketing implementation to get
people opting in like crazy. Give people a good reason to
sign up and make sure they know all about it and your
campaign is underway. Your text message database is
being built.

Waiting to start mobile marketing until you have a mobile
database is impossible. You cannot build a mobile
marketing database without doing mobile marketing.

$90M Awarded In SMS Spam Case, Best Practices Anyone?

This is a very good reason why you need to choose a legit Mobile Marketing Firm and not the cheapest fly by night as you need a company that invests in their software and employees to know all the Best Practices so you don't get caught up in a lawsuit.

Story here

Even more evidence that Mobile Marketing is booming..

eMarketer estimates that there will be 280.8 million mobile phone subscribers by the end of the year. comScore says there will be 29 million smartphone users. eMarketer also projects that US mobile advertising spending will reach $760 million in 2009.

Go Mobile Now or regret it later...

Read about how Dave the Shoe Guy doubled his sales from $650,000 to $1.3 million a year using a list of 1,500 customers who received his SMS alert specials. Imagine if you had to call all 1,500 of your clients and spent only 1 minute with each one, it would take you 30 hours to do so - with SMS, www.enowit.com, you can do it in just a few seconds and net the same results if not better.

CLICK TO READ MORE

McDonalds goes mobile with Cafe Mocha Promotion

McDonalds see's the HUGE potential mobile marketing can have on any business with the clear ability for instant interaction or "NOW" interaction that we all need now days. If the info, product, service, news that we want isn't delivered to us "NOW" we assume it's no good - even our internet is just to slow for most at 20MB - so Mobile is perfect for the "NOW" generation!

Check the article out - CLICK HERE

There is No Free Lunch in Text Marketing

If your looking at utilizing a Mobile Marketing company you need to do your homework as many, many are popping up all the time and aren't vested for the long haul - just looking for the quick dollar and don't even own their own software - so if they go under most likely you lose your campaign cell numbers, data and more.

Don't go with the cheapest company - you will find extra fees in the backend.

1) Look for a company that gives you access to all their mobile software for a monthly fee, which would include a bank of message to use.
2) You also don't want to have to pay for each keyword you have - some charge $150-$350 per month per keyword - even if you only send out 50 messages - so they get you with a lower per message rate but high keyword fee.
3) Also make sure they DON'T use SMTP technology as this is just email and isn't traceable, can take hours to be delivered and a large number never get delivered. You want to make sure it's all delivered via the carrier network thru a leased common short code.

This is a great article talking about many more points to look at - CLICK HERE

Neustar offers 10% off 10 or more short codes

Common short code registry Neustar Inc. is offering mobile application providers and aggregators 10 percent off purchases of 10 or more new codes through the end of the month.

When your talking $500 - $1,000 per month per short code depending on if you want a vanity code or not - saving 10% is a great offer.

HURRY ENDS AUG 31

Complete article here: CLICK HERE

Wondering if your mobile campaign is in carrier compliance?

Seems like the carriers change their rules on a monthly basis and they all seem to have different ideas on how work flows should be, what terms and words to use. We find that a large majority of mobile companies are operating a lot of campaigns that aren't approved or event submitted to carriers for certification because of this one reason. We can help inform you if your in compliance - just send us your work flow or simply your keyword and shortcode and we can provide you some feedback.

One Example:
Should you use:
STD Rates Apply
STD charges Apply
STD Message Charges Apply

NEITHER

As of January 2010 you must use:
Msg&Data Rates May Aply” per MMA guidelines. Carriers are not accepting certain abbreviations at this time.

How to interface with the carrier network?

Are you a programmer tasked to interface a current system with the carrier network to send and receive text messages using CSC or Common Short Codes and not sure where to start?

1) What type of interface to build (SMPP, JAVA, SOAP, ETC)
2) Do you use an aggregator or lease software thru companies like eNowIt.com
3) Cost to lease the CSC and setup with carriers
4) Cost and time frame to get your work flows approved
5) The list goes on

Questions? Need answers - where here to help.

What is a short code?

A shortcode, officially called a Common Short Code, is a short number, generally 4-6 digits long, to which a text message (SMS) can be sent from a mobile phone. Shortcodes are useful because they save you from having to memorize an entire 10-digit number. For example, to send a text message to eNowIt you just send a text message with the advertisers unique keyword to 366948(it spells eNowIt on your keypad).

Questions on how to lease a short code and the cost involved or need us to do it for you email sales@enowit.com today.