The mobile phone is one of the fastest moving technologies on the planet. This portable communications device is no longer just a phone. The mobile phone has reached the point where it's a viable marketing medium. All of the new phones include SMS text capability not to mention web browsing.
There are numerous ways to use SMS to engage your audience (information, contest, voting, cause marketing, etc.). The unfortunate part about SMS is its limitations. It's great for what people do with it "text communications." It's not good at branding, gathering information, looking at options, etc.
Ontarget has been working with clients to use SMS as the easy way to engage the audience but then switch them to a mobile web application/site. The user simply keys in a keyword and sends it to an SMS short-code. They receive a message back with a link. When they click on the link it switches them to a mobile web application/site. What this does is give us the opportunity to allow the user to enter information, receive information and/or browse through products and services all designed to fit their mobile browser. You can see an example of this by clicking here to see our Blue Cross Blue Shield example.
SMS text marketing and mobile marketing are not solutions looking for a problem. It's important to start with your goals and objectives and see if SMS and mobile marketing may be a tactic that supports those goals and objectives. We've seen a lot of people spend money on Web 2.0, SMS, mobile marketing and get nothing in return. Just like anything else you have to create a plan before embarking on a solution.
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