Holy moly. Guess what I just read.

According to Nielsen, “the average mobile subscriber in the US sent and received more SMS text messages than mobile telephone calls during Q2 2008.” And on top of that, this is apparently the second consecutive quarter in which this has happened.

According to the table below, mobile users in the 13-17 age range sent 1,742 texts but made only 231 calls this quarter. Kids under 12 sent 428 texts and made only 137 calls.  My age range, the 25-34 bracket, sent an unimpressive 331 texts and made 239 calls. I guess that sounds about right to me. I text a lot, but I talk a lot too. (more…)

So, I just had lunch at Pricci in Buckhead, and as I was waiting at the red light at Pharr and Peachtree, I saw an advertisement on a bus stop that said, “Text TAN to 38714.” So I did, of course.

After the initial confirmation message (”Hollywood Tans Alerts. No charge per msg but stnd rates apply. Up to 5 alerts per month. Reply YES to continue. Txt STOP to end or HELP 4 info.”), I received a pretty cool offer:

Show this text 2 any
Hollywood Tans - ATL
salon & get 1 FREE HT60
or a $10 spray tan. Call
404-240-3323 for info.

As a marketer I’m thinking, how cool is that! For the cost of one poster and some ad space, you not only put your brand-name in the palm of someone’s hand, but you also get that person in your store where you can sell them even more stuff. (more…)

Hello everyone! Hope you enjoyed the beautiful weather yesterday. I know I did, and my skin can prove it. It’s as red as salmonella-contaminated tomato.

I haven’t caught up on my mobile marketing research yet, so instead of informing you of the latest mobile news, I thought I share with you two small tidbits from Miss Mobile’s personal life. (more…)

For seven years, I didn’t have a landline phone. As they say in the mobile industry, I had cut the cord. My cell phone and I were free to roam (and believe me, it roamed constantly) across the country. Those were the most telemarketing-free years of my life. Never did I receive a call from a stranger who mispronounced my name and then had the audacity to ask for money. My email may have been full of unwanted solicitations, but my mobile was not.

Until recently. Ladies, gentlemen, I have received text message SPAM. (more…)

Too many people in this industry make grand statements about how mobile-savvy they are….How tapped into the market they are, how they know what users want, how they can tell you the seven best ways to blah blah blah. I know. It’s annoying. Well, here’s one more person to add to that list.

I’m not an expert. I don’t have twenty years experience in the telecom industry. I’m just your average 26 year-old gal living in Atlanta who gets a little panicky when there’s only one bar of battery life left on her cell phone. Enough of the introductions. Welcome to my column.

So much of my life right now orbits around the moderately-sized screen of my RAZR. I have a tendency to exaggerate, so let me prove it to you with a brief but detailed view of my life. (more…)

For each Ask The Expert column, we consult a different industry expert, depending on the nature of the question. Today’s expert is Dale Gonzalez, Air2Web’s CTO. Have a question for the Expert or want to submit someone to be the Expert? Submit it here.

Q: What is a double opt-in? When is it necessary to use? As a content provider, what do I have to do to create it?

A: Great question. I’ll answer it in parts. What is a double opt-in? A double opt-in is a process that ensures that a user wants to participate in your mobile campaign. Usually this is done through text messaging, but it could also be initiated through other channels. Here’s the basic idea… (more…)

For each Ask The Expert column, we consult a different industry expert, depending on the nature of the question. Today’s expert is Bill Jones, Air2Web’s President. Have a question for the Expert or want to submit someone to be the Expert? Submit it here.

Q: My company would like to try mobile marketing. What are the steps to launching our first mobile campaign?

A: The first step you should take, even before you start thinking about mobile marketing providers, is to answer these two questions:

1. What are my overarching marketing goals and can mobile help achieve those?
2. Who is my audience and what do they find valuable? (more…)