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?

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!

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!

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.

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 do not use shortcodes on their adverts.

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

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

Here’s a few pointers…

Do

Think about interactivity and engagement rather than one way communication. Aim to create experiences and applications that people will find useful. One of the reasons applications are successful is they do something, rather than say something. This can be a different way of thinking for traditional marketers.

Don’t

Spam your customers. Think about what your customers would like, think carefully about the experiences that are relevant to them and will add value. Then target specifically rather than blanket message your whole database, quality is much better than quantity.

Do

Use timing to your advantage. Think carefully about the time of the year, the time of day, what is your audience doing now and what you are offering? If you want to drive a young audience to a night club then sending a message on a Friday is likely to achieve better results than a Monday.

Don’t

Believe that SMS is yesterday’s technology. Simple SMS campaigns are used very creatively to generate huge response. Research has shown that over 70% of people say SMS is the most important feature on their phone and SMS will account for 83% of all messaging revenues until 2013. You can’t ignore the fact that large forward thinking brands such as Kelloggs, Walkers, Heineken, Maltesers all use SMS in their campaigns.

Do

Think about response messaging rather than just one way messaging. For example by all car manufacturers offer consumers the change to receive a brochure just by texting a relevant word to a 5 digit shortcode. Not only does this provide a communication channel for viewers of the advert but the manufacturers collect valuable data. They can also measure the success of the adverts using the same data.

Don’t

Think of mobile in isolation. Today’s consumers interact with brands at multiple touchpoints. The most successful campaigns are integrated with other complimentary channels such as web, TV, radio, and press. Think about where consumers will view your message and what mechanism they are most likely to use to interact the brand, and ultimately, what you’ll do with the data you collect.

Do

Always always offer your mobile audience a way of opting out of receiving messages, such as sending the word “stop” to a shortcode or providing a customer services number. Not only will you avoid any complaints but you’ll ensure you database contains only those consumers who are interested in your product or service.

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

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