Mobile Coupons

In some ways the growth of mobile has been pretty slow. Think about how long it took before all your friends were texting. I know it was just within the last couple of years that the majority of my friends were texting. Until very recently, when asking new acquaintances if they did texting, the answer had been no. Now the assumption is that they do because all now say yes. That's not surprising as almost every other American has a smart phone today. Coming with a data plan, they have text included. Even kids have smartphones - more than I care to think about. The average American family’s cell phone bills are immense!

I think this is really interesting: 98% of text messages are read within 15 minutes. 98%. If you want to send someone a message that they will get and respond to, make it text. With direct mail being ignored more and more, and e-mail marketing being less effective, text messaging for business will really pick up in popularity over the next couple of years.

Commercial texting doesn't mean that as a business owner you send messages out from your phone to the people who have subscribed to your text messaging list. Using a web-based platform you can simply set up your text messages and schedule when they need to be sent.

So while texting has been slow to pick up over the course of the last decade, clipping coupons and couponing has skyrocketed. I don't know about you, but having to clip coupons and keep them with me is a real hassle. I used to have a little accordion file folder with sections for different aisles of the grocery store. The trouble was I often forgot my coupons and would remember while I was driving to the store. At the store I was then loathe to purchase the items I knew I had coupons for. And if I didn't return before the coupon expired, it had to be a regular item on my list otherwise I didn't get the item at all.

Then I stopped getting the paper and the majority of my coupons. Now the majority of coupons I use are special deals I receive via email or from web searches on coupon websites like retailmenot.

Marrying text messaging and coupons is a perfect modern day convenience. If you read your texts within 15 minutes like the earlier stat claims, and you don't need to clip coupons but have them in your phone (that's with you nearly all the time,) that's a win-win situation. I know it’s one that I am really happy about.

If you have a business, using commercial text messaging is probably one of the quickest types of marketing that you will do. Setting up campaigns is quick, as is sending out thousands of messages at one time. But the best part is that the reaction is quick.

Let's use a restaurant as an example. A restaurant can use text messaging just before the evening commute home. If they send a text out around 4:30pm as folks are getting ready to get out of work, how many of those hungry and tired workers do you think will read that text and then think about those dinner specials - and the convenience of just picking up dinner on their way home?

If you are a business owner, have you used text marketing for your business? As a consumer have you used text coupons? I'd love to hear your comments about those experiences.

Slim and Beautiful - The Electronic Way

Waking up way before my usual 5 AM this morning, I thought briefly about the work I have to do - on my computer. That just turned me off the idea. Usually when I wake up when the rest of my world is asleep, I am writing some content for a blog, or my book. Today with lots of tasks on my plate before I go to a big networking event, I really had plans on firing up my Mac and getting on with client work first thing. 

Then I thought, "Gosh, it's just so much easier to use the iPad – and it is much less ‘right in my face’ than a 27 inch monitor." So I compromised: I opened Flipboard on my iPad and looked for a bit of tech inspiration. Apart from Flipboard being beautiful, it makes my Twitter feed and Facebook stream so much more pleasant and interesting to read. I can't imagine using Facebook and Twitter for more than a couple of minutes on my iPad without Flipboard any more. The app enriches and enhances my whole social media experience. 

So what did I stumble upon that was food for thought today? Actually an editorial on engadget about Ultrabooks. They look pretty slick. I'd like to have one to replace my heavy laptop. Although the iPad is indispensable for me, there are some things it can't do. For example, if I need to make changes to some content that I'm creating on certain third party websites that are using WYSIWYG editors, I can't access the functions that are in the editor's toolbar. I need an app for that, and the companies haven't created one.

This week was the first time that I've taken my laptop with me anywhere in months. And that's because I was meeting a client and had to use my computer in case I needed to use some of my software to expand on reports. A few months ago I met the same client and had to take my laptop – before then it's been years since I've taken my laptop out. Ever since I got my iPad.

Putting my back-breakingly heavy HP laptop into the stylish bag that I bought for it, and rarely use, and then filling the rest of the bag with stuff that I needed – I completely overlooked the power cord. I guess the habit of just dropping my iPad into my purse and rushing out the door transferred to what I did with my laptop.

So I met my client at a local Panera Bread – which was slammed because it was lunch time, and we went looking for outlets. All of them were taken – actually there seemed to be only three in the whole place, and so we left to find another venue.

When we got to a nearby bagel shop and I was setting up my laptop, I realized that I didn't have the power cord! Luckily my client had brought a laptop so we went over his website and some content on an SD card that I had brought with me. We briefly looked at my software. Briefly because my laptop has about 30 minutes of battery power - if you only run one program!  All was not lost, but it made me realize how much I dislike my laptop, how it's just like a big brick. I imagine that's what brick cell phone owners of the 80s must think about when they compare those phones to their smartphones today.

The end result with my client was good, but it's got me thinking of an upcoming change. As a Mac girl, a MacBook Pro would be top of my list. But when I really start looking for a serious replacement, if Ultrabooks end up being significantly cheaper, they may just sway me.

Food For Thought

Last night I came across a tweet by Seth Godin that asked the question, "What's the first thing you do in the morning?" My immediate answer was, check my e-mail. By checking my e-mail I'll be able to respond to whatever business needed attention and that could possibly shift the elements of my day. I thought it was an obvious answer. Seth Godin had a different one: work on creating something of your own. Why give the most creative part of your day to answering e-mail? He's got a great point. I hadn't really thought of it that way. Now that I'm am waking up just before 5 AM every morning and feel I have so much more creative time, I see even more value in the question posed by Mr. Godin. And strangely enough, as I gave deeper thought to my answer and reflected on this week, I realized that I have only been creating first thing in the morning. And creating a lot! I guess the thought of sitting in front of my Mac's big, bright screen as soon as I wake up just doesn’t really agree with my quietly emerging early self. I sit on the couch and just get writing on my iPad. As someone who is so easily distracted, having an iPad has been a true godsend. I remember when they were first introduced and the complaints that you couldn't multitask. I am sure you've read the findings that multitasking is ineffective and actually counter-productive, well I know that to be startlingly true for myself. Not being able to multitask on the iPad keeps me razor focused. And that type of focus is what I need to get things done. You never know what you're going to find on the Twitterverse, and last night that little tweet about Seth Godin was just the food for thought that I needed at that moment in time. I am looking forward to seeing what the Twitterverse will reveal to me today.

The Power Of The QR Code

Last night I was at an Internet marketing meetup where speakers Corey Creed and Brandon Uttley made predictions about what would be big in the industry in 2012. It opened with the declaration that mobile would be big again, (no brainer there!) with stats from last year on mobile’s astonishing growth. QR codes were dismissed as hype and new shiny objects as only 6% of folks have scanned a QR code.

I'm a big advocate of QR codes. I see the immense potential in using them. However, what happened in 2011 is that marketing agencies to main street businesses fell foul of the “new shiny object” syndrome and applied the barcodes to anything and everything. Was it in a desperate attempt to draw in customers by the appearance of being tech savvy and, to most peoples’ minds, futuristic? I’d say so. However, the stats that we see online about 6% of people scanning QR codes doesn't hold true for data that has yet to be released. That number is from June 2011. In the mobile world that was a decade ago! We've seen exponential growth in Q1 2011 numbers over those for Q1 2010 – a greater than 4000% increase in scans. Be prepared for more explosive reporting this quarter.

Think about when the Internet was new, how dismissive most people were of its longevity and how funny that seems now. I think as time passes we will look back at the QR code argument and think the same thing – because QR codes are here to stay. Right now 2D barcodes (of which QR codes are one variety) are going through the Betamax/VHS fight where some Fortune 50 companies put their stake on Microsoft tags, others QR codes. With QR codes being open source they are going to win the 2D barcode battle. But that doesn't mean they are the best. Microsoft Tag has some great benefits, one of which is the ability to change up the information that the scanner receives based on their location, without having to set up different campaigns as is the case with QR codes. As more Americans cycle out of their feature phones and start using smartphones (right now that's at about 40%,) QR code usage is going to increase very quickly. When someone goes from being a feature phone user to a smartphone user they realize what they can do with a handheld computer. And they go crazy with it. How many apps did you download when you got your first smartphone? QR codes will then enter the majority’s consciousness and they will start scanning them because they will start to notice them all over the place. It won't be long before scanning software comes pre-installed on smartphones. At that point there won't be questions as to what scanning app to download, and how, because it will already be available to the user. So, the statistics of the amount of people actually scanning QR codes may be low compared with interactions with other forms of marketing, but look at who is scanning those codes. There are a few studies out there that show more males than females scan, or vice versa; what remains consistent is that majority users fall into that coveted demographic of 18 to 34 years old - and that they are affluent. If that's the kind of consumer you would like as a customer then QR codes are something you should be using in your marketing. Now.

Going back to new shiny objects. Marketers just throwing QR codes at collateral to see if they stick leads to discouragement in scanning QR codes. This year we will see much better usage of QR codes, and in very interesting ways. Last year we saw them on Olympian buttocks and in the record books. This year, who knows? QR codes are just limited by the imagination.

Yes, QR codes lead to places that a printed hyperlink could also direct someone to – so what's the point in using them? One reason is that we are so accustomed to seeing website addresses, and often they are very long URLs, that there is apathy in using them. But the QR code attracts attention. And it attracts focused attention from someone with computing power at the source of the scan.

An obvious QR code best practice that has been sadly ignored in 2011, is that what's on the other end of the scan has to be mobile friendly. If it isn't, then the scanner will just be discouraged and not have a good mobile experience. Planning your mobile marketing strategy is of the utmost importance when using QR codes. Placing QR codes in subway stations and on freeway billboards are examples of QR code marketing fails because they didn’t work. 2012 will obviously continue that trend but we will see marketers actually ‘getting’ QR codes, and fully realizing their power when used properly. QR codes often are not delivering their full potential because marketers are not thinking about the mobile user and the environment that they are in when a scan happens (usually in the home.) Declarations that QR codes are dead, and that NFC will replace them tomorrow, are just attention hungry sound bites. This year the power of the QR code will increase as they are increasingly used with PURLS (personalized URLs,) delivering a customized mobile experience that is targeted to each customer. The ability to create mobile experiences that are unique to each person, and track and measure the data – is a marketer’s dream turned reality. 2012 – the year QR codes go mainstream.

Don't sit on your laurels when it comes to taking your business mobile in 2012. Here's why.

What

This is a blog post I've been meaning to write for quite some time. Actually about two years. But, I'm a perfectionist, and putting content out there is just one of the hardest things for me to do. Unless somebody else gets me to do it. I know this to be true because I complete writing assignments no problem. Just writing stuff for myself is where the problem arises. My hard drive is full of articles that are 95% complete, but they might as well have not been written. So, I decided to not make any new years resolutions, and just see how long I can keep this going. I might surprise myself! No goals, no disappointments. If I sat and planned what this piece of the web was going to be about in any great detail, I would never write anything. My overarching idea for this blog is that I write about things that I love – in particular mobile.  Because of my background in Internet marketing, I am on the web most of my waking day. I read a lot. Sometimes I think I read too much, and I wish I could actually retain more of what I read. But if you work on the web you understand where I'm coming from – there's just so much information out there, and not enough time to read it all. Quite frankly I'm flattered you've read this far. I mean, it's not very interesting is it? But it's my first post. And it's the one that I just had to get out there to break the ice. I kept thinking maybe I should write something of educational value, like I do every week with my guest blog post on mobile for Deluxe Corporation. But I just knew that I wouldn't get anything out if I tried to be that fixed. So, this blog is going to be my ramblings.

To completely go off on a tangent... I recently read on Steve Pavlina's blog about the benefits of being an early riser. Now, I've always tried to rise early but for some reason I just never could. I would wake up during the wrong part of a sleep cycle and be groggy and grumpy. A few days ago I decided that, what the heck, I was going to wake up at five o'clock from now on. Well I've finished day three – I know it doesn't sound like much but those extra hours that I have gained – about three per day – has made an immense difference to my productivity. Thanks, Steve! So, if you're interested in mobile marketing stick around because I'm going to be writing about my passion quite a bit. And I'd love to have some feedback if you have a spare minute and feel inclined to leave me a message. Enough. Let's make this the best 2012 ever! See ya.