Mobile Apps Revenue Set To Explode

Text messaging dominates mobile marketing at the moment. But what does the future hold?

Revenue from mobile applications will top $25 billion by 2014, according to Juniper Research. The market researcher says this growth will occur because of "a raft of store launches targeting both high-end and mass market handsets."

As Apple has already distributed 1 billion apps for the iPhone, you can imagine how many impressions $25 billion dollars worth of apps could deliver if even a fraction of them were to include advertising.

Read more @ Media Bistro.

"Bulk SMS" What Is It & Why Do So Many Companies Use It...

Bulk SMS powers thousands of mobile marketing campaigns. There are other ways to do mobile marketing, but none of them offer the reach of simple, bulk sms text messaging.

What is the definition of Bulk SMS? It's actually very simple. When your company or organization needs to get the same information to hundreds (or often thousands) of people, whether clients or customers, the easiest way to do so is by sending them a text message. We've spoken with hundreds of customers who used to do this by hand. They would spend hours sending the same message out over and over again. Now, they type their message on the computer, select the groups of contacts that they want to reach...and hit send. In minutes everyone will have the message.

Club Texting is all about letting small to medium-sized businesses control their own mobile marketing campaigns. For thousands of companies, Bulk SMS is the answer. When you want to get your message in the hands of your customers, quickly, cheaply, and easily, Bulk SMS is the answer.

Want to learn more about Club Texting's bulk sms messaging platform? Click here to start reading.

Wondering how other businesses have succesfully leveraged the power of bulk sms text messaging? Check out our Case Study for PACHA, the international chain of nightclubs.

Is Android Turning Into A Viable iPhone Competitor?

A new AdMob report seems to indicate the T-Mobile G-1 is starting to catch on (we also hear that they've sold 1 million of them)

According to AdMob, in the five months since the Android Market for applications launched in the US, requests from Android devices increased an average 47% per month. As good as that sounds, it's nothing compared with the traffic generated by iPhone; in the first five months after the iTunes App Store went live in the US last July, requests from the iPhone grew 88% per month.

Read More @ Media Bistro

Globalization, Blogging & SMS

How would you like to follow SMS-powered micro-blogs written by your favorite NBA stars...in Mandarin:

MogoTXT, a start-up that operates public texting groups, has launched texting groups for a handful of NBA players. Initially, five pro basketballers have agreed to post daily text messages that their fans can sign up to receive.
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The initial players who'll be texting are Shane Battier of the Houston Rockets; LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trailblazers; Jordan Farmar, LA Lakers; Eric Gordon, LA Clippers and Spencer Hawes, Sacramento Kings.

Read more @ Media Bistro

What Recession? Mobile Marketing Keeps Going Strong

A new report from Jupiter Research confirms what many in the mobile marketing industry know (and have read about in many other places):

It’s no secret that display advertising has seen the largest hit, but the recession is not all to blame for the steep decline.  Other forms of more targeted advertising have proved to not only be more cost efficient, but much more effective.  Mobile marketing is holding steady through these tough times because it holds these two attributes.

What’s more interesting is that mobile marketing in general is seeing the same amount of investment that it did before the economic crisis even began, according to the report.  Windsor Holden, principal analyst at Juniper Research, believes this could lead to the mobile advertising sector becoming more widely adopted by marketers than it otherwise would have without a recession.

Read more @ Mobile Marketing Watch

A|X Armani Exchange Launches Their First Mobile Advertising Campaign

Armani Exchange has jumped into the mobile advertising arena, as we suspect many other brands will when faced with declining revenues:

A|X Armani Exchange has launched its first mobile advertising campaign to promote its A|X Armani Exchange Spring 2009 collection.
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“The Armani Exchange Spring 2009 mobile advertising program gives A|X the opportunity to engage our customers in a timely, relevant and entertaining way,” said Tom Jarrold, senior vice president of global marketing and communications at Armani Exchange, New York.

Read more @ Mobile Marketer
Learn more about Mobile Marketing for retailers @ Club Texting

Greystripe’s iPhone Ad Units Win CTIA Top Prize

One last item to report from this year's CTIA in Las Vegas:

Rich media mobile ad network Greystripe took hope top prize in mobile advertising at CTIA’s Emerging Technology Awards. The SF-based company, which raised $5.5 in Series C funding last month, announced today its big win in the “Mobile Applications and Widgets - Mobile Marketing / Advertising” category at the awards.

So what exactly did they win the award for?

Greystripe’s GS.Rich Media iPhone ad format earned them the prize. They allow for full-screen, Flash advertisements for the iPhone, enabling digital marketers to bring online creatives to mobile. The technology came out of their work in mobile gaming, where they designed in-game ads — images, video commercials and scrolling banners — that were worked into the flow of regular mobile gameplay without causing major disruptions.

Read more @ Mobile Marketing Watch

Valpak Embraces Mobile Coupons

We've been saying that mobile couponing (see our guide) is taking off for a while now. Now comes word that coupon giant Valpak has embraced the format:

Shared mail giant Valpak is making coupons and offers available to consumers via mobile in yet another indication of the channel's growing appeal for targeted marketing.

The St. Petersburg, FL-based company claims it is focused on reaching people wherever they are, whether on social networking Web sites and on their mobile phones. With this move, Valpak joins rival Money Mailer with its own mobile initiatives for advertisers.

Read the entire article at Mobile Marketer or find out more about Mobile Coupons for your business at Club Texting.

What Happened Today In History?

NBC News recently launched a new SMS alert service that should appeal to history buffs:

NBC News has launched a new SMS service called Today in History. It sends out one fact per day about an event that occurred on the current date in an earlier year. Simply Text ICUE to 275622.

Read more @ Textually

CTIA Panel: Lay Off On The Per Message Carrier Fees

A panel discussion at this week's CTIA show in Las Vegas voiced something we definitely agree with:

The per-message fees that carriers charge mobile marketers are killing the business model for SMS and MMS-based marketing, according to a panel at the CTIA Wireless 2009: Mobile Life conference.

So what is the alternative?

“All organizations have to work on flat fees, and the original models were only meant to support the ecosystem for 6 or 9 months,” he said. “The carriers have done little to speed the robust development of the messaging ecosystem in the U.S., and it needs support from the back end.”

Read the entire article @ Mobile Marketer