Wealthier, Higher Educated People Are More Likely to Own An IPhone

Caitlyn Foster    Cell Phone, Technology, Cell Phones, Uncategorized     Android, iphone, ownership

A May 2013 Princeton Research Associates survey showed the demographic differences between IPhone and Android owners. According to the study, the biggest demographic differences between IPhone and Android owners involve income and education. Compared to Android owners, people who own an IPhone are more likely to have an income of $150,000+ and to have graduated from college+.  In addition, the survey showed differences in age, gender and race.

A May 2013 survey shows the demographic differences between Android and IPhone users.

Cinnabon Utilizes QR Codes in Breast Cancer Fundraiser

Caitlyn Foster    Cool Stuff, Mobile Websites, QR Codes, Uncategorized     mobile websites, QR Codes

On Friday, May 17, Cinnabon, a nationwide bakery with over 800 locations, launched a mobile-based campaign entitled “Sweet Support.” The campaign uses the company’s mobile website and specialized QR codes to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research.  When in the bakery, customers are encouraged to donate using their smartphones by visiting the mobile URL, give.mobi/cinnabon, or by scanning one of the QR codes featured throughout the stores. Cinnabon is planning on matching the first $10,000 in donations.

Cinnabon’s QR codes that customers can scan to donate.

Customers can also visit Cinnabon’s mobile website to donate.

Kristen Hartman, the Vice-President of Marketing for Cinnabon, attributed the mobile marketing-focused campaign on the easy-accessibility and user-friendly aspects of the QR code and the mobile site for customers. She stated, “Consumers are increasingly accessing more and more information through their mobile phones. Knowing that our Cinnabon guests are often toting their phones and our delicious treats around the mall, we sought a donation process that was easy and user friendly.”

Cinnabon’s use of a custom QR code, instead of a traditional black and white QR code, was a smart move for the company. Custom QR codes have a 2.3x greater response rate than the ordinary black and white QR codes. In addition to a higher scan rate, the custom QR codes catch the attention of customers and provide another platform for Cinnabon to further brand the company. Overall, utilizing custom QR codes was a win-win for Cinnabon.

QR codes are a powerful tool for inviting customers to interact with your brand. There is great potential in the future of the QR code system. Currently, only 40% of the QR code is being used in scans, which allows for future expansion in the QR code system. For more information on custom QR codes and how to create a custom QR code for your brand, visit Advanced Telecom Services.

The Importance of Social Media Interaction with Mobile Marketing Campaigns

Bob Bentz    Uncategorized     Mobile Campaigns, Social Media

It’s increasingly important to plan and execute a mobile strategy that includes the implementation of the use of applicable social media channels to promote, support, and supplement the mobile program. If nobody knows to use their device to respond to a company’s investment of its efforts into a campaign, the results will be unsuccessful.

Agencies and brands should strive to work with mobile partners that understand the integration of the appropriate social elements into mobile marketing, whether it’s as basic as text messages and customized QR codes to direct a user to a mobile website or app, or to a device-fitting website or customized app itself, social media creates the path.

To make sure your brand remains relevant, consistent and exposed, it’s important to highlight four areas to your desired recipient, your customer:

*Promote-The targeted audience that needs to know about the mobile campaign will know about it.

*Engage-The targeted audience wants to know what’s in it for them; it must be a compelling experience.

*Interact-Mobile and social media channels are direct two-way communication with your audience, make sure you’re talking and they’re responding.

*Satisfy-Once they take part in a campaign; make the target group feel good about the whole experience start-to-finish.

Not all campaigns are alike, so the use of which social media channels to use and how often are unique to the desired intention.

The most populated channels include Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+, and YouTube, along with social/locale-based sites such as Yelp and FourSquare.

In addition, it’s critical that social media reaction to the mobile campaigns is monitored through a partner providing reputation management services, keeping a close eye on channels related to the business and/or industry of the brand for comments both positive and negative directed towards the client.

No mobile marketing/social media campaign is complete without leveraging the power of content. Information pertaining to customers is critical to sustaining the social media penetration. Updated content must be created and optimized to be found in online searches and to attract your audience.

Carrier Market Share USA

Bob Bentz    Uncategorized     carriers, market, mobile, share, Verizon

Verizon and AT&T continue to battle it out for dominance in the USA market with Verizon maintaining a slight lead.

Compare these stats to the mobile carrier market share from December, 2011 here.

Smartphone Owners Wealthier

Bob Bentz    Uncategorized    

It should be no surprise that smartphone owners tend to be wealthier,                                                                                     according to a study by Frank N. Magid Associates.

53% of smartphone users report having an income of more than $50,000 compared to the general population where $41,000 is the norm.  17% of smartphone users make a 6 figure income compared to just 12% of the population that has an income of $100,000 plus.

With smartphone sales continuing to surge, however, we would anticipate more lower income Americans to jump on the smartphone bandwagon.

New Mobile Billing Committee Gives Hope for USA

Bob Bentz    Uncategorized     billing, carriers, meeting, mobile, platform, usa

Mobile payments offer a tremendous opportunity for those of us in the telemedia business.  Giving consumers the ability to pay microbills through their mobile carrier would open up tremendous possibilities for both the industry and the consumer.

For mobile payments to meet these lofty goals, the US carriers will need to develop a level of cooperation and agreement on how the business should be run.

While there have been mobile billing options to date, all have fallen a bit short. Premium SMS has been beset by numerous audits and a poor payout return that have made it less effective than it might have been.  Other mobile billing options have appeared to have improved on the payment process and return, but often the problem is that all carriers do not choose to participate.  And, if all of the carriers are not participating, it makes for a tough sell.

One of the biggest frustrations that we face in the United States is the carriers apparent inability to set unified standards for the industry.  Take premium SMS, for example.  The Mobile Marketing Association gives us a guidelines book that is in excess of 2 inches wide!  Many of the pages are dedicated to differing standards set on everything from advertising to payout time periods.  It is, quite frankly, not a user friendly system.

There is hope on the horizon, however.  A newly formed group called the Mobile Payments Committee hopes to bring the big four carriers to the same bargaining table in an effort to put together a unified system for mobile payments.  In fact, Jackie Moran, of Verizon, has been selected to chair the committee.

Let’s hope that this group is able to put together rules and regulations that those of us in the industry will gladly follow in an attempt to have a unified and profitable mobile billing platform.

Half Of Cell Users Have Smartphones

Bob Bentz    Uncategorized    

Android’s Dominance Continues

Bob Bentz    Cell Phone, Technology, Uncategorized     Android, Google., share, smartphone

Android’s stranglehold on the USA smartphone market continues to increase.  Of American smartphone owners, over half now own an Android device.  A full 2/3 of all purchases of mobile phones made in the first two months of 2012 were smartphones.