Archive for the ‘mobile advertising’ Category

Sometimes, you just never know where an advertisement for 84444.com will pop up.  While on my way home from the Jersey Shore this weekend, I saw this outdoor advertisement on I-95 southbound near the Ridley Park, Pennsylvania exit and the entrance to Route 476 North.

84444.com advertisement outdoor

Local retailers to drive mobile advertising.

Mobile ad spending in the USA is expected to grow to $4 billion in 2015.  That is up from just $790 million in 2010, according to the latest forecast by BIA/Kelsey.

One of the key drivers of that growth will be local mobile advertising.  These are Mom and Pop stores that are just getting into the act with text message marketing, mobile web sites, and apps development.  By 2015, local mobile advertising will be $2.8 billion, or 70% of the total mobile ad pie.

Most local restaurants and businesses simply don’t know that mobile advertising is so cheap with the most important aspect of local mobile being text message advertising.  But, once local advertisers try it, they continue using it.

Sell more pizza with text message marketing.

Pizza is big business and small pizza businesses are hoping to get a bigger slice of the pie with text message marketing.

There are nearly 65,000 pizzerias in the USA.  Of those, the top 50 chains make up 42% of the pizza stores and 48% of the overall industry sales.  That leaves a lot of room for small single shop pizzerias to make a significant impact on the industry.  Unlike other industries where the super-stores have taken over and made it difficult for entrepreneurs to compete, pizza shops are of a different flavor.

But, what is the secret sauce for increasing sales at pizza shops?

Certainly, the large chains have discovered that mobile marketing is one way to help sales mushroom.  Little Caesar’s, Papa John’s and Domino’s have used text message marketing to offer mobile coupons to drive pizza sales in this sluggish economy. Papa John’s went one step further and developed an iPhone app to entice its fans to order any item from its menu via the app.

And, Americans are eating it up.  $38 billion worth of pizza were sold in 2009–52% by small pizza restaurant providers.

Many of those pizzas are now being sold with the help of a special topping–text message marketing.  The US pizza industry spent $545 million on advertising last year and an increasing part of that advertising investment is going to text message marketing.

Savvy pizzeria owners like Main Line Pizza in Wayne, Pennsylvania are jumping on the mobile marketing bandwagon.  Main Line Pizza encourages its customers to text MLPIZZA to 84444 to get the special offer of the week.  Advertisements are on its pizza boxes, on the door to its restaurant, and even on the local Little League field outfield fence.

Main Line Pizza, like many other privately-owned pizza restaurants, maintains a database of its customers who have sent a text message to its short code offer.  Then, Main Line Pizza sends special offers via broadcast text message to its database.  Its a great way to keep Main Line front of mind and a great time to reach Wayne, Pennsylvania pizza fans when they are most likely to buy: just before lunch or dinner or during a big game like the upcoming Super Bowl.

Sounds like a winning game plan.

Blog site Mobile Marketer quoted Advanced Mobile Solutionsin its article about Buick’s mobile marketing campaign.  Advanced Mobile has had tremendous success with its Cars To Go mobile marketing solution for auto dealers.

Buick has learned the importance of mobile marketing for its brand.

Merry TXmas from 84444.com

Drive more customers to your store this year with text message marketing solutions from Advanced Telecom Services and 84444.com. Merry TXmas.

Or, should we say: 62% of retailer are still NOT using mobile marketing.

Retailers are learning mobile sells.

According to a study from Aberdeen, only 18% of retailers were using mobile at the end of 2008.  Since then, however, the increase in the use of smartphones and improvements to other mobile technology has increased a retailer’s excitement for mobile.

The study surveyed 129 retailers this summer to find that 38% are using mobile.  Another 50% are not far behind, said the study, and do plan to use mobile marketing some day.  15% said they would employ mobile within the next year.

Retailers are anxious to begin to employ mobile for merchandise promotions, mobile coupons, mobile advertising, and retail loyalty programs.  Of course, at the core of any mobile program is text message marketing.

And, with Black Friday on us, what could be a better blog post than one that discussed mobile marketing for retailers?

Many politicians employed text message advertising during the recent sweeping Republican victories in the 2010 elections.

Texting is gaining popularity in part because its often the only way to reach the voter, especially the younger voter, as more and more Americans ditch their landline phones in exchange for becoming cell phone only households.

“Texts are great, because there’s a really high open rate for those,” said US Senate candidate Robin Carnahan.  Like many candidates, Carnahan hoped to capitalize on the success of the Barack Obama campaign that helped launch the Illinois senator to the presidency just two years ago.

Mobile marketing has never been hotter than during 2010, but it won’t hit $1 billion in sales until next year.

So, if you think mobile has been hot in 2010, I’ll bet you can’t wait for 2011.

Mobile advertising spend is up $416 million in 2010 versus 2009–a whopping 79% gain.  Next year, a similar increase will bring the mobile advertising industry to in excess of $1.1 billion, according to a study by eMarketer (Sep 2010).

Text message advertising remains the top producer this year, estimated to be a $327 million industry.

Restaurants are one of the best vertical markets for the use of mobile marketing via text message.  84444.com has enjoyed many successes with restaurants and many savvy restaurant marketers are investing the time to generate more visits and more return visits via text message promotions.

Text Message Promotions for Restaurants

Where Restaurants Can Promote Text Message Mobile Marketing

Just like in any market, getting a database of restaurant patrons is the key to an effective mobile marketing plan.  Here are just some of the places that our restaurant customers are using to promote their text message marketing.

1. Along with all traditional advertising in newspaper, radio, and billboards.
2. Outdoor signage in prominent locations.
3. On the backs of t-shirts of the wait staff.
4. Can’t do t-shirts?  What about buttons?
5. On take out menus.
6. On pizza boxes or bags for take out.
7. On pens and other promotional products.
8. If you have a DJ, get patrons to interact by choosing the next song or sending a shout out.
9. Promote on receipts.
10. Business cards.
11. Give away cards.
12. Have the hostess take phone numbers and text them when the table is ready.  There’s no need for pagers any more.
13. On TVs at the bar.
14. On coasters.
15. Napkins.
16. Place mats.
17. In the bathrooms (enter joke here).
18. On the telephone on hold system.
19. Get the phone number when they make a reservation.

Interactive Text Message Promotions at Restaurants

Get your restaurant customers involved with an interactive text message program and they will opt-in to your database so that you can send them broadcast text message promotions in the future.

1. When delivering the check, add text message promotion to get a free appetizer or desert on their next visit.
2. Get them back quickly.  Put a text message promotion on the check to get a discount if they come back within a week or on a slow night.
3. Add free mobile coupon offer in all traditional advertisements.
4. If you have outdoor advertising on the highway, use an interactive text message promotion to send directions to the restaurant.
5. Text message sweepstakes usually produce the greatest amount of participants.  Have your restaurant offer tickets to a sporting event or concert, sponsored by the restaurant.  It’s the single best way to grow your database of opt-in users.
6. Prior to the start of the NFL or MLB season, offer a chance for fantasy football or fantasy baseball players to host their draft at the restaurant with special offers for them.  A fantasy draft takes several hours so you can sell a lot of drinks in that time.
7. During the big game, have some fun with the audience by giving them a chance to predict who will score the next touchdown or the next basket.  Give prizes to those with the correct answer.
8. Send picture of food to get a response message.
9. Send a text message to get a message back with the menu or the specials.
10. Return with an app download for the restaurant that includes the menu and mobile coupon.

Restaurant Broadcast Text Messages

1. Get traffic to your restaurant on slow days with a broadcast text message offer.
2. Invite your opt-in database to the restaurant to a special Monday Night Football party or to watch the local big game on TV.
3. Notify your database when there is a celebrity in the house and watch the traffic come through the door of your restaurant.
4. Send reservation reminders.
5. Let your restaurant customers know when you are having live music.
6. If you added menu items, let them know by broadcast text message.
7. On the holidays, invite your database to the restaurant.

Parents with children in the household are the best target markets for mobile coupons, according to a new study by Harris Interactive.

Moms love mobile coupons.

Mobile phone owners with children under the age of 6 were the most receptive with 35% being at least somewhat interested in receiving opt-in text alerts about new products, sales, or promotions.  Those with children age 6-17 had a 32% chance of desiring opt-in messages from text message promotions.  Of those without children, only 25% showed such interest.

When it comes to mobile coupons, adults with young children showed double the interest of those with no children (36% versus 18%) in having signed up to receive mobile coupons.  Women show slightly more interest than men.