Boca Raton, FL (PRWEB) – 6/30/2008 – 3Cinteractive, a leading creative mobile marketing company, announced it is powering the innovative consumer awareness campaign for the HD Digital Radio Alliance. The expanded marketing campaign is aimed at accelerating the adoption of HD Radio. The Alliance is featuring a text messaging call to action in more than half of all of its radio ads nationwide.
3Ci’s mobile messaging platform is creating real-time, measurable conversations with consumers by promoting listeners to “Text UPGRADE to 34343”. “By establishing a direct, instant relationship with consumers who show an interest in HD Radio, we are activating a whole new category of catalysts,” said Peter Ferrara, President and CEO of the HD Digital Radio Alliance.
Radio ads within the new $57 million, 13-week marketing campaign are running in 100 markets on more than 700 stations. A full 65% of the radio ads invite consumers to text UPGRADE to 34343 with the remainder issuing the familiar call to action to visit www.HDRadio.com.
Continue reading ‘3Cinteractive Powers Innovative HD Digital Radio Alliance Conversion Campaign’
Boca Raton, FL (PRWEB) – 7/7/2008 – 3Cinteractive, a leading mobile marketing agency and application development company, announced it has completed a successful 9 month trial of the company’s patent pending Text Collect™ service. As a result, 3Ci is announcing an immediate full scale launch of the product. Text Collect combines Interactive Voice Response, SMS and Premium SMS (PSMS) mobile billing, producing the only service that allows collect calling and operator services providers to complete collect calls to mobile phones.
Prior to Text Collect™, the ability to complete collect calls to mobile phones has been a major challenge to the collect calling industry. With the number of mobile lines quickly outpacing the number of landlines in the U.S., the solution could not have come soon enough. Collect call completion ratios have been steadily declining for years due to the rapid growth in mobile phone usage. According to David Ellerstein, 3Cinteractive’s Text Collect™ General Manager, “Text Collect™ has driven significant positive results for collect calling providers and all of the major mobile carriers participating in the trial.”
Continue reading ‘3Cinteractive Completes Trial for Industry Changing Text Collect™ Service’
Before the onset of short code messaging, marketers and consumers were able to send free messages to consumers using e-mail-to-sms gateways. This allowed users to send an e-mail to phonenumber@carrier.com that would be converted and delivered as an SMS. As you could imagine, this became a prime target for internet spammers, which led the carriers to develop robust filtering systems to protect their consumers. This was the dawn of the short code and a new process that allowed carriers to pre-screen and certify legitimate mobile marketing campaigns.
As a result we now have a ubiquitous infrastructure for cross-carrier SMS messaging. As part of this project, the carriers charge fees for short code messaging, which is different than the free email gateway service, but free isn’t necessarily better; it’s far worse.
E-Mail Gateways:
- Heavily filtered and monitored by the major carriers. Each carrier systematically scans for message content and monitors volume by IP address.
- No delivery confirmation. Each message is “fire and forget” much like blast e-mail.
- No carrier information. You must know the users carrier to send through an e-mail gateway. Numbers turn over at a rate of 8% per month causing failed send attempts.
- Low throughput limit. Throughput is limited both by IP throttling and infrastructure issues.
- One-way only service. There is no interactivity or opt-in process that creates a targeted database.
The base of an effective, compliant mobile marketing program, is an opt-ed in database. This can only be accomplished through the two-way interaction offered by Short Code messaging. While short code messaging comes at a fee, it provides an interactive experience that influences the consumer. The success rates of mobile marketing campaigns are attributed to the highly targeted nature of Short Code messaging and not the broad spectrum SPAM messages from e-mail gateways.
Short Code Messaging:
- Certified and approved by aggregators. Each aggregator pre-approves message programs to ensure that all messages are delivered once the program is approved.
- Message delivery confirmation. Each message delivery status can be delivered in real-time as it is queued for delivery.
- Carrier information pre-determined before delivery. Each phone number is “dipped” for mobile carrier delivery to ensure the number is properly labeled for delivery.
- High throughput limit. Throughput is not limited by short code allowing messages to be delivered faster.
- Two-way interactive service. Users can text-in or reply to mobile marketing campaigns creating a more enjoyable end-user experience.
While e-mail gateway services carry the appeal of “zero cost” they do little to enhance or activate a brand’s current marketing initiatives. Instead, e-mail gateway messaging becomes an extension to a traditional e-mail marketing campaign. In contrast, a well structured Short Code campaign functions to both independently engage users or activate existing traditional marketing campaigns.
- Ainsworth
Matt Gardner, who recently celebrated his one-year anniversary at 3Cinteractive, is the company’s Business Integration Director. Matt has an extremely diverse set of day-to-day responsibilities which include everything from artistic design of the 3Ci web and print branding - to the design and layout of all 3Ci internal and external interfaces - to the technical integration of client facing reporting.
Matt’s broad range of expertise and talents range across multiple functional areas of 3Cinteractive and have had a significant impact on the company’s success. Matt began developing his wide-ranging skill set in high school when he began working in web design. He continued his work in web design while at Virginia Tech, where he took several computer science courses and completed his BA in graphic design; giving him the wide range of web and graphic design and programming backgrounds.
Matt is an avid reader who is constantly looking to soak up knowledge in a variety of topics. Fitness also plays a big role in Matt’s life, as he is in constant training for triathlons and is hoping to compete in an Ironman competition next year. Matt is a native of Virginia and his family includes his parents, Gene and Nancy, and two older siblings, brother Dan and sister Jen.
- Jeff Michaud
3Cinteractive was the proud sponsor of the first ever Advertising Agency panel discussion during the Mobile Marketing Forum in New York City June 10 & 11 at the Marriott Marquis Times Square Hotel.
3Ci Business Development VP, Jeremy Martin, was the moderator of the panel that included advertising execs from agencies such as The Hyperfactory, Starcom USA and GroupM. “Being able to host the first ever agency focused panel discussion at the MMF was a great experience for myself and 3Ci as a company,” said Jeremy Martin. “Just by the types of attendees at this show, it was clear that now is the right time to have this ad agency panel. The number of advertising and media agencies here are clearly
at an all-time high, and that signifies the clear understanding of the agency world that they must have mobile solutions for their clients,” Martin added.
The panel discussion touched on topics such as how the business models that most mobile marketing companies use is far different than that of the traditional agency model. Most importantly, the majority of the discussion was focused on how to best integrate companies like 3Ci, who are specialists in mobile, into the agency process. The large crowd who stayed to hear the panel at the end of the last day of the show further displayed the agency world’s focus on mobile.
- Jeff Michaud
3Ci, Taco Cabana and Calise & Sedei, the agency for the retail food chain, recently launched a mobile marketing campaign aimed at building a mobile database and testing the effectiveness of mobile marketing - and the early results show the immediate, positive impact of mobile! To build their mobile database, Taco Cabana took a two pronged approach over six days of promotion. First, a call to action was promoted at SanAntonio Spurs games asking fans to text in their vote for the best “kissingcam” couple and they would receive a mobile coupon for a free taco. Second, in store point of purchase promos called for fans to text in for a chance to win Spurs tickets. Taco Cabana then sent out a text message to the mobile consumers in their database, asking them to opt-in to the Taco Cabana mobile club and get a coupon for a free order of nachos.
An astounding 22% of the consumers were converted into mobile club members who will receive coupons on their mobile phones. In addition, they saw a 10% redemption rate on the coupons delivered during the promotions. Due to the overwhelming success of this test, 3Ci’s team is currently working with Taco Cabana to build additional mobile marketing campaigns that will
further build their mobile database and drive foot traffic to retail stores.
- Ainsworth
I sat through a great meeting yesterday with a direct marketing firm from Boca Raton. As I demoed our platform, we reviewed a couple of the firm’s ideas. A lot of direct marketing firms are dealing with e-mail or direct mail, which is a slightly different beast than SMS. There are particular ways to maintain conversions with mobile marketing, that wouldn’t apply for e-mail marketing. In addition, mobile marketing is about spending the time to build a database rather than simply catching and blasting opt-in messages.
This firm got the concept that many do not: Mobile marketing isn’t restricted to a stand alone campaign that can be monetized immediately. In fact, a well designed mobile marketing strategy will have always-on campaigns that support other direct marketing efforts. Your brand’s short code is equivalent to it’s URL. When I work with a client, this is one of the first concepts that I establish. Once your short code is live, you need at least one campaign that will run constantly and collect interested consumers who read your marketing material. Mobile activates traditional marketing in a way that websites cannot. Missing this concept causes a lot of brands to avoid mobile marketing because they aren’t quite sure how to monetize it.
Continue reading ‘Start Building Your Mobile Database’
SMS Text News broke a report from SITA that mobile devices could save airlines over $600 million. SITA’s report suggested that airlines use location based services to track users and send them message updates to guide them to their gate.
This is a really great statistic, but I see an issue: location based services are still in a primitive state. That is not to say we don’t have the technology, but more that users are concerned about privacy. Even the iPhone is limiting application developers to access GPS location in the the new 3G model.
I don’t think location based services are required for mobile to have this much of an impact. This past weekend I made a trip to NYC using SpirtAir, which is notorious for delayed flights, especially with La Guardia. My flight back was delayed 7 hours total, enough time that I would’ve enjoyed an early notification before sitting through the 2 hour check-in line. Needless to say, there were several other passengers that were a bit more animated with their disapproval, and they were all granted free tickets.
I think this all could’ve been prevented with an early notification to consumers via SMS. British Airways has used SMS in a similar fashion after realizing that e-mail was useless within 24 hours of the departure time. While the location based idea is useful, it carries a lot more variables than a standard SMS, which we’re all more comfortable with.
- Ainsworth
When the US mobile carriers established a ubiquitous system for sending SMS messages, they adopted a standard for end-users to manage the content they receive. As I’ve preached (here, here, and here), this is one of the main reasons that SMS has avoided the SPAM fate of e-mail. Unless you’re dealing with a newsletter, most e-mail SPAM does not have a clear sender or working unsubscribe options. On the e-mail front, SPAM filtering has become a “reactive” habit and, while most e-mail users are losing time, SPAM doesn’t have a measurable monetary penalty. Consumers pay for text messaging, even unlimited-messaging consumers so it is important to give them the correct methods to manage their subscription.
All US shortcodes must have universal keywords to receive help and to opt-out of a program. These keywords are designed to allow the user to receive additional information about a mobile campaign or remove themselves from receiving any additional charges and messages.
Stop, End, Cancel, Unsubscribe, Quit
Because users receive a standard rate fee for text messaging, they are more likely to complain about unwanted text messages. A properly structured initial message neutralizes complaints by giving users a clear and working way to unsubscribe. If a user texts a platform with “STOP”, the platform must prevent the end user from receiving any additional messages from that campaign. If the user is opted-in to several campaigns on the shortcode, an additional tiered response to clarify the correct campaign is acceptable; “STOP ALL” should opt-out the user for all campaigns.
Help
End-users should have clear information about the messages they are signing up to receive. A user who texts in “HELP” should receive a message back that includes:
Continue reading ‘Mobile Marketing 101: Understanding Universal Keywords’
In my earlier post: 4 Mobile Ad Stats that will make you Think I discussed 4 key statistics that represent the success of SMS as an advertising medium. To support this article, I thought it would be important to mention two more key findings from the Limbo report:
5. In 3 Months the number of recalled advertisements rose from 78 million to 82 million.
Limbo reports that the majority of growth occurred among women and those aged 25-34.
This is a significant statistic as the 25-34 year-old demographic has been notably difficult to reach for marketers. If mobile subscribers are able to recall seeing advertisements, it is also critical that they remember the brand.
6. 41% of those who remembered mobile advertising could recall at least one brand.
In total, this is a 20 percent increase from December 2007. Advertising is only as affective as the consumers ability to recall the brand. Although, women are the growing demographic, men are 10 percent more likely to recall the brand that was advertised. What is more significant is that the 25-34 age-group performed the highest. Marketers have tried to reach this demographic using the social networking world with little success.
One striking note in the report were the types of brands that were recalled the most. Mobile operators and mobile content providers were at the top of the list with a sprinkle of bigger brands (ESPN, AOL, Nike, Coca-Cola, etc.) in the long tail.
This is more a reflection of the volume of marketing traffic that is pushed by mobile content providers. Major brands have yet to embrace mobile as a 24/7 campaign tool, which hinders the exposure to consumers. As brands begin to incorporate mobile into their sponsored content campaigns or their own mobile campaigns, their brand recognition will increase.
- Ainsworth