Will Marketers Kill QR Codes For Consumers?

QR Codes are an interesting technology. Some people hate them. Some people swear by them. We're not going to look at the their faults or positives today - instead we wanted to turn your attention to an interesting take on their long-term prospects over at Mobile Marketer - Are marketers killing consumer enthusiasm for QR codes?

Marketers are at various stages in the adoption of QR codes as part of their ongoing marketing efforts. However, simply linking to a video or mobile page may damage consumer enthusiasm and dampen their willingness to engage.

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Sure-fire ways to hamper the success of a mobile campaign include not featuring simple instructions around how to scan the code or featuring incomplete or unclear calls to action.

Additionally, placing mobile bar codes on collateral or signs that are not in a suitable location – such as a billboard that is far away from the sidewalk, on TV for 2 seconds, next to a busy road where it would be dangerous to stop to scan or a subway station with no network access – will prove to be ineffective.

Another way to hamper the success of a QR code campaign is delivering content that is not valuable to the consumer and directing them to a page that is not mobile optimized.

For some tips on how to effectively use QR codes, head over to our sister brand's blog, Ez Texting.

Check Out Club Texting's Mobile Site Optimized For Your Smartphone

We're always trying to make Club Texting as easy to use as possible - and having seen smartphone usage explode over the last couple of years we're glad to announce a new mobile-optimized version of Club Texting. How does it work? Very simple - if you're using a smartphone (iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, etc.) and you visit app.clubtexting.com we'll automatically redirect you to the mobile-optimized version of Club Texting.

Once you login to your account you can use many of our most popular features - like sending messages, checking replies, and even buying credits if you're running low. Check it out now @ app.clubtexting.com. If you prefer to use the full version of Club Texting on your mobile phone just click Full Site and we'll redirect you back to the traditional version of Club Texting.

eBay's Mobile Sales Are Exploding

We knew that eBay has had some success with mobile sales but their 2010 numbers are absolutely incredible:

eBay has announced that global mobile sales generated nearly $2 billion in 2010, up from $600 million in 2009. To be clear, we’re not talking revenues here but gross merchandise volume. Nevertheless, a clear sign that mobile ecommerce has reached a tipping point.

eBay earlier announced that global sales were up 166 percent to $230 million from Nov. 25 to Dec. 25 from the same period last year, so the holiday season was a clear catalyst for much of that growth.

The ecommerce company says its mobile apps, which give users access to eBay’s global marketplace on the go, have been downloaded more than 30 million times in eight languages, and in over 190 countries.

Read more at TechCrunch.

Nieman Marcus Offers Another Way To Purchase Designer Goods: Via The Mobile Web

Nieman Marcus  Group Inc. has created a mobile shopping site which allows customers to browse and purchase items via their mobile devices. All customers have to do is visit Nieman Marcuse's website through their mobile phones and from there they can purchase anything from designer handbags to couture dresses. Everything available on their website is available on their mobile site. In addition to purchasing items, customers can also manage their accounts, track orders and check store locations. Gerard Barnes, president and chief executive officer at Neiman Marcus estimates that the company will be completely mobile by fall.

“We are hoping to increase traffic to our site as well as sales,” said Ginger Reeder, vice president of corporate communications at Neiman Marcus Group."The mobile site targets our traditional online customer who wants quick and easy access to new product right away and a younger customer who perhaps has more experience with mcommerce. We created the mobile site to enable our customers to shop at Neiman Marcus with ease, anywhere they may be.We know that they purchase [expensive items] from our Web site, so this merely gives them another way to access the site,” Ms. Reeder added.

To read the entire article, click here.

To learn more about mobile marketing for retail, visit Club Texting.

 

 

 

 

Mobile Marketing Is Sure To Boom This Upcoming Holiday Season

2009's holiday season was the largest mobile ad season to date. However, early indicators show that 2010 will blow 2009 away in this department. Experts predict that companies will spend more money than ever on mobile marketing campaigns this upcoming holiday season. More people than ever before will be searching for coupons and deals via their smart phones, and companies will be sure to deliver.

“Brands and marketers that do not include mobile in their holiday marketing plans this year will miss out on a growing number of consumers who will be considering products via their mobile devices, especially those with advanced smartphones who search and browse products and brands,” said Neil Strother, Kirkland,WA-based practice director at ABI Research.

To read the entire article, click here.

To learn more about mobile marketing, visit Club Texting.

AdMob Reports That Android Becoming Increasingly Diversified

MobileCrunch has a story up with some interesting results from March's AdMob report on the state of the mobile web:

The report showed the clear stratification of the Android handset market. Whereas in September 2009, there were only 2 major Android handsets, there are currently 11. In September, HTC dominated Android with HTC devices accounting for 96% of all Android web traffic. This month, Motorola took that throne, and accounted for 44% of Android web traffic. HTC was close behind with 43% of requests and Samsung sat at an abysmal 9%.

And how about the iPhone:

Though the focus was on Android, some interesting news came out on the iPhone. Just 2% of iPhone OS web traffic came through the 1st gen iPhone, compared with 39% for the 3GS, 25% for the 2nd gen iPod Touch and 20% for the iPhone 3G.

Head over to MobileCrunch for analysis and more.

Editorial: What Apple and Gillette have in common

Mickey Alam Khan, the Editor of Mobile Marketer draws an interesting analogy between Apple and its App Store and Gillette's razor business:

The genius of Apple is that it has replicated with the newly launched iPad tablet what it has got down pat for previous products such as the iPod in 2001 and the iPhone in 2007, followed by the App Store in 2008.

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Indeed, it is not the iPad device that’s the prize – it is the revenue from the hundreds of thousands of applications created for that device, locked and unique to the Apple ecosystem. It is the potential of downloads, mobile advertising on applications and revenue shares from sales of movies, music, software, books and media.

Apple, in effect, has learned from Procter & Gamble’s Gillette: create and upgrade the subsidized razor, win the loyalty of its target market and then keep them coming back for refill blades year after year, life-stage after life-stage.

For Apple, the iPad is the razor and applications are the refill blades. The iPod with its songs from iTunes and the iPhone with its songs and applications from the App Store are cut from the same philosophical cloth.

Read the whole thing @ Mobile Marketer.

Best Buy Bulks Up Mobile Marketing Efforts

Mobile Marketing Watch reports that Best Buy is ramping up their mobile marketing programs:

According to sources at the company, Best Buy is putting the wheels in motion on a spruced up mobile website, more aggressive and targeted SMS texting campaigns, and mobile application updates to help capture a larger share of the mobile community’s attention.

It was just late last year that Best Buy introduced its mobile site and a corresponding iPhone application.

Best Buy’s chief marketing officer, Barry Judge, told the Wall Street Journal last month that his company “wants to use mobile to make standard ads more interactive. A print ad or billboard, for instance, might give consumers an address they could text-message for more information.”

Read more @ Mobile Marketing Watch

Read about Club Texting's text message marketing solutions for retail.

Droid Quickly Grabs Almost 3% Of US Wireless Web Usage

A report from Clicky reveals some interesting results:

This page shows the daily web browsing marketshare for mobile phones of interest, which is calculated from all mobile traffic across the 150,000+ sites that are tracked by getclicky.com. It is updated every 30 minutes.

2.63% on Nov 11, 2.84% on the 12th, and 2.67% on the 13th. Learn more @ Clicky.

Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue runs 2D bar code MMS campaign

MMS and bar codes are two mobile marketing technologies that are slowly being adopted. Sports Illustrated has jumped aboard:

Readers of Sports Illustrated’s June 29 Swimsuit Vault issue can take and send a picture of a Jagtag 2D bar code to receive the photo spread, which includes between seven and 14 pictures delivered via a single MMS, depending on their phone's capabilities. Every participant's camera phone works instantly, without having to download a code-reading application or incurring the costs of accessing the mobile Web without a data plan, according to Jagtag.

Using the phone's camera without specialized software is something that every bar code campaign should do--otherwise brands can't expect to go as wide as they need to go to see success. Still, the program is not available across all carriers:

Sports Illustrated's edit team included the Jagtag callout within a SI Swimsuit Vault spread in the June 29 issue. The call-to-action was headlined, “Swimsuit photos on your phone.”
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The text read: “To get a sampling of the most beautiful SI swimsuit pictures delivered instantly to your cell phone, take a picture of this Jagtag and then send it to short code 524824 (iPhones send to iphone@jagtag.net). Available to Alltel, AT&T and Verizon customers only. Standard messaging or data rates apply.”

For the time being only SMS-based mobile marketing can reach all US mobile users.

Read more @ Mobile Marketer.