Email list rentals are a great opportunity to get your message out to a targeted audience. But the concept doesn’t carry over well into marketing via SMS. Here’s some learnings from our past experiences:

• Quality of the opt-in list is critical. Only deal with a reputable source who maintains a list of fresh accounts that have been obtained through a double opt-in process.
• SMS provides an extremely limited number of characters to push a marketing message and effective call-to-action. If the action you want the consumer to take is too complex, SMS is not the right tactic for you.
• Be prepared for consumer complaints:
  • To some consumers, receiving a marketing message on the cell phone is an invasion of personal space.
  • Some consumers don’t remember ever opting in, and certainly didn’t opt-in to receive a message from your brand. Other consumers may have never opted-in because the cell number might have previously belonged to someone else.
  • Consumers not on a text messaging plan will get annoyed by getting charged for receiving the message.
  • Set the client’s expectation well in advance that some recipients will send angry/threatening messages to their customer service center. (We had a client freaking out about 60 complaints out of 250,000 consumers… yet never seemed to concerned about accusations of email spamming.)

In summary:

• Assess carefully whether an SMS tactic is appropriate for your call-to-action
• Take time to identify a reputable service provider. Ask your Linkedin connections for recommendations. Check references.
• Make sure you know how you’re going to measure success.
• Set expectations and be prepared to address negative feedback.

Please share your thoughts and tips. If you found this useful, please let me know.
Thank you.
-Roland

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• Work.com’s Newsletter about Google Applications and Services — The folks at work.com published several good introductions to get you familiar with Google Docs, Gmail for business, Google Local Business and more.
• Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) Issues Mobile Web Banner, Text Message Guidelines — And here are the guidelines (PDF).
• Top 10 Boomer Myths: Separating Fact from Fiction
• How-To: 10 Tips for Launching a Solid Podcast

I hope you find this useful. Please feel free to send me links to relevant articles.

Have a great week!
-Roland

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I started publishing the Mobile Chaos directory in November 2006. Like many sites, it was born out of personal frustration and necessity for links to high quality content designed for small device screens (aka “mobile friendly”).

During this time, I’ve had about 16,000 page views and 2,700 unique users, mostly repeat, primarily from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. 76% of my traffic is direct.

Those numbers might sound low to you. But to me, they’re awesome. It has been entirely a labor of love for me. (Find a need, fill a need.) So I totally appreciate that so many use it and come back regularly.

According to my statistics, links to news, travel and weather tend to be the most popular. My dedicated page of iPhone links has quickly worked it’s way up the list.

If you haven’t already, please bookmark “http://Mobile.Chaos365.com” in your smart phone /iPhone / wireless PDA.

Thank you!
-Roland

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Some key findings:

• Eight in ten adults now use a wireless phone.
• Six in ten teens now use a wireless phone.
• Sweepstakes and voting campaigns are the types of mobile marketing most participated in. (45%)
  The second most common type is receiving alerts about products, services, and accounts.
  The least common type (10%) is using mobile phones to receive and redeem coupons.
• The number of consumers who have experienced mobile marketing continues to grow. One out of 20 respondents had participated in mobile marketing. The highest participation is among respondents age 25-44.
• Teens and young adults use text messaging more than any other demographic. People ages 13-24 send and receive the most messages – more than 50 per week.
• Ethnic groups are key audiences for mobile marketing. For example, African-Americans and English-dominant Hispanics indicate stronger interest in mobile marketing than Caucasians.

The increased use of camera phones “dovetails perfectly with the coming cross-carrier interoperability of picture messaging via a short code. We expect to see some very innovative campaigns this coming year using picture phoning.”

Related Links:

• Mobile Phone Use Is Up, Interest in Mobile Marketing Isn’t Down
• Mobile Marketing Association

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I’m a fan of the crackling fireplace. When I was younger, the local New York television station (Ch 11) would play a 24-hour Yule Log with holiday music. When the station phased that out, I got a crackling fire VCR tape. (Still have it. I also have an aquarium tape which is quite calming.)

So it was inevitable that the magic could become portable. Check out iYule.tv.

I learned about this on episode #53 of Today In Podcasting. Here’s a good explanation of how the project got off the ground and who was pulled in to bring the idea to reality.

The result is:

• Clever
• Nostalgic
• Very reasonably priced
• Available in many video formats
• Features the excellent (DRM-free) music of Geoff Smith

They haven’t released any results yet, but it will be very interesting to see how this experiment performed. They may have a self-sufficient revenue source for years to come.

Whether you think it’s cheesy or brilliant, the message should be inspirational. Find a need. Fill a need.

Wish I had thought of it first.
-Roland

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During this time, I’ve had thousands of page views and over 500 unique users, primarily from North America, then Europe.

According to my statistics, links to news, travel and weather tend to be the most popular. I’d appreciate if you take this quick poll to tell me what type of content is most important to you.

If you haven’t already, please bookmark “http://Mobile.Chaos365.com” in your mobile phone / wireless PDA.

Thank you!
-Roland

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Mobile.Chaos365.com is a free directory of mobile friendly Web site URLs for people on the go. Web site URLs are included based on usefulness for mobile users.

Inclusion in the directory is based on quality, not quantity of links.

Please use the Mobile Friendly Web site Submission Form to review the requirements and send your recommendations.

Thank you.
Roland

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Based on real experience over multiple projects, I suggest the following:

• Get multiple project bids from mobile promotion providers and scrutinize the differences carefully.
• Decide whether a vanity short code is worth the extra cost, or will a random short code suffice? Vanity codes typically cost twice as much per month to rent. You can use either the numbers or the letter equivalents. Examples of useful vanity codes:
• Tie the vanity short code to an event date:
  “Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with us. Text FUN to 50505 for details.”
  (50505 = May 5th, 2005)
• Tie the vanity short code to a related topic:
  “Try Brand X Contact Lenses. Text TRY to MYEYE for free trial details.
• Short codes can be 5 or 6 letters or numbers long. You can lookup available short codes yourself. Or ask your provider if they maintain a portfolio of easy to remember short codes (e.g. “212121″) they’ve reserved for use.
• Test whatever you can. If you have consumers text a keyword to a short code, set up different keywords to appear in promotional messaging. For example:
• For TV spot: text TRY to 12345 to get your free trial of brand X.
• For print ad: text GET to 12345 to get your free trial of brand X.
• For outdoor: text GO to 12345 to get your free trial of brand X.
• Decide whether you will pay all the transmission charges (Mobile Originating “MO” and Mobile Terminated “MT”) or will the consumer possibly be charged? Clearly communicate that in your offer.
• Confirm that your promotion will work through all the major carriers. Some carriers might not permit downloads (e.g. ringtones, wallpapers) over their proprietary networks.
• Make sure you understand the reporting data you’ll get from the mobile provider.
• What specifically will the mobile provider give you access to?
• Is the data real-time?
• What data wont you get?
• What exactly does geographic reporting data represent? (The phone number’s area code is not useful considering that someone with a New York area code might have moved to Florida and kept the number.)
• If you are driving to a Web site for offer registration, consider the following:
• Be clear about whether you intend to contact consumers again via SMS to set their expectations. Get their opt-in consent for future contact.
• Make sure you have sufficient lead time. Promotions and offer details often need to be complete and submitted to various carriers for their formal review and approval. Allow time for that and a buffer in case you need to make some significant last minute change.
• Make sure opt-out messaging, process and policy are in place and reviewed by your legal counsel before a campaign begins.
• Find out what phone/carriers your clients use so you can make sure they will all work. Maybe collect them now under the impression that you are building a small group of exclusive testers prior to consumer launch.