tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33429590481557774952024-03-05T16:43:00.857-06:001 Minute MarketingInstant Ads, by Cybertoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01748230894360483837noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3342959048155777495.post-83015814556325892312012-08-10T06:20:00.000-05:002012-08-10T06:22:12.229-05:00How to Market a Restaurant<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4e2R1Dn6XZN5xDvAeiHnGLGZnW-T0g_x-9cDXi-e7KR15JMvDFzgxUihLCgfzzP9a9X86alXRzFpaXGWVzbx48Sm1RrpJ_8kFTWd9Q9mAX1GFfRsc_blbCpM9lZd3FwFevkr-9CAb7WSU/s1600/how-to-market-a-restaurant5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="how-to-market-a-restaurant" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4e2R1Dn6XZN5xDvAeiHnGLGZnW-T0g_x-9cDXi-e7KR15JMvDFzgxUihLCgfzzP9a9X86alXRzFpaXGWVzbx48Sm1RrpJ_8kFTWd9Q9mAX1GFfRsc_blbCpM9lZd3FwFevkr-9CAb7WSU/s200/how-to-market-a-restaurant5.jpg" title="How to Market a Restaurant" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How to Market a Restaurant</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
Filled Seats, Happy Customers</h3>
Happy customers are the lifeblood of a restaurant. Customers are fickle. The smallest of errors to the wrong person can mean disaster for the entire restaurant. Do everything in your power to make each customer happy, no matter how silly the issue. I'll talk more about customer relations in another article.<br />
Keep in mind the old statistic:<br />
<ul>
<li>1 happy customer tells 3 other people about his great experience. </li>
<li>1 unhappy customer tells 9 others about his bad experience.</li>
</ul>
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<h3>
How to Market a Restaurant</h3>
Regular advertising and marketing is great, and a great burden on your marketing budget. With Yellowpages, radio spots, television spots and newspaper ads your budget could be eaten well before summer.<br />
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These simple guerilla marketing techniques are designed to be very low cost. Most involve some sort of "elbow grease" by you and your staff. However, the payoff will be evident by your bottom line, the servers' total tips and more man hours worked by your staff.<br />
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Make is a point to constantly remind your employees: Everyone benefits by your success.<br />
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<ol>
<li><b>Signage-</b> This should be the largest allowed by law. Digital signage is great as you can quickly change your indoor and outdoor signage to whatever you want in 5 minutes. Outdoor signage is a great investment and will start in the $100,000 range, but indoor <a href="http://www.instantads.biz/digital-signage" target="_blank">digital signage</a> is just as important. <u>Indoor digital signage</u> is great for menu boards or announcements. I have a client with a lake restaurant who sells ad space on his indoor digital signage for $200 per month per 15 second advertisement! <u>After all costs, he told me he profited $27,000 extra that first year <i>after</i> paying off the digital signage costs.</u> Not bad for an add-on you don't have to think about but once per month!</li>
<li><b>Flyers-</b> Very under used medium. Your hyper local customers should be canvassed every month, using your slow times. I find canvassing the areas where your best customers live is a great way to draw in the clientele you want when you want. For instance, I have a great client with an all-you-can-eat pizzeria. He charges a very low price for great pizza, and makes up for it with their great wings and ice cream. Once he started finding out where his best clients lived, he was able to canvass those locations on slow days. Over time, this technique brought in a large following of like-minded families who had never heard of his pizzeria. New customers are great, and this technique was focused and profitable.</li>
<li><b>SMS Advertising-</b> The new guy on the block, with a whole bucket of potential! Using a <a href="http://www.instantads.biz/" target="_blank">great service provider</a>, create a club. The VIP Club or the Pizza Club or even call it the Pit Pass. Whatever the name, make sure your customers feel they are joining an exclusive club. Post a large amount of table tents, posters and such advertising your club. Make sure your servers are really pushing the text advertising. "Are you in about the newest text special today?" is a great script starter for your servers. Give discounts, free drinks, 50% of appetizers, etc to get them to join. (Hint: 90% of those joining will never leave!) Now, when you are having a slow day simply log into the website, type out a special offer, then submit. In an hour, people will start to show up! Be careful though, no more than 2 specials per week or you could risk your new honey hole. 1 special per week, targeted to 1 day is best. Maybe "Group day: Bring in 5 friends for lunch and get 2 free appetizers." Of course, with this method you are targeting the 5 friends, not the 1 VIP. Wash, rinse, repeat weekly!</li>
<li><b>Publicity Stunts-</b> Every restaurant has a signature dish. If your restaurant has the <a href="http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/2010/10/top_10_places_for_pie" target="_blank">best pie</a> in town, show it off! Buy cheap pies at the bakery and stage a "Pie Fight, sponsored by John's Eatery. We have the best pie in town!" This needs to be planned, but can keep you in your customers mind for a long, long time. The local radio stations, television station, newspapers, local websites should all be contacted and asked to participate. Make sure the police department is notified of the event and promote heavily on Twitter and Facebook. This type of publicity will go viral fast as everyone likes a good messy time!</li>
<li> <b>Customer Service-</b> I really should have put this at number one. Without a caring and compassionate staff, restaurants will go under fast. If your customers come once and are never seen again, you might have a hiring problem. Consistent hiring isn't a good thing, especially when your customers love to have a particular server. Customers love to see the same people and come back to your restaurant. They had a great time before, they expect a great time again. Ask your current customers what they want, what they like and what they don't like. The best restaurants I have ever been to have a "walking manager". This is a great looking, personable representative who walks around and "touches" each table. If there is an open seat, he/she joins them for a minute or two just enough time to make sure their meal was outstanding and resolving any issues before they become permanent. </li>
<li><b>Promotions-</b> Promotions can be huge...or a bust. Many corporate restaurants market their promotions for every day. I just don't see it that way. A promotion is meant to get people to come to an event hosted by your restaurant, not your restaurant as a rule. If you really want to grow your weekday lunch sales, promoting your restaurant to the business community is the way to go. Landing a <a href="http://www.bni.com/" target="_blank">Business Networking International</a>, <a href="http://www.redhatsociety.com/" target="_blank">Redhat Society</a>, <a href="http://www.elks.org/" target="_blank">Elks Lodge</a>, <a href="http://freenetworkinginternational.com/" target="_blank">Free Networking International</a>, etc group to come to your restaurant every week can make your restaurant an indispensable hub of activity. But to really knock your bottom line out of the park, start hosting "Dinner Theater", "Wine & Cheese Tasting", or other family friendly destinations. As a parent, I know there just isn't much out there for us old folks anymore and I'm bored of movies, bars, etc. Dinner Theater is a great addition and can be coordinated to work with the local high school or college. This means your actors bills are FREE!</li>
<li><b>Website/Email/Social Media-</b> Since about 2009, the <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/biz/2011/01/study-confirms-death-of-phone-books.php" target="_blank">traditional telephone books have been dead</a>. Everyone is online in all ways, from laptops and desktops at work to mobile phones and tablets at home. Telephone books really should be outlawed for being a waste of our resources! A clean, <a href="http://www.cybertoothtech.com/component/k2/item/11-web.html" target="_blank">updated website</a> with a mobile website theme is a great start. Most newer sites can be created with a matching mobile theme for under $1,000 and you can update the content whenever you want. It really isn't hard at all. Marketing a restaurant should start with the web and integrate scheduled email marketing campaigns, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/" target="_blank">twitter</a>, and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/" target="_blank">facebook</a>. Pinterest.com is great for posting pictures of your food, atmosphere and building. <a href="http://urbanspoon.com/">Urbanspoon.com</a> is critical for restaurants and ranking poorly on this site will cause hungry customers to go somewhere else in a hurry. Failing to promote yourself on any one of these mostly free avenues is a huge mistake. Anyone can go to the <a href="http://urbanspoon.com/">UrbanSpoon.com</a> application on their mobile phone and before they leave your restaurant have posted a bad review or good review with pictures included. They can tweet how their meal was or post it to facebook. Additionally, if you don't embrace <a href="http://foursquare.com/">foursquare.com</a> you will not get the younger generation to eat at your restaurant. Its just that simple!</li>
</ol>
Marketing your restaurant to today's customer is a much different en devour than just a few years ago. Gone are the days when plunking down some cash for a phone book ad, outdoor signs and a few newspaper spots drives the customers in by the load.<br />
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Marketing your restaurant has gone mostly digital, but some old-school tactics still resonate. I hope you have enjoyed how to market a restaurant!Instant Ads, by Cybertoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01748230894360483837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3342959048155777495.post-66717510174524922962012-04-03T01:09:00.001-05:002012-04-03T01:31:38.403-05:00<h1 class="contentheading clearfix">Restaurant Marketing </h1><img alt="Driving customers to your store when you want them" src="http://www.instantads.biz/images/stories/drive%20foot%20traffic%20to%20your%20store.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 2px;" title="When is the last time your restaurant had a wait at open?" />When it comes to knowing<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1848699449"> </a><b><a href="http://www.instantads.biz/service-1">how to market a restaurant</a> </b>in the modern age, <b>guerilla marketing </b>or <b>target marketing </b>is the way to go. Even <b><a href="http://www.instantads.biz/solutions-for-churches-clubs-organizations-or-schools-">church marketing</a> </b>is now dependent in the wave of the future in advertising and promotion, so we shouldn't be surprised that mobile coupons are also more frequently being used for marketing restaurants. Meanwhile, <a href="http://www.instantads.biz/"><b>Instant Ads</b></a> is just one of many mobile phone marketing techniques needed to promote establishments such as restaurants, and mobile coupons is a particularly effective mobile phone promotional tool. The mobile coupon is the brave new frontier that restaurants are using to promote themselves and their wares. The use of mobile coupon is a measurable marketing method with a simple and straightforward call to action in one of the most accessible mediums in modern times.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.instantads.biz/service-1">Want to read more? Go Here!</a> </div><br />
I really hope this blog has convinced you text marketing is a great investment in your business. Here are a few links to get you started! <a href="http://www.get66.net/">sms</a> <a href="http://www.get66.net/">mobile ad</a>Instant Ads, by Cybertoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01748230894360483837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3342959048155777495.post-22358998207914864872011-06-08T01:19:00.002-05:002011-06-08T01:19:26.734-05:00Two Out of Three Moms Now Use Smartphones While ShoppingThe mobile revolution is being shown some motherly love, according to the findings of a new Greystripe study.<br />
Based on the findings of the report by the mobiel ad network, Greystripe says better than 66% of moms are plugged into their mobile devices while engaged in the act of shopping.<br />
Greystripe collected the data from its expansive network of touch devices during a three-month period from November 16, 2010 to February 15, 2011.<br />
And as it turns out, smartphone usage extends far beyond making grocery lists and simple organizational functions.<br />
<span id="more-15350"></span>45% of connected moms use their smartphone to locate stores, while another 36% utilize some form of price comparison app or service.<br />
“Smartphones have become the super tool for moms on the go,” said Dane Holewinski, director of marketing with Greystripe. “The majority of moms with smartphones are using those devices for their day to day tasks especially shopping, making them the ideal target for advertisers.”<br />
31% of the moms surveyed revealed using their smartphones to research products, read reviews, and check product availability.<br />
Perhaps most interesting, however, is the swelling number of moms who turn to their smartphones in search of discounts. Greystripe found that 57% of moms now search for mobile coupons via their mobile device.<br />
<a href="http://www.get66.net/"></a>Instant Ads, by Cybertoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01748230894360483837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3342959048155777495.post-951842854179593672010-12-21T03:07:00.000-06:002010-12-21T03:07:01.379-06:00Web Advertising Trumps Newspaper Advertising<div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><div style="font-size: 14px;">Advertisers in the US for the first time spent more money <a class="kLink" href="http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2010/12/20/web-advertising-beats-newspaper-advertising-time/#" id="KonaLink0" style="position: static; text-decoration: underline ! important;" target="undefined"><span style="color: blue ! important; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; position: static;"><span class="kLink" style="color: blue ! important; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; position: relative;">online</span></span></a> than in newspapers in 2010, according to a new report released Monday by digital tracking website eMarketer.</div><div style="font-size: 14px;">Advertisers spent $25.8 billion in online advertising this year, an increase of 13.9 percent compared with $22.78 billion in newspaper ads, a decline of 8.2 percent, according to eMarketer.</div><div style="font-size: 14px;">“Marketers are devoting bigger shares of their budgets to digital media as they see more customers shifting time toward the web,” eMarketer CEO Geoff Ramsey said. “Online ads, especially search ads, are increasingly seen by many marketers as a more reliable bet than <a class="kLink" href="http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2010/12/20/web-advertising-beats-newspaper-advertising-time/#" id="KonaLink1" style="position: static; text-decoration: underline ! important;" target="undefined"><span style="color: blue ! important; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; position: static;"><span class="kLink" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: 1px solid blue; color: blue ! important; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; position: relative;">print</span></span><span class="preLoadWrap" id="preLoadWrap1" style="position: relative;"><div id="preLoadLayer1" style="display: none; left: -18px; position: absolute; top: -32px; z-index: 2147482647;"><img class="preloadImg" src="http://kona.kontera.com/javascript/lib/imgs/grey_loader.gif" style="border: medium none; height: 22px; width: 22px;" /></div></span></a> ads, which are are often difficult to tie to a measurable financial result.”</div><div style="font-size: 14px;">The study also projected that the amount spent by advertisers online will increase from $25.8 billion in 2010 to $40.5 billion by 2014.</div><div style="font-size: 14px;">Meanwhile newspaper advertising is expected to continue its decline. The company estimated that newspaper advertising will slide 6 percent in 2011 to $21.4 billion in 2011.</div><span><a href="http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2010/12/20/web-advertising-beats-newspaper-advertising-time/#ixzz18je9ROQ8" style="color: #003399;"></a></span></div></div><br />
<br />
I really hope this blog has convinced you text marketing is a great investment in your business. Here are a few links to get you started! <a href="http://www.get66.net/">sms</a> <a href="http://www.get66.net/">mobile ad</a>Instant Ads, by Cybertoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01748230894360483837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3342959048155777495.post-10403458124984196102010-02-14T05:30:00.002-06:002010-02-14T05:30:54.847-06:00More merchants embrace mobile coupons<h3 class="post-title entry-title"> <a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-mobile-coupon-growth-20100209,0,3324028.story"></a> </h3><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxHcSilQg9dfnXWuwC7L0n66tdRoQVT6SdHtNvMsV2roxMhNtyocmz5EeKe_dpBOKHv3myn5A-Ndj0ArmGWXsI4zVDtGMSPzhLV4CqZAn74en77o108SMyIx7bD2ciRsO7vXPxIPiGAMKq/s1600-h/mobiledeals_small_thumbnail.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436655161138416210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxHcSilQg9dfnXWuwC7L0n66tdRoQVT6SdHtNvMsV2roxMhNtyocmz5EeKe_dpBOKHv3myn5A-Ndj0ArmGWXsI4zVDtGMSPzhLV4CqZAn74en77o108SMyIx7bD2ciRsO7vXPxIPiGAMKq/s320/mobiledeals_small_thumbnail.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 128px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 128px;" /></a>Research group predicts more than 300 million mobile coupon users globally by 2014<br />
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As cell phones become appendages that many people can't live without, businesses are increasingly eyeing them as prime real estate for their marketing and advertising messages.<br />
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Whether it's to build a brand, boost business or reward loyalty, more merchants are adopting mobile marketing strategies to tap into the cell phone's power of immediacy.<br />
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"It's cool," said Kristen Palestis of Plantation at a Jamba Juice in Fort Lauderdale recently after she opted in to receive a 20 percent coupon on her cell phone.<br />
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"I'm spending less money, and it was real easy," said Palestis, 25, who used the coupon to buy a smoothie.<br />
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Palestis received the coupon within seconds of texting a special five-digit code from her cell phone. <br />
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Retailers' mobile marketing messages can include text messages with numeric 'short codes' that customers dial to receive a promotion, bar-coded digital coupons, Web page or website links and display advertisements.<br />
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"We know the most effective way to reach the customer is to be where they are," Jamba Juice spokesman Damon Miller said. "For our customers this means both on the Internet and on their mobiles."<br />
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Since September, Jamba Juice's 20 South Florida locations — 22 statewide — have been testing a text message campaign that invites customers to sign up for offers on their mobile phones.<br />
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Getting special offers quickly into the hands of the consumers who are most likely to use them is what Jamba Juice and others are striving for.<br />
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These mobile social users, as they're called, represent 11 percent of American online adults, but their ranks are growing, according to Forrester Research Inc. They're more likely to respond to ads on their cell phones, buy mobile content and services such as ringtones and access the mobile Web.<br />
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"We've seen fantastic results both in opt-ins and redemptions of follow-on offers," Miller said.<br />
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Jamba Juice, a national chain of more than 700 smoothie stores, plans to roll out the campaign to other markets this year, he said.<br />
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Companies that embrace mobile marketing know they have to be careful not to abuse the access consumers have granted, so permission-based text message offers are becoming the standard.<br />
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Trade groups like the Mobile Marketing Association in New York have set guidelines for marketers that are designed to protect the consumer, said Jeff Michaud of 3Cinteractive in Boca Raton, a mobile technology firm.<br />
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These include opt-in, opt-out and message delivery frequency standards, he said.<br />
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Worldwide the number of mobile coupon users is forecast to triple by 2014 to more than 300 million people, according to Juniper Research.<br />
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Although usage is still relatively nascent in the United States, the mobile applications revolution is fueling growth of coupon specific services.<br />
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During the recent holiday season, many tech-savvy consumers used mobile shopping apps to get coupons on their smart phones and comparison shop.<br />
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...Merchants continue to test the water, many motivated by cost efficiencies. Experts say e-coupons have higher average redemption rates — 5 percent to 15 percent, compared with 1 percent or less for print coupons.<br />
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This month JCPenney is rolling out a mobile coupon program nationwide after doing tests in 16 stores in Houston, spokeswoman Kate Coultas said.<br />
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In the Northeast, Wendy's International also is testing a mobile coupon program.<br />
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Chick-fil-A recently added a 'Text Insiders' program on its website for fans to sign up for offers on their cell phones.<br />
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Dunkin' Donuts could be next if it takes a cue from Fresco Development Group, a Coral Springs franchisee with seven Miami-Dade County locations.<br />
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Last year Fresco sent a free iced coffee coupon to consumers living near its stores who'd already opted-in for promotional text messages.<br />
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This was done to generate buzz and learn more about the consumers' demographics and shopping psyche, co-owner Scott Ball said. "We had very good success with it."<br />
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Ball, who sits on Dunkin' Donuts national marketing steering committee, said the chain is considering launching a program nationwide. <br />
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<div style="color: red;"><i><b>I really hope this blog has convinced you text marketing is a great investment in your business. Here are a few links to get you started!</b></i></div><br />
<a href="http://www.get66.net/">sms</a><br />
<a href="http://www.get66.net/">mobile ad</a>Instant Ads, by Cybertoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01748230894360483837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3342959048155777495.post-49858292218644898782010-02-14T03:38:00.000-06:002010-02-14T03:38:29.847-06:00Global Mobile – Strategies for Growth<div> ***Editors Note*** Rule #1 in marketing: Know thy customer. Looks like the perfect time to get in!<br />
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SUMMARY: The mobile media landscape is primed for accelerated growth. Smartphone sales are predicted to lead the way, accounting for nearly half of worldwide sales by 2013. Mobile consumers around the world weigh in on the features, functions and data applications they find most desirable. The key driver of mobile growth is good devices and fast, affordable data. Understand what vehicles are most effective in reaching consumers.<br />
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Growing from a niche opportunity for games and ringtones, the mobile media landscape has flourished into a full-blown marketplace for advertising, rich media content, ecommerce and unparalleled utility—bringing about one of the biggest changes in the media and advertising business in a generation.<br />
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Mobile media has flourished into a full-blown marketplace…A perfect storm is imminent. The market is primed for accelerated growth well into 2010. What will “phone” mean to the next generation of consumers and what applications, functions and features are the most effective in reaching today’s consumers. A review of these opportunities reveals important insights into what is driving mobile growth in the U.S and abroad.<br />
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Apps-titude<br />
Nielsen examined mobile media usage across 14 countries and discovered some interesting patterns. China has the highest penetration of software/application downloaders, ringtone downloaders, and mobile Internet users. At 89% penetration, text messaging is nearly as prevalent as voice services in Mexico, which is also the highest penetration of any media activity in any country analyzed.<br />
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Canada ranked first for content uploads and game downloads. The United States clicked into first place for picture messaging/MMS (multimedia message services) and location based/global positioning services.<br />
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Cost was the top factor across the board…Purchase criteria<br />
Mobile consumers around the world applied different criteria when deciding what phone to purchase. Cost was the top factor across the board—especially influential among buyers in Turkey, South Africa and India. Brand or previous experience also weighed heavily among shoppers in Italy, Spain, Sweden and Russia. Ease of use was second most important factor for consumers in Germany, the United Kingdom and France. Design and style factored in for mobile users in Mexico, United Kingdom and the United States.<br />
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The features most desired by global mobile shoppers on their next purchase will be camera capability (number one in all 13 countries examined), followed by a built-in MP3 player and Bluetooth connectivity.<br />
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<strong>Growth drivers<br />
In the fast-paced world of mobile media, the U.S. mobile subscriber base grew 7% to 277 million by the second quarter of 2009, which represented 221 million unique users, adjusting for multi-phone holders.</strong><br />
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Among the many applications available on mobile devices, the fastest-growing segment in the U.S. was web video, which expanded by 33% to 20 million subscribers/15.2 million unique users, followed by multimedia messaging which jumped 29% representing 174 million subscribers/68 million unique users, and audio/application/game downloads which increased by 25% to 71 million subscribers and 39 million/27 million/23 million unique users per respective download.<br />
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Get smart<br />
Perhaps more telling for the future of the industry, was the increase in the number of U.S. smartphone subscribers during the 2008-2009 Q2 period—a jump of 72% to 26.1 million users.<br />
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The Gartner Group predicts that smartphone sales will account for 46% of all mobile phone sales worldwide by 2013.<br />
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Currently, smartphone penetration varies by country. In Italy and Spain, more than one-quarter of new mobile handsets purchased were smartphones, with 28% and 23% market penetration respectively. The United States followed at 17%, Sweden at 13%, Canada-Germany-United Kingdom at 12% and France at 11%.<br />
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The newest generation of smartphones, like the Apple iPhone, the Palm Pre and the Blackberry Storm, combine cellphone connectivity with handheld computer capabilities like email, Internet, ebook readers, QWERTY keyboards, touchscreens, video, cameras and navigation software to name a few popular features and applications.<br />
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Dialed in<br />
Smartphone owners in the U.S. tend to be male, younger (between the ages of 18–34), affluent (income of $75k+), and they use the phones for a mix of both personal and business purposes, with more emphasis on business usage. The profile of the iPhone user is similar, but skews even higher for the more affluent (twice as many in the $100k+ income group). A higher percentage of iPhone users also use the device for a mix of personal and business purposes (index of 160 for the iPhone compared to 220 for all smartphones).<br />
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iPhone users spend nearly as much on data as they do on voice…One of the most appealing attributes of the U.S. smartphone owner, and particularly the iPhone user, is their appetite for data packages. All mobile subscribers spend $57.04 in billed services, with the monthly voice plan accounting for $35.40 and data extras adding $12.10 to the bill. Blackberry owners typically rack up $88.85 per month in charges, with $45.10 in voice plan costs and $28.20 in data extras. iPhone users spend nearly as much on data ($37.60) as they do on voice ($42.00) and have an average monthly bill of $89.35.<br />
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Surf city<br />
Smartphone utilization underscores the point that, if you build a better browser and user experience, they will come. Almost 60% of all software/application downloaders were smartphone owners. More than half (55%) of all streamed music users did so using their smartphones. Smartphone owners also account for half of all active mobile Internet users, 41% of online game players and 38% of mobile instant messagers.<br />
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iPhone owners lead the way in media usage…iPhone owners lead the way in media usage when it comes to mobile Internet (89%), text messaging (87%), software/application downloads and location-based services (75%), video/mobile TV (41%) and full track music (38%). The same market-leading usage pattern holds for iPhone’s built-in handset features like camera pictures (87%), Wi-Fi (77%) and speakerphone (72%). The sole exception is Bluetooth connectivity, where other smartphones feature a slightly higher utilization rate at 42% compared to 40% for the iPhone.<br />
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Transaction action<br />
SMS (short message services), or text messages, reached 4.2 billion standard rate transactions in the U.S. on AT&T and Verizon in Q2 2009. The clear leader was Twitter with 1.3 billion messages, followed by FOX (due in large part to MySpace) with 740 million texts, Facebook at 465 million, and 4INFO at 257 million transactions. Total traffic was generated by 50 million unique users.<br />
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Stateside, social networking drove the growth train for mobile Internet, with a 187% increase in audience for the year ending July 2009. The distribution of 18.3 million unique social network users by the top three sites is Facebook (26% reach), MySpace (13% reach) and Twitter (7% reach).<br />
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One-third of all mobile data users were exposed to mobile advertising…Ad exposure<br />
One-third of all mobile data users were exposed to some form of mobile advertising in Q2 2009. SMS and MMS comprised the two most popular forms of mobile advertising response. Roughly 16% of consumers responded to mobile ads most frequently via text message, a picture or MMS message, email or by visiting a designated web site.<br />
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Teenagers were the most accepting of mobile advertising—the acceptance rate declines as age increases. Perceptions of mobile ads were highest among all age groups if it lowered their bill. Consumers age 45+ were the least accepting of mobile ads. The Yankee Group forecasts mobile ad revenues could see faster growth than online, predicting a 60% jump in 2009 to $184 million. By 2013, that amount could reach in $566 million range.<br />
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Mobile marketing opportunity<br />
Companies looking to drive sales should leverage mobile marketing activities like providing product information, coupons, discounts, event notification and mobile search. Another high-return approach would be to employ mobile’s innate capability to enhance the consumer interaction with a brand, providing information, inspiration or helpful functionality.<br />
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Companies who are finding success have developed specialized applications that were either fun or functional, scoring high on consumer engagement. Optimally, marketers will strike a balance between utility and enrichment, marrying the two into a unique, timely mobile consumer experience that makes best use of these dynamic devices.<br />
<br />
-Jon Stewart, Research Director, Technology & Search<br />
and Chris Quick, Mobile Media Analyst, The Nielsen Company <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.get66.net/">mobile ad</a> </div><br />
I really hope this blog has convinced you text marketing is a great investment in your business. Here are a few links to get you started!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.get66.net/">sms</a><br />
<a href="http://www.get66.net/">mobile ad</a>Instant Ads, by Cybertoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01748230894360483837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3342959048155777495.post-84822292267569855522010-02-14T03:36:00.000-06:002010-02-14T03:36:57.482-06:00Dip in economy drives rise in coupons --- Coupon use rises for first time in 17 years<div> <u><strong>The coupon is back, thanks to the recession. </strong></u><br />
After almost two decades of decline, 2009 is on track to mark the first year that coupon use has increased in the U.S. since 1992. Coupon clipping for the millennium isn't just for detergent and cereal. <br />
<strong>Retailers of all stripes, from Walgreens to Neiman Marcus, have latched onto the coupon to entice consumers to spend. And the Internet and mobile devices are making coupons more widely available. </strong><br />
"Coupons are just more accessible to more consumers than ever before," said Todd Hale, senior vice president of consumer and shopper insights at Nielsen Co. <br />
"Without question, the economy has caused consumers to make pretty significant shifts in where they shop and how they buy and use promotions."<br />
" Retail sales this holiday are expected to be no better than 2008, which ranked as the worst season in four decades. <br />
The difference this year: Merchants are better prepared to protect profits and have reduced inventories going into November and December. Sparse shelves mean retailers aren't forced to take the 60 percent and 70 percent markdowns that prevailed last year. <br />
That puts the onus on consumers to work harder to find a good deal, leading shoppers in droves to discover coupon sites. <br />
<strong>Searches on Google for "printable coupons" and "online printable coupons" more than doubled this year, and Yahoo Inc. reported that "coupons" ranked first on its list of economy-related searches for 2009. </strong><br />
Of consumers surveyed by the National Retail Federation, 42 percent said they plan to use a coupon for their holiday shopping. <br />
At Coupons.com, one of the first and largest online coupon sites, consumers printed coupons worth $313 million in 2008. The site surpassed the 2008 annual figure in June 2009 and expects a total of $1 billion in printed coupon savings by the end of the year. <br />
Dozens of websites and blogs have cropped up dedicated to tracking retail and manufacturer coupons, gathering coupon codes for online deals and hosting forums in which shoppers share coupons and analyze the best and worst deals. Deal sites that once relied on members to share coupon finds with each other now have relationships with retailers eager to reach recession-weary consumers. <br />
<u>"It's a great channel for retailers to boost sales, especially as more shoppers move online," said Brian Nickerson, director of shopping for Internet Brands Inc., which operates Bargainist.com. </u><br />
Asa Candler issued the first known coupon in 1894 when he gave away vouchers for a free Coca-Cola at his new drugstore. The following year, Post Cereal issued a coupon for a penny off a box of Grape Nuts. <br />
Coupons went on to gain widespread popularity as Americans scrimped during the Great Depression, and coupons reached their heyday in the advertising boom of the 1950s and '60s. Coupon use peaked in 1992 with 7.9 billion coupons redeemed, according to Inmar, a coupon processing firm. The practice has declined steadily since to 2.6 billion coupons redeemed in 2006, where it remained until late last year. <br />
As housing prices fell and unemployment rose, consumers searched for ways to save and rediscovered coupons. <u>Redemptions jumped 10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 and kept rising: 17 percent in the first quarter, 33 percent in the second quarter and 29 percent in the third, according to Inmar.</u> <strong>When 2009 ends, the firm projects coupon redemptions will have gained 20 percent to 3.2 billion and remain strong even as the nation emerges from the recession.</strong> <br />
Today, newspaper circulars still dominate, accounting for about 90 percent of the coupons distributed and more than half of those redeemed, but the Internet is rapidly making inroads. <u>Some stores, including J.C. Penney and Sam's Club</u>, are testing mobile coupons, which allow shoppers to call up a coupon on their mobile phone for the sales clerk to scan. <br />
While mobile coupons represent less than 1 percent of coupons distributed, <u>the redemption rate is high</u>. Shoppers may forget where they put a clipped coupon, but they almost always have their cell phones. DealTaker.com President Kevin Strawbridge noted shoppers began favoring coupons over other deals earlier this year. <br />
"What's interesting is usually the mix is 50-50 deals and coupons," he said. "This year it is 70 percent coupons and 30 percent deals. A lot more people are checking out coupons." <br />
-As seen on Sun-Sentinel.com, By Sandra M. Jones, Chicago Tribune<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.get66.net/">mobile ad</a><br />
</div><br />
I really hope this blog has convinced you text marketing is a great investment in your business. Here are a few links to get you started!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.get66.net/">sms</a><br />
<a href="http://www.get66.net/">mobile ad</a>Instant Ads, by Cybertoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01748230894360483837noreply@blogger.com0