Businesses to Facebook: Where are you taking Facebook Places?

Facebook Places remains promising. It allows Facebook users to ‘check in’ to local destinations on Facebook and it allows businesses to reward Facebook visitors with discounts, coupons and freebies.

However, it’s been more than six months since Facebook announced Places and many of the promises offered by Facebook regarding Places remain unfulfilled. Facebook said it would become easy for businesses to create, manage, and merge Places pages with the existing Facebook pages. It’s not.

When places rolled out, Facebook promised to provide a bulk management tool for brands with several locations. This hasn’t happened. Adding places remains a barrier for businesses with multiple locations. It requires being physically present at each location with a Facebook supported device. New places are immediately visible to Facebook users and are owned by Facebook until the business goes through a second, more arduous process to claim them. Each Place must be claimed separately and requires individual verification by phone or by providing related ownership.

For businesses that already have an active Facebook Fan page, the addition of a separate Place page is typically undesirable.  It confuses customers and splinters brand-related activity.  To address this problem, Facebook told businesses that it would be possible to merge Facebook Places with their existing brand pages. While it is possible to merge a SINGLE PLACE PAGE with A SINGLE FAN PAGE, the results of doing so are discouraging:  Custom tabs are removed. So is the ability to specify a ‘landing tab’ for the new, merged page. Instead, tabs from the Fan Page are converted to left-hand page links and the Bing-generated map becomes the required landing tab.  Business owners are frustrated.

“I didn’t ask to merge — Facebook just did it to us,” said Mary Sisson, a frustrated Fan Page administrator.  “Now we have no permanent information on our stores and a map leading to the store we’re closing. We’ve lost our widely-publicized Facebook address. And there’s no way I can see to edit anything. Extremely frustrating.”
Business owners also complain about losing page reports and Fan Page photo albums after merging pages. To address concerns, Facebook added the ability to ‘unmerge’ combined Place/Fan pages — but results seem to vary among those who abandon Facebook’s failed merging process.

“My business page went missing after unmerging Places.” said Brad Olson. “First the page disappeared then the Place. The ‘fans’ were transfered to a new page – but not at my Username and two years of work and galleries are gone. Any solution to restore this?”

Despite an outpouring of criticism for the way Facebook rolled out Places, many businesses remain hopeful about Places. More than 200 million active Facebook users connect to the site through their mobile devices, according to Facebook. And, people that use their mobile devices are also twice more active on Facebook than non-mobile users.
That is why businesses are eager to leverage aspects of Places that work, such as the ‘deals’ feature. It allows businesses to reward Places page visitors with instant deals upon check in.  They can offer discounts,  gifts with purchases, rewards for bringing friends, rewards for customer loyalty (based # of visits) and pledges of charitable donations for customer visits.

Businesses are frustrated and hopeful when it comes to Places.  It has everyone asking Facebook, “Where are you taking Facebook Places?”

Article source:http://www.socialmeteor.com/2011/01/19/businesses-to-facebook-where-are-you-taking-facebook-places/

For teens, the future is mobile

SAN FRANCISCO--Marketers convened here this week to figure out how best to reach teens on the Internet. The answer: It's all about the mobile phone.

Advertisers are clamoring to reach teens in digital environments because that's where they're spending much of their time--either online, with cell phones or playing video games. What's more, teens wield an estimated $200 billion annually in discretionary spending.

Fuse, a marketing agency based in Vermont, talked in recent weeks to senior technology executives from companies such as Sony, MTV Networks, Yahoo, and Nokia to find out what the future of technology will look like for the teen market.

Among the predictions: Mobile phones in the United States will surpass the popularity of desktops for teens. Only an estimated 20 percent of teens currently own a smartphone such as the iPhone, but mobile phone and content companies are counting on the idea that smartphone adoption will spread fast among teens in middle America and other areas.
"The iPhone is just the beginning of the all-in-one device. Uses of mobile devices will expand to include all kinds of bar code applications and prepaid debit card payment methods," said Bill Carter, a partner at Fuse, who presented the findings here at the YPulse 2008 National Mashup, a two-day conference on teens and technology.

That's likely why geographic ad targeting to teens via the phone is expected to explode in the coming years. Right now, mobile phone providers analyze an estimated 4 billion Internet Protocol addresses to provide street-level targeting to consumers. Companies like U.K.-based Blyk, for example, are reaching teens through the phone with ads and information on nearby nightspots. Teens sign up for the service.

"When you combine this new technology with teens giving their permission to market to them, the growth could be exponential," Carter said.
But, he said, mobile phone providers likely won't succeed as the entertainment leaders for the phone, despite their efforts to sell ringtones, games, and music. Other companies like Apple, Google, and Yahoo will be more effective at "side-loading" the cell phone with services.
Case in point: Most teens download music to their iPod that's been ripped from a friend's collection as opposed to bought from the iTunes music store. "There's a natural gravitation to get content on a device that's different than the one the manufacturer intended," he said.

As a corollary, he said that most teens will eventually buy subscription-based music services, much like the cable TV model. He predicted that Apple's iTunes will offer an unlimited monthly download service for music. Mobile phone companies, too, will launch music subscriptions on the smartphone.

Another prognostication: Other technology platforms will save, not kill TV networks, Carter said. The analog-to-digital conversion will make it possible for teens to watch live TV on portable devices. The technology will help the television networks target programming to specific audiences, and that will buoy the cost of advertising, he said.

"The device is inconsequential compared to the content," he said.

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Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-9991979-93.html#ixzz1U5S9GhNK

Increasing Use of Bulk SMS in World of SMS Marketing

Bulk SMS software is the latest buzz in the world of SMS marketing and in growing competition in the market, it looks like a lengthier stay. When it arrives to SMS marketing, one thing is very clear that the businesses choosing for it are actually searching for quick and easy way communication with the clients and the customers. Time is valuable and hence bulk SMS is the most favored SMS solution for SMS marketing campaign in India.

The SMS software is getting much popular each day, just because of its several advantages which builds your business handling favorable. Not only this, SMS messaging gateway has some other option which delivers messages as fast as possible. Customers satisfaction and the happy clients are the top concern of any businesses and only for those reasons it becomes essential to render top class services to them. Sending business messages to the point audience in minimal possible times is essential hence by get through bulk SMS software we can do it very easily with affordable cost.

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10 Uses for SMS in Small to Medium Sized Businesses

Over the past fifteen years the mobile phone has become the world's communication device of choice- far more preferred than the use of land-lines, television and radio, for example; and not surprisingly so. The magic of the mobile phone no longer lies only in its portable nature, but also in its simplicity, its usability and its adaptability. As a personal device for individuals, it can literally be said to have revolutionised the way that friendships, families and relationships function. Importantly too, however, thousands of successful businesses have recognised the power and reach that can be achieved with Mobile Marketing. Why? Because a mobile phone represents an immediate and highly personalised channel to the consumer that other media battle to attain.

One of the most successful forms of mobile marketing has been in the use of Bulk SMS (SMS Marketing). Although SMS Marketing has spread like wildfire between businesses of all sizes, the small to medium sized business, particularly, stands to benefit from this form of advertising.

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Cover story: Brands see high returns from mobile coupons

Brands from the restaurant and retail sectors are poised to ramp up their mobile marketing activity after Starbucks and House of Fraser witnessed record redemption rates using mobile coupons.

Mobile network operators including Everything Everywhere and O2 are feeding this appetite, with the former preparing to debut its own mobile couponing service later this year.

O2 Media has revealed its debut location-based You Are Here campaign to promote Starbucks’ instant coffee product Via achieved a recall rate of 93%.

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The Three Greatest Survey Questions Ever

The VP of a Fortune 100 company recently asked for some advice. They were heading into their peak selling season that would last only three months max, and they only had an ability to measure revenue from the website, nothing else. They did not have any web analytics tool.

Her question was: Which analytics tool do you recommend because we want to improve our website and increase sales.

My answer: Don’t implement a web analytics tool, implement a short website survey that would have just three questions.

Surprised?

There were a number of factors behind my recommendation but one of the main ones was that if you want to move really really fast and you don’t know anything then it is better to ask the customer what you should do rather than implement a tool and try to figure it out based on clicks. You will get better insights, faster than you can imagine.

Web analytics is awesome (you do expect me to say that don’t you! : )), is has to be a critical part of your web strategy because it can yield great insights. But for the fastest way to understanding customer problems there is nothing like asking the customer herself / himself (and yes it will lead to improved revenues).

Given the time crunch going to the customer made the most sense, implementation of the Web Analytics tool would happen and after a month or so and slowly over time ClickStream data would play a increasingly important part in decision making. In due course it would achieve parity with the Qualitative data (bu

t hopefully never overshadow it).

Ok so survey got the nod, what questions to ask?

[UPDATE: 04 Mar 2008: You can now implement this survey 100% for free, a true onexit survey with no strings attached. Please see: 4Q - The Best Online Survey For A Website, Yours Free!]

Here are the three questions no survey can live without (and often a survey can be pretty awesome with just three questions):

What is the purpose of your visit to our website today?

It can also be framed as "what is the reason for your visit today" or "what task are you looking to accomplish on our website today" or "why are you here today".

Few website owners have a good understanding of why people visit their websites and this is one of the best possible ways for you to find out that critical piece of information. Answers that you will read, the distributions you will get between different primary purposes, will be eye opening for you, and they will help explain so much of the "weirdness" you see in your ClickStream data (and yes even your path analysis).

Were you able to complete your task today?

If you like conversion rate and revenue then you are going to love this one. An extremely simple question that asks the survey takers to self report their own perception of your website's effectiveness in helping them complete their tasks.

With this question we don't have to rely on our hypothesis such as if the visitors saw this page then they might have gotten their question answered or if I am measuring conversion then I can understand how effective my site is or our site is doing great because we just launched a massive quarter of a million US dollars redesign. We have the customers voice telling us exactly how well the website is performing when it comes to delivering the goods.

Now in case you want to know exactly what you need to do to improve the numbers in the graph, you'd ask a third question:

If you were not able to complete your task today, why not?

It can also be framed as "If you were able to not complete your task please explain" or "Why were you not able to complete your task on our website today" or simply as "How can we improve our website to ensure you are able to complete your task", etc.

The answer to this question is open text VOC, Voice of Customer. It is optimal to refrain from making this a drop down with choices like: Improve internal search, Update the navigation, and Provide more product information etc etc. Let the customers talk, give them a chance to tell you in their own voice the reasons and provide you with suggestions. It works better than you guessing what the answers might be and suggesting those.

Analysis for this question is done by categorizing the responses into common themes and then rating the % of times each theme is occurring in the open ended VOC for those who are not able to complete their task. This is your simple and direct to-do list of issues directly from the horse's mouth about what you should work on in order to improve your website experience for your customers.

These three simple questions that will be the source of a wealth of insights when it comes to helping your deliver on your customer centric strategy. [Want more: Got Surveys? Recommendations from the Trenches.]

ClickStream data is often missing the context, in that absence we overlay our own opinions / experiences / perspectives to make sense of it all. But with answers to these simple questions you’ll have the context to make sense of it all.

What do you all think? Have you tried surveys? Do you have a golden question or two that you use? Please share your own tips and feedback on my question suggestions above via comments.

Article source:http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/the-three-greatest-survey-questions-ever/

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5 Marketing Tips from Pizza Restaurants

There are more than 270 million cell-phone users in the U.S., and most of them admit to never leaving home without their phone. With that many people walking around with their mobile phone, it is time to get smart about mobile marketing efforts and engaging customers through an outlet they always take to go.

In recent years, the pizza industry emerged as the leader and innovator in mobile marketing. The industry used mobile solutions to maximize sales, drive consumers to place orders, and deliver initiatives that were on-brand and relevant to core customers.

It’s time for other restaurants to join the bandwagon and use the power of mobile to increase sales. Lucky for marketers, pizza chains have done the heavy lifting in creating some great, innovative ideas. Here are some mobile marketing tips to take from the pizza chains. Mobile Subscription List Retailers can utilize mobile subscriber lists the same way they use e-mail or direct mail. Customers who subscribe to any of the chain’s SMS messaging campaigns receive alerts for sponsored events, promotions, and giveaways, keeping them in the loop for the latest happenings.

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Build Your Reach With QR Codes

Using QR codes in your offline marketing will allow you to leverage your investment in offline media to build your online reach.

Quick response codes (QR codes) seem to be everywhere. In fact, according to JumpScan, QR code scanning increased 1,200 percent from July to December 2010, with 57 percent of Twitter and Facebook users reporting they scanned at least one QR code in the past year.

It's no wonder, then, that these two-dimensional (2D) matrix barcodes, which can hold thousands of alphanumeric characters of information, offer you immediate access to what's relevant.

A quick scan using your iPhone, Android, or other camera-enabled smartphone activates your phone functions such as e-mail, IM, and SMS, or connects the mobile device to a Web browser.

You might have used a QR code to check in for your flight on United, pay for your Starbucks coffee, locate a business on Google Maps, or get more information at a library or retail store.

But how can QR codes help your business? They are perfect for an opportunity you have to connect people using their mobile phones with digital content. Include a quick sign-up page for opt-in e-mail on each landing page and encourage visitors to sign up to receive e-mail updates.

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50% of web traffic will come through mobile devices within 5 years

We'll help you creating strategies for building a database of local consumers that will want to quickly receive your offerings. We understand that your primary responsibility is to run your business, not spend countless hours trying to understand mobile communicative methods. It is estimated that by 2015 one out of every three businesses in America will have a mobile marketing program.

Mobile Web Usage Is Exploding

If you don't have a mobile optimized site, or a mobile search campaign, or really anything mobile in your marketing mix, you are officially late to the party.

A recent Internet Trends presentation by Morgan Stanley forecasted that "50% of web traffic will come through mobile devices within 5 years." In fact, based on the rate of adoption, it is projected that the number of users accessing the Web via mobile devices will exceed desktop devices by 2014. A column I wrote at the end of last year cited 2009 as the year mobile search took off. And, I think my concluding statement in that column appears to be proving true: "And if 2009 was the year that mobile took off, look for 2010 and beyond to be the years that mobile search reaches its pinnacle." All of the research and data points surrounding mobile Web adoption rates seem to signal that not only will mobile search be exploding, so too will all forms of mobile Web activities.

Two in Three Consumers Use Online Coupons: Survey

More than two-thirds of U.S. consumers say they have downloaded a printable coupon from a Web site, according to a new report from marketing research firm Morpace.

The Morpace Omnibus Report for March 2011 found that online coupon use is slightly higher among females, 72% of whom reported printing out coupons from Web sites, than among males (59%). Consumers with annual household incomes over $50,000 also over-indexed on printing online coupons; 71% of respondents in that category reported doing so, compared to 61% for those from households with incomes under $50,000.

While printable online coupons have been part of retailers’ incentive strategies for a few years, they are still a relatively small part of total coupon distribution in the U.S.: about 1% of the general coupon distribution in the first nine months of 2010, according to a report from Marx, the coupon-tracking division of Kantar Media. Nevertheless other research suggests that online coupons are redeemed at a much higher rate—10% to 15%-- compared to the 1.2% redemption rate for coupons overall.

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QR Code Scanners for Mobile Phones

The best scanner software for iPhone is Qrafter. It is available on the App Store and it is free. It is able to understand all actions on this generator (and more) and is the most advanced scanner for QR Codes on iPhone. Download it from here. You can also visit Qrafter’s Facebook Page here.

For Android, the best option seems to be the Barcode Scanner app from ZXing.

For BlackBerry, QR Code Scanner Pro is a good choice according to Josh West, one of the commenters on this page.

For Nokia Maemo/Meego, you can use Mbarcode according to Ryks, another commenter.

For other devices, you may find one, suitable for your device from Kaywa or QuickMark.

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Easy Communication Through Fingertips With SMS Gateway Software

SMS messaging service - bulk SMS application - SMS messaging gateways

SMS gateway software plays a vital role in transferring messages very quickly as per the need of the busy world. Short messaging service along with bulk SMS application is a facility available in mobile phones for the retrieving as well as sending of messages to an intended audience. SMS was introduced in Europe in the year 1992. It is very useful to convey urgent matters within seconds. The messaging gateway software enables the users to post as well as receive the message to personal computer or the mobile phones. It holds user-friendly interface with high class interior architecture.

All languages can be used through SMS solutions with the help of Unicode system. Along with the text, sending of pictures and ring tones are also possible via SMS gateway service. SMS messaging service is utilized by about 2.4 billion mobile phone consumers. The services provided by the messaging gateways are very useful for the companies who want to transfer the information instantly to a large group of customers frequently. For fulfilling the needs of customers, most of the mobile phone companies develop advanced SMS gateway software.

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Consumer Loyalty Clubs - How Mobile Marketing Can Give Your Customers What They Want

More and more companies today are recognizing that their customers never leave home without their mobile phones and are checking and responding to their text messages constantly throughout the day. With the rapid growth in smart phone sales, the mobile phone is rapidly becoming the most effective way to develop and maintain an ongoing relationship with those customers.

However, one of the most fundamental issue facing marketers today is figuring out what their customers actually want from them and how best to deliver that need. The reason it is so difficult to determine is the lack of information on who those customers actually are. If you don't really know your customer, how can you possibly meet their needs?

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The Easy Ways to Send Bulk SMS

Increasingly businesses of all sizes are reaping the benefits of low cost, instant communication via bulk SMS messages to customers and colleagues alike. And while a large corporation will have access to an IT department to provide this communication tool, what are smaller businesses meant to do? The good news is that you don't need to be a computer whizz-kid or have an in-house IT department to take advantage of SMS technology. Instead, businesses can turn to a bulk SMS gateway provider for easy ways to send their text messages. A SMS gateway provider will give you one point of contact, one A-Z pricing list and an easy to use interface for sending your bulk SMS messages.

Yet, if you are new to bulk SMS messaging you may still be wondering if there are different ways to send SMS messages and just how easy this technology is to use. With this in mind, here is a quick breakdown of three different ways that businesses can send text messages through a bulk SMS gateway provider. All of these methods can be sent from a standard computer and do not require specialist knowledge... in essence they are as easy as sending an email.

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Easy to Use Short Code Services

Short code services - Premium SMS services - SMS voting

Short code services assign its wireless subscribers with an easy memorable small digit number to deal with easy communication activities such as sending and retrieving SMS in single or in bulk. To access the huge benefits of communication effectiveness, a majority of mobile advertisement is being carried out through short code applications. Major area of short code application includes SMS voting, marketing, opinion poll, events, customer complains, mass booking, discount offers, bill settlement and live chatting. This service forms the popular mode of fast feedback and it is capable of strengthening the customer-client relationship.

The short codes forms exceptional phone numbers comparatively shorter and constitutes around 5 digits. The codes are commonly accessed for value added applications mainly message voting, charity donations, cellular services and to order ring tones. The main advantages of these services are easy to remember, instantly reachable, comfortable perpetual messaging service and broader-popular trade equity.

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Mobile Text Message Marketing 101

Currently, we are seeing another large communication shift similar to the social media movement in 2005. In terms of size, it's already bigger than the dot com boom. Of course, I'm referring to mobile text message marketing. At the moment, it's still in the early adopter phase.

When mobile text message marketing originated a couple years back it was extremely expensive. That's the big reason only companies with large budgets could use it. The playing field has been leveled, though. It no longer costs an arm and a leg. Mobile marketing is the MOST effective way to get new customers, retain current ones, and prevent no-shows.

The bottom line is that mobile helps businesses make more income and the conversion is better than anything online or offline.

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Text Message Marketing Benefits for Local Businesses

If you own a local business, whether you provide goods and services, you can really benefit from text message marketing. This form of promotion is easy to use, cost effective and offers one of the best rates of return of any type of advertising. The fact is when people leave their homes they take or go with three things-their vehicle, purse or wallet and cell phone.

That means that text message marketing connects with customers wherever they may be. Whether the receiver of the message is at home or on the road, they will have instant access to your offer.

Benefits of Text Marketing

There are benefits to any type of advertising or marketing campaign. Text message marketing carries advantages that are unique. One is the rate of return, which ranges from 10% to 30%!

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Text Message Campaign - Successful SMS Text Messaging Strategies

Are you aware that mobile text messaging, when used correctly, will make your company rule your sector? Cellular devices are now a lot more than PCs and the number continues to expand. And any experienced businessperson who embraces text message marketing with a test message campaign will definitely experience rewards. Nevertheless many people frequently wonder how to do this type of marketing without making any mistakes.

Well, although there isn't any guideline which is totally accurate, I have a few suggestions which can help.

Stay away from kids' text messaging jargon. Unless of course your product is purely for the children, jargon can be quite a turnoff for the older age group. Simply utilize standard phrases and vocabulary which the regular individual is accustomed to. A few modern phrases might not hurt nevertheless use caution; your terminology will probably deter some individuals or be a product drawing clients to your company.

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Choosing The Right SMS Survey Software

When it comes to SMS surveys there are hundreds of types of software available so it is important to do your research before deciding. Each type of text message survey software has benefits and downfalls so you simply must decide what features are useful to you and what features are simply a waste of time or money. Start looking for as many survey systems as you can; the more you find the easier it will be to eliminate a majority of them based on specific features or functions. Eventually you will find one single survey system that works the best for your needs.

Perhaps the biggest thing to look at is the data collection system on the survey program. Many text message survey systems will automatically collect survey data and then calculate any number of statistics on it automatically; this is great if you need the extra information, but it could be a waste if you don't need it. If you are simply taking a text message survey to see the answers then you might not need to purchase an SMS system that will calculate the statistics automatically.

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