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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