November 29, 2010 by Jessica Zorawski
What is a “direct reply”? For this explanation, it’s helpful to start at the beginning.. When an Opt It customer sends out a message, the natural tendency is assume that their members, the receivers, will answer it. The way in which a user responds depends on whether the message is coming from a short code or regular 9 digit number. If the sender is using a shared short code, the software identifies them by their keyword. In this way, the keyword acts as an account name. In the past, if a member of an Opt It list wanted to respond to a text message they received, they would have had to type in the keyword, a space, and then the response in order for the message to be delivered into the correct inbox. Well, not anymore!
Direct replies are a new feature available for use by every Opt It customer. They enable your members to respond to your messages without first typing in your keyword.
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November 24, 2010 by Jessica Zorawski
Here at Opt It., we work hard to ensure that we’re providing you with a product that meets your needs and has the capability to accomplish all of your creative marketing ideas. With that said, it takes a mindset dedicated to continuous innovation to recreate and improve Opt It Mobile 3.0 on an ongoing basis. We’re thrilled to introduce a feature that offers more options for your subscription keyword campaign, specifically regarding the Subscription Auto Response message, which is commonly known among Opt It customers as the “coupon message” that goes out when your customers first sign up to your list.
A common question among our customers is whether there is a way to control the amount of these “coupon messages” that go out when customers sign up for your list. Well, now there is! Say hello to the “Only allow Response Message to be sent once per phone number” option. By clicking this button, you choose to allow ONLY ONE Response Message to go out when one of your customers signs up to your list. This way, if your offer is such that you feel that a customer should only be able to use it once, you can click this option and know that each phone number will only get one.
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November 17, 2010 by Jessica Zorawski
With the holiday season around the corner and the economy making weak improvements at best, retailers are on the lookout for effective ways to get their customers into stores at the lowest cost. Marketing professionals are likely Googling for new marketing ideas in order to meet the demands of the business and consumers alike. Two of the most talked about marketing mediums today are geosocial networking and mobile coupons. We’ve heard our customers question the effectiveness of both and want to provide some facts on which is more effective in reaching the end consumer.
First of all, lets clarify what “geosocial” networking is. Companies such as Foursquare and Gowalla are offering individuals the ability to notify an entire network of friends and family of his or her location. The benefit to retailers here would be that one consumer could notify others of their location and perhaps also relay information about current promotions or specials. Currently 4 percent of the US population is actually using this social location tool, and on any given day, only 1 percent of the population is actually logged in to this social tool, according to Forrester Research.
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November 10, 2010 by Jessica Zorawski
Last week, comScore , a renowned digital market research company, released its findings on mobile usage throughout the third quarter of 2010. We discussed second quarter results earlier this year in the blog post titled “Mobile Content Usage Continues to Raise.” Third quarter results only confirm the conclusions made in July; mobile content usage shows no sign of slowing down.
Survey results show that text messaging continues to be the leading form of communication and interaction for cell phone users. Sixty-seven percent of American mobile device owners now use text messaging, up by 1.4 percentage points from last quarter. Usage of all mobile device functions has increased, exemplifying the continuously growing popularity of the device. The evolution of the cell phone functioning only as a speaking devices into one that people communicate with in all sorts of ways proves that mobile device usage is not a trend, but a new way of life.
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October 29, 2010 by Jessica Zorawski
One of the hardest tasks for marketers in the steep competition of the digital age is to build and retain brand awareness. With so much the clutter when it comes to consumer ads, marketers must continually look to new communication mediums in order to capture their customers’ attention. Think about the last time you really looked at your customers. What was the one thing all of them had in common? The answer is simple: a cell phone.
In addition to the challenge of getting a brand message out and into the minds of target consumers, marketers may feel that it’ is hard to control the messages that consumers receive. Gain that control by pin pointing the specific channels that allow your marketing team to manage the brand message that your clients hear. Utilizing Opt It’s text message marketing tool is one of the most powerful ways to do this. (No one can spray paint over this ad!)
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