When you want to reach your customers quickly and effectively, bulk text messaging is the perfect solution. In a world where we all have our phones glued to our hands 24/7, you can get your message to the right people at anytime, anywhere. While mobile marketing should already be part of your overall marketing strategy, there are certain situations where bulk text messaging simply makes the best sense. Here are five ways that bulk text messaging can help take your business to the next level.

1. Coupon Promotions

Long gone are the days where you need to invest a large portion of your budget to print coupons on flyers and deliver them door to door. Bulk text messaging makes the process much simpler by sending digital coupons out to your customer database that they can use by simply showing the message on their phone. The process is also easy for alerting customers about special promotions or daily specials.

Promote your business to the customers you want to reach no matter where they are.

2. Running Giveaways

Want to build up your customer database quickly? Giveaways are an effective way to get people excited about a prize and have them opt-in to your subscription service in the process. Running a mobile giveaway through bulk text messaging is as simple as advertising a keyword that customers can text in to have a chance for the prize. By the end of the giveaway you have not only reached more customers, but you have built up your database for future promotions.

3. Appointment Reminders

For professional businesses such as doctor's offices and dental practices, bulk text messaging has more practical uses than simply promoting your services. Alert your patients when they are due for follow-up appointments or routine check-ups automatically. Not only will your patients be more proactive with their health, but you can ensure that they remain active as customers as well. This type of solution is also great for hair salons, spas and even pet groomers.

Bulk text messaging makes it easy to send out appointment reminders.

4. Taking Polls

Polls are a fantastic way to get the opinions of the people who matter most to your business. Whether you want input on the next dish for your lunch menu or you want to find out what local bands people want to see perform at your club, mobile polls can be sent out to your customer database instantaneously. Results will come immediately back to you, making it a much quicker and budget friendly alternative to using a third party company.

Promote special events or send out discounts that can be redeemed by showing the message at the door.

5. Last-Minute Announcements

Need to announce a special VIP guest or a last-minute dinner special? Bulk text messaging gets the word out immediately, exactly at the right time. It can also be handy if you want to send out a time sensitive announcement for things such as invite-only events or promotions that are happening on the day only for customers who have opted-in to your text messaging service.

Did you know that 99% of all text messages are opened? In comparison, less than 20% of emails in every industry are opened, and cold calls hover around a measly 6% success rate. Text messaging has been around over twenty years, yet it continues to be a form of communication that is personal and trusted by mobile users.

Mass text messaging delivers valuable information to your customers in real-time, whether you want to promote your upcoming fashion sale or send out a last-minute coupon for a popular dish in your restaurant. There are countless businesses that can benefit from mass text messaging, some of them may even surprise you!

From a simple text message you can increase sales, get your message shared across social media, and create an effective campaign to reach customers.

Entertainment Businesses

Bars, clubs, concert venues, businesses that promote entertainment have been leading the way in mass text messaging since the beginning. Entertainment businesses are perfectly set-up to interact with their clients and customers through text whether to promote upcoming shows, drink specials, or even announce last-minute VIPs. 2-for-1 coupons and discounted entry fees are an easy way to get customers through the door, and all they need to do is show the message on their phone.

Professional Businesses

Mass text messaging may not be as common in professional businesses, but there is a giant market just waiting to be tapped into. Businesses such as hair salons and gyms can easily send coupons or daily specials to their clients, reminding them that they are overdue for a cut or workout. Businesses such as doctors or dental practices may go about their promotions in a different way, but there are plentiful opportunities to reach clients through texting. Appointment reminders, whether scheduled or recommended, are a great way to get-in-touch and keep clients coming in.

Retail Businesses

Retail businesses already know that they need to keep with the trends to stay alive, so if your retail business isn't already compiling text subscribers it is time to join the party. Sending out texts inviting customers to special events, in-store fashion shows, and invite-only sales is a great way to make them feel like they are part of an exclusive club. Discount coupons and new stock announcements are also effective strategies for getting those shoes and dresses off the shelves.

Online Businesses

Online businesses are prime candidates for text messaging promotion, enabling current and prospective customers to click over from their text and land straight on a website. Sending out last-minute deals and one-day only discounts is the easiest way to expand sales through simply messaging your customer base. Get people on the website = more sales.

Mass text messaging makes it easy for online businesses to bring customers directly to their website and increase sales.

Food Industry Businesses

The food industry is perfectly poised for mass text messaging services. With good timing, you can have text messages promoting your lunch special on the phones of loyal patrons, right when their stomachs start growling. Texts announcing weekly specials, new menu additions, and even specially priced happy hours are a great way to remind customers that they need a night out with friends and a good bite to eat.

Mass text messaging gets your business's message straight into the hands of those you most want to reach. You are almost guaranteed that they will not only open your promotional message, but read it. You can't get effective advertising that is this personal in any other format.

Jessica Galbraith is a full-time writer and author of the travel blog The Fly Away American. She is an avid texter and always open up a new message.

On December 3rd of this year, text messaging will turn 22 years old. It seems impossible to imagine a world where friends and family weren't at our fingertips and where conversations were solely had in person or over a land-line telephone. As our world continues to globalize, it is no longer uncommon to catch up with grandparents over video screens, text clients to set-up meetings, or have decade long friendships with people we have never actually spoken with on the phone.

On December 3rd, 1992 the first text message was sent.

Texting has revolutionized the way we interact with each other, and with the insurgence of text messaging apps such as Whats App, it doesn't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. As we approach the 22nd anniversary of text messaging this year, we can look back and see the changes that two decades of OMGs and LOLs have made on our lives and how the evolution of text messaging may change the way we communicate in the future.

The Humble Beginnings of Text Messaging

On December 3, 1992, a UK based software architect by the name of Neil Papworth sent a festive message to his boss Richard Jarvis of Vodafone. He typed out "Merry Christmas" on his desktop keyboard and sent it to the Jarvis's phone who was at a holiday party. It didn't make any news headlines or change the face of communication as we knew it, but Papworth's simple message would eventually transform into a new way of getting messages from one person to another.

Seven years later, mobile companies began to offer SMS technology to their customers and it took off more than anyone could have anticipated. By 2000, over 14 billion text messages were being sent every month in the United States and by 2010 that number had reached an astounding 188 billion. Text messaging was here to stay.

Text Messaging Today

According to Forrester Research, over 6 billion SMS messages are sent out everyday in the U.S. alone, but interestingly enough that number is expected to decline. New text messaging apps such as Whats App, are taking over the text messaging market and fast. Whats App now has over 430 million users, with 50 billion messages being sent through the free service everyday- more than all SMS providers combined.

Text messaging has already overtaken phone and face-to-face conversation, but only time can tell where the evolution of messaging services will take us next. With more people using services such as Face Time, where users can see who they are talking to through video conferencing, we may be going back to our roots in a more virtual environment.

Today's generation is glued to their phones all hours of the day. What will this mean for the future?

The Future of Text Messaging: A New Model for the Modern Business?

Even with all the new apps and services being added to the mobile marketplace everyday, the general consensus is that text messaging is here to stay. While what the future for text messaging entails remains uncertain, it is a wise decision for businesses to begin utilizing the channel for marketing and sales purposes. Through mass texting small businesses and large corporations alike can reach their prospective customers in a place they already exist 24/7.

Text messaging has evolved from a simple holiday greeting to a multi-billion dollar industry that has completely changed the way we connect with one another. With over twenty years of history behind it, the only thing for certain is that text messaging will continue to grow in one form or another. Will you be ready?

Texting is now a well-trodden path for marketing strategists, but its uses range far beyond advertising. With more than nine out of ten text messages opened and read within minutes of receipt, there simply isn’t a better way to transmit information to large groups of people simultaneously. Schools are using SMS to remind students about deadlines, or inform them of last-minute closures. Churches are sending inspirational words to their congregation. Charities and non-profits are accepting donations via text. Emergency services are even using SMS to negotiate with criminals in a hostage situation.

The applications of this simple technology, now in its 22^nd year, are many and varied. We’ve whittled down some of the more unusual uses of text messaging to our three favorites:

Sending Emergency Alerts

When Hurricane Sandy devastated the Eastern Seaboard in 2012, the cost to local businesses was huge. Infrastructures were temporarily rattled, with web servers and power lines down, and SMS messages were the only form of communication available to emergency services and commercial enterprise alike. Local residents were kept informed of crucial information, and it was all thanks to cloud-based mobile technology. 

Locating Lost Pets

Companies like MobiPet are helping people find lost animals by notifying registered veterinarians, shelters and pet owners within a 30 mile radius. Unlike microchip implants, it’s a completely non-invasive way of tracking pets. All that’s required is a cell phone with a camera and SMS capabilities – technology that’s available to nearly 95% of the US mobile marketplace.

Domestic Chores

‘Smart appliances’ allow people to program a series of commands, which are triggered by text message when needed. Dishwashers, fridges, robot vacuum cleaners – almost anything can be integrated with intelligent SMS systems that let users activate them from afar. For example, if you are going away for a few days, you can tell your fridge to go into power-save mode, your washer to start cycling the day before you return, or your Roomba to clean house at regular pre-ordained intervals.

The future is here, and SMS messaging is a major player. If you can think of any other interesting applications for text message technology, let us know in the comments section!

Many smart marketers make the (giant) mistake of underestimating the promotional impact of text messages. Others commit the twin sin of failing to use them to their full advantage. Understand the seven core benefits of text marketing, however, and you're on your way to properly harnessing this tool's impressive influence.

How weighty is that influence? An estimated 8.3 trillion text messages are expected to be sent in 2015, and in 2013 North American users averaged 6.5 billion SMS messages per day. Texting's transition from novelty to integral part of everyday life is complete. And, with that change, text marketing's potential advantages have expanded. The vast majority of people who enroll in SMS loyalty programs believe they gain value from it, and SMS coupons are 10 times more likely to be redeemed than paper or email coupons. If you're not considering text marketing, you should be. Here are seven clear advantages of this marketing method.

1. Higher Open Rates Than email and Direct Mail

With text marketing, you're reaching people who have opted in and want to receive offers from you. Marketing to an existing customer base has a high return on investment. Furthermore, since these people want to receive information from you, they deliver very high read rates for your messages.

2. Text Marketing Allows Detailed, Up-to-the-Minute Analytics

With many types of marketing it's hard to get decent analytics and deduce what you're doing right and what could use improvement. With text marketing, by contrast, you should expect timely analytics on open rates and your redemption rate data can be be added to at the point of sale, as the transaction happens.

3. People Like the Simplicity of Text Marketing

If you send a coupon or offer by text message, there's no coupon to cut out or lose, and redeeming the offer is simple. People's lives are complex enough, and text marketing lets consumers take advantage of fun offers, contests, and polls with minimal hassle.

4. People Have Phones With Them Practically 24/7

People generally check their traditional postal mail once a day. Email accounts may be checked several times a day. But phones are in view with near constancy. When you use text marketing, you can be confident that your message will be received and probably read within seconds of arrival.

5. Opt-In Lets You Target Marketing Without Wasting Time or Money

When people opt in to your text marketing program, you can know you're sending your messages and special offers to a targeted, receptive audience. You won't waste time or money messaging people who are poor leads.

6. Text Marketing Is Environmentally Friendly

In 2012, there were $1,535 available in coupon savings for every person in the US, yet on average people only took advantage of $10.75 in coupon savings. That same year, coupon redemption volume dropped by 14.3%. That represents a lot of paper going to waste. When offers are sent by text, there's no clipping, and no searching through pockets or purses to locate coupons at the point of sale. Text marketing is much friendlier to the environment than printed offers.

7. Text Marketing Reaches Coveted Young Consumers

Close to one-third of adults prefer communicating by text message over phone calls, and the percentage is higher among younger adults. Texting is a way of life for Millennials, the up-and-coming consumer generation, so it's only natural that text marketing is a good fit with this demographic.

Text marketing makes sense across a range of industries. It's quick, simple, environmentally friendly, and you can collect analytics with the ease and accuracy needed to make the data useful. Whether you want to run a contest, send out a coupon code, or announce a sale, text marketing is a cost-effective, powerful way to reach consumers on a device that most have within arm's reach at all times.

Millennials, the generation of consumers born between 1982 and 2004, are always connected, and prefer texting over talking for interpersonal communication.

Forty-three percent of Millennials believe texting is as meaningful as a voice conversation over the phone. This demographic takes texting seriously, and their message volume reflects that. From 2000 to 2010, the number of text messages sent every month in the US went from 14 billion to 188 billion, and the trend isn't subsiding. A 2010 Nielsen study found that 42% of teens say the main reason they even have a phone is for texting. Marketers should expect Millennials to love text messages as a medium, and have high expectations for its content. Want to make traction when text marketing to Millennials? Here are our top dos and don'ts.

DO: Understand Why They Text

Millennials love texting because it offers control. According to Neil Howe and William Strauss--the authors credited with coining the name for this generation--these are the babies welcomed into the world with Lamaze and attachment-parenting obsessiveness. As adults they welcome order. Texting allows them to participate when they want to, and not when they don't. That control more than makes up for the bit of extra time that responding to a text requires. It's asynchronous, and far less intrusive than a call that demands to be dealt with immediately. Texting is also preferred due to an element of privacy, because texts can't be overheard, and due to their relative permanence, since they are stored until archived or deleted.

DO: Enable (Instant) Interactivity

Mass text messaging makes inherent sense when dealing with Millennials, but you can't just start blasting out texts one after the other and expect positive results. Millennials' relationships with brands are far more interactive than their parents'. That two-way communication can take many forms. They may comment on a brand's social media posts, or interact with brands via mass text messaging campaigns. But they are used to having a two-way relationship with the brands they love.

They're also impatient. If they respond to a mass text message, they won't wait long for a response. They want their coupon code or contest entry right then. So when engaging with Millennials by mass text messaging, it pays to be interactive and quick. Don't set this demographic up for a wait; they won't like it...and they won't be quiet about that displeasure!

DON'T: Water Down the Message

Millennials are used to byte-sized messages and getting news through a Twitter feed, but that doesn't mean you have to water down your message. Millennials are expected to become the most educated American generation. Older adults may be puzzled as to why their carefully composed text messages to their kids only get "k" as a response. It's not because the younger folks aren't taking it in, they've simply perfected their personal ROI on response length. Their expectations for you will be similarly high: be brief, but don't dumb it down.

DON'T: Send a Constant Stream of Texts

It may take a bit of benchmarking and statistic collecting, but most brands eventually find a sweet spot in terms of frequency of mass text messaging and response rate for Millennials. Much depends on the immediacy of the topic (a club contest that starts tomorrow vs. a sale that starts next week), but there must also be a clear purpose to the message. A steady drumbeat of irrelevant texts designed to keep a brand in the Millennial's mind will be ignored.

DO: Remind Millennials Via Text

With Millennials, mass text messaging works. Today's young adults are used to sending and receiving texts, and are used to text reminders and promotions. A study of 800 community college students by the University of Virginia and the University of Pittsburgh found that students who were sent text message reminders to reapply for student aid were more likely to reapply than those who were not sent text reminders. A survey by Millennial advocacy group Generation Opportunity found that 58% of respondents said they would be more likely to vote if they were sent a text reminder to do so. So if Millennials are your target demographic, mass text messaging could be the key to effectively engaging them as customers.

Vapor Communications, a company that transmits aromas via text message, has failed to meet its $150,000 crowdfunding goal on Indiegogo – but is promising to press on with the money it did raise. 

The technology was partly invented by Harvard University professor David Edwards. It has thus far raised close to 30% of its goal, with 176 backers pledging $47,000 to the project. Despite falling well short of their target, Vapor Communications will continue to work towards a viable commercial version of the technology. Plans are afoot to move their office from Paris to Cambridge later this year, and a company statement said:

“We expect that the evolution of the product over the coming months will increasingly attract the interest of consumers.”

Vapor Communications was founded last September as a way to bring Edwards’ oPhone hardware to market. The oPhone comes with small ‘scent cartridges’ that communicate with an app on the iPhone. Pre-sales were strong, with the $149 retail price seeming just right to enthusiastic food bloggers and others with an interest in sharing scents.

But critics suggest that this need to buy extra hardware is an impediment to success. In a world governed by cloud-based data and in-built apps, the less physical stuff you need to accumulate, the better. The vast majority of smartphone experiences require nothing more than a download, which makes apps like oPhone and oSnap a hard sell.

Nevertheless, the developers’ aims are laudable. It’s true that a huge part of our eating experiences are influenced by aroma, and that there is plenty of interest in communicating smells in the same way audiovisual content is shared. Whether that interest extends beyond those in the food industry to the consumers they serve remains to be seen. If and when then happens, the oPhone will be well placed to meet the demand. For now, lovers of madcap tech concepts can only hope Vapor Communications continues to grow in it’s new UK home. 

As student activities go, binge drinking and text messaging are two perennial favorites. Now, a group of researchers have figured out a way to use the latter to combat the former.

A recent study conducted by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine suggests data collected and support offered via text message can reduce future instances of binge-drinking in young adults.

Lead researcher Brian Suffoletto, M.D. and his team designed the trial and won funding from the Emergency Medicine Foundation (EMF). The research – which is the first of its kind – aimed to see if SMS messaging  could collect data on college drinking habits, deliver feedback and ultimately change drinking behavior in young adults. The findings are due to be published in August in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.

According to Dr. Suffoletto, more than 50,000 adults between 18 and 24 arrive at emergency rooms on a daily basis in the United States, all seeking treatment for alcohol related problems. The research team performed a randomized trial of an SMS program with 765 young adults who were discharged from four emergency departments in Pennsylvania.

Participants were divided into three groups. One group received a series of automated text messages each week, asking them about their drinking plans for the weekend. A follow-up report compares their actual consumption. If the group anticipated having more than five drinks during a 24 hour period, participants received a warning text and a request to lower alcohol consumption during the week. Those who agreed received positive reinforcement and strategies for cutting down; those who refused to lower their consumption received a text message asking them to reflect on their decision.

A second group received a text query about total alcohol intake, but did not receive any pre-weekend messages or post-weekend feedback. The third group was a control group, and did not receive any text messages.

At the three month stage, participants who were exposed to the text message encouragement had decreased their drinking by 1-2 occasions each month (from a baseline of 3-4). Nearly 15% of the intervention group reported complete abstinence.

Researchers speculate that frequent text messages raised self-awareness about alcohol use. This sort of ‘mobile intervention’ could, if implemented in emergency departments across the country, not only curb teen drinking, but alleviate the daily burden placed on hospitals because of alcohol poisoning and other alcohol-related admissions.

It may come as a surprise in such a youth-oriented market, but the fastest growing demographic for mobile usage is 45-64, says a recent Nielsen Company report. Mobile marketers must stay alert to this audience if they want to maximize their reach.

The study also indicated an increasing preference for social media among the same demographic. Other research has thrown up similar findings. Baby boomers are now the main growth drivers for Facebook and Twitter. But are mobile marketers appealing to this audience? If not, how can they start developing a strategy that speaks to middle-aged users?

The answer could lie in SMS messaging. Middle-aged users are already an experienced demographic when it comes to texting, and with more and more users buying smartphones, integrating your social media campaign with your text campaign has never been easier.

Used to the SMS interface, older, less tech-savvy users are much likelier to click a link contained within a text message than discover it from browsing online. Coupons, discounts, special offers – they can all be delivered via text, and you can encourage recipients to visit your site by linking directly from SMS. As ever, offering real value is the most effective way to attract business.

When devising a mobile marketing strategy for baby boomers, think about their specific needs. Healthcare products, vacation rentals, flights. The possibilities for targeting older consumers are endless.

One of the first decisions to make when developing a text marketing campaign is whether to use short codes or long codes. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, largely dependent on what type of business you have.

Long codes are attractive to small businesses with limited marketing budgets. Easy and affordable to set up, long codes allow for multiple messages to be sent internationally from one number. For companies outside the United States who need to watch every penny, the long code is an understandably appealing option.

Trouble is, this ease of use can spell disaster when used for commercial purposes. Using long codes over a U.S. carrier network is actually illegal, and organizations that send unsolicited messages to consumers violate the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM Act). A number of companies are currently facing litigation for such violations.

Legal ramifications notwithstanding, the marketing benefits of long codes are questionable. For one thing, they don’t support videos or pictures and there are severe restrictions on the number of messages that can be sent per second. The bottom line is, long codes are intended for communication between individuals, not businesses and consumers.

Which brings us to short codes. Yes, they can take weeks to be vetted, and they are undoubtedly expensive (with monthly costs averaging around $500), but that’s the price of an effective, legitimate service. The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) have implemented rules to protect consumers, namely an obligation to gain permission from each recipient before sending a text message.

Instead of viewing this regulation as inconvenient red tape, look at it from the consumer’s point of view – they don’t want to be hassled with unsolicited commercial messages. Why do something that alienates people from your business? Gaining explicit permission will vastly improve your relationship with users – not to mention keeping you within the bounds of the law!

From a purely marketing perspective, short codes are more memorable, and allow you to send thousands of messages in a second. They can also be used for handling payment services, which will save your business resources in the long run.

Customers prefer them. So do law courts. So do commercial enterprises with an eye for the long-term strategy. With few exceptions, the legitimate, accountable business uses short codes.

When devising a text marketing strategy, it makes sense to study successful campaigns pulled off by other companies. Not every tactic will be appropriate for your industry or business, but at least you’ll get an understanding of what works. Let’s take a rundown of our favorite SMS and mobile campaigns from recent years…

McDonalds

The fast food behemoth recently launched a ‘Merry Xmas in the Restaurant’ sweepstakes in Italian outlets. Customers could enter the competition while in a restaurant, and stood to win instant prizes. A classic use of short codes printed on packaging, prizes ranged from free mobile content to free burgers. Within five weeks, a million and a half people had participated in the event.

Heineken

In 2011, Heineken introduced a ‘dual screen’ app that allowed fans to interact during soccer games. Predicting outcomes of set pieces and scorelines, trivia questions about teams - StarPlayer awarded points for them all. They even skirted the tricky issue of fans simply looking up trivia answers online by awarding more points for fast answers. The competitive element of the app ensured it was shared across social media, and Heineken gained huge exposure as a result.

Planet Hollywood

The Las Vegas hotel and casino ran an SMS campaign offering prizes to people who opted in to receive messages and upgraded to an A-List Player’s Club  membership. Prizes included free game credits on the floor. The campaign increased membership by 13%.

Kraft

The food company offered new mobile signups a free sample of instant coffee. The campaign resulted in 400,000 requests for samples, and more than 80,000 mobile message opt-in offers.

Adidas

When Adidas launched their Adizero F50 soccer boots, they had all the components of a winning marketing campaign. Top Argentine footballer Lionel Messi was the face of the promotion, and Penn Station in NYC was to form the centerpiece of a dramatic light show. In order to spread the word, Adidas targeted all mobile users within a 3-mile radius of Penn Station during the run-up to the light show. Their ad linked to a promo video describing the event’s location and time. By using an element of mystery, a free show and a famous face, Adidas attracted thousands of spectators to Penn Station.

Arby’s

In 2012, Arby’s used SMS as part of a campaign to raise awareness about global childhood hunger. They partnered with the ‘No Kid Hungry’ campaign, and encouraged users to opt in to their mobile contact list – all while promoting a good cause.

Text marketing really works for these huge brands – and it can work for you too. Get inspired by these success stories, and start your SMS marketing campaign now!

Mobile marketing relies on creating robust strategies for multiple channels. The key areas for any winning mobile marketing strategy are social media, SMS messaging and email. If you’re developing three entirely separate campaigns for each, you need to rethink your approach.

To create a successful, holistic campaign, you need to foster a ‘cross channel synergy’ between each channel. If, for example, you have an email contact list, encourage those who usually only use email to visit your Facebook page, where you can offer a freebie to people who opt in to your SMS list. This ‘feedback loop’ maximizes engagement with your customers – but it has to be done right. To wit, an important message to understand:

Don’t Ignore Email

As mobile marketing tactics begin to focus more on texting, a lot of businesses are beginning to forget about email, regarding it as a relic from a bygone era. This would be a mistake. The many, varied reasons belong in another post – in fact, here’s just such a thing all about the value of email. Above all, think about how often you check your email. Yes, much of what comes into your inbox is spam filtered, deleted, or ignored, but the fact remains, nearly everybody has an email account – smartphones haven’t quite achieved that level of penetration.

Now we’ve established that email is far from over, how can you integrate it with your social media and SMS campaigns? Here’s three top tips for getting the most out of your integrated campaign:

• Provide incentive. If you want people to connect with you on social networks, you need to offer them something of value. Before asking people to share a link or visit your website, ask yourself, what’s in it for them? An easy way to do this is by incentivizing Facebook ‘likes’ by offering a discount to anyone who gives the thumbs up to your page.
• Get people Retweeting. Highlight a particular tweet in your emails, and embed a ‘Retweet This’ snippet that makes it easy for people to share.
• Provide an opt-in form. Facebook allows you to add an email sign-up form as one of your apps. Use it! Your Facebook followers will soon be asking you to send them emails with special offers.

In mobile circles, it’s well known that more than nine out of ten text messages are opened and read within minutes of receipt. Numerous studies have corroborated this impressive claim, and yet a number of businesses are still to catch on to the potential benefits of a mobile campaign.

The reasons for this vary. In some cases, businesses simply don’t want to try anything new, whether out of fear or corporate apathy. As in life, people tend to stick to what they know – especially if they are older and more set in their ways.

And yet, there are so many advantages to mobile marketing – when compared with other forms of advertising – that it to ignore it could be putting the future health of your company in serious danger. Here are five reasons mobile should be an essential, central part of your overall a strategy:

1. It’s fast. A text message can be created, delivered, and read much faster than any other form of marketing. Look at the best Twitter and text campaigns to find out how to create engaging content in less than 160 characters, and remember, when it comes to delivering a punchy, memorable brand message, brevity and levity are your friends. Text has both.
2. It’s cheap. For a small business, the affordability of SMS is one of the chief appeals. Compared with billboards or radio and television advertising, a text campaign gives you a big reach at a fraction of the cost. 
3. It’s trackable. Keeping an eye on the success of your campaigns will help you figure out where to focus future budgets. With texting, it’s a whole lot easier to track metrics and create a detailed analysis of each campaign’s performance.
4. It’s direct. Emails are checked once or twice a day at most, and the majority of commercial missives are filtered in one way or another. Text, on the other hand, is a frequently-checked medium, with many users looking at a message as soon as it has arrived.
5. It’s interactive. Engaging customers is so easy with SMS. Surveys, polls and questionnaires can be sent to thousands of people at the touch of a button. Not only will texting encourage people to visit your social media pages and website, it can provide your business with crucial data on personal preferences and spending habits.

If you’re embarking on a new mobile strategy for 2014, it pays to look around at success stories from the world of mobile marketing to see how it’s done. Here, we take a look at three of the most successful mobile marketing campaigns ever conducted!

American Express, Foursquare and Austin,TX

In the summer of 2010, Foursquare and American Express teamed up to devise a mobile marketing strategy that would promote customer loyalty for local businesses. The results were launched in Austin during the Spring of 2011. Some 60 local businesses offered Foursquare users a ‘spend $5, save $5’ reciprocal deal – provided they completed the transaction using an AmEx card. This ‘Loyalty Special’ sent push notifications to participants, informing them that they had successfully redeemed the offer. The beauty of this campaign was the seamlessness of the user experience: the special offer happened at exactly the same time as the sale, without the need for further action, effectively closing the loop between consumers’ online and offline behavior.

Aer Lingus

Irish airline Aer Lingus used to rely solely on emails to inform passengers of any flight delays or cancellations. This was far from perfect, only reaching around 10% of passengers. The carrier’s solution? SMS. Within a month of implementing an SMS communication program, Aer Lingus successfully informed 75% of passengers of a problem with a flight, and have since largely avoided shelling out compensation and fielding tricky complaints. This is a classic example of an indirect mobile marketing solution that worked its magic by improving customer service. Word-of-mouth did the rest.

Orange

A great example of a long-running mobile marketing strategy that’s had consistently high results is the partnership between UK cinemas and communications company Orange. Launched in 2003, ‘Orange Wednesdays’ offers 2-for-1 movie tickets to all customers, every single Wednesday. According to research conducted in 2010, Orange had issued 23.5 million freebies to date. Many customers took advantage of the scheme multiple times, and Orange claims to have generated another three million annual ticket sales for movie theaters. The campaign has been an undisputed success, taking Wednesday attendance figures from the lowest to the highest in a few short years.

So take a leaf out of some of these books when you come to devise a mobile strategy. If you offer something of value, get it to the right audience, and improve your customer service using text message technology, there’s not limit to what you can achieve.

Businesses of all stripes have found ways to make use of SMS messaging as part of their marketing tactics. Compared with more traditional channels (such as television or radio advertising) texting is affordable and easy to implement. Little wonder it’s such an attractive proposition – especially for small and medium sized businesses.

Equally, other forms of mobile-based outreach are taking hold as a primary form of marketing. A growing number of people own smartphones. Companies can now engage with consumers using sophisticated technologies like geo-targeting. Done right, such tactics are to the mutual benefit of businesses and customers.

But along with this boom in all forms of mobile marketing comes a raft of new responsibilities. Chief among them is the necessity for protecting consumer data. Businesses must now consider the impact that targeted, personalized advertising may have on ethical issues such as confidentiality and privacy. As exciting as the possibilities of data collection and geo-location are, they demand a whole new level of corporate self-regulation.

Clearly, to get the most out of many mobile services, consumers must surrender a certain degree of privacy. In the case of geo-targeting, businesses demand access to GPS locations in order to provide the service. The upshot it they have to be transparent and honest about the way in which they plan to use personal data.

Legislation has already evolved to deal with text marketing. New FCC regulations were implemented on October 16, 2013. Under the new rules, customers have to opt-in before a company can send text messages to them. By opting in, they have provided ‘express consent’ to be a recipient of corporate communications. Some of the obligations companies are bound by include:

• Giving a clear description of the nature of the text programProviding the name of the company
• Providing clear instructions on opting out
• Giving an indication of the likely frequency of text messages
• Giving an explanation of any additional carrier costs 

The federal government has considered introducing legislation to further protect consumer data privacy for mobile users. Some steps have been made at the local level - notably Senator Al Franken’s endorsement of the Location Privacy Protection Act in 2011, which would require businesses to obtain express consent before collecting or sharing data. The Senate has given the legislation the nod, but Congress has yet to deal with it.

Currently, the onus falls on companies themselves, so it’s vital that consumers are alert to the integrity of brands with whom they do business. As far as companies go, the existing situation provides a platform to build strong, personal, long-term relationships that are based on mutual trust. Do this, and you will develop true brand loyalty – without the need for ethical practices to be imposed by law from above.

Despite the aggressive onward march of smartphone penetration in the developed world, the vast majority of people on earth are still not connected to the web at all, let alone through a sophisticated handheld device. That situation is unlikely to change any time soon.

Bridging the gap is good old-fashioned cellular technology, which is becoming more widely available in some of the more impoverished reaches of the globe. In Chikwawa, Malawi, a text message-based nutritional monitoring program was introduced in September 2012. In the intervening months, it has forwarded crucial data on children’s health to a central hospital in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe – and undoubtedly saved lives in the process.

Once a week, the mothers of Chikwawa – some 250 of them – bring their under-fives for a check up. A health worker logs their weigh, height, arm circumference and age, before sending the information by a text beginning with GM (for growth monitoring). Within minutes, the health worker receives a reply from the capital, determining whether or not the child is malnourished and needs further medical attention.

Growth Monitoring does not, in itself, identify the root causes of malnutrition, but it does expedite treatment for the most at-risk children, allowing district hospitals to get supplements to the needy. Supplements like PlumpyNut, which was developed to treat severe acute malnutrition at home. This in turn lightens the intense burden placed on the health system by eliminating the need for hospital stays. In a country with one doctor for every 44,000, measures like this are genuinely life-saving.

According to UNICEF, two in 25 children die in Malawi before reaching their fifth birthday, with at least a third of these fatalities attributed to malnutrition. Across the country, 17% of children under five are underweight, and 47% are stunted. The effects of stunted growth cannot be underestimated; where physical growth is stunted, so too is economic growth, and the effects of stunting can be passed onto the next generation, potentially hindering the country’s development for decades to come.

Before the SMS program was introduced, paper notebooks were mailed to the capital. The process could take up to a year, by which time the most at-risk children would have seriously declined – or worse. Furthermore, a study found that more than 14% of handwritten data was illegible – not an issue when it comes to texting.

Similar SMS-based initiatives have been used to great effect in other parts of the world. Some track diseases, other hold corrupt governments to account. UNICEF and other organizations are overcoming previously insurmountable problems across the developed world – and it’s all being achieved via the power of text.

Geo-targeting or location-based marketing has fast become one of the most powerful tools at the disposal of retailers. This exciting new technology allows businesses to engage with consumers as soon as they – or to be more precise, their smartphone - enters a geo-fenced area close to a store or restaurant.

In the short time it has been available geo-targeting has proved immensely successful, with 58% of major brands employing some version of geo-location strategies during the first quarter of 2013.

Joe Public loves geo-targeting because it sends them relevant in-store offers only when they can actually use them. Businesses are finding increasingly sophisticated ways to use the technology. Some have begun using micro location-based techniques, whereby customers download an app to receive personalized offers as soon as they set foot in the store.

The benefits are patently obvious, and yet not all businesses suitable for geo-targeting have taken advantage. The technology is complex, and beyond the capacity of many small businesses. But there are a variety of ways to use geo-targeting, some of which are easier to implement than others.

One of the most attractive methods to marketers who don’t want to deal with privacy and legal issues is IP targeting, which identifies users based solely on IP address. There is no opt-in required, since the individual is not personally targeted, just the ISP infrastructure of which they are a part. Similarly, cookies provide a broad brush stroke version of geo-location, though they are notoriously inaccurate, being logged in one location before the user moves somewhere else. WiFi triangulation works in the same way, locating users MAC addresses and nearby wireless hotspots.

All of these geo-targeting methodologies have their perks, chief among them the fact that businesses don’t need to seek consent from their audience. To really get the most out of geo-targeting, however, you need to choose a more effective, precise and, yes, consent-based strategy. Location-as-a-service (LaaS) is a cloud based solution, triangulating users locations using mobile phone towers. Laas requires recipients to opt in, as do location-based proximity networks, which provide one of the most accurate forms of geo-targeting there is, capable of locating users within 200-900 feet of the point of sale. Location-based proximity networks are usually favored by malls and large department stores.

For the average retailer, GPS-powered geo-targeting is by far the best option, providing precision data to within a few feet of the mobile device. In most cases, persuading customers to opt-in to receive location-based offers and discounts via GPS is going to generate the biggest ROI. The only tricky part is convincing customers of the usefulness of the technology, whilst reassuring them that their data will not be used for any other purpose.

Staying compliant with anti spam laws isn’t easy. Even if you’re a stringent i-dotting, t-crossing bureaucrat, existing legislation is complex and, due to the fast rate of technological evolution, always subject to change. 

As tough as it is for marketers, it’s twice as bad for lawmakers, who must keep pace with a rapidly-shifting digital landscape from the context of traditional legal infrastructures (where change is typically glacial). Our capacity to pass new laws remains hobbled by a post-enlightenment attitude of checks and balances, where legal stability demanded slow, steady progress.

In the pre-globalisation era of unilateral regulation, this approach to corporate law made perfect sense. In the Internet Age, it makes virtually none. Legislative bodies all over the world are ill-equipped to tackle the borderless, international context of e-commerce. 

So it is with great interest that the global community awaits the upcoming introduction of Canada’s Anti-Spam Law (CASL). It will take effect incrementally starting on July 1, 2014. Parts of the law will not take effect until July 2017.

The principal aim of the Canadian legislation is to clarify many of the grey areas that have dogged previous anti-spam measures. Consistent with new global practices for commercial email, the guiding principal here is “explicit consent”. Historically, implied consent was regarded as sufficient. The main requirements of CASL are as follows:

• Permission. Now, granting permission to communicate with potential customers requires explicit permission – although there are some exceptions, such as pre-existing business relationships.
• Private right of action. From the consumer’s point of view, this is one of the most important bits of legislation. Individuals can now bring a lawsuit against companies that breach the law; they have the right to apply for compensation. This piece of legislation will not take effect until 2017.
• Three year grace period for consent. Designed to streamline the legal process by preventing frivolous lawsuits, the grace period implies consent for three years, but requires explicit consent thereafter.
• Recorded proof of consent. Businesses must offer a clear unsubscribe option. They must also keep records of consent granted.

The legislation is of major significance for lawmakers across the world. It unites two existing strands of Canadian law relating to privacy and telecommunications. Up until now, the legal infrastructure has lacked a comprehensive framework for online commercial transactions and web marketing practices.

Compared with other G8 countries, Canada’s legislation is the harshest of its kind. The most radical elements of CASL are the extra-territorial limits placed on web communications, which will mean any electronic message sent from a Canadian IP address will be subject to the law, irrespective of its destination. The first legislation of its kind in the West, CASL does not limit its jurisdiction to fraudulent or deceitful messages – it applies to any commercial message issued without the recipient’s prior consent, effectively sounding the death knell for spam.

It remains to be seen whether other countries will adopt similar legislation. Some analysts believe the United States will wait to see how CASL plays out before changing their existing laws (known as CAN-SPAM). The crucial difference between CASL and CAN-SPAM is that the latter still works according to the opt-out method, whereby businesses have implied consent to communicate until recipients unsubscribe from the contact list. It is this single change of approach that threatens to forever change the way online marketing is conducted.

If mobile marketers can bring anything to the table, it is their experience in terms of adapting – and in some ways spearheading – the era of opt-in communications. Text marketers in the US were far ahead of the curve in this regard, and were well-primed for their own industry’s tightened regulations, which came about as part of last year’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

The lesson to be learned from the way that particular transition was handled is that invention really is mothered by necessity. Mobile marketers were more than ready for the change in legislation. Web marketing enterprises across Canada will be hoping to emulate the US mobile industry when the first raft of CASL changes are introduced this year.