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6 posts from January 2010

January 29, 2010

Learn About Group Text Messaging With Our Updated Video

Have you seen the Ez Texting video guide to group text messaging? In five minutes you'll learn all about group text messaging, short codes, Keywords, and how to get started with Ez Texting.

Ready to start? Check out our pricing and start your free trial.

January 13, 2010

How To Donate To Haiti Relief Efforts Via Text Messaging

As you probably already know, Haiti has been devastated by 7.0 magnitude earthquake:

The earthquake, the worst in the region in more than 200 years, left the country in a shambles. As night fell in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, fires burned near the shoreline downtown, but otherwise the city fell into darkness. The electricity was out, telephones were not working and relief workers struggled to make their way through streets blocked by rubble.

So what can you do to help? The New York Times has a collection of information. If you want to donate money to relief efforts right now, using your cell phone, you have three options:

  • You can text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.
  • To make a $5 donation from your phone text "ONEHEART" to 85944 & confirm by replying "YES", or go to www.sophiasheart.org to make a donation.
  • Text the word “Haiti” to 85944 to donate $5 on behalf of the Rescue Union Mission and MedCorp International.
  • Text the word “Haiti” to 25383 to donate $5 On behalf of the Internal Rescue Committee.
  • Or, you can donate $5 to Earthquake Relief In Haiti by texting YELE to 501501 and visit www.yele.org (supported by Wycelf Jean)

P.S.  In the past we've covered other mobile-based charity efforts. Read about them.

January 12, 2010

Learn At Our Text Message Marketing For Real Estate Resource Center

Last week we launched our Small Business SMS Marketing Resource Center - Today we're excited to announce that we've opened the doors to our new resource center just for real estate firms. Whether you're a Realtor, a property developer, or a management firm, we've got info, tips, and case studies that will help you launch your firm's first text messaging campaign.

Want to learn more? Visit the Real Estate Resource Center and start texting today!

Adults Are Texting Too. Your SMS Marketing Can Hit All Age Groups

MediaPost's OnlineMediaDaily reports on some findings that should clear up whether or not its time for your brand to launch its first SMS marketing campaign:

The stereotypes of the teenager whose thumbs are surgically attached to his or her mobile device and the older parent who sees the same as a phone without wires are, like most stereotypes, not entirely inaccurate -- but also not very reliable either.

According to new research by mobile messaging company Tekelec, 60% of those over 45 were found to be just as likely to use SMS as they were to make voice calls from their mobile device. The survey of 500 people in North America and Europe also found that text messaging is gaining on email as the preferred means of daily international communication, with 32% of responses across all ages preferring SMS, compared to 33% for email. And nearly a third of respondents said their use of SMS would increase in 2010.

Read the entire article @ MediaPost

Learn more about SMS Marketing in our post - What Is SMS Marketing?

January 05, 2010

Mobile Advertising to Grow 45% in 2010 to $3.8B (SMS Advertising To Dominate)

JP Morgan is out with their 2010 Internet Industry Outlook. If they're right, the mobile world is set to keep on growing:

JP Morgan’s leading industry analyst Imran Kahn released the 328-page Interest Industry outlook which notes that total U.S. mobile advertising for 2009 is estimated at $2.6 billion, up 62 percent, with $2.3 billion of that from text messaging. Just 178 million was mobile search, and $140 million was display. Both of these were up 80 percent last year.

Turn to 2010, and mobile advertising is, according to Kahn, forecast to grow 45 percent to $3.8 billion ($3.2 billion SMS advertising, $253 million mobile display, and $31 million mobile search.)

Read more:
Mobile Marketing Watch
OnlineMediaDaily

January 04, 2010

SMS Marketing For Small Businesses

It's a New Year and now is the time for your small business to evaluate and advance your marketing efforts. Have you considered SMS Marketing yet? If not, be sure to read Duct Tape Marketing's essential blog post, What Small Business Needs to Do to Get Ready for Mobile Marketing Now. Here's an excerpt:

Mobile marketing has taken far longer to evolve than people imagined, but I believe we are on the doorstep of an evolution in marketing that will rival social media in terms of impact.

...

Text messages get read – depending on the source, research suggests it’s over 90%. So, at some point, small businesses will need to embrace text message (also called SMS) campaigns. This new frontier will eventually suffer fatigue in ways the email enjoys currently, but done right, it is a powerful new tool. One very simple principle to get started – this is not another broadcast channel, it’s a way to offer useful information to people who want to receive it.

Ready to take the next step? Visit Ez Texting's SMS Marketing For Small Businesses Resource Center and then launch your first mobile marketing campaign in minutes.