For some time we’ve been looking at how our clients obtain, build and manage their lists of mobile numbers.

Most accumulate subscribers by asking people for their mobile number and  manually uploading the details into textburst.

This works well, but does require manual work to get the contacts loaded into textburst.

And it doesn’t easily allow the subscribers to opt out of the list. A person still has to call and request their removal, and in turn our customer has to login and delete the relevant person.

It’s all a bit cumbersome and littered with possibilities for error e.g. not dealing with an un-subscribe request.

What can we learn from email marketing?

Think about how email marketing lists work:

1. You add your email address on a form
2. You receive an email confirmation
3. To opt out you click a link at the bottom of an email

The whole process is fully automated and controlled by the person joining the list, it puts the end user in charge of their subscription, and makes it far easier for the list manager.

This has become the standard for email marketing and justifiably so. It’s quick, easy, requires no manual intervention, is fool proof, and very cheap.

Let’s do the same with SMS Marketing

To bring the same standards to SMS marketing we’ve made a few changes to our online SMS product textburst.

1. You can now login and set your own keyword or keywords on the shortcode 84433.
2. Configure your own automated responses.
3. To join your list a subscriber texts your keyword to 84433.
4. The subscriber receives an automated SMS response to confirm your subscription, and instructions of how to opt out in future.
5. To opt out a subscriber simply texts “STOP” to 84433 at any time. It’s fully automated.

So now a business owner can put up a sign, advertise, ask, or by however means they wish, advertise they offer an SMS marketing list.

All their clients do is send a text in to join the list, and send a text to leave.

Our clients can login to textburst, see how many and who’s in the list, and send text messages to everyone.

So what’s the big deal?

Auto responses and opt outs are nothing new in the SMS market, so what’s the big difference here?

First off, we’ve automated everything, from choosing your keyword to setting the auto response and managing opt outs.

And secondly, with this level of automation we can pass the savings onto our customers.

We will only charge you for the messages you send to the subscribers.

• Access to the shortcode is FREE
• Choose a keyword, or as many as you like FREE
• The auto response to the subscriber FREE (yes, a free text message)
• The opt out mechanism FREE

With this update you can actually now build a database of mobile numbers completely free of charge, the only time you’re charged is when you send out marketing information.

So now there’s no excuse, login to textburst, click “campaigns” and reserve your keyword for free.

During that period everything will work just fine, the techies will be monitoring the platform, online purchasing will be up and running and you can send texts till your hearts content.

If you do need to contact us during Christmas send an email to hello@mediaburst.co.uk or submit a support ticket.

The mailbox and support system will be checked in on in the morning, lunch time, and evenings, hence it may take a little longer to respond than normal.

If all else fails you can email the boss (me, Gary) on gary@mediaburst.co.uk.

(But not for you recruitment consultant. Sorry, but you’re not in our plans, so don’t contact us about this.)

Our SMS API is shipping faster than ever before. Florence, our healthcare app is gaining momentum in the NHS. Textburst is finding an audience like never before, and we’ve got a completely new app on the cards.

But, arhhhh!

We just can’t find the time to do all the stuff we really want to do. We need some help, and you might be what we need.

What we’re ideally looking for is a web app developer.

You need to have some (not necessarily loads of) relevant qualifications and experience.

You definitely need to know some languages and frameworks, not necessarily these, but things like PHP, c#, .Net, Ruby.

Knowledge of MySQL or similar database will also be looked upon favourably.

We’re also big fans of wordpress and have a number of plugins available to our clients. If you know wordpress then you’re already in our good books.

But most important is your desire to get involved in something. We’re not just tapping lines of code out, we’re making products that people use every day of their working life. Your ideas and desire to make things better are what we want, they’re more valuable than your qualifications.

So if you live and breathe the web, spend your spare time dreaming of quirky web apps, playing with open source software or mashing API’s on programmable web, then we need to hear from you.

You can help us

What’s it like to work at mediaburst?

None of us at mediaburst are here to pass the time of day and collect the cheque.

Coming to work is a pleasure, we enjoy what we do. We want to make our products better, gain new customers and take good care of the existing ones.

We’re not here until the wee hours, you’ve got a social life and we respect that. We also don’t want you to wear a suit and tie unless you really want to, but then again, if you did, you probably wouldn’t fit in.

Our office is completely open plan, there are no walls or secrecy, you can chip in if you like and share your thoughts. We want you to make a difference to the things we do and the stuff we sell, you can’t do that well unless you know what’s going on.

We don’t have accolades like Investors in People, or bureaucratic review procedures. If you want something then ask, if you have a problem, speak up.

Salary

Yes we’ll pay you, but the internet is no place to discuss financial arrangements, let’s discuss in private.

How to apply

Get the ball rolling by sending us an email. Tell us about yourself, include your CV if you like, show us your twitter or facebook or last FM or Google+ or whatever you’re on or into.

Send us a link to any projects you’ve been involved in or sites you’ve developed.

And, yeah, let’s talk.

hello@mediaburst.co.uk

We rank about 3 on Google for the search term “first ever text message sent“, just behind Wikipedia, so we picked up a bit of traffic.

I wonder if you can optimise for future questions!?

We asked a free form question so we’d get the information in their own words. Then, we put the results into wordle.net.

Interesting eh?

We’d fought off competition from a plethora of iphone apps by the likes of Tesco, Manchester City FC, Racing Post, and Waitrose.

Apparently the standard of entry was exceptionally high but Florence stood out way beyond the competition.

I guess no matter how cool your iphone app is, or what latest trendy technologies you use, you can’t beat the simplicity of SMS, and you can’t beat savings lives.

Happy days!

This one produced by smsglobal highlights mobile messaging stats and facts for 2011. The highlight for me was obvious but, a mobile coupon is 10 times more likely to be redeemed than an equivalent in the mail.

Preamble:

It’s very basic really, you set up Contact Form 7 to send and email to mediaburst’s email to SMS function and it’s automatically converted to SMS and sent to the relevant network/ mobile phone.

I’ll assume you have Contact Form 7 installed and have a mediaburst SMS API account. If not, then you’ll need to do those tasks first.

The Setup:

So here we go, Contact Form 7 SMS, you’ll need to include

• The destination mobile phone number in the “To” field as part of an email address as follows: 07741234567@sms.message-platform.com
• Your email address in the “From” field. The one you signed up to mediaburst with. We need this to identify the incoming email.
• Your mediaburst API password in the “Subject” line.
• The text message content in the email body (ideally less than 160 characters).

You can see this in action here.

I’ve used the Mail (2) section of Contact Form 7 because I only want summarised information sent via SMS to my mobile, the full contact form submission is still sent via email as usual.

And the second answer is also “Yes”. Mediaburst can send the message to just about any country in the world, just make sure you prefix your mobile number with the relevant international dialling code.

And that’s how to set up Contact Form 7 SMS, couldn’t be easier.

For this graphic we’re focusing on shopping environment and how retailers need to consider mobile habits of their customers. We can see massive increases of people scanning bar codes, SMS being the most used application (as always), and a quadrupling of purchases made from mobile phones.

We’re not just talking about getting notified by SMS when you receive new tickets, you can configure a wide range of events to trigger the SMS. Maybe changes in ticket status or when a ticket is assigned to you. Pretty handy if you run a small company and can’t be sat in front of a screen on a permanent basis.

I’ll run through a basic set up here, but if you need any assistance just give us a call.

I’ll assume you have a Zendesk account, if you haven’t already you’ll also need a mediaburst SMS API account.

Zendesk SMS Setup

First you need to setup the target in Zendesk:

Under the ‘SETTINGS‘ menu item select ‘Extensions‘.

Click the tab ‘Targets‘ and then ‘add target‘.

You’ll be given a load of options, you want the one titled ‘URL Target‘.

You now have a set of options that looks like this:

Title: We called ours “mediaburstsms” but feel free to call it what you want.

Url: We’ll come back to this in a second.

Method: select ‘GET’

Attribute Name: type the word ‘Content‘ into this box.

Url: The Url field is where the most important info goes including:

• your username and password for the Mediaburst SMS API, and
• the mobile phone number where the notifications will be sent to

You need to copy and paste the following line of code, but replace some parts with your security information. Don’t worry you don’t need to be techy, just read through the code and replace:

YourMediaburstUsername

YourMediaburstPassword

YourMobilePhoneNumber

Replace these words only, nothing before or after them, don’t replace any ‘=’ or ‘&’, literally just those words above.

Here’s the code:

http://sms.message-platform.com/http/send.aspx?Username=YourMediaburstUsername&Password=YourMediaburstPassword&To=YourMobilePhoneNumber&From=Zendesk

Once you have put this code in the Url field you should be able to select ‘Test target‘ and you’ll receive a test SMS.

Save the settings before you click away from this page.

Now you’ll need to set some triggers i.e. events that will give rise to an SMS being triggered. You’ll find them in Zendesk in the main menu under ‘MANAGE‘, then ‘Triggers‘ and ‘mail notifications‘.

I set up a trigger to notify me when we receive a new ticket. To make the information more useful I’ve included the requesters name and the subject field in the SMS.

Here’s a screen shot of my trigger configuration, and the resulting SMS.

And that’s it, I accept the URL mechanism isn’t the most user-friendly for non techies but it’s flexible and, as I said above, if you need any help then give us a call.

It’s interesting to see 83% use their phone to take pictures. You can imagine how this fuels the rise of photo sharing, and how imagery seems to be so prevalent on social networks.

But if only people would have a touch more consideration when using their phones. I personally only ever use vibrate mode for incoming calls and get particularly hacked off when people leave their ring tones on max volume when they’re on the train.

It’s a mashup of both electronics and a C# application that accesses the mediaburst SMS API. The result is a text message being sent to his mobile every time the door is opened. Simple, but effective.

You can read the full details and spec on Damien’s blog

If you know if any creative uses of our SMS API then get in touch and we’ll do a write up.

It’s called Snappr and lets you send photos to twitter via MMS. We’ve launched a product website with full details here MMS to twitter.

We did some research and were surprised to see only Orange currently offering a similar service to their UK customers.  Twitter don’t do anything directly with MMS, although I imagine it’ s on their radar.

We’d love to expand this worldwide, we know how to do it, but you’ve got to start small, and hence, we’ve included all UK networks utilising our shortcode 84433.

Try it for yourself:

Text PIC (followed by your twitpic email address) to 84433 to register.

We didn’t want to get involved in image hosting, the legalities for one thing are both a nightmare and a hot topic. As twitter don’t provide image hosting our project submits photos to twitpic who in turn post the tweet.

There’s been a huge rise in photo orientated social media applications, facebook and flickr have clearly paved the way but more innovative applications like instagram and hipstamatic are on the rise as more people get into photo sharing.

Snappr is our attempt to jump on the bandwagon by making it easy for you to tweet a photo no matter what phone you have or where you are.

So there it is, you can now take a photo and send it to twitter via MMS.

We hope you find it useful.

Some case studies need no editing, this is what Simon said, word for word.

“I realised a short while ago that the HTML sales e-mails I have been sending to our inactive clients have ended up being caught by their spam filters so thought I would try contacting the same client list using SMS and came across Mediaburst.

The process was simple, I uploaded names & numbers from Excel and sent a short message offering a discount to 500 clients and within just a few hours of sending we had over 10 confirmed bookings, not bad for a cost of £25!

Shortly after one of their (mediaburst) account managers contacted me to offer assistance should I need any. Could not be happier with my experience, I will certainly be using them for our next campaign, thanks Mediaburst!”

Naturally we want to expand this valuable SMS project but with healthcare there are steps you have to take, you can’t expect to launch a system that medical staff and patients can rely upon without some kind of 3rd party validation or independent assessment.

In the case of Florence The Institute of Digital Healthcare based at Warwick university will be conducting the evaluation.

The evaluation project is being led by Jeremy Wyatt, an experienced hand who’s worked in health informatics for 25 years. His research explores use of evidence and new models of care to innovate in clinical practice.

Using SMS for healthcare is so cheap yet effective that we’re confident Florence will fit the bill.

To help us understand the Institutes’s approach we asked Jeremy a few questions:

Have Warwick evaluated any other significant telehealth systems?

Yes, we have looked at a number of telemedicine and similar systems, eg. teledermatology to reduce unnecessary clinic referrals and an instant messenger channel to communicate with NHSDirect nurses. We are also looking at telestroke in Scotland and persuasive web sites for promoting exercise and the NHS Organ Donation register.

What in particular interests you about Florence?

The fact that it is quick and easy for people to sign up to with almost no technology, is very flexible, and is strongly supported by West Midlands NHS.

What approach will you take to evaluating Florence?

We always try to match our evaluation approach to the questions or decisions that need to be made. In this case, the key questions are around acceptability and impact on the use of GPs and other services.

We are starting with a simple form for every patient using Florence and their community based nurse to fill out, and will then validate the responses with data collected by Florence and by the West Midlands data warehouse. We will also planning some specific studies around certain patient groups, aiming to explore the different methods Florence uses to alert care givers.

We’re confident Florence will pass with flying colours, so as soon as the evaluation is complete we’ll let you know the results.

Hopefully we can assist. Each Monday we’ll be publishing the best infographics we’ve stumbled across,  they’ll have every statistic you could ever need and cover everything from SMS to QR codes, from apps to txt spk, and the odd splattering of humour.

1st is this little beauty from Upstream in association with YouGov.

Since VTUK introduced SMS into their apps, hundreds of estate agents have embraced text messaging to run more efficient offices. Caroline’s run’s Alphabet City and has become an advocate of text messaging, it’s had such a positive effect on their business you can’t help but take notice.

So we spoke to Caroline to see what we could learn:

How was the transition to SMS?

Very smooth, all our tenants and prospects are happy to leave a mobile number for contact. People lead busy lives, traditional mail is too slow, with email you’re fighting to get noticed amongst the endless stream of work emails and spam. That’s why SMS is a winner, it’s so immediate it works perfectly.

We started using SMS to notify of rent arrears. In a short space of time it’s revolutionised how we collect rent. No more postal reminders and chasing by phone. We send polite text message reminders to everyone who misses a payment.

Most have genuine reasons for late payment, they tend to ring us within 30 minutes apologising and pay on the phone. We know we have a problem with the ones that don’t call, and that’s where we focus attention.

Managing arrears in this way is the most efficient we’ve ever been, the money comes in quicker and we identify and focus on problems with ease, we couldn’t work like this without SMS.

The bonus with SMS is reviewing and due diligence, we have a record of every text message, they’re only short bursts of information, it’s easy to go back over the account to get a full picture.

How else do you use SMS for the business?

We use SMS to match tenants to new listings. To be successful you have to get quality tenants into properties as quickly as possible. We’ll normally match a new property with 15 to 30 applicants and send a single SMS blast.

It’s amazing to think before SMS we’d ring around individually, 30 phone calls would be your whole day, now it’s a 5 minute job. Even better those that are interested will contact us immediately. Seriously, we can identify a list of genuinely interested prospective tenants within an hour of listing a property.

It’s these small things that add up to competitive advantage, both our tenants and landlords receive top class communication, we keep them all happy.

Any tips for anyone considering SMS?

It’s definately the most direct form of communication and gets instant results, the advantages are obvious. So I’d say stop worrying, just give it a go.

If you’re interested to know more about how Estate Agents use SMS then you can also read about how Walton Robinson use SMS to Boost profits.

VTUK integrated SMS by using the mediaburst SMS API.

Do you use mediaburst for SMS and have an interesting story to tell? Get in touch, let’s do a case study.

This time 160characters, the SMS and mobile messaging association has selected us from an international line up to win the prestigious “Effective Use of Mobile Messaging for Healthcare”.

This is the first time Florence has been put into a global award scenario, entries were literally from all around the world so taking a prize was no mean feat.

We also got a “highly commended” in the Innovation in Messaging category.

Here are the winners logo’s:

What’s particularly cool is, this is the second award for Florence in a single week, having scooped the award for “Best Public Sector Project” at the Big Chip Awards last Thursday. In the case of the Big Chip Awards we were up against not only SMS Providers but also digital agencies from all over the North of England.

As I always say, we’re not in this for the awards, but undoubtedly recognition from your peers is a great motivator and will help spur us onto even greater wins, which, in this case is improving patient lives and saving the NHS heaps of money.

So a glittering prize studded week at mediaburst, happy days!

This is great news for us, although we don’t work for awards, gaining recognition in this way is a welcome pat on the back, and helps motivate us through the next stages of development.

We fought off stiff competition but ultimately the judges loved our application  and could see the benefits it brings to both patients and clinicians in the NHS. The judges said of Florence:

“The winner in the Best Public Sector category is a deceptively simple yet innovative application of SMS technology, which delivers significant cost-saving benefits to the commissioning client and potentially life-saving benefits to its users.”

It’s still very early days for Florence but we’ve already managed to signup 14 primary care trusts, and as their patients start using the system we’ll have success stories to share of not only big savings for the NHS but also quality of life improvements for their patients.

And to top it all off, I received a note from the 160 Characters organisation just this morning to say we’ve been short listed for their Global Messaging Awards too, fingers crossed there’ll be more recognition to come.

Here’s some photos from the night.

So here’s what the new “send page” looks like: (click the image to enlarge it)

and here’s what it used to look like:

Yep, I know, not massively different, the changes are subtle, but we hope lead to the application feeling just that little bit more friendly to use.

Improved campaigns screen

The most significant change is on the “Campaigns” screen where users of keywords and shortcodes will now see an improved summary of their results. This includes information such as the total number of subscribers, how many have unsubscribed, and a pretty graph which provides an “at a glance” view of what’s happening.

Here’s a screen shot of the improved campaigns screen:

We hope you like the improvements, everything we do is orientated around making textburst simple to understand and easy to use. So do send us your feedback and let us know what you think?

Coming soon…

And finally, we don’t normally go for teasers but this design update is a precursor for some new functionality in the coming months. We’re very excited about the next update because we’ll be offering something no other SMS provider currently offers and will have huge appeal to you SMS marketeers out there…stay tuned.

The idea is that by collecting a database of subscribers we are obtaining their prior permission before we actually send them any marketing information. It means the people you send to will already know you, they have already told you they are interested in what you have to say. It’s called permission marketing, loads of books have been written on the subject, if you want one try Permission Marketing by Seth Godin.

If you signed up to our 4 part beginners guide to SMS marketing then I apologise in advance, some of this may sound familiar.

Don’t buy them

Don’t be tempted to  part with money for a list of mobile phone numbers. Purchasing a list of mobile numbers and then sending out messages is regarded as spam.

Nobody wants to receive spam, expect to receive text responses containing a range of four letter swear words; don’t expect to get any new customers.

By way of an example, we know a charity who bought 40,000 mobile numbers.

With a modest 1% response rate you might expect 400 new donors.

But, alas no, they got ONE.

And complaints, they got thousands. Messages like, “Where did you get my mobile number?” and “Do not send me anymore SMS, ever!”

They also got a heap of complaints via phone, some rang their network providers and complained, who in turn spoke to the charity. Dealing with the fall out was messy, don’t fall into the same trap.

The short and long is this: No matter whom you are or how cool your offer is, unless they know who you are they don’t want it.

And let’s face it, is it not better to be talking to people who’re interested in what you have to say?

Put a notice up

This is very obvious method number one.

Signup for some SMS marketing software and get what we call a long number (some call it a virtual mobile number. It’s just a mobile number).

Now go and put a sign up, nothing fancy and expensive. Just print something on a sheet of A4, if you don’t have a printer then a chunky marker and the back of some junk mail will do.

What you write is this, or something like it:

“To receive cool offers from us just send a text to: 07712 345 678″

(Obviously replace long number with then one you got with your SMS marketing software)

Stick the notice somewhere people will see it. Maybe on a wall behind a counter, in front of the till, on card on the table, on the menu, on the receipt, on your website, just somewhere it can be read by as many people as possible.

Now sit back and wait.

People will text in, put that notice somewhere prominent, you’ll be surprised.

Everyone who texts in will be recorded in your SMS software, and hey presto, you have a database.

Ask people

This seems obvious really but you’ll be surprised at how many of us lack the confidence to ask or completely forget.

If you own a shop, ask everyone who comes in. Own a restaurant, ask your diners. Own a hotel, ask everyone who stays over.

Make it part of the service patter:

“Hey, thanks for visiting, did you know we send out offers occasionally by SMS….I can get you on the list if you want to receive them?”

If you’re uncomfortable with this idea try this: don’t think of it like you’re asking for their mobile number, consider you’re doing them a favour, letting them know there are discounts and offers to be had. No one will be upset with if you’re informing them of possible discounts.

Keywords and Shortcodes

Finally, it’s worth mentioning shortcodes and keywords.

Shortcodes and keywords are easier to remember than long numbers and easier for your customers to text, use a shortcode and you should get more subscribers.

A basic example would be:

Text “CAFE” to 84433

The same principles of collecting a database apply. You need to draw people attention to the keyword and shortcode, do this by asking or putting up a notice.

Shortcodes and keywords are commonly used on large billboard advertisements, on radio and TV. But don’t let that put you off; they aren’t expensive, about £50 a month, so very affordable if you’re serious about building a database.

I can hear you already, “what’s the problem?”

Here’s the abbreviated story:

One of the recipients (we’ll call him John) wasn’t happy about receiving the text message, he considered it SPAM.

So John picked up his phone and complained to his network provider (Orange). During that conversation John mentioned that the message contained the shortcode 84433.

Orange know that 84433 belongs to mediaburst and so they referred John to us.

When someone complains to us about a text message the first thing we do it search our system. We need to verify the complaint, we check to see when the message was sent, which of our customers sent the message.

Of course in this instance our search delivered no results for John, no text message had ever been sent through mediaburst to John.

And that’s where the confusion starts, we say it wasn’t from us, Orange say it was, John is more inclined to believe orange so thinks we are lying or incompetent. And between us all, we can’t figure out what’s going on.

All this confusion leads to frustration and no one’s reputation is enhanced by confusion and frustration. Then there is wasted time, we had 3 people working on this trying to find out what happened. Orange were working on it, John was spending time on it.

We did eventually get to the bottom of it. A customer of ours had rented a keyword on 84433 but for the purposes of trying to save a few quid had sent the text messages out using a cheaper supplier, a supplier that didn’t sell keywords or shortcodes.

Ultimately it fell back to the customer to explain what had happened, but the fall out has been much larger than I have room for. John was only one of many complainants, there have been dozens of emails, phone calls and conference calls. None of which add value, earn money, or are pleasing to deal with. It’s just hassle and problems form the fall out of mixing SMS providers.

So my advice is this: whether you use textburst, our SMS API, or another provider; please don’t mix your providers, choose one, get to know them, think of it like a long term relationship, share information, explain what you are trying to achieve, work with them, and you’ll reap the rewards.

Is it Facebook and twitter, LinkedIn and Squidoo? What about those exciting new start-ups like Flipboard and Quora, and what about SMS, is it possible the humble SMS fits into this exciting sector?

Note: This is an article I originally wrote for Fresh business thinking.com.

Social media is about the techniques we use in reaching out to people, finding people who’re interested in your products, getting them to hear you, to talk to you, and ultimately buy whatever stuff it is you sell.

Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, and so on. These are all just web applications that help you along the way. Their popularity will shift, some will die, new ones will arrive, and others will raise stupid amounts of money from VC funders in Silicon Valley when they have no viable business model (but, hey that’s another story).

The goal with Social Media is finding an audience and speaking to them, tell them what they want to hear, give them what they want to receive.

And that’s where SMS fits in.

Think about it like this, Facebook is great for connecting with people with a Facebook profile. LinkedIn is great connecting with people with a LinkedIn profile, Twitter for people on Twitter. And so on.

But what about those without a Twitter account, those not on Facebook.

There are circa 24million people in the UK with a Facebook accounts. That means there are 38 million people without a Facebook account. Did you get that? More than half the population of the UK haven’t got a Facebook account.

You may well gasp in shock but these people do have money, and they buy stuff, from shops, from the internet, maybe even from you.

Apparently there are 1.8 mobile phones in the UK for every person, which means there are 122 million phones in the UK. Compare that to 24 million Facebook accounts.

Wow, if you don’t include text message marketing in the mix you could be missing a lot of people.

Then there is the read statistics: 97% of the messages you send will get read. How many of your Twitter followers read all your messages, what is the open rate of your email, maybe 20%?

So why do read rates on SMS knock the socks of everything?

Because when you send an SMS my phone beeps, I pick it up, I read your message. We all do. We can’t help ourselves, it only takes seconds and it’s not invasive or inconvenient.

So why aren’t we all getting excited about SMS?

Well, at 160 characters of black and white text SMS isn’t sexy like the latest Silicon Valley offering. You can’t just signup and start following thousands of people. With SMS it’s harder to build followers, its permission based marketing, and you have to give them a reason to follow.

My guess is 90% of your twitter followers have very little interest in what you have to say. You followed them, they followed you. To generate sales leads from twitter you have to put in a lot of work, you need lots and lots of followers.

Same with LinkedIn, you can find your customers and connected with them, but then a few suppliers will find you and connect, then they started pestering you with their latest offers.

With SMS every single follower is someone interested in your product or service.  And now every text you send goes to someone interested in what your product or service.

Even better, when you hit the send button they will get your message in seconds, it means you can time it to perfection. They read it when you want them to read it, not when they decide to dip into their Facebook or twitter account.

So how does SMS Marketing fit into social media?

Like all those websites it’s another avenue to connect, it might not have the glossy appearance of other applications but it’s an avenue you shouldn’t neglect.

But Paul recognises that not everyone has email, and wanted to update his customers while they were on the move, via SMS.

Originally Paul was logging into a web service to send text messages but it made more sense to send directly from Capsule, hence looking at integrating with mediaburst.

Using the HTTP interface of SMS API he’s got Capsule CRM to send out SMS updates. He’s even produced this step by step guide so other Capsule users can follow in his footsteps.

Paul was very complimentary about mediaburst, “Luckily I found mediaburst….I am now able to send my customers SMS updates within Capsule CRM, something I never dreamed of”.

All messages regardless of coming through the SMS API, from Textburst, or Outlook Mobile Service will be dealt with in this manner. You don’t need to change a thing.

This is a big step forward in deliverability to the USA. The shortcode 43704 is fully registered with the Common Short Code Administration so complies fully with their network and regulatory requirements.

North America has some unique complexities in their SMS industry that mean delivery to mobile numbers in the USA can be problematic. Before this upgrade we could deliver SMS to the USA but had to disclaim the service, which, I admit didn’t feel comfortable.

In addition to our discomfort we are also receiving a greater demand for messaging to the USA, and, have a product in the pipeline that will squarely align our services with a large body of software developers in the USA.

The general problem was messages were classed as arriving from an international destination meaning a recipient of the message could be charged (some pay for SMS received in the USA) the rate of an international SMS.

Not only that but all machine to handset orientated messages in the USA should come from a numerical number (rather than an alpha numeric that we use in Europe) so that the recipient could reply to opt out of receiving further communication.

All our SMS to the USA came from a numerical long number but that wasn’t actually a proper reply path for opt outs.

With this upgrade we are now in the fortunate position of delivering on a dedicated and registered short code, we deliver via a fully registered carrier based in the USA, and can process the opt outs as is the requirement.

A big step forward indeed, if you have any questions at all about SMS delivery to America then get in touch.

There wasn’t much debate about which payment gateways to choose. Paypal is certainly the most popular and trusted payment method on the web and Google Checkout is on the rise. If these are the methods you use online then you should be able to use them on our site too.

You can use them on both signup, and repeat purchases from within our online SMS software textburst or the SMS API.

The reason for bringing these two mechanisms on-board is twofold:

1. We’re sick of Sagepay. We’ll continue to run it (for now) for credit and debit cards but the frequent outages don’t make for a good supplier. When they are down it reflects poorly on us, and that’s not good.
2. We wanted to align ourselves with you, we want you to be able to pay by the mechanism that suits you best.

When you visit a restaurant, you can pay by cash or card, you choose. When you buy petrol, you choose, when you buy milk, you choose. So hey, you’re used to choice. So you can choose, debit or credit card, Paypal, or Google checkout.

We hope it makes things easier for you.

The fools way to get better results from SMS marketing campaigns is to push for more subscribers, it’s a valid strategy but the intelligent man can do much better.

If you currently manage a 4% response rate (4% of people who get the SMS take advantage of your promotion), a better approach is to think about the 96% who didn’t take advantage, how can we motivate these people?

For example, if you send 1,000 SMS promoting your new range of designer sunglasses, a 1% response rate is equivalent to 10 sales. At £100 a pair your 10 sales could be worth £1,000.

So, let’s think about increasing that 1% to 2% and getting another £1,000 without increasing your database of subscribers.

1. Divide up your database

First thing to do is stop sending to all 1,000 people in one SMS broadcast.

Split the database into smaller units of 250. It doesn’t matter where or how you split your data, do it completely at random, but split it down into smaller chunks.

If you’re sending via textburst make 4 groups of contacts. That way we have 4 defined groups to test with and monitor the results.

By using smaller chunks of data you can test more variables and see what has the greatest effect.

2. Send at different intervals

For this test use the same message, but send it at different times. Different times of day, different times of the week, different times in the month.

It depends a little on what you’re promoting but instead of sending 1,000 SMS once a month, send 250 SMS once a week.

If you’re sending SMS once a week, try sending once a day.

Then watch the results closely. Do you get better results if you send on a particular day, or perhaps during a particular week?

If you get really poor results at certain times, stop sending at those times. If you’ve worked out the perfect week then try and work out the perfect day.

And don’t stop testing, different days, different times, you get the point.

3. Change the copy

I’ll assume you’re beginning to get the feel for the best time to send a text message. Now let’s try different copy in the message.

Following on from my Sunglasses example, let’s assume the original copy is:

“The new designer range of sunglasses is now in stock, get down to Sunglasses world and check em out.”

Some variants you could try are:

“Check out the new Designer Sunglasses range at Sunglasses World”

“Just in, New Designer Sunglasses at Sunglasses World, get them before the sun goes down!”

“Come to Sunglasses world this weekend and try our new Designer Sunglasses range”

I strongly recommend you read this article on How to Write Bulk SMS.

Your objective is to drop the messages that get the worst response. Then tweak the messages that get the best response, even a single word can make the difference.

It’s an iterative process that doesn’t stop, just keep dropping the ones that do the worst, and tweaking the ones that do the best.

In summary

Keep changing things, keep it fresh, keep trying different combinations of message content and times. Things change, people change, so too should your SMS Marketing.

The latest release of fmSMS puts the mediaburst API on their SMS Gateway list.

Millions of people use FileMaker to manage information on Windows, Mac, and the web. With the fmSMS add-on you can send and receive text messages direct from FileMaker.

It’s more than a basic integration, fmSMS supports single and bulk SMS sends, alphanumeric sender ID, delayed delivery and delivery receipts. It’s a complete package to get text messages direct to the mobile phones of your Filemaker contacts.

In the words of fmSMS:

“We know FileMaker is a great Customer Relationship Management tool so it makes sense to integrate the ability to communicate via SMS within your existing FileMaker solution.

SMS is a great means of direct communication with customers, staff, suppliers, students. It’s personal, quick and more immediate than email/fax/letter.”

Our Online SMS service textburst provides a useful character count to help you work within the limits, and this article takes a look at how to write short messages that 1. stay within the character limits, and 2. still say what you want to say.

Avoid “Business Jargon”

Unfortunately the language we use in business differs from that which we use at the pub. The tendency to use long, complicated words in an attempt to sound cleverer than the competition is too great for some. Words like “solutions”, “tactical”, and “empowerment” are all overused and misunderstood. Worse still, we group them together into sentences that don’t mean anything.

Would you call this company?

Even if you use them in business they’ve got no place in SMS marketing, they are too long, often misspelt, and hard to read.

So the rule is: avoid the jargon, keep text messages simple.

Don’t use text speak

The common language of SMS for 16 year olds, yes it’s widely used, but it has a time and a place, generally that’s in school, at the pub, at the weekend, to your friends, to your family.

Studies have shown it’s quicker to type an SMS in text speak on your phone but as much as double the time to read the same message in unabbreviated form.

The upshot is sending an SMS in text speak is inconveniencing your audience, it’s making it harder for them to read the very message you’re trying to convey, and that’s not something you want to do.

See how slow it is to read this:

If you sent this SMS it’d be reasonable to expect most being deleted and a high proportion of opt-outs.

Apostrophes and abbreviations

Rather than text speak use legitimate ways to shorten words. Abbreviations, and the use of apostrophes to form contractions are the best tools in your box.

An abbreviation is formed by omitting the end of a word and including a full stop

e.g “Abbreviation” becomes “abbr.”

Contractions are formed by the removal of the middle part of a word

e.g. “Doctor” becomes “Dr.”

Commas, colons or dashes are also useful. Use them to squeeze a sentence while still retaining the relationship between the component parts.

e.g. “Sale on tomorrow at Fashion Boutique. We are offering 20% off so get there early” could become

“Sale, tomorrow, Fashion Boutique, 20% off, get there early.”

Punctuate

Punctuation helps the reader read. It creates emphasis and clarity in your message. Use it to your advantage.

Have a look at this delivery notification via SMS I received from Kiddicare, see how they have used punctuation to shorten the text message in a fun, creative way.

Cut to the chase

We’re often asked by clients to review their text message content to help them improve response rates. The most common error we see is preamble and waffle. With SMS you don’t have that luxury, you need to get straight to the point. Rather than thinking about using all the 160 characters, think about getting your message across in as few characters as possible. Your customers will thank you.

The following example show how preamble dilutes the message, you have to read the first 4 lines of the SMS before you find out what the offer is.

This could be said much clearer, with fewer words:

Resources:

Here are some resources we regularly use that you too might find helpful.

http://www.oxbridgeediting.co.uk/blog/

http://www.copyblogger.com/

And finally, if you have any thoughts or mechanisms you use to write short messages then please share them in the comments below.

He’s made this video and blog post to show how you can use textburst to “get an instant 97% open rate for your marketing message“.

“It’s a scorching hot day today! Time to get some ice! Swing by our warehousee for a fifty percent discount until 9 0′clock tonight. See you soon!”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVct8TFpfRU

Tell us about the Lothersdale?

It’s a 45 bedroom family run Hotel in Morecambe. Our market is the over 50’s who come to enjoy the great views across Morecambe bay towards the Lake District. For years we focused on coach parties who block book the hotel then sell the beds themselves. But things change, there’s now more money in families and small groups booking directly.

Selling to Coach firms meant staying in touch with a small number of tour operators. But as we shift focus to families and groups we’ve had to align our marketing.

So you got into SMS Marketing?

Yeah, we like to try different forms of marketing from time to time. Over the years we’ve advertised in local papers, run promotional events, flyers, dabbled in email marketing. All with varying degrees of success but nothing like that of bulk SMS Marketing.

We dug around a bit then signed up to textburst, mainly because the interface was well designed and easy to use. We sent some text messages to our own phones and realised how easy it was to get going, far easier than anything we’ve done before.

In our first broadcast we sent 772 texts and within a hours we’d sold over £1,000 of accommodation. We couldn’t get over how successful it was, we’d not seen anything generate results so quickly.

What about getting mobile numbers?

That was surprisingly easy too, we just asked guests that stayed overnight at the Hotel.

None were offended by the request, we explained we’d send them promotional offers via SMS, most were happy to join the database. It only took a few weeks.

We’re mindful the list is people who’ve stayed with us before, so we tailor our SMS offerings to encourage repeat business. The approach is very successful, it’s easier to get more business from existing customers than find new ones.

What about future plans?

We do a side line in Sunday lunches for locals. We’re currently pulling together a list of those customers, we’ll use SMS marketing to encourage repeat business by sending offers if bookings are low.

We’re thinking of something simple, maybe a discounted main meal or dessert on presentation of the SMS. We’ll try sending the SMS at different times to see which generates the best result, maybe sending some on Saturday and some on Sunday mid-morning.

Any other tips or tricks you’ve learnt?

Not so much a tip but what’s interesting is; because we offer holidays on specific weeks to a defined list of guests, those that regularly come have gotten to know one another. It means not only are we a holiday destination but also a social hub, and that makes our offers even more attractive.

Does textburst get results for you? We’d love to hear from you.

Much more light

We have windows both sides of the office and the old internal walls cut the light from one side of the building. The environment is much more open, light streams across the office and our mood is much better.

Collaborative working

You can see we have moved to a huge central desk, we all face each other.

Conversations are held in open plan and everyone is welcome to contribute. It means as a collective we find better solutions to problems and at the same time knowledge is shared. With that we can provide a better service to our customers.

Here’s the time lapse

The future

It’s amazing how much stuff we had accumulated over 10 years, and refitting the office really drew it all out, we need to remove this clutter and clear our workspace.

We also need a break out area. We’re not going for cliché bean bags and table football, we’re much too old for that. We’ll make do with a few sofas and a coffee table.

But there’s a problem brewing, there’s a group of people conspiring to ruin it for you. Even worse, they’re going to succeed. You can be sure of that because they’ve already done it with the internet, so there’s no reason to believe it won’t happen again.

Annoying distractions

You know what I’m talking about, adverts. Adverts on your mobile phone. Popups, banners, buttons, sliding moving flashing annoying distractions getting in the way of us doing the things we really want to do.

They’ve already crept onto mobile websites, they are on apps, sometimes on the end of text messages. But it’s a massive growth market for advertisers so it’s not going to get any easier on us.

Inconvenient

Now let’s face it, you bought the phone so you could check emails, update facebook, send SMS, use maps, play games. What you didn’t do was buy it to read adverts, they don’t make life easier, they’re an inconvenient distraction. Devised to grab your attention from what you were doing and lurch off to show you the latest offer or product or another app or a link to this or that.

Adverts suck

Let’s face it, adverts suck, they just get in the way of doing the stuff you wanted to do in the first place.

What do you think, do you know of any that didn’t distract from the mobile app or website you were using?

SMS Keywords are much easier to remember than full mobile numbers, they are words that can be relevant to your brand, product or service.

You must have seen a car advert on TV, you know the sort, text “CAR” to “84433” for more info.

That said, maybe cars are a bad example as shown in my blog post about how car manufacturers get mobile marketing wrong.

So here’s some guidance on choosing the right keyword:

Avoid the hard to spell

The idea of a keyword is to make to it easy for someone to text in, it’s not a spelling test. So stick to words that are easy to spell, or put differently, unlikely to be misspelt.

There are resources online that suggest common misspelt words and it’s worth a quick glance if you’re thinking of something on the longer side.

Be warned, short words can also be hard to spell too, particularly those that break the normal rules of English such as ‘I’ before ‘E’.

e.g. ‘Weird’

And those where the same sounding word, spelt two different ways, mean two different things.

e.g. ‘Alter’ and ‘Altar’.

Here are some more words that often cause confusion:

Chilli, exceed, gauge, height, liaison, fiery, rhyme, rhythm, seize, until.

Keep it short

This is common sense, short words are quicker to type, easier to remember, easier to spell.

Do I really need to justify this further?

Review predictive text alternates

Switch predictive text on and start typing words, type one word and hey presto, you get another:

Here are some interesting alternates:

Cool = Book
Kiss = Lips
Fat = Eat
Pint = Shot

The same goes for smartphones which auto correct spelling, but not always to what you intended.

This is what my iphone did to some well-known brands:

Addidas = Affords
BT = By
Nokia = Milia or Nolia
Prada = Leads
Moet = Mote

Make it memorable

Words that directly relate to your brand or product are the obvious selection, but so too are words that draw association to your brand or product.

You might also find inspiration in the advertising slogan or product description.

For example, if Kellogg’s were advertising Rice Krispies then either Snap, Crackle, or Pop maybe a better solution than Kelloggs or Krispies.

Also popular are adjectives that describe the product, perhaps its appearance, colour or smell. Or even verbs that suggest activities related to the product (Nike : Run).

Further reading

If you found this useful then you’ll also find some good ideas in our post on SMS Marketing Tips.

This is a longer term project which can be broken down to smaller parts, the first of which has just been released.

This first part is a bug fix where if we can’t deduct credit or charge you for the messages then we provided an “insufficient credit” error.

With this release you will now receive “internal error”.

If you do receive “internal error” then we recommend you retry after one minute.

You can read more detail about error handling on this page of the SMS API Documentation.

Neil, 22 years old at the time simply sent “Merry Christmas” from his PC over the Vodafone network….and with that simple step a whole sub-culture, language, social media, and SMS industry spawned.

The irony is that SMS was actually intended for business use due to the expense, yet 18 years later it is very much the norm for the public and the business community is still just getting to grips with its use.

Anyway, not massively interesting, but it’d seem odd for us not to mention today.

If you want something more interesting try our list of SMS marketing tips

Thanks Neil, and Merry Christmas.

A number of our customers have a large focus on students so it’s worth posting a link to this article on eMarketer.

A recent survey of undergraduate students not only shows 62% own a device with mobile web access but the increase from 2009’s 51% is staggering. Pretty soon they will all have some kind of smart phone.

How things have changed, the best I could manage at Uni was 10p a and trek to the phone box.

We did a successful brochure request via SMS a few years back for Salford Uni but since then it seems things have changed.

So what does this all mean?

Bulk SMS is already pretty big in the student community. But if you deal with, interact with, provide services to students then mobile optimised websites and apps for the iphone and android should be high on the list.

It’s plain text, restricted to 160 characters, crikey, you even have to pay for it.

But despite all the scaremongering it’s continued to outstrip all best expectations. Every day Bulk SMS volumes grow and new companies sign up and start to feel the benefit of bite sized bursts of information.

So what about Facebook and their combined user clout, could unified messaging be a nail in the coffin for SMS?

You can read the information Facebook have released by clicking here.

Well the answer is a resounding no.

In the main because SMS is one element of the service, it’s the combination of email, instant messaging and SMS that makes the proposition interesting.

In a way it’s like the fire triangle, if you take one element away then the whole thing falls apart.

So we welcome Facebook Messaging, and more years of growth in the SMS market.

Increasingly we share the minutia of our lives with friends, relatives, and complete strangers via mechanisms such as broadcast SMS, facebook, twitter.

So, two weeks ago while I sat in hospital waiting for my wife to be administered a dose of drugs to induce labour, I tweeted.

It was nothing at first.

“So… in hospital for an induction today, the wife obviously, not me.”

But having tweeted I realised what an excellent mechanism to keep family and friends up to date. Forget periodical phone calls and passing the message on, I’ll just tweet updates. The wife agreed.

The induction process was pretty slow and I ended up tweeting about hospital food, other patients, and general non events like watching Glee.

Word from family and friends was they loved my updates, and so they continued, during the administration of drugs in the ante-natal ward right through into the delivery room.

In the delivery room they connected her to a drip and started pumping an increasing amount of chemicals into her. But hey, let’s share, so I tweeted.

She sucked in gas and air. I tweeted.

They gave her an epidural. I tweeted.

Now please don’t think badly of me, I wasn’t sat there like a passive observer tweeting her pain for the world to read. I was doing my massage piece and supporting her as best as I possibly could. I just tweeted now and again.

But the point of this is where do you stop?

What is too much information?

I wasn’t consciously thinking of the answers to these questions when I became uncomfortable with sharing. I realised that some things aren’t meant to be shared, that certain events belong to the people present. Maybe it’s because birth is a special event, my wife’s pain was certainly not something to be shared, but I could also feel the weight of those concerned sat at home waiting for the next update.

For a whole myriad of reasons I suddenly realised there are limits, and I’d hit mine.

I tried to leave on a positive note:

“A nice tweet: epidural went in 30 mins ago, Abi sleeping, contractions nice, lovely and peaceful now, midwife got me a pillow. Night night”

But I wonder, there’s a generation coming through that share every detail of their lives on facebook and twitter. What happens when they are my age, will they stop where I did?

What will a world be like when we share our most intimate moments and there are no secrets?

Never mind big brother watching us and data privacy laws, we’re broadcasting everything for everyone to see anyway.

Foot note:
It was a boy, mother and baby doing well.

And for those interested, you can read my twitter feed here.

Time for a refresh

The nature of an online SMS business means we have very few client meetings in the office, and we operate with almost zero internal meetings. For this reason the boardroom and two meeting rooms were wasted space that cut off a lot of light from the main open plan office.

We’re in an old sixties block that could have only been designed by a failed architect on his day off. But hats off to the designers, they have come up with a scheme that makes much better use of the space and provides a friendlier environment to work in.

No more partitions

So down come the partition walls and in goes a single glass wall to provide an area for occasional meetings and some quiet space, yet still allowing light to freely pass round the office.

Fancy bespoke desk

Out go the banks of desks and in comes a single bespoke desk that we all sit round. This was the most important factor for us. We work very openly, collaborating, sharing ideas and thoughts as we go through the day.

Our current setup left some team members with their backs to one another. The new desk will be one huge square that we sit on the outside edges all facing into the centre.

The time lapse is still running so once the refit is complete we’ll post again.

This is the “Users” feature that allows you to setup and manage other users from within your own account.

With this feature only a single person in an organisation need sign up. Once signed up they can share the application with their colleagues.

This works particularly well for say, a call centre environment where the individual employees wouldn’t want to sign up and purchase credits, or indeed where the company wants to retain control.

With Users, one person (the admin user) signs up and purchases credits then sets the others up as sub users. The admin user has control of who can send SMS and how many they can send. If you get a new employee, simply create a new account. Someone leaves, just suspend their account.

As always we’ve tried to make it as simple as possible. The users tab is in the main menu, and the link “Add a new user“ is fairly self-explanatory and guides you through the setup.

Finally, an email is automatically sent to each new user, welcoming them to the system and providing their initial logon information.

I admit it has taken us a little longer than anticipated to get this live but the mechanism is very smooth. We hope you like it.

This time our application Florence has helped our collaboration partner Stoke NHS become a finalist in the Health and Social Care Awards, Transforming Community Services category.

Wow, this is great news.

Update: 8th October 2010 – winner!

Its like a great big pat on the back from a panel of external experts, “well done guys, you’re on the right track, keep up the good work”.

This external validation is worth its weight in gold particularly in the early stages of a product lifecycle, not just for PR but also for motivation.

So we’re really pleased to see our new mobile healthcare application Florence getting the recognition it deserves. Our collaboration partners NHS Stoke On Trent have been nominated for a HSJ Award in the Quality and Productivity category.

What’s a HSJ Award?

They are all about recognising innovation, best practice and inspiration in the healthcare profession.

According to the highly revered Sir John Oldham:

“The HSJ Awards are a goldmine for the best examples of a variety of best practice around the country ”

So there you go, it’s still early days but we’re clearly on the right track, and I think there’s a fair chance of winning!

But I think it’s all media hype. And it’s not just healthcare it’s everywhere, iphone this, iphone that.

But it’s not real yet. All these apps are small scale with limited reach, they target a specific health condition so ultimately are only accessible to those with the health condition, with an iPhone.

How’s that going to revolutionise healthcare?

The future points toward larger screens of blackberry, iPhone, etc. But they’re still expensive compared to normal phones and their penetration levels low.

I recently read that the proportion of iphone ownership around the globe is equivalent to the population of Poland, so if Poland’s your market then go for it.

The challenge with mobile healthcare (and no doubt other industry areas) is to find solutions that are accessible to all. Not just young ones with cool new phones but old ones who are new to phones, the visually impaired who can’t read lovely smooth screens, the ones who can’t afford Apple’s price tag, and those not in reach of a 3G networks.

Focus on the patients

As you know, mediaburst has been developing a very simple healthcare application that patients can get on their phones. Part of our demonstration was a Q&A session with three patients who’ve been using the system during the initial trials.

I’ll be completely honest and admit that during the development we focused purely on the needs of medical staff. We wanted to help them save time and improve the quality of healthcare they provide.

We’d not really considered the patients. Sure our partners at NHS Stoke were doing this, but we weren’t. It wasn’t a conscious oversight, patients don’t buy the system so we didn’t consider them. It was that simple.

Listen to the patients

So this demo was the first time I’d met some of the patients and heard first hand accounts of how they benefit from the application. And, having listened, I’m now completely blown away, totally bowled over. In their own words, we’ve given them their lives back.

COPD monitoring

Two of the patients were long term sufferers of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). They were housebound other than frequent visits to hospital and their current care plans impeded significantly on their daily lives. But now, using our application, they can lead much fuller, much more normal lives.

When I say ‘normal‘, I’m talking about the kind of things you and I take for granted. Going to the shops, visiting relatives, having a night away and going on holiday.

Previously they were tied to monitoring machines at home. Now they are up and about again, enjoying those simple pleasures. You can’t put a value on that.

Resettlement

The next patient we met was nervous presenting to us, she had tears in her eyes and needed the support of her care worker to speak. But her passion was such that she wanted to share her experience.

She’s a long term sufferer of mental health issues, was cared for at residential homes, frequently turned to drugs and alcohol and generally depended on others to get her through the day.

With the assistance of our application she’s now living in her own flat, has learnt to cook and clean, is doing voluntary work, has stayed clear of drink and drugs and, as you can imagine, her self-esteem is through the roof.

Referring to our app she said, “you can’t take it away from me, if you do I’ll cry”.

Changing lives

As I said, I’m completely blown away. This isn’t normal business, these are real lives and we’re changing them.

Changing lives is new ground for mediaburst, but with it our motivation levels are sky high, and we’ve learnt a lesson in mobile healthcare.

To make things really work, focus on the patients.

We’ll put more details up here in the next few weeks as the application goes through trials, but for now here’s the teaser page.

http://www.getflorence.co.uk/

In this case I’m warning charities away from Premium Rate (reversed billed) text messaging to collect donations. For clarity this isn’t about normal every day, free to the recipient messaging.

A changing market

There have been some ground-breaking changes to the premium rate market in the last year in regard to how much of the money charged to a mobile user the network operators will share with the charities.

More revenue

We have seen 100% of the revenue passed to the charities in massive high profile campaigns such as red nose day.

We have also seen increased amounts of revenue passed down to charities if they use specific “charity” short codes. But the use of these codes is currently limited by very expensive setup costs. But let’s not get too excited about additional percentage revenue. Some of the networks still retain nearly 25% of the donation. Don’t forget, this is the donation the consumer made to your charity.

Tighter regulation

Then there’s the regulation, Phonepayplus are tightening up their rules, you ought to be getting prior approval for premium rate services to ensure you comply with the regulations. Even if an SMS supplier will do this for free don’t underestimate the time you’ll spend on this part alone. The last thing you want as a charity is a regulatory fine and being named and shamed on their publicly available list of adjudications. If you want to avoid this then you’d better be involved.

Will it be successful?

So let’s say you paid the setup fees for a specialist charity code to get a higher share of the revenue. Or perhaps even you chose not to pay for the additional revenue and you’re receiving what can be as little as 35% of the donation. Then is it really going to be worth it or are you better diverting your fund raising energies to other areas?

Clearly you need to work on a case by case basis and calculate the likelihood of success, but I can’t help but feel it’s a massive risk.

Please, prove me wrong

I’d love to hear of some really successful campaigns that are not by one of the big national/ international charities, and if you know then send it through and prove me wrong.

But for now, I’m not convinced.

Once again we’ve worked with the excellent Phil Thompson and he’s produced something that echoes the main mediaburst site.  It’s simple, attractive, and most importantly fits nicely onto an iPhone screen.

If you need a link it’s on http://www.mediaburst.co.uk/m/

Let’s get straight into some screen shots…

As you can see the site’s very much iPhone orientated. Google analytics showed that 95% of our mobile visitors are using iPhones, hence anything other than an apple orientated site would be illogical.

That’s not to say it doesn’t work on other smart phones, we’ve tested on Blackberry and HTC’s with no problems at all.

We also made an assumption based on our own iPhone browsing habits. That is, none of us searched for products on iPhones or bought using our credit cards. We all tended to read article type information, be it on blogs, wiki or news sites. We use it more of an instant research tool, perhaps to flick through while our better halves are trying something on in the changing rooms.

With this in mind we have made the site really simple by focusing on:

• Who are mediaburst? (home page)
• How to get in touch with mediaburst (it’s on the bottom of every page)
• Some quality reading material (case studies and the blog articles)

So we hope you like it, go and have a play, send us your feedback and let us know what you think?

Although the ipad is more akin to a big iphone than a small laptop it does miss the vital ingredient that makes it mobile, that being a sim card to make calls and send texts.

So what I’m I seeing here, is it bloggers stuck for true mobile content or is it just part of the convergence of the mobile and digital worlds?

The book constitutes a number of short essays containing their advice on how to run a business.

Anyway, here’s our essay on service levels:

Punish Poor Service

We recently had a situation where one of our suppliers was processing messages slowly. We are talking about a small percentage of our Bulk SMS traffic running up to a few minutes too slow.

For us this is not acceptable. The messages our clients send can be time critical. Imagine someone staring at their phone, waiting to receive an SMS before they can get on with the task. Anything more than a handful of seconds is not acceptable.

We need to report this situation to our supplier and get it sorted quickly.

On referring to their Service Level Agreement it would appear a slow platform has a low priority assigned to it. It means when we report the issue they will “initially respond” within 24 hours and “aim to fix it” in 3 days.

This level of non-service is almost industry standard, it’s certainly replicated across our other major suppliers.

We can’t operate like this, we can’t wait 24 hours for an initial response. We can’t wait 3 days for them to resolve the problem, we have customers to serve.

You’ve got to take control of the situation, so here’s what we do now:

If we see any sign of an issue with a supplier or their SMS routes we switch them off instantly. No discussion, no phone calls. Just switch all the traffic to an alternate supplier. Job done.

It means our number one priority (our customers) is attended to. It means we continue to deliver all our messages in the rapid timeframe they are used to.

We then report the issue to the supplier and inform them as soon as they get it sorted we’ll switch them back on.

It means while they are reviewing the issue, initially responding and trying and fix the problem they are losing money. That should help focus their minds.

So it doesn’t matter what your supplier SLA’s are, take control, implement your own.

Aside from the usual junk mail which we just cross “Return To Sender” and repost. I’m surprised at the amount of post that could easily be sent via a digital mechanism. SMS or email are the obvious channels.

We’ve received a few purchase orders and a surprising amount of remittance advices covering payments we received electronically, typically BACS. Now correct me if I’m wrong but second class stamp costs 32p, an envelope about 1.5p, plus a sheet of cheap paper, and some print ink.

Why would you move to electronic payments but still incur these costs?

Why would you not move the remittances to an electronic means and remove all the cost?

Then there is the environmental argument. How many trees would we save if we eliminated unnecessary post, and the reduction in waste?

All this has been said before, but obviously not loud enough.

Not only are the entry instructions printed in black text on a dark red background rendering it almost unreadable. But the instructions are so complex.

See for yourself.

Also note the use of white text on black background and good line spacing (just above the entry instructions)  is very clear and easy to read, why not use this for the entry mechanism?

I’ve challenged and timed a further 2 people to enter. Both have taken in excess of 2 and half minutes to read, work out, and compose their entry. Both admitting that under normal circumstances they would have given up.

I wonder how many others have given up?

I’ve now downloaded a huge range of applications from free fun stuff like the obligatory ipint thingy, games such as Monkey Ball and Angry Birds, to a few productivity apps.

But it got me thinking: which is the best app? What do I use most regularly?

I started looking over the apps I’d downloaded and compiling a list of my favourites but then it hit me. There is one I use every single day, multiple times, without even thinking. Text Messaging!

Yes, predictably this blog is about SMS.

But you can’t blame me because it’s true. It’s the oldest and most widely used data app in the world with over 2.4 billion active users. It’s become part of our culture spawning its own language, it exists on every phone, and there are no social, geographic or demographic barriers to its use. Even my Grandma uses it.

Here are some recent stats:

In the UK alone we send some 11 million texts per hour.

We sent a massive 874 million texts on New Year’s Eve alone.

Current predictions suggest a volume rise of 22% during 2010.

Over 90% of text messages are read within seconds of receiving them.

So there you have it, the undisputed king of apps, and as much as I love Angry Birds, I can’t see it ever competing for the top spot!

How does white labelling work?

Our Online SMS product textburst is the main one, but we also get requests for our SMS API, and our email to SMS product.

The reseller offers the service to their customers or markets in any way they feel fit. They take care of the billing, collect the money, provide support etc. We just exist in the background as their little secret.

The truth is we have offered while label services for many years but have had little success other than via a few reputable organisations such as O2.

The Problem

Many resellers see your application as a nice piece of technology. They think if they rebranded it as their own they could sell it to their existing customers, make a million and retire on a beach in the Bahamas. But it just doesn’t work like that.

We used to do loads of free while labels in the hope that we’d benefit by extending our reach, but so few come to anything it’s not been a priority.

About 2 years ago we introduced a nominal £500 to while label textburst, what happened was interesting. We certainly scared a few would-be resellers off. In my mind anyone not willing to pay £500 was indicating that they were not confident of their own ability to sell the product. Those that did pay in general sold more than those that hadn’t.

A solution?

Back in January we released our latest version of textburst and removed the ability to produce new white labels easily. Hence the £500 option is now gone completely. All white labelling is bespoke and we don’t look at it unless we feel the potential reseller can actually resell.

But the question I’m now left with is this: In our experience very few while labels have been successful at all, so why does anyone do it? We spend an inordinate amount of time developing our services and intellectual property, should we really be passing this on to anyone who thinks they can sell SMS?

There are literally hundreds of web applications out there who offer white label services, but is that not undermining the value of your own investment and brand. If your application is so great why would you want to make it look like someone else and let them take the brand value?

What we do now is much simpler, we say just introduce the client to us, we’ll do what we are good at, you do what your good at, and by way of a thank you we’ll give you some commission. Surely that can’t be wrong?

To put textburst onto our smartphones the first step has to be a site optimised specifically for the most popular devices. iphone and blackberry sping to mind instantly.

This being the first release of a Smartphone version of the application we wanted to keep it as simple as possible. The theory being we use our smartphones to access applications when we don’t have time to fire up the PC or when we’re out of the office. Either way, when using a small screen we really don’t want to be presented with a cluttered mess and too many choices.

Fortunately Google analytics backed up our suspicion. We found phone users spend less time on the site and use less pages.

                  Pages per visit                  Time on app

Mobile                3                                     3:55
PC                     4.5                                   7:20

Here’s the spread of smartphone usage, notice the heavy skew towards apple devices, at least this was conclusive about what design style we should opt for, iphone it is!

iphone or itouch          71%
Blackberry                   26%
Sony                              3%
Android                          0% (very interesting!)

So here it is:

After logging in you’ll find a simple, self explanatory menu:

Send message screen

As I type the send screen is still giving us a few headaches with the curved corners on the boxes, and hopefully will be rectified before we launch.

Sent Items and Inbox provide a scrollable list of your 20 latest messages

And clicking through to a sent item will show you a summary of the campaign as follows:

Hopefully the use of standard iphone formatting and navigation will make this as simple to use as the iphone itself. I personally can’t see any iphone user struggling with this in any way.

Just to clear any risk of users needing specific functionality there is a link on every page to use the full version.

So there we have it, simple, clean, easy to use, and due for release early next week.

In recent months the number of requests for a iphone/smartphone version have been increasing. So too has the usage of textburst from the whole range of internet enabled devices.

So it’s moved up the priority list, and we’re on with it.

I’ll get some screenshots posted in my next blog.

Exciting times ahead!

Everyone’s got a TV as well, but it’s not always switched on. And even when it is switched on they might not be watching the channel your expensive advert is on.

2. Everyone’s got a mobile

And everyone has got a radio, but again it’s not always switched on. And even if it is on they might not be listening to the station your expensive advert is on.

3. Everyone’s got a mobile

They also have computers, but some only at work and we’re not at work 24/7 (well, most people anyway). And some only have a computer at home, and we’re not at home 24/7. And again, even when we are at home or at work, we might be watching TV or listening to the radio, and not watching the computer.

4. Everyone’s got a mobile

Sorry to sound repetitive, but are you with me now? Everyone has got a mobile, it’s always switched on, and it doesn’t have different channels. They are always messing with it, and if they’re not messing with it it’s in their pocket or on their desk. So when you decide to send your message out to them they are there, ready and waiting…for you.

Oh, and if they have a smart phone, which is after all, just a mini computer. They probably listen to the radio on it, watch TV and video on it, read the news on it, check the scores on it, check facebook, twitter, linkedin, shop on it, take photos on it, read maps, and on and on and hence why you need to be thinking about mobile.

Simples!

Very simply, the plug-in provides a gateway so you can receive Nagios SMS alerts and notification.

It uses the Nagios pager confirmation to send SMS through our HTTP Gateway.

You can see more details on Nagios’s site and we should appear on the Nagios official plugins directory pretty soon.

As all of the solutions allow you to send text messages, what’s the difference between them and which one is applicable to you?

Textburst

The key advantage of textburst is it’s accessible from the internet, in your web browser, it’s like hotmail or google mail but instead of sending emails it sends text messages.

As an internet based application it can provide more functionality and allow you to take full control over your text message campaign.

It’s ideal for bulk SMS marketing because you can upload and manage multiple, and large groups of contacts. That means by segregating your database by e.g. interest, age or gender you can now target and tailor SMS messages specifically to that group.

You can also merge information into each text message so you can personalise it to the individual recipient. Like mail merging in a Word document. This is ideal if you want to increase response rates or make the customer feel like they are receiving a more personal communication.

The other key difference with textburst is the ability to schedule large SMS sends. This means you can develop a marketing message and send it out at a time where it will have the most impact. The thing about text messaging is that customers receive and read messages instantly so timing your message to perfection will yield much better results, and this might be at a time when you’re not at a PC. That’s where scheduling comes in.

You can also view a list of scheduled sends and cancel them if appropriate.

Textburst is also ideal for keeping in touch with staff, and in particular for business continuity SMS. The frequent reality of a business continuity situation is you’re not going to be able to get into the office. With textburst being internet based you don’t need to, it can be accessed from any internet enabled PC, be it at home, an internet cafe or from a Smartphone.

Outlook Mobile Service

Sometimes called OMS, this is actually your email package Microsoft Outlook 2007 or later version. When Microsoft launched Outlook 2007 they included the ability to send SMS text messages. And just like email, for which you need an email address from an email provider, you need an SMS provider. That’s where we come in.

With Outlook 2007 you are simply using functions and buttons provided to you by Microsoft, instead of clicking the “New Email” button you click the “New SMS” button. The compose SMS screen looks very similar to the email screen, and settings are all in the usual Microsoft menus, this means, assuming you already use Outlook then you’re already familiar with how it works and you’re not going to have any usability issues.

The most obvious advantage of using Outlook for text messaging is that it utilises all the information already in Microsoft Outlook contact list. This is great for small businesses that use this list as their primary database of contact information, and using a single database avoids duplication and margin for error.

The other distinct advantage is its links to the existing Microsoft Outlook calendars. You can have text message reminders sent to your mobile phone in advance of meetings or even a daily summary first thing in the morning. This is great functionality for those who’re regularly out of the office and need reminders of where to be, and when.

The final piece of the jigsaw is email notifications via SMS. This feature allows you to configure a rule that means when an email comes in that meets the requirements e.g. from a certain person or containing certain information then you’ll get an immediate text message notification. Perfect for that important email, perhaps notification of a contract win!

For advanced Outlook users if you combine Outlook Mobile Service with business contact manager you can make the functionality work well for text message marketing.

Email to SMS

Don’t be confused with Outlook Mobile service working from your email package. Email to SMS is different.

Email to SMS works from any email application what so ever, no exceptions. That’s the advantage; the disadvantage is it only comes with very basic functionality, although this suits most people.

Basically, just proceed as if you were sending an email but instead of entering an email address you type in their mobile number followed by @message-platform.com.

The email is sent directly to mediaburst and we convert the message content into an SMS and send it via the mobile networks. It all happens in a split second.

Email to SMS is often used by software developers to customise existing applications. For example, if you have software that can trigger an email when an event happens, if the email is sent to the email to SMS service then it’s be converted to SMS and delivered to your mobile handset.

So rather than receive the email you can now receive a text message and cover the possibility that you may not be at your PC when the event is triggered.

Typical examples of this in operation is, completion of website forms, appointment software, and server monitoring software.

SMS API

API stands for Application Protocol Interface, if you don’t know what it means, don’t worry, it’s not for you it’s for techies, software developers.

With an API you can connect your application to the mobile networks, if you want to send SMS messages from your application then this is what you need.

Integrate your application using XML SMS SMPP, HTTP SMS or SOAP SMS.

Summary

Although our applications are based around the principle functionality of sending SMS text messages, which application you chose depends very much on what software you already have and what is most convenient for you to use.

But as always, if your not clear or need any more information then get in touch.

If you want to read more then you could read our SMS Marketing Tips.

We also produced a self explanatory page entitled 10 things to do with SMS.

But not when you play Buzzword Bingo!

Download our bingo sheet, get your dabbers out and pay attention.

David Cameron is first up at 14:30!

Click here to get the bingo card

A blog about Mobile, Advertising and Social media. Its creator Murat Mutlu is also a user experience designer so logically (and thankfully) we get a nice looking easy to navigate site. Murat has worked in agencies with a whole host of well known brands and his credentials and experience help to produce and informative yet fun read.

If nothing else you should get up to speed with this kettle that tweets, or “twettle” concept. It’s already creating quite a buzz.

Run by Ewan Macleod a daily serving of news and opinion. Originally the site was SMS Text News but as the market changed so too did their focus. There is regular content about all aspects of the mobile industry but what we like most is unbiased opinion, and it comes in bucket loads.

Today they have over 250,000 readers, and well worth tuning into.

It’s far from the prettiest of sites but as a relative newcomer it’s worthy of mention and certainly a visit.

The site is created and run by Daniel Nordberg who is head of business development at Sony Ericsson and a board member of the European branch of the Mobile Marketing Association. So while he may not be the best graphic designer he’s certainly well connected in the industry and carries an inherent interest in market growth.

He posts successful and creative examples of mobile marketing campaigns. There is a good site index down the right hand side making it easy for you to find campaigns in your particular area of interest.

Not masses of opinion but a great source of inspiration.

Here’s a popular site with a global attitude. They cover all things mobile including campaigns, strategies, company reviews, news, tips and interviews.

Although there is a lot of big company news, Microsoft, Apple, AT&T etc there is also a good helping of small business information and success stories.

The picture is completed with a newsletter and links to free guides such as “Mobile Marketing Industry Glossary” Text Marketing to Cell Phone users” and “Mobile Web Developers Guide”

Another basic site that carries some great content. There is plenty of advertising but thankfully the simplistic design places the content firmly as the centre of attention.

There are stacks of updates containing, opinion, news, company wins, and campaigns in a scrollable format.

American based news and blog site dedicated to the mobile industry. Clearly it has a focus on USA based campaigns but you’ll find a whole range of articles and news in an easy to navigate format.

They also have daily news alert which some may find useful.

The only downside is the excess of online advertising detracts from the content, but I guess you’ve got to fund yourself somehow.

Part of the well known Techcrunch site this blog covers hardware software and services of the mobile industry.

This site does tend to have a large focus on hardware and in particular, smart phones. But many of you will find this useful to keep abreast of the ever changing handset market. Perhaps relevant to look at new features and functionality that you can leverage for mobile campaigns.

No prizes for originality on the name, but there is no doubt, it is what it says it is.

What we like is accompanying the news and campaigns are a series of Mobile Marketing tips and tutorials covering in the main, SMS & proximity marketing.

This kind of resource is great for clients doing some research of what can be achieved with mobile.

Summary

So there you have it 8 great mobile marketing blogs…

wait…

did I not say 10….

the truth is we struggled beyond 8 so have 2 remaining spots, so leave your suggestions below and we’ll have a look, see if we can fill the final 2.

The reason for blogging was my disappointment at the standards that are currently being set and inaccuracies in the teaching material.

Examples:

• One suggests SMS messages could not be branded. You can actually append your brand name on the end or as the message header.
• Another quotes PhonepayPlus’ maximum fine as £100k, in actual fact it is £250k,
• And, one informed that it is possible for a sender to identify when an SMS has been read. This is completely untrue, unless of course you look over someone’s shoulder.

The list goes on…

My concern is that these bodies are teaching the future stars of our industries. It’s these students that with proper education and experience will create and run groundbreaking campaigns. They will take mobile to the next level, to new markets, new and old companies, to a whole new audience.   

But this won’t happen if they are not taught well from the outset.

So it’s vitally important that industry bodies who teach mobile as part of their syllabus do so in a responsible and accurate manner.

Now I don’t work in the education sector but I imagine this requires thorough research, regular reviews to align with a changing environment and market, and regular discussion with those in the industry.

So come on industry bodies, let’s up the standards please, let’s give the stars of the future the best possible chance to create some amazing campaigns.

The notification has come direct from Orange and will occur while they carry out changes to their SMS network.

During the outage there will be a total loss of SMS services on the Orange network for approximately 3 hours, starting at midnight 7th April and ending at 3am on Thursday 8th April.

During the outage, outbound text messages for delivery to Orange customers will be rejected by the Orange SMS Gateway and will fail to deliver. Messages originating from Orange customers will be stored by Orange and forwarded as soon as the connection is back up.

Orange appreciates the inconvenience that this will cause and has made assurances that they will work as quick as possible to bring the service back up again prior to 03.00.

It’s fortunate that they have chosen to conduct this work during a low volume period and hence the disruption will be kept to a minimum.

You do not need to do anything other than alert your technical teams or customers if applicable.
If you have any queries then please get in touch.

So in a slight attempt to clarify the position here it is:

We are very happy with our connectivity, routes, pricing, reliability, security, and relationships.

We are not in the market for new routes nor do we anticipate being in the near future.

The truth is we use a mixture of aggregator and direct connections to process our SMS traffic. All have been chosen on the basis of quality, speed, reliability, underlying financial strength, and finally price. By doing proper due diligence and long term testing we end up with routes that cater for our needs over the long term.

Choosing routes purely on price is not for us, it overlooks too many critical factors.

Switching routes based on the latest discount means you end up spending unnecessary technical time configuring and switching between the suppliers. It means taking on the risk of switching, it means not having time to properly test.

Our supplier choice is a long term decision, we seek to establish relationships that develop and become trusted that once in place we can sit comfortably and focus on selling more product.

When we look at new routes it’s driven by one factor and one factor only, a desire to improve our own service levels.

Fortunately, we have got to a point where we have no single point of failure throughout our SMS platform and supplier network, and our messages are delivered super fast. It’s these factors that help us win business with the likes of O2 and the NHS.

So there we have it, no new suppliers please.

Place your orders early for Christmas!

Volvo

Their advert offered a brochure if you texted in. So I did.

I got a response, to which I replied with my address and postcode, they confirmed back by text, ”your brochure will be with you in a matter of days”.

It never arrived!

What did arrive was phone calls offering me test drives.

Being honest, not delivering the brochure isn’t a good start to my investigations, and following up with phone calls is a tad inconsistent with my chosen medium (SMS), but not the end of the world.

And far from Seat’s problems that I’ll detail below…

Kia

Next up was: KIA to 64118 and a response from 84118

“Welcome to the World of 7 Year Warranty from Kia. For a free Kia brochure, pls text your TITLE, FIRST NAME, SURNAME, HOUSE NO. & POSTCODE. Privacy:”

Why did the response come from a different number? Why do they need so much information, thought this was supposed to be easy? Oh forget it, I’m not interested in a 7 year warranty anymore!

Here’s my suggestion:

“Welcome to the home of the 7 Year Warranty from Kia. For a free brochure, reply with your NAME, HOUSE NO. & POSTCODE. Privacy:”

I’ve changed “World” to “Home”. This was to align correctly with their corporate message on their website, which seems logical.

Changed “pls text” to “reply with” because it’s instructional rather than a request and actually informs the consumer where to text to.

I also think just name, house no. and postcode, is fine for a mailing address. Consumers have only got 160 characters to reply with.

As for the response coming back from the same number you texted into. This ensures the consumer instantly recognises the source of the new message. And for smartphone users the two messages show consecutively in the same thread.

In truth I don’t think this is a bad example but can’t help but feel a little more thought could have improved brand consistency and increased the number who took up the brochure request.

Citroen C3

I then texted: NEWC3 to 64118 and, pleasingly received a response from the same shortcode.

“Thanks. For a New C3 brochure or test drive reply with your FULL NAME, HOUSE NO. & POSTCODE. We don’t spam.”

Great, this one’s consistent, and shorter!

But read on, it gets ugly…..

Seat Ibiza Cherub

I saw this great advert (see it here) and I texted: CHERUB to 84118.

The response I got was:

“Info in post. 4 a test drive rply TRIAL. Nearest: Citroen Manchester South, Cross St, M33 7JR, 01619690214. Others: 0800262262. 4 no news rply STOP”

What?

Citroen?

In the post?

I didn’t give them my address?

I requested info on a Seat Ibiza not a Citroen.

Again, why did it come from 64118 when I texted 84118?

This made no sense until I realised, this was on the same night I texted in for the Citroen C3 above. But crucially I didn’t send in my postcode or house number for the C3.

84118 and 64118 are the same service and they got mixed up what came from where.

When I texted ”CHERUB” to 84118 they thought I’d replied with my address and postcode for the Citroen.

They mixed up their shortcodes, keywords, and two very large car brands.

The service must have recognised my mobile number from the Citroen enquiry and bam “info in the post”!

My verdict: What can you say, I’ve not even got into the message structure and content, but promoting a competitors brand, I bet this wasn’t part of the brief!

Alfa Romeo

And finally, I watched an advert for an Alpha Romeo Mito.

Poised, mobile in hand, I waited for the shortcode and keyword.

But alas, it did not arrive.

They don’t use shortcodes on their adverts.

And this, I believe, is the biggest mistake of all.

For once I’m lost for words….let the cake eating commence!

Next in line is Outlook Mobile Service.

With the forthcoming release from Microsoft of Outlook 2010 they have made some enhancements to the SMS side of the product.

Naturally we’ve included the functionality into our service, had it checked, and approved by Microsoft. I think we are the 3^rd company in the world this time to get approval, (note to self, must be first next time).

So the improvements are thus:

• Support for concatenated SMS (long SMS).
• Outlook 2010 will have an object model available to developers allowing them to build applications on top of it.
• SMS functionality is extended to the alert feature in Sharepoint.
• There is now batch mode to help with Bulk SMS. In short, it will improve the speed of delivery of multiple SMS.

Admittedly they haven’t gone as far as we would have liked. We’d still like to see functionality to customize the originator from within Outlook, and perhaps a direct link to purchase more messages from your chosen SMS provider. The idea being that these improvements alone would mean users could manage most of the SMS aspects directly from Outlook without having to log into the web front end of the SMS provider.

For now Outlook 2010 is another giant leap in the right direction for PC originated SMS. Our customers who have adopted Outlook Mobile Service in version 2007 find the efficiency of sending SMS from their email software much more convenient than signing into a web application. We should see 2010 build on that convenience.

Now although this will slot into our fun category in the blog this is no light hearted event. It’s sponsored by LG and offers prize money of US$100,000. There are 26 competitors from 13 different countries competing in teams of two.

Korea were the eventual winners followed by USA and Argentina.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj0_Kg-3M3c

Portuguese competitor Pedro Mateus managed to break the world record of texting the standard English paragraph used to measure texting speed using a single thumb in less than 2 minutes.

The interesting stat is one of the USA contestants is quoted as having sent 16,000 text messages in a single month (circa 533 a day), before her parents instructed her to take this down to a mere 10,000.

Surely it can’t be long before texting is an Olympic sport?

So where does mobile come into this, there has to be some relevance to the blog of an SMS Provider?

In the infrequently asked questions Gates addresses the question, “should companies help the poor”.

The very obvious point he raises is that companies are there to build great products and sell them, and therefore only consumers that have money can buy them. Hence the poorest are excluded from the cycle and benefits that can be derived from the products.

He argues that companies should invest a proportion of their R&D into work that directly helps the poor, and derive the benefits that come from investing in lower cost models and markets.

So here’s the mobile link:

He suggests that communications companies could benefit by figuring out how the cell phone could help with health needs.

And there we are, he’s stepped on the holy grail of mobile. It’s an area that so far no one has successfully managed to figure out. Don’t believe me? Manchester University has even setup an M-Health Innovation Centre to act as the UK focus for such initiatives.

We are talking serious stuff here, helping people get better, improving lives. Forget all the premium rate muck that plagues the industry this is where we should be heading.

But the problem is healthcare is complex and longwinded, we all have different needs, differing ailments and issues.

Then you’ve got healthcare providers, government bodies who enshrouded themselves in an impenetrable layer of red tape.

We need to find a chink in the armour of bureaucracy, a way in. Perhaps someone who believes in the benefits so much that they help you unlock the door and guide you through the corridors to the right department.

And that’s what mediaburst have found, someone who understands what can be done with a mobile phone.

Someone who understands healthcare and can correlate the apparently unconnected.

Someone who’s drawn the parties together to collaborate and develop.

So watch this space, healthcare is coming to your mobile.

The jargon trap

We’ve liked all our previous websites but they have all been based on providing information on mobile technology. We’d fallen into the trap of using industry jargon and overcomplicating everything. This made it difficult for those new to mobile to understand our products. We’d used cliché photo’s of mobile phones and a site structure that didn’t lend itself to growth. Have a look here

So as well as making everything simpler and easy to understand, the key driver was to allow users to sign up and buy online. Such a radical change in direction for a website required a complete overhaul. The conundrum we faced was to retain all the useful information but create a site structure users could easily follow to the products they are interested in or obtain the information they are looking for.

The result

I think we’ve done this exceptionally well. The navigation into key products is easy, each product page contains links to relevant supplementary information, and pricing is crystal clear. Alongside this we’ve beefed up the blog and will use it to publish articles on how to get the most from mobile as well as company news and interesting facts and figures.

We’ve now got a dedicated section for agencies regarding mobile marketing. This area is small but crystal clear in what we are offering and how we can help agencies in the mobile marketing arena.

There is a dedicated customers section to showcase the brands using mediaburst and relevant case studies. Over the coming months we’ll be adding more content.

Significantly there is now a SMS API section. Not only does this contain the API code and samples but also an online signup mechanism and a showcase of products that are already using the API.

What do you think?

So there you have it, a new year, and a new site. It’s the most significant customer facing redesign we have ever made. It’s the culmination of 6 months of hard work, and we hope you like it?

Beyond the visual

Over the past 6 months we’ve really got into User Interface design. We’ve gone beyond visual appearance to understand how our products are used and how we can help users get more out of them.

This revamp of textburst has led to an interface that is built around the most used functionality.  We didn’t want to cram in tonnes of new but unused functionality. If we did that we’d create an unusable monster. We are all busy people these days and so simple interfaces help us quickly benefit from the tool we are using.

Oh, an on the visual appearance, we couldn’t help but apply some polish, it needed it!

Improvements

So what have we done?

The menu system is paired down to the key functions and logically structured. We’ve included a hot link to the send message page and tips on how to get the most from the product.

We’ve streamlined the Account Setting and Options to put the various features under logical headings that are easily understandable and configurable.

Uploading contacts in now streamlined and you can continue using the product while the upload processes.

Due to popular demand we no longer log you out after 20 minutes of inactivity. Once you have logged on in we’ll remember for up to 8 hours.

A significant difference is the elimination of a user guide. Instead we’ve included instructional micro-copy to guide users through the product. This is much a change in company ethos as an elimination of a user guide. This decision is about being honest with our self. Users don’t want to trawl through instruction books, they want something they can use instantly. The theory is, if you need a guide to get started on our products, then it’s us who’ve designed them wrong.

So if you see something you don’t understand, tell us, we’ll look at it and make it understandable.

More of an internal factor is that we’ve consolidated various web applications (Web SMS, Promobi, textburst) into a single product, still called textburst. With a single web application with harmonised price plans it’ll make support more consistent and upgrades both easier and offered to all users.

Grand designs

So as you’ll see this isn’t Changing Rooms slapping a quick coat of paint on. It’s more like Grand Designs building something for the future that goes beyond the visual appearance to consider how you use the end product.

We’re confident you’ll like it, so take a look around and let us know what you think?

So why does this still happen, why is our industry still blighted by these people?

Let’s take a look at the most recent adjudication, case reference 773809.

PPP received 127 complaints for a service run across 2 shortcodes. They investigate, deem it as a very serious case, uphold breached of fairness and legality, issue fines and ban the information provider from operating premium rate services for 12 months.

Excellent, it would appear job well done.

Now let’s take a look at the financials involved. The information I use here is taken directly from the adjudication itself.

Revenues generated by the combined service fell in the bracket of £350,000 to £750,000.

The combined fines imposed amount to £305,000.

So a very rough calculation shows that profit after fines falls in the bracket of £45,000 to £445,000.

And here lies the very reason the industry still suffers from the scammers.

It would appear PPP need to be able to fine the total value of revenue received on a service, what do you think, how else do we clean the premium rate industry?

We’ve got an exciting year ahead and we’re getting straight into it. The new website will be live later in January and at the same time textburst will take on a whole new appearance.

There’s a demo available so feel free to click around and let us know what you think?

Don’t be fooled though, it’s a demo, it doesn’t actually send messages.

View the textburst demo

At the same time I thought it worth showing off the work that the illustrator Stanley Chow has put in. He’s created us a range of images we can use to identify products and services.

We’ve deliberately steered away from any stereotypical representations of a text message, usually a mobile phones and/or envelope. It’s been done many times and we wanted something that helps us stand out, while at the same time providing cohesion between our products.

So here they are:

mediaburst birds

Textburst

Outlook SMS

Email to SMS

Let us know what you think, are they too bold, are they simple enough, do you like the consistency?

Gone are the days of huge pdf files and big print runs. The Online version is well structured so you can easily find the sections you need. If you need something specific then there is also a handy search facility.

To make life easy there is a large bank of example code covering all the different integration protocols.

Additionally, the online guide covers both SMS and MMS.

If I leave TweetDeck running on my PC I end up with an endless stream of useless messages.

“10 best this and that”

“have a look at our blog”

“new candidates available now”

but nothing new, nothing interesting.

If I want the latest news there are various decent websites, you may have heard of them:
BBC, SKY, CNN.

There is also plenty of industry sites that will keep you informed on the latest iphone apps that nobody buys.

A quick look at what’s trending at present revels, #nowplaying, Christmas, SNOW, #in2010. This can’t be anything more than idle chit chat.

So why do we bother, should businesses leave twitter alone, leave it for personal users who want to discuss Christmas, Snow, what they did last night, and who they want to follow on Friday?

Narhh, I’ll stay on tweeting my blogs, recommending links, re-tweeting others tweets, adding to the stream, because actually, I don’t think I contribute to the SPAM.

Like everyone else, I share useful, valuable information!

Upload Contacts

Our largest source of customer queries surrounds uploading bulk SMS contacts. This is in part because the current page is not exactly what you’d call intuitive. (click the image)

The sheer length of the page scares users. The instructions are at the top, perhaps logical, but most users forget the latter steps by the time they have completed the first stages. The “select fields” and “groups” sections in particular are confusing.

We’ve made a few tweaks and come up with this draft which we believe will make the process much smother.

You’ll notice the page is now much shorter with clear instructional copy to guide you through the process.

To de-clutter the page we’ve removed the instructions of how to convert excel to CSV. These is no reason to force you to read these instructions, we’ll include a link to a popup window so you can choose.

We’ve also introduced a preview sample of the uploaded data for you to confirm before committing. And, importantly, you’ll now be able to continue working in Textburst, sending and receiving SMS, while the upload is processing. The actual upload will process in the background, no more waiting for the screen to refresh.

A much improved process, I hope you agree?

Timeout Settings

We currently time out a session on 20 minutes of inactivity.

On this point we’ve listened to you, we’ve heard your requests, we know you don’t like this, so we’ve transferred power back to you:

You log in

You stay in

You log out.

Improving the “To” Field

As web technology improves it’s important to include those developments which add to the usability of our products. To make the send message page more fluid the inclusion of a clever bit of coding will certainly help in the “to” field.

I’ve struggled to describe this in a non techy manner but I think this series of images speak for themselves.

On the send an SMS message page, you have the “To” box that you can type numbers, names, or groups into:

As soon as you click in the box a menu appears:

Start typing and the Ajax functionality will automatically find relevant SMS contacts and groups, simply click the contact or group you were looking for.

Personalise

Finally, you may have noticed the addition of “Personalise” in the image above.

The current version of merging fields in a text message is cumbersome and hence frequently overlooked.

Recipients of SMS messages will undoubtedly respond better to a personalised message and hence why we have drawn more attention to this functionality.

As you are typing a message, use your mouse to click the relevant field to insert into the message.

Simple, effective, and helping you improve communication.

Until January

Hopefully you’ll see your feedback is being taken into consideration and an improved product is just around the corner, scheduled for release early January.

The service, powered by O2 and SMS Provider Mediaburst, will allow lettings agents to contact large numbers of tenants, potential tenants, contractors, suppliers and landlords at the click of a button through the GEMINI software.

Peter Grant, Managing Director of VTUK said, “Working with O2 and Mediaburst, we have found ways to not only improve and streamline the SMS service, but to make it cheaper too. Using text messaging, agents can contact landlords, keeping them up to date with property and tenant information, as well as using it to contact their supply chain, tenants and potential tenants looking for a home.

“Everyone has a mobile phone these days, and using the SMS service is easy, cost-effective way of getting an instant message to virtually anyone you want to, about anything.

“We are constantly looking for ways to improve our software, and we wanted to make our SMS service more streamlined, easier and cost-effective for agents. We are committed to providing our customers with a service that is second-to-none, and this new service, on top of our recent ancillary services offering, will help to make business easier and more profitable for our customers.”

Launched in July this year, VTUK’s ancillary services offering, is a one stop shop for all services required to let or sell property, allowing agents to order EPCs, floorplans, inventories, gas and electricity safety checks, insurance, referencing services, utility services (gas, electricity, water and council tax notification) and much more from a single web portal. The ancillary services portal is unique, simple, saves time and can earn agents money on each order placed.

O2 is the UK’s most popular mobile phone network. Mediaburst is an award-winning mobile marketing company, specialising in providing SMS messaging facilities for businesses, software developers, and network operators.

There are too many occasions when we arrive on websites to be confronted by bewildering amounts of copy. When this happens sure as eggs are eggs we’re thinking, “do I really need to read this or is it ok for me to shut it down and do something else”.

It’s on this principle that we are attempting to cut down the copy for the new website. We certainly don’t want potential customers arriving at our site and running a mile because we didn’t spend the time to create copy that was informative, easy to read but most importantly, concise.

Our web based text messaging service is called Textburst and the old description is as follows:

“Textburst: Our product Textburst is a web based SMS service that enables you to fully manage your SMS needs quickly and easily via an internet browser”.

I hope after that mouthful you are still reading?

Complete drivel, it repeats Textburst twice in the first 4 words, instructs you that it’s a web based service that can be accessed from, guess what, a web browser! It also hints that that managing your SMS needs is insufficient and FULLY managing your SMS needs is more appropriate”.

So the process starts by deleting unnecessary words which leaves us with something like:

“Textburst: Web based SMS service”.

Strangely, although it’s a very accurate description it falls short on actually selling the product and it’s features. I also think there will be some potential customers to whom “Web based SMS” doesn’t mean anything, so now we need to add a few words, be more descriptive, more friendly.

This is our current draft:

“Web based application to send and receive SMS. Upload Contacts, personalise, send.”

The first 8 words accurately describe the product to a wide audience. The last 4 are an attempt to put more context into the application and what you can use it for, they’re also chronological in terms of how you would use the application. Upload your contacts, personalise your message, and send.

So there we have it, it may change before we release in January, and indeed post release when we have some user feedback, but I think we’ve come up with something short, punchy, descriptive, readable, and entirely free of drivel.

In this blog I’ll guide you through how we test and validate a new bulk SMS route.

But the first question that arises is, “does the quality vary?”
As you’ll read below, the answer is a resounding “yes”

…massively.

Stage 1. One message, One Handset

The first stage is to send a single message to a single phone, it sounds incredibly daft but if we can’t do this then we can stop wasting our time or least contact the supplier and get them to sort themselves out.

Can this really go wrong: if the supplier hasn’t configured the account properly, has provided you with the wrong user name and/ or password, has locked the route to a wrong IP address, or provided you with inaccurate API documentation then yes, it can go wrong.

Stage 2. Multiple Messages

Now we send 6 messages, one to a handset on each UK network. They should all arrive at approximately the same time or at least seconds of each other. The message should be the same on all the phones and the header/ originator should be the same.

What can go wrong here: In the past we have seen messages delivered to all but one phone, we have seen SMS headers scrambled on certain networks, characters changed in the SMS message body, and even routes that can’t deliver to Nokia handsets.

Stage 3. Character Encoding

Now it starts to get tricky, we send the complete GSM character set to each of the 6 phones. Some say this isn’t possible. But that’s a lie, its depends on which routes they use, which networks you send through. For example, one of Vodafone’s cheaper routes doesn’t process the “|” (pipe) symbol, but you can route through O2 to a Vodafone handset successfully with this symbol.

So we check through the character set to ensure they come through accurately on each phone, sometimes some Greek symbols and other lesser used characters will be replaced, sometimes the message isn’t delivered at all, but at worst, the message isn’t delivered but the supplier returns a delivery receipt saying it was delivered.

This can happen because the supplier or network isn’t able to process a particular character, they simply fail the message, but systems can get confused and think it was delivered.

If we get a good result on this test then we stop here and wait a week.

Stage 4. Repetition

Repeat stages 1 to 3 again. We like to double check things don’t change.

Stage 5. Integration

If all is looking good then we’ll start the integration process. This means configuring our live platform to send a limited volume of real messages.

We’ll send a regular stream of messages for a few weeks but monitor very very closely. We look at delivery rates, latency, we’ll do occasional checks to the in-house test phones.

We’ll always allow this test to cross over a month end because we need to see a bill for the messages. We need to see our records of messages correlates with theirs. We like to see they are able to raise an invoice promptly and accurately. We want to ensure we can access relevant technically competent staff in a very short time frame, that means they have to answer the phone and emails and resolve any issues quickly. It’s not just about the messages, we look for solid, reliable, consistent suppliers, and this can only be proved over time.

Stage 6. We’re Live!

Increase the volume of SMS through the route.

But we’ll only do this if everything above is satisfied to our exacting standards, and even then we continue to monitor on a regular basis. But regular monitoring is a subject for another blog post…

The new definition is:

“A set of practices that enables organizations to communicate and engage with their audience in an interactive and relevant manner through any mobile device or network.”

According to the MMA the crux of the new definition lies in two key parts:

1. The “set of practices” now includes “activities, institutions, processes, industry players, standards, advertising and media, promotions, direct response, relationship management, CRM, customer services, loyalty, social marketing, and all the many faces and facets of marketing.”
2. To “engage” now means to “start relationships, acquire, generate activity, stimulate social interaction with organization and community members, and be present at time of consumers expressed need.” Additionally, engagement can now be initiated by the consumer (“Pull” in form of a click or response) or by the marketer (“Push”).

Did you get that?

You can read the official article here

He was selected from a pool of 46,281 entries and had a chance to win £250k.
All he had to do was drop kick from 30 yards and hit the cross bar.

So he goes down in his socks and has a go.

I don’t think he believed what happened.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMkimxS_swA

With the growth of mobile internet use it can only make sense for Google to cover it’s bases.

view the announcement here

We have spoken to both users of our site, employees, friends and relatives.

Opinion seems divided on the subject but here at Mediaburst we felt that in 2009 most users have scroll wheels on their mouse and aren’t afraid to use them.

The advantage for us is we can use the top half (above the fold) to draw attention to the key aspects of our SMS products and provide more detailed information as you scroll down the page. The obvious advantage is by using this mechanism we can reduce the number of pages on the site making it quicker and easier for customers to find the information they need.

Fortunately I’ve just stumbled across this presentation by the respected Chuck Mallot which validates our position both conceptually and with some nice stats.

A copy of the presentation is available at SlideShare

Original mediaburst logo

Design 1 – change is good

Design 1 took the existing logo and placed it on a textured background of grey…. and got a big universal thumbs down.

New logo: option 1

On reflection mainly due to it being the same logo. What it did do is crystallise in our mind we wanted something new and fresh. Where as previously we were happy with the logo, now we were not, and not for any other reason than the launch of the new site will herald a huge step forward for the company and we want to reflect the fact in everything we do and are, including the logo.

Design 2 – we are mediaburst

In design 2 we took a different approach by incorporating more of a strap line in an attempt to convey our passion and belief. Hoops are remove and colours changed.

New logo: option 2

It’s clean, fresh, easy to read and we liked the concept, but it fell down on 2 accounts.

Firstly, on our past experience of using a strap line so close to the company name. We used to have “Inspiring Communication” and it amazes me how much post we still get addressed to “Mediaburst Inspiring Communication Limited”. Our decision was any logo must be absolutely clear that we are called Mediaburst.

And secondly, while we do love mobile, our name is a name and not a statement, we are Mediaburst and that is what we shall be called.

Design 3 – the anti logo

This design really caught us, it’s bold, the colour fresh, and the textured background provides depth that allows our company name to stand out as a logo.

One comment was that it’s an “anti logo”. In contrast to the capabilities of that web 2.0 thingy people talk about. Here we have simple text, the font is Arial, there are no icons, hoops, loops, telegraph poles, mobile phones, robots, or bleepy signals.

It also carries on the use of red in our corporate identity providing us with valuable continuity.

It’s not confusing, easy to read and gives us that fresh vibrant feel we strive for.

Decision made.

New logo: option 3 - the winner

A word about the process

While I’m on I felt it worth sharing a few words on the process we employed to make our decisions.

The honest truth is, there were no focus groups or structured appraisal techniques used.

We haven’t spent days on this or thousands of pounds on brand consultants.

We’ve made the decision as a group of employees using gut feel.

We’ve all bought into it, there was no selling required

We like it, and we hope you will too.

A sneaky peak

Finally, sometimes a logo doesn’t look like much unless placed in context, so here’s a sneaky peak, a taste of what’s to come!

Sneaky peak at new website design

When visiting websites and you make decisions based on the information available and designers and copywriters are tasked with putting forward relevant information while giving consideration to users and our short attention spans.

This comes to the forefront of my mind today due to my experience at the weekend of visiting Manchester Aquatics centre. Now I will admit that while Manchester Aquatics has excellent pools my opinions are already tainted of this poorly run facility because it’s generally monopolised by Manchester Swim teams and other group sessions rather than being “publicly” available. For a facility that has 3 x 25ish meter pools and a 50 meter training pool I was always dismayed to be lane swimming with 40 others in just 2 lanes, all while the 50 meter pool was closed and the 25 meter diving pool unused.

Anyway, they have a half decent kiddie pool with few slides (one of which is a complete waste as it’s only open for 1 hour per week). So with intentions of taking my daughter on Saturday morning I checked the opening times on the website the night before. 7am until 6pm, perfect, we’ll go after breakfast.

If you have kids you’ll know how much upheaval it is going anywhere so imagine my frustration to arrive at 8am and have the following conversation:

“Me and one baby for the kiddie pool please?”
“I’m sorry the kiddie pool doesn’t open until 9am”.
“But your website says you open at 7am?”
“Yeah, we don’t run the website”

I drew in breath, lots of expletives went through my mind, I held them in and left, never to return.

It looks like Manchester Aquatics is run by Serco and I can imagine it’s a lengthy and expensive contract. So please, please please make your website accurate and draw appropriate information to relevant factors, because that’s what we make our decisions on.

In actual fact the information is there, if you dig and dig you’ll find a pdf download, bottom section, size 5 font.

Over the past year we’ve been migrating customers smoothly to the improved platform. Once migrated customers benefit from significantly higher message throughput and complete resilience.

With no single point of failure, multiple sites, multiple supply routes, and multiple backups there is no safer route for corporate SMS or MMS communication.

The platform also provides detailed and faster month end billing. Invoices are now distributed in a matter of days after month end with unsurpassed accuracy.

Over the last few years we’ve seen SMS and MMS message volumes increase by over 300%, and it’s not stopping. To align with business growth we have focused on delivering a high capacity platform that is infinitely scalable. Today marks the day where all our clients benefit from this investment.

The worst offender to date failed to change “Mediaburst” in the copy to that of their own name, very poor!

Today however we steep to new lows of copying, this time it’s the site template that’s been ripped off, and they’ve not even done a thorough job of it. They have copied images, left links to our site and even the Google tracking code in the pages. Standards of plagiarism are definitely slipping!

Anyway take a look for yourself booknpay.net and feel free to send them an e-mail telling them how poor their copying skills are.

The stereotypical representation of a text message is some kind of mobile phone or an envelope on a mobile phone screen, the image is usually an icon or photo from one of the online photostock sites. The problem with this concept is its overuse leading to many SMS suppliers displaying remarkably similar icons or even worse, the same stock images.

In redeveloping our site we are keen to ensure our visual representation stands out and hence we have enlisted the assistance of an illustrator to draft icons that will represent our core products. The lucky artist is the highly regarded Stanley Chow.

We chose Stanley because of the simplicity of his illustrations and his ability to produce work that aligns with the subject matter yet avoids the cliche’s. In particular we liked the work he completed for Vodefone and The White Stripes.

The brief for Mediaburst is to produce icons that reflect the key notion of our services i.e. communication, yet avoid the predictable such as mobile phones, and envelopes.

I develop a hint of nervousness at times in this process because once you issue the brief all goes quiet for a week or so while the designers do their thing. But this nervous feeling is tempered by excitement knowing you’ve got some really creative thinkers on board. So here’s looking forward to seeing the first drafts.

Google Wave Overview

www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6pgxLaDdQw

We’d initially realised a refresh of Textburst was appropriate, to bring it up to date of its look and feel and use the latest web standards. But as always what starts as great idea soon grows into a bigger monster.

So- not only are we looking at Textburst but we are redeveloping the entire website. Not just a simple re-skin, but a wholesale redevelopment. We’ll be focusing not only on image and content but on navigation and user experience. Our users need to find the products and services easily, but it needs to be backed up with all the informative content on how to benefit from mobile communication.

We receive thousands of visitors every week and that’s where they generate a perception of us, that’s where they find out about our products and services. Obviously there are a lot of factors to consider and balance so this won’t be easy. Fortunately though, we have assembled a crack team of internet geeks that have immeasurable amounts of experience of turning dreams into internet realities.

So Let’s Introduce the Team:

James Stiff and Simon Rowlands These guys are handling the creative and design aspects and will ensure our site not only looks good but is easy to navigate and find information.

They come with excellent credentials having worked for the likes of NME, Man United, and Talk Talk. Not only do they have creative talents beyond my comprehension but they have passion, belief and a shared vision of internet heaven, a perfect combination!

Next in line is Phil Thompson, freelance web developer extraordinaire. Phil lives and breathes internet, a true geek, he’s well respected in the Manchester digital community and works for the best agencies. He’s in demand, but we got to him first, he’ll turn the designs into mouse clicking reality.

Andy White will craft the words. Andy, enthusiastic and dedicated, has been tasked with communicating our products and services in a concise and professional manner, but at the same time transferring the personality of Mediaburst into words. No easy job, but he’s got the skills.

And last but not least Epiphany Solutions. Gavin and Abi at Epiphany have been watching over our site for the last year, they make sure we don’t upset those Google bots and help us rank high on relevant search terms. They are part of a bigger team that has a fantastic understanding of what makes a site relevant and will ensure the new site is top of the list.

So What Next?

In truth I’m humbled by the talent we have assembled, the collective experience is massive. Not only do they carry numerous award nominations but, and most importantly, they understand the web, they understand users of the web, and they believe in the power of the web.

The end result will set a new standard in our industry and will be a bench mark site that others aspire to, I’m truly excited!

The process may indeed take a number of months but keep checking back to this blog because I’ll update you with progress, the thought process that goes into the site and screenshots where possible.

Send your thoughts to the usual address…

Airwolf

Blue Thunder

.

The concept is interesting and perhaps quite forward thinking. The idea is “People Powered Mobile Network”. Cheap prices on a decent network but no customer support.

So how can Giffgaff operate with no customer support? Well it’s not that difficult to image given the increase in use of social media and forums on the internet. The truth is when something goes wrong these days it’s often quicker to search Google for an answer than spending hours on the phone to customer support in a far off land

Google’s power is quite something but it’s the social media content it returns that is fed by us consumers. Type in any problem and Google will show you a forum on which someone had the same problem and found an answer.

Giffgaff could represent the single biggest test of community based support we’ll ever see, and the chances are it’ll work.

www.giffgaff.com

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QjH3gqkE_s

I quote,

“At some point in the next year you will be contacted for your views on our overall service proposition”.

At some point during the next YEAR. Well thanks very much for the information.

Duly filed in the basket to my right.

Does anyone else get these letters?

We started out by saying there was only 2 ways to get noticed, win or lose. Unfortunately our general knowledge, particularly in respect of TV shows and random sporting events turned out to be pretty poor, and it’s something we’re not ashamed of. Therefore win was never an option. On this basis losing seems a pretty good second place!

So the wooden spoon assumes its place in our reception area among the campaign artwork for Kelloggs, Maltesers, Heineken, and so on, and we are just as proud of it.

We had a great old time and can’t wait to defend our title!

Paper surveys

A few weeks ago I received a “how are we doing” type survey from one of our suppliers. It came through the post and contained about 4 pages of questions for me to fill in, and an SAE for the return. Needless to say it found its way into the waste paper basket. Not that I’m averse to completing a survey but the whole 4 pages of real paper just put me off.

Online surveys

Have they not heard of online surveys? A single monthly fee on surveymonkey would be cheaper than the stamps on the letters, not to mention the increased likelihood of me completing the survey.

The worst of both worlds?

Today’s occurrence wins though, I have just received a letter from a supplier, through the POST, asking me to take part in an ONLINE survey. To cap it off, they will be sending me an invitation to take part by e-mail in a few days time.

Clearly we need to spread the word about digital communication before there’s nothing left of the rainforest.

The rational amongst us know it can’t be true. But we’ve become a slave to the cheapest price concept, and faced with a cost saving, we lose all rationality.

In our industry the cost of building an SMS platform can vary enormously. You can enter the market with a single server hosted in your bedroom, support it yourself via email or mobile phone, and if your server dies get yourself to PC World sharpish, and in the meantime your customers are buggered.

At the other end of the scale you can build a multisite secure platform linked via lease lines with numerous backup systems in data centres that are not on flood plains. Support provided by multiple customer support staff, and a technical team on call 24/7 doing regular performance checks.

It’s unlikely a top end SMS provider will offer the cheapest prices as they need to cover the cost of their infrastructure, likewise it’s unlikely the low cost providers will be able to afford to upgrade their platform.

It comes down to cost v’s quality and where on the curve you want to operate at.

What prompted this post?

Some of our competitors regularly beats us on price, we always try and justify our prices by reference to the level of infrastructure and support we provide, but the lure of low prices is often too great for some.

One competitor recently suffered a significant system failure, I wonder how many of their customers ‘accept’ the problems as part of the low pricing, or were they jumping up and down, I suspect the latter.

My advice (if you want it) is two part:

1. Decide where you want to be on the cost v’s quality line and find a supplier that matches up.
2. Remember that quality cannot be measured on a single item, you need to look at the complete package offered. In our industry this is not just network connections, but also failover and backup systems, customer support, financial health, and technical expertise.

Although we do have various options and software packages that work with the earlier versions, it seems to me the way forward is surely one programme for all tasks. Many of us already use Outlook for the calendar, scheduling meetings, and tasks, so it makes sense to send and receive SMS from this same application.

But it’s not just the single application that’s useful, OMS utilises your existing contacts list, you can set-up calender reminders via text or configure notifications (alerts you via SMS when you receive e-mails that meet certain criteria).

I was surprised to find that you can purchase Outlook 2007 for less that £80, Amazon sell for just £72.08 and PC World Business for £79.33. So if, like me, you like things to be simple perhaps it’s time to treat yourself!

Rich Format Messaging

Since the first SMS was sent over the Vodafone network in 1992, SMS has proved massively popular with mobile phone users, out pacing forecasts year on year. Now SMS has become not only an accepted communication medium but the medium of choice for the younger generations.

MMS brings with it the same convenience and immediacy of SMS but with added features such as colour, audio, animation, and video, to deliver richer, more engaging messages.

This dramatic increase in message capability will bring with it new opportunities for communication and in particular for marketing campaigns.

Driving Creativity

Although SMS is limited to 160 characters for a single message, users have shown great creativity in formulating their own abbreviated language. This creativity indicates just how involved users have become with this hugely effective and personal communication medium.

MMS expands the possibilities and will drive even more creativity, ensuring mobile messaging as the communication technology for now and the future.

Whereas the average 160 character SMS message is approximately 140 bytes in size. A small MMS message would be considered below 30,000 bytes. At the top end MMS and can be successfully transmitted up to 350,000 bytes, although in reality some network operators will restrict sizes to 100,000 bytes.

This vastly enhanced capacity helps drive the use of individual and combinations of different MMS elements.

MMS Elements

Text As well as allowing a greater quantity of text than SMS, text can also be formatted using different fonts, styles and colour, adding personality to every message

Video - Moving pictures are now possible, presenting the opportunity to duplicate video content directly to the mobile platform.

Audio – MMS supports audio files meaning sound can be played either alone or alongside an animation or video presentation.

Images – probably the area most familiar is the ability to send picture messages. It’s become commonplace to send photos taken on phones’ in built camera via MMS. This element alone is ensuring the public at large are well versed in MMS capabilities. But images are more than just photos, and again combining images and text lends itself to advertising and promotional campaigns.

Animations – moving icons, cartoons characters, PowerPoint presentations are all good examples of items that can be animated on an MMS. The greeting card industry has already embraced e-mail as a medium for delivering ones well wishes, using it to enhance the offering with animation and sound. Ultimately it must also take advantage of the opportunity to deliver directly to the mobile phone.

User Experience

Although content capabilities are vastly different, as a concept MMS is similar to SMS and this is a key component when considering user acceptance of the service.

As with SMS, an MMS is pushed to a user’s mobile device, and if that device is out of range or not switched on then the message is stored by the network provider and delivery retried until either successful or retries exceeds the networks policy.

Unlike mobile internet or content delivered via WAP push, the user does not have to wait for the download. MMS notifies the recipient once the content download is complete, removing possible end user frustration.

MMS messages are stored in the inbox of the mobile device alongside other SMS messages, and as with SMS can be forwarded to their own contacts. Forwarding messages is now standard functionality on phones, and combining this with the richer content MMS facilitates presents exciting viral opportunities for the marketing world at large.

Aggregator Restrictions

Although network operators have supported MMS messaging for a number of years there remains a number of limiting factors that will concern content providers, especially when compared to SMS messaging.

Our investigations have found that delivery receipting is only offered by O2 and Vodafone. O2’s platform is still considered a test platform and, Orange do not accept direct aggregator connections, delivery to handsets on their network must be routed through one of the other network providers.

Although these limitations are of concern to aggregators used to high quality SMS services, they may not necessarily be of concern to content providers, who will find the most significant limiting factor to be price.

It’s difficult to gain an understanding of when the networks may develop their offerings to that of a similar standard to SMS but the lack of high and consistent volumes may be a factor influencing their decision making process.

Nevertheless, the presence of limiting factors does not constitute a failure of the system as a whole, the services are more than adequate for current demand and additional opportunities will open up as the technology develops.

Identifying Opportunities

There are some important case studies that provide an indication of MMS’s application, its place in the marketing mix and its user acceptability.

BMW

The car manufacturer BMW ran a winter tyres campaign in Germany to huge success, reporting a conversion rate of 30%. They attribute this success to a combination of factors.

1. The message was personalised. By using dealership information BMW were able to deliver an image of what your car would look like with winter tyres on.
2. Timing was used to perfection. Once the campaign was created they simply waited until the first major snowfall of the year.
3. By localising the campaign the consumers were able to find their nearest dealership.
4. All in all, a perfect example of the power of MMS messaging.

iPhone MMS

Although the iPhone was launched without MMS functionality there quickly followed a number of downloadable applications that would collect and present an MMS message. These applications also allowed a user to purchase credit to send MMS messages.

Within a short timeframe hundreds of thousands of iphone users had downloaded these applications to take advantage of technology Apple has thus far failed to incorporate into the standard operating system.

With the launch of OS 3.0 Apple have included MMS functionality, whether this was due to the success of the MMS applications, or it was part of a formal development plan, we’ll probably never know.

Future Developments

It’s never clear what the future will hold for a given technology. Improvements in MMS service at network operator level will filter down through aggregators and raise the interest level of content providers.

In turn this should drive down price and no doubt spawn a more competitive environment.

Adding in the rise of smart phones and interest in mobile at brand and marketing agency level and we’ll see creatives embracing the possibilities of rich format, immediate delivery, personalised messaging and their value as part of any advertising campaign.

Mediaburst and MMS

Although MMS compliant devices are now the norm and the technology supporting PC originated SMS has matured, MMS has yet to enjoy comparative levels of support.

Mediaburst have announced the inclusion of MMS within the same platform as its SMS API services. Providing a resilient MMS Gateway from which content providers and aggregators can send MMS messages to UK networks has been the key driver.

The inclusion of two interfaces (API and e-mail to MMS) allows flexibility for both large and small business alike to test the effectiveness of MMS messaging to its client base.

To provide the same level of resilience and support the MMS service has been provided through the same network as existing SMS services. This takes advantage of multisite site hosting, zero redundancy platform, and industry standard hardware.

The key components to ensuring effective MMS processing have been the implementation of the MMS control centre and an MMS store.

MMS Control Centre – this is central to the efficient processing of messages and controls the flow of messages through the platform, deciding on the most efficient route bearing in mind current server load and availability.

MMS Store – While the transaction is processed through the platform the multimedia files are placed in temporary storage before being forwarded to the networks.

Outbound MMS Sender- This manages the sending of messages to supplier networks by looking at availability and current loads.

Conclusion

The inclusion of rich format elements into mobile messaging undoubtedly provides opportunities to deliver a more engaging media than SMS. Moreover, as MMS takes advantage of the same delivery mechanics as SMS i.e. straight into the mobile phone inbox, it capitalises on existing user acceptance, and renders it one of the most exciting mechanisms to engage with consumers on their mobile device.

Mediaburst are fully prepared to make full use of the huge potential of MMS messaging right now and into the future.

Update: You can find a case study of MMS being used to help improve home and business security here. Kapture IT.

Apparently, Apple shifted 1.9 million of the devices in the second quarter of 2009, a growth rate of 1,041% compared to 2008. Compare this to Nokia who, although sold 14 million devices didn’t experience any growth.

This certainly makes it clear where we are headed with devices. Bearing in mind Apple is reported to have sold over 173 million iPods since 2001 it might not be long before the whole world has an iPhone.

In regard to iPhone apps, a company called swebapps has launched an online app builder, and with a price of around US$200 you could launch an app for your brand with minimal cost and a minimal amount of time.

On the face of it the service seems pretty interesting and may well suit small businesses. The reality is it’s quite restricted and you certainly won’t be hitting the high ranks in the app store. You could as the site suggests put your restaurant menus on for customers to download and store, but from a customer’s perspective I’m not sure this really adds value to a restaurant. Still, at $200 it’s a very cost effective way of establishing a presence in the iPhone apps market.

What we mean by one way SMS Marketing is sending out an SMS message to prompt someone into a course of action i.e. come to the latest sale, attend an event, call the office.

SMS represents one of the cheapest forms of marketing available. With only 160 characters of black and white to use, you don’t need a graphic designer or creative agency, just a common sense approach applied with an understanding of your target audience.

So, you’ve signed up to an SMS service, bought yourself a bundle of messages, you’ve now got 160 characters to get your message across, where do we start…

1. Target Market (Who)

Identifying and understanding your target market is one of the most fundamental practices in SMS marketing. No campaign should start without understanding who are they, how old are, what sex are they, where do they live, you simply can’t find out enough.

In the case of SMS marketing bear in mind that you are delivering a personal message to the most personal of electronic devices. To be effective and non-intrusive it must be relevant, and that means understanding as much as you are able about the person who reads it.

2. A Compelling Offer (Why)

Is your offer something that somebody wants, if not then you don’t need me to tell you you’re wasting money.

A simple SMS reminder that your shop exists may be sufficient to bring some additional customers to browse and kick tyres. An offer or discount on purchase will not only bring in more customers, but chances are some of them will make a purchase. Clearly discounting has an associated cost, but it’s an offer made to customers who otherwise wouldn’t have purchased anything.

Consider offering a percentage off if they present the SMS message at point of purchase or a buy one get one free style offer.

3. Timing (When)

Let’s face it, there’s no point sending an SMS reminder for your night club on a Monday morning. Equally 10 minutes before you open is going to be too late.

Timing is a careful balance, get it right and you’ll reap the benefits. Get it wrong and you’ll waste your money.

Getting it right comes from understanding your audience and their habits. Think about your audience, when do they make arrangements, when do they make decisions on what you’re offering. The trick is to deliver your message just as they are making those arrangements. For example, if you’re promoting take away food or a restaurant, send the SMS message out to a local audience at 5pm just when they are deciding what to have for dinner.

Look at how BMW used timing to perfection in their MMS marketing campaign here.

4. The Text Itself (What)

SMS has spawned its own abbreviated language, love it or hate it, it’s here to stay.

Now I’m not saying you need to turn into a 15 year old and shorten everything you send but most abbreviations are there to reduce the character count and increase message content. It’s for this reason a basic appreciation will help get your message across in 160 characters.

For example, SMS marketing messages should always contain an opt out mechanism, this could be

“to opt out from this mailing list please send a text message with the words “STOP” to 84433”

But easier is:

“Opt out txt stop 84433”

So there you have it, SMS is a fantastic form of communication and can yield exceptionally high response rates, spend a little time considering the points above and you’ll be onto a winner.

TomTom is the first off the mark with the launch of its iPhone apps.

TomTom's iPhone app in action

The app features all the usual location based functionality, speed camera alerts, voice instructions, and automatic re-routing if a turn is missed.

They have also capitalised on iphone functionality by including portrait and landscape modes, a pinch-to-zoom map and the ability to navigate to addresses in the iphone address book.

The app costs £59.99 for a the UK region and maps for the whole of Western Europe cost £79.99.

TomTom has also indicated it will release an iphone car kit, with enhanced GPS receiver, mount, speakers and charge cable, which basically transforms the iphone into a traditional satnav device.

What’s also interesting is the rise in what might be termed premium iphone apps. Whereas most apps cost in the region of 50p to £3 these are apps costing up to US$900. They are normally specialist apps geared to specific industries, but we are now seeing more expensive apps geared toward the consumer market.

Hello from Earth, an Aussie website, has been set up that allows you to send SMS messages to Gliese 581d, the planet that is supposedly the most Earth-like planet outside the solar system.

One sobering message, from Sandeep in Abu Dhabi, said: “Please do not come to earth, it’s too polluted and the planet has almost reached its end.” Nothing like a bit of optimism eh?

We’re also not sure which network operators cover Gliese 581d, so couldn’t help but wonder what the delivery rates are.

This comprehensive guide will be of interest to not only brands but agencies interested in bringing rich format mobile communication into their strategy.

As well as covering user experience and MMS elements, the guide also provides an insight into the current MMS market, citing some important case studies from BMW and the latest iphone.

Mediaburst have been ahead of the trend, having launched MMS onto their second generation mobile platform at the beginning of 2009. By providing simple applications such as email to MMS and an easy to implement MMS Gateway, rich format messaging is now a real option.

Get your copy of the guide here.

For some time the integrity of their voice to text services have been called into question. But in the same week they delivered a poorly received demo to some of the industry’s top journalists. See the Techcrunch article. The Times has only compounded the situation by publishing a negative article surrounding allegations of financial mismanagement. Click here for the full article.

They say there is no smoke without fire.

Charity short codes benefit from different VAT treatment by Network Operators. So long as the use of the short code meets certain criteria, the donation is VAT exempt so the charity will receive a greater proportion of the donation.

The same conditions apply in that Service Providers will need one short code per price point for charitable donations.

Full details are available here

or contact your local SMS Provider for more info

So it came to my dismay to stumble accoss a Google adword sponsored by the Labour party as below:

It’s been down for the last few hours and it makes me wonder how Stephen Fry and a whole host of celebrities are managing to go about their daily lives without updating the rest of the population at the same time.

Hopefully it’ll be back soon and normal twittering can resume.

Maybe we could advise them on network architecture, we certainly don’t suffer outages.

As yet there is no mention of it on their site and no clear guidance on what has been updated.

Our best guess is it fixes the SMS vulnerability that has been widely reported since the 3.0 upgrade.

SMS for data capture, entering competitions, texting for further information.

Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t new technology, SMS has been with us for a generation. What’s changing is the breadth of uses for the technology as brands become confident it’s a communication medium their consumers are happy to engage via.

Not only is SMS used as an entry mechanism for on pack promotions, we are also seeing charities utilising the mechanism to generate immediate response, campaigners raising awareness and gather support for their cause, and of course not forgetting the car manufacturers using shortcodes across all their media to capture prospective customers data.

The reality is SMS provides and an easy and cost effective mechanism for consumers to engage, it’s makes your advertising or campaign more effective… ignore it and you’re missing an opportunity.

Draw Servers – Automated and Auditable

Gone are the days of GMTV scandals, winners picked out by closing your eyes and dropping a pen. With such high profile failures the whole industry has become acutely aware of the value in a brands reputation, and indeed that of its appointed agencies.

The simple truth is mobile is an instant mechanism and hence data captured can be processed instantly. There is no need for delays and ambiguous cut off times. The industry has changed, service providers have responded with Draw Servers, brands and agencies now understand their importance.

The question to ask your SMS provider is 3 part, is it fully automated, is it fully auditable, and is it totally secure?

Downloadable content Ringtones, wall papers, games.

The most successful sales promotions are those that provide real value to the consumer. Kelloggs award winning Zoo Keeper promotion delivered an estimated £3.8 million of value to its consumers by offering up free entry, animal facts on the bounce back SMS, free downloadable ringtones, and winning a day as a zoo keeper.

Of course it doesn’t have to cost the earth. If you are confirming entry with an SMS response then the cost is covered, so use it to deliver additional value. Think what your customer would value, product or nutritional information, where to purchase, or information on future promotions. Let’s make everyone a winner, or at least provide some useful information that softens the blow to those that didn’t.

Downloadable content such as ringtones, wallpapers, video, and games can be licensed for a one off fee. They provide the consumer with something that not only will continue their brand engagement, but they can revisit time and time again.

Viral opportunities leap to mind as consumers forward content and links to friends and family. Personal recommendations and sharing is the norm in a world that’s gripped my social media. So let’s embrace the opportunity and get them engaged with your brand.

With the advent of the iphone and the app store we are becoming increasingly savvy with mobile applications, look at the success of the ipint (Carling), downloaded by just about everyone I’ve ever know to have an iphone.

Mobile Internet bigger screens and 3g connections.

It’s on the rise and can’t be ignored. UK adults are using mobile internet over 50% more than last year and as more smart phones find their way off the retailers shelves and into our pockets, mobile internet is medium that’s going to grip us all. The question here, does your brand have a website, almost definitely yes, a mobile site, probably not, but why not? 4.3 million adults are using it every day!

But how do you use mobile internet effectively in sales promotions? Again it comes back to that providing value, product information, retailer information, additional offers, even if it’s imagery to reinforce your brand values. As with everything mobile, it’s not expensive and fully measurable, so let’s use it.

Following the success of a mobile marketing campaign BMW’s head of marketing said “If you’re not on mobile your missing a whole generation”.

He’s not wrong.

In particular, to Code Computerlove for the Original Source site which won the Tasty Website award…as voted for via text message….systems and technology provided by the one and only Mediaburst!

Oh, and a special mention to Sarah who had sufficient dutch courage to plough on over to Bill Bailey and force him into a photo!

Well done to all the winners and well done to Out There Events and Manchester Digital for putting on a great do.

You text and follow a menu which prompts them to purchase electricity at the value of their choice. They can then use their swap wallet account created when they register or a linked credit card.

This eliminates late payments, vouchers can be delivered by SMS to the mobile, anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day

The mobile operator is set to launch a new offering that will allow advertisers to brand ‘points of interest’ on its mapping service later this summer.

Although this is in the early stages Vodafone claim to be in discussions with potential advertising partners so that users will be able to download an offer coupon for a restaurant or shop as they walk along.

The operator’s trial of in-map advertising marks the first time it has given brand owners access to the service, which is available for £49 a year or can be downloaded in part for free.

The launch coincides with a boom in mobile marketing, with the latest figures from the IAB showing the sector grew by 99.2 per cent last year to £28.6 million.

Crains will be publishing more details of the nominations in their June 29th edition. So all I can say for now is that it’s great that Mediaburst is being recognised for its achievements, I like to think we have done some good work over the last 12 months….and long may it continue.

Since 2000, Promptext has been providing text messaging services to Britain’s SMEs. With Mediaburst launching new products such as Outlook Mobile Service and MMS, the acquisition of Promptext’s customer base makes commercial sense.

“The acquisition of Promptext’s UK customer base is a significant development for Mediaburst and demonstrates our ability to plug-in additional customers and consolidate mobile messaging volumes,” says Gary, Mediaburst’s managing director. “Promptext customers now have access to an enlarged product range and to first class customer services and support.”

Robert Ling, founder of Promptext, adds: “Promptext is a profitable business and has grown well in the UK, we now feel that we can better serve our customers by passing them into the very capable hands of Mediaburst. It has possibly the finest set of SMS and MMS services available, and an exemplary reputation for customer support and service.”

“We have worked hard to identify a suitable acquisition for Mediaburst,” says Ian Freeman, managing director of Harlequin Corporate Finance. “Promptext met the criteria agreed with Mediaburst and I am convinced that the transaction will benefit customers of Promptext and add real value for Mediaburst’s shareholders”

www.promptext.co.uk

The fundraising service which was set up right after the earthquake.

The money was collected on behalf of Italy’s department of civil protection and the telecommunications companies did not charge any fees for the charity service.

SMS is clearly a powerful medium for donating. Red Nose day in the UK also used it to huge advantage. They key issue, as always, is that not all charities have sufficient weight to get the network operators to pass on 100% of the donation.

One can only imagine how much additional funds charities could earn if they were to change their stance.

Visitors to the Adidas website are encouraged to download an app which directs them to enter their friend’s race number so that information including their start time and average speed is then available via the app. The application works by sending subscribers SMS updates about the location of a runner as they tackle the 26.4 mile course.

This is a development on the initial application used for the first time last year which saw 4,320 people use it on the day with 10% of runners tracked.

Closest I’ll ever get to a marathon.

It’s been eleven years since the first Big Chip awards were made and they have since gained a reputation for strict judging standards, integrity and impartiality. An important element of this is a clear specification of the judging criteria for each award category so that judges can easily measure and compare the quality of the entries.

Rather than awarding prizes to the “best” website, for example, entries – whether website or some other digital project – are judged on the extent to which they have achieved objectives or made use of a particular feature such as animation or new technology. Last year, there were no “best website” categories of any form.

A consequence was that some entrants who had designed a website that they felt very proud of weren’t sure which category to enter. “Look” they said, “it’s just a great site”. The answer is of course that that’s very much a matter of taste.

So this year sees the launch of the “Tasty Website Award.”

As they went through the record number of entries for the main categories, the judges noted websites that really appealed to them, for whatever reason. Simply a matter of taste. They then selected five and now it’s up to you to decide which one should win the award:

Nominations:

• Code Computerlove crownpaint.co.uk CROWN
• Code Computerlove originalsource.co.uk SOURCE
• LOVE lovecreative.co.uk LOVE
• LOVE dmbootdesign DOCTOR
• Stardotstar hearmanchester.com HEAR

So, get involved. Just visit the five sites selected, choose which one you think is the tastiest. Then simply text the codeword using SMS to 84433 (standard network rates apply). Full details at:
www.bigchipawards.com/shortlist.asp.

Voting will stay open up to and including Big Chip Evening itself on 18th June when the winner will be announced.

The question is, would you be comfortable using your phone to purchase big-ticket items, such as long haul air travel? Or front row seats at a concert?

A recent study of two thousand adults found that more than half would be comfortable booking hotel rooms and buying airline and entertainment tickets using their mobile.

“It’s just a few years before we’re all buying products on the phone we typically buy on the Web,”

The anonymous survey of 21 companies found that mobile display ad formats, including banners, text links, and video, accounted for £14.2m last year whilst paid search advertising was estimated to account over 50% of revenues at £14.4m.

Interestingly the survey excludes spend via SMS and MMS advertising as it seeks to be comparable with other media channels.

The IAB claims the survey demonstrates that mobile ad spend has grown by almost 100% year on year, based on practical 2007 figures collected and it sought to draw parallels with its first internet ad spend study in 1998, which was worth then £19.4m but last year accounted for £3.35bn.

Jon Mew, head of mobile at the IAB, said the study was an important step in the maturity of format. “The sector is in its infancy but is considerably bigger than the market was expecting,” he said. “Thanks to these landmark figures, we know the real value of the mobile ad industry and will now be able to chart the medium’s growth with confidence.”

When we also look at MMS ad applications www.mediaburst.co.uk/mobile-marketing-mms.cfm we start to see just what a powerful little blighter this mobile chap is.

It has just become freely available for download, enabling you to type messages that automatically get generated into mind-bending art that you can share via MMS.

The Text Art app is the brainchild of artist Marius Watz. Creating generative art desktop wallpaper, simply by talking, moving your arms, or in this instance typing.

By downloading the app you can create a message up to 40 characters long. The app transforms the words into a unique piece of MMS art that you can save and share with friends and family.

The issue is turning a concept into something that produces revenues and profits.

Although services such as Facebook and Myspace provide a multitude of functionality for end users, the simplicity of Twitter has turned back the clock and its growth is evidence of consumer support for simple effective communication.

So as social networking gravitates to mobile could SMS be the mechanism that produces the revenues, and could social networks be the catalyst for the next phase of SMS growth?

Which gets me thinking, has anything really changed or have we gone full circle, isn’t social networking what we used SMS for in the first place?

We have launched a new skin for our website today to improve navigation and highlight our business model as a leading provider of bulk SMS services.

A key addition to the upgraded website is the introduction of low-cost SMS packages for use with Outlook 2007. Businesses can purchase SMS packages at an entry cost of just £5.00 and securely send text messages from Outlook 2007 to mobile phones. No downloads or plug-ins are required. A link is now included on the homepage to a dedicated microsite for signup, message purchase and support.

New prices also extend to our SMS API and our popular textburst application.

With Outlook 2007 having an estimated 7% of email market share, we’re addressing a potential customer base of 1.4 million businesses in the EU alone with this Outlook service. Over time, as businesses upgrade from previous versions to Outlook 2007, the user base can only increase, and significantly.

With more than 50 million mobile phones in Britain, it was inevitable that a charity one day would begin to use mobile messaging for fund raising purposes. After all, the mobile phone is the one device that we all have and carry, and text and video messaging generates six times more responses than direct mail.

Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice in Farnham is launching the first mobile charity campaign ever in Britain on 11th May and passengers at Farnham station that day will be the first to experience mobile charity marketing.

The campaign has been helped by a grant from Help the Hospices, the UK’s leading charity supporting hospice care, which was funded by the Towergate Charitable Foundation.

Serving a population of more than 600,000 across West Surrey and North East Hampshire, Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice has been offering specialist palliative care to adults facing the end of their lives and to those who love and care for them for the last 30 years. Pallative care is more than just controlling symptoms and pain; it’s a holistic approach that embraces every aspect of the needs and worries of the terminally ill as well as the needs of their families.

Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice is an independent charity and treats 100 patients and families every day of the year at a cost of seven pounds per minute, or £10,000 per day. Only 16% of funds received to cover operational costs come from the NHS. The rest comes from legacies, sales at its 12 charity shops, fund raising events and local businesses.

The mobile campaign is being launched in the background of the Hospice needing to provide more much-needed help and support to patients and their families beyond the physical space of the Hospice. Donations received will help enable it to be more mobile in its operations, providing more care to the terminally-ill in their homes.

“Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice believes that while we can’t add days to life, we can certainly add life to days,” says Elle Georgiou, the charity’s communications manager. “In the Hospice’s 30th birthday year, we’re looking for new and innovative ways to raise the funds we need to achieve our vision of providing specialist care in the location of the patient’s choice, which is usually in the comfort of their own home. We believe that harnessing the immediacy of mobile phone technology to engage with our community could well become an effective way of generating immediate responses and donations.”

The mobile campaign uses the mobile services of mobile marketing company Mediaburst and will be repeated on 18th May at Guildford Station.

Donate, Donate Donate – how it works

By texting HELP to shortcode 84433, users will immediately receive a mobile response containing a link to view a mobile video. After viewing the video, they will be encouraged to donate by texting GIVE to shortcode 80556 and agree to be billed five pounds. They then receive back an SMS thanking them for their donation.

As from 1st July SMS messages sent while roaming abroad will cost no more than 11 euro cents, compared to 28 euro cents today.

Data roaming will be capped at 1 euro per megabyte downloaded, however this is a wholesale rate for inter operator charges, so the end user will pay more. The cap is to be reduced to 50 euro cents by 2011 so should lead to further end user price reductions.

This is great news, not only for regular travellers but more significantly for occasional travellers who suffer “bill shock” when they get home.

This is of particular relevance for brands and content providers because it means their audience is more likely to be switched on regardless of their location.

Another step in the right direction for mobile usage.

All I can wonder is how long it took him to type a 6 page text out.

In 2007, research undertaken by industry analyst Plimsoll Publishing showed Mediaburst entering the top twenty list of digital agencies for the first time as a result of deploying a new business model aimed at establishing Mediaburst as the mobile partner of choice of advertising, marketing and media agencies to support their brand campaigns.

The latest example of its successful business model emerged last week when Mediaburst and Zut Media of Merseyside announced a strategic alliance enabling Zut to integrate mobile into its brand campaigns.

“Each year, Mediaburst invests strongly in state-of-the-art technology to ensure that agencies and brands get the mobile capability they rightly demand,” says Gary Bury, Mediaburst’s managing director. “Mediaburst’s position in Crain’s top ten validates our strategy and we fully expect to move further up the list in 2009.”

Zut Media is an emerging force in creative film, video and online services. The natural evolution of Alan Gaffney’s Kandoo Productions, the company first began making videos for companies such as PwC, LSC and Knauf Insulation. As the company strengthened its team, Zut extended its services and now offers clients complete event management, website creation and online marketing strategies through to daily Internet TV Channels and online learning and development for the professional services sectors.

By offering text services to its client base, Zut will be able to help them develop their digital brand messaging campaigns.

“Zut Media aims to be a one-stop creative and online services shop for brands and mobile marketing will be an important part of future campaigns going forward,” says Chris Holmes, Zut’s marketing director. “It is therefore vital that we have a reliable business partner in the SMS world and Mediaburst is well ahead of the pack in terms of robust platforms and 24/7 support.”

“Companies with the ability to take a holistic view of what is occurring in the economy and flex to the changing environment are more likely to succeed,” says Gary, Mediaburst’s MD. “Reviewing overheads and negotiating better terms with suppliers goes without saying, but the clever ones will be reviewing their operating models and looking for improved ways of working and communicating.”

Over 1.4 billion text messages are sent every week in Britain and a large proportion are from businesses. In 2008, text services experienced significant growth from the enterprise sectors to communicate with staff and customers, and it’s a trend that Mediaburst expects to increase throughout 2009 and beyond. “It’s a no-brainer – SMS is cheap, instant, and easy to implement. In fact, it’s a perfect recession beater,” adds Gary.

During 2009, Mediaburst also expects to see companies using SMS in smarter ways. “Their objective won’t be just one way communication, but to reduce inbound customer enquiries so they can operate with less staff. It will also be used to speed up debt collection, provide more engaging promotions for brand managers to their consumer bases, and it will be used to tap into new markets using the very device that we never leave more than 1 metre away from us,” says Gary.

TV is the highest profile use of SMS mechanisms and if the coming together of the major broadcasters helps restore consumer confidence then it’s absolutely a step in the right direction.

Not surprisingly SMS use remains strong and they commented that, “SMS has established itself as a true social connecting tool and continues to have mass appeal”. They expect to see SMS growth to be circa 30% in 2008. What is more pleasing is that aided by the proliferation of camera enabled devices and simplified settings there is now more than 10m MMS sent per week representing year on year growth of 30%. On top of this the mobile internet currently has circa 17m users per month and is expected to grow by 20% in 2009. The MDA commented, “there are powerful signs all around that mobile Internet access will supersede traditional PC access.

The MDA predict that mobile internet will become a true rival for traditional desktop Internet access.” Interesting, I wonder if the phone will eventually become obsolete.

Although from separate articles, I believe it shows a clear picture of where the market is heading in the next 12 months.

• “Mobile internet access becoming key consideration for phone buyers”
• “65% of those who intend to buy a phone in the next year will demand a good mobile internet experience”
• “online and mobile are converging and our consumers expect to access our brands via their phones”
• “mobile broadband on the rise” “up to a 3rd of users could be going online (via mobile) by 2012”
• “Emarketer estimates this year’s global mobile ad spend will be over £2.45m, trebling by 2011”

Social networking applications are clearly on the rise and we are certainly at the beginning of the phenomenon. The problem with current systems is that you have to be sat at your PC, set them up, logon, and it’s not always convenient, especially when you’re at work or out and about.

There is however an exceptionally accurate reflection of your social network that hasn’t been fully exploited. And yet you carry it on your person at all times and comes with all the gadgetry you need to social network, the humble and still underutilised mobile phone.

So here I am watching the impressive demo of the new iphone and some of the new applications and in particular loopt, which does finally capitalise on your phones capabilities. It’s an application, not a website, update your status, change your profile photo, and all this is reflected instantly on the contacts list of your friend’s phone. Next, plot your friend’s current position on maps, sort your contacts list by how close they are at that very moment. It does sound a bit scary but when this technology is the hands of the younger generations do you really believe they will go to a PC to social network?

The NMA also reported a clear indication that the acceptance of mobile advertising is on the up. In a survery conducted by Q Research approximately 46% of young people would switch their mobile phone supplier if they were offered free talk time and texts in return for receiving ads on their mobile. It is clear that the US market is also seeing considerable continued growth. A recent Garner study estimates 189 billion mobile messages will be sent by US mobile phone subscribers this year and forecasts 301 billion for next year…. both of which is still only a small fraction of the 2.3 trillion messages to be sent across major markets worldwide in 2008 Asia is the biggest mobile messaging market worldwide. China is well ahead in the lead with approximately 560 billion SMS, followed by the Philippines’ 430 billion, and Japan’s 190 billion.

The latest campaign will see the Pope aiming to connect with technology loving Catholics on World Youth Day by sending out thousands of text messages, setting up a digital prayer wall and the launch of a web-based social networking site. The co-ordinating bishop Anthony Fisher said,”We wanted to make WYD08 a unique experience by using new ways to connect with today’s tech-savvy youth”. The six-day event will be held in Sydney in mid-July and is expected to attract more than 200,000 young Catholics to the Australian city. We constantly monitor the market place and we saw this as a clear indication that even organisations that are considered traditional are seeing value in new technologies.

To coincide with the launch PhonepayPlus also published an updated Sanctions guide which sets out the factors which will assist the panel in deciding which sanctions might be relevant to a given case. Headed by David Cockburn, the new Compliance Panel comprises a team of six with specialist legal or adjudicatory experience and meets for the first time on 8th May.

It’s certainly a step in the right direction and both content and service providers will do well to spend a little time familiarising themselves with the changing landscape before it catches up with them.

You can set times when the phone can and can’t be used e.g. in class times, monitor MMS, limit SMS usage, to name but a few functions. In terms of SMS an interesting feature looks for 1500 objectionable words in text messages, when an objectionable word is found parents are notified. Additionally, if your phone has GPS the software can restrict mobile phone use while driving. Big Mother is watching you!

The approval will mean that next month PhonepayPlus will establish a Code Compliance Panel (CCP), a new adjudicatory body to make determinations on Code compliance issues. The CCP will consist of people with professional and other relevant skills and resources necessary to ensure the quality and timeliness of adjudicatory work, with the formal Board playing less of a role in adjudications in the future.

It will also ensure that Tribunals are always chaired by a legally qualified CCP member. Without a doubt this is a step forward, separating Operational activity from strategic direction will allow those more qualified to make adjudications and leave the Board free to focus on strategy and direction.

The local police couldn’t speak any English and the tourist police were unavailable. So they did as any intrepid explorer would and sent an SMS to AQA “We are lost in the Thai jungle do you have any idea as to what we could do”. AQA stepped up to the challenge and arranged for mountain rescue to come to their aid. Hats off to AQA!

The mobile watchdog said it was pressed to do so after “some mobile phone companies and third party sales agents are still engaging in unacceptable practices that are against the consumer interest” and receiving around 700 complaints a month. The regulator is particularly riled about two practices: where customers are given false or inaccurate information when they want to buy a mobile contract; and some “cash back” promotions offered by sales agents where they fail to reimburse the consumer.

If the rules are adopted, it will mean mobile operators will be bound:

• not to engage in dishonest, misleading or deceptive conduct and to ensure that those selling their products and services similarly do not mis-sell;
• to make sure the customer intends and is authorised to enter into a contract;
• to make sure consumers get the information they need at the point of sale;
• to ensure that the terms and conditions of cash back deals offered by their retailers are fair;
• and to carry out due diligence and a number of checks in respect of their retailers.

Anything that adds to consumer protection and confidence in the mobile industry can only be a good thing.

Applause for Ofcom.

John Paul II’s words are now available in the form of a daily text message. A new service has been set up by Vodafone and Joaquin Navarro Valls, who worked for 16 years as John Paul II’s personal spokesman. The quotations, which cost 18p for a simple message or 26p with a photograph of John Paul, have been picked by Mr Navarro Valls, who now works as a commentator on the Vatican. It would appear that the late pope was a fan of technology, and was the first pontiff to use a mobile phone to personally send his close circle and his fans inspirational messages. Peggy Noonan, the author of John Paul the Great, said: “He would text message us things like: ‘Don’t be afraid of your inability to reach God. Keep trying!’.”

Another great quote is that we already know the mobile as the Fourth Screen but the report is billing mobile as the “Fifth Channel” in reference to bank’s access to their customers. I wonder if in time the mobile can become our Sixth Sense. More interestingly Juniper predicts that the global market for mobile payments will reach a staggering $587 billion by 2011, this might seem some way off but if the trends in East Asia are anything to go by then it may well unfold. Apparently, in the Philippines the main mobile operator Globe Telecom transacts over $100 million per day ($77 for each of its 1.3m subscribers) through its mobile payment and remittance service. There are a number of mobile payment systems around ranging from Premium SMS to WAP billing, and there are considerable regulatory issues that will no doubt raise their head with such increases in volume, but sure as the internet revolution, once end users become comfortable with a piece of technology then the Gold Rush Will happen, I’m off to Paint My Wagon!

I don’t need to harp on about its features and in some cases lack of them, however, yesterday I placed it in its shiny white docking station to receive a message saying that a newer version of the software was available and would I like to update now? I did, and hey presto 30 minutes later some of the lacking functionality has been cured, I can now send SMS to multiple recipients!

A software upgrade is nothing revolutionary but for the numerous years I’ve owned a mobile phone I’ve never received a software upgrade, I’ve just had to replace the handset when it became obsolete. So maybe the time is upon us where we buy one handset to last years rather than the length of a contract, where we don’t have to buy new handsets to obtain new features. So far I like the world through Apple’s eyes!

Dr Freier read out the prayer to a congregation, and curious onlookers, at Federation Square in Melbourne. It was part of his “prayer4melbourne quest” marking the former Darwin bishop’s first anniversary in the job. The SMS prayer was displayed on a big screen and Dr Freier encouraged the crowd to type it into their phone and send it on to a friend, with a group of children on stage doing so as an example. Well done I say.

The company argued this was in breach of its company procedures for reporting absence i.e. they wanted him to phone in. I can see why companies prefer employees to report absence via a phone call or letter but on the other hand with over a billion text messages sent per week I think companies need to recognise that the medium is now an accepted form of communication and adjust accordingly.

Unrelated but ironically the Accident Group springs to mind that allegedly sacked 2,500 employees via text message. I guess if companies think they can sack by text message then reporting sickness seems perfectly acceptable.

It makes interesting reading and in particular I note the increasing use of the term “Phone-Paid” as opposed to premium. In fact the number of times “Phone-Paid” is used in the report numbers 14, this compares to only 7 for the word “Premium”. This shift is clearly consistent with previous mutterings I’ve heard that they wish to shift consumer perception away from mobile billing being a premium service to being just another way to pay for things. I can’t say I disagree, in fact if it does happen and this helps increase consumer confidence in the mechanism then this can only be a good thing for the industry. The other thing I wanted to bring to your attention is a decent website phonebrain.org.uk. It’s run by PhonepayPlus and despite being aimed at Children I can’t help but feel the way it describes premium rate, excuse me, Phone-Paid, services is one of the most concise and easy to understand I’ve ever seen, my only criticism is it doesn’t highlight how easy it is to terminate subscriptions by simply texting STOP to the shortcode.

As has been said by many within the industry, phone pay plus does indeed sound like a content provider and this may cause some initial confusion, but my understanding is the new name will never be used without context e.g. “PhonepayPlus the premium rate services regulator”, and hence I remain positive that consumers will grow to understand and trust PhonepayPlus.

One of the key points I picked up on was his suggestion that we need to move away from the concept of Premium Rate to that of the mobile device being just another way to pay for something. In my view there are two key issues to this:

1. It can only happen once there is sufficient consumer confidence in the payment mechanism.

This means improving on the current understanding and putting in place more standard mechanisms that consumers become comfortable with. A simple example of this is to promote a wider knowledge that sending STOP to a short code will terminate a subscription service, and in regard to this particular example we welcome RegTel’s current TV campaign. [watch the advert]

2. The second, and I suspect the one which may be more difficult to conquer is the simple fact that the Network Operators currently take a significant proportion of any payment, and until they are willing to reduce this then it’s unlikely we will see retailers shifting away from their regular payment methods to a mobile solution. From a service providers point of view we are firmly committed to working with RegTel and PhonepayPlus, I believe that if we work with regulators to provide increased consumer confidence and protection then we will overcome some of the barriers to growth, all that is left is someone to tackle point 2.

The school was rated third among non-US schools and second in the UK for its full-time MBA programme. The “bang for your buck” ranking looks at how long it takes students to recoup their fees and earnings lost while they study and the scale of salary increase on graduation. With high rates of adoption of mobile technologies by the younger generation we engaged two internees from the School for 12 weeks to assist us on certain key projects. As always we are pleased to work with regional education establishments but in particular their work has proved invaluable and reflects the schools credible position in the Forbes guide.

For those of you not familiar with AdWords this means if you typed “Mediaburst” into Google then the competitor always appeared above us in the listing. The problem isn’t that uncommon, indeed you may want to do a search on your own trademarked brand name. What seems to be lesser known is that Google have a very simple online Trademarks complaints procedure, it took less than a week to submit the complaint to receiving confirmation that the company concerned were no longer using our name as a search term, meaning we were rightfully back at the top. If you are having the same problem then take a look at the following link for more information. Trademark Complaints