Situational Marketing

Using Voterblast To Connect To Volunteers

The big story in this year's presidential campaign isn't just about race, gender, and national security.  the big story is how candidates are mobilizing online, using their e-mail lists to drive action, raise funds 9$85 million from Barack and Hillary in the last quarter), and connect volunteers.

When you think of political messaging, you probably think of robocalls and all the negative press they've received in the last year.  We think the attention has been unfair, and it's not just because we sell capacity to political consultants.  People don't mind robocalls - they mind bad robocalls.  They mind robocalls that are sent without thought to who you're calling, and when they haven't given you permission to call.

It's the same with direct mail, e-mail marketing, and texting. To get the most out of your effort, you have to create a planned campaign with goals.

That's whey we created voter decoder to go along with the blast product. VoterDecoder allows volunteers, supporters, staff, and constituents the ability to manage how they wish to be contacted, and it allows you to stay fully compliant by giving opt-out and opt-in power to the people you're messaging.  The goal of all of our software is to save you time and money.  If the administration of your contact list is handled by the public, you don't have to put precious campaign resources into administrative tasks.

Consumer Decoder™ is an advanced data capture application which enables campaign mangers and candidates the ability to speak to constituents on their terms. During the registration process, we gather relevant contact information and segment and profile your voters into several different groups. During this time we also ask constituents to choose a preferred communication medium for future dialog opportunities The communication mediums include voice broadcasting, email marketing, text messaging, fax and direct mail.  This provides candidates a real opportunity for increased loyalty since voters decide how they would like to receive candidate communications.

Should We Be Twittering?

There are so man different social media applications out there, the concern of the small business is how to get it all done. How much time should be spent on selling, closing, and your books, and how much should be spent online making connections and building a profile?

Twitter is one of those services that is hard to quantify for the small business owner.  On the one hand, it gives you instant access to a lot of people.  On the other hand, it's just as addictive and distracting as instant messaging.

And this is in a marketplace where most businesses still haven't figured out best practices for e-mail marketing, websites, and mobile marketing.  If we can't get the basics of online marketing right, how can we focus on social media?

In this week's Carnival of the Mobilists over at Taptology, SmartMob's Howard Rheingold tells us why he's hooked on Twitter.  It's all about moving or dying.

Openness — anyone can join, and anyone can follow anyone else (unless they restrict access to friends who request access)

Immediacy — it’s a rolling present. You won’t get the sense of Twitter if you just check in once a week. You need to hang out for minutes and hours, every day, to get in the groove.

Variety — political or technical argument, gossip, technical info, news flashes, poetry, social arrangements, classrooms, repartee, scholarly references

Reciprocity — people give and ask freely for information they need (this doesn’t necessarily scale or last forever, but right now it’s possible to tune your list — and to contribute to it — to include a high degree of reciprocation)

Entrepreneurs have to learn to succeed.  Corporations sit at the portion of the cycle where economies of scale work.  For small businesses, looking for new ways to address old problems is our lifeblood.  Communities like those we can join on Twitter give us creativity from dozens, and then hundreds of other smart people.  Oftentimes, the answer to our problem is merely looking at someone else does in another industry, and applying it to ours.

Move or Die.  Find a way to learn.  I'm not saying Twitter will make you money, but it does give small businesses a way to connect with many people without having to drive to see them.  Is your social group online?  Find out where they are, and go join them.  Move and Learn, or die.  It's the nature of all business.

The Future Of Mobile Marketing Lies In Unlimited Access

Maybe I'm just an old fart, but when I'm on my cell phone, I have an internal clock that tells me how many minutes I'm using.  My wife and I share 1000 minutes, and that's plenty with our business, but we have gone over on occasion, and I always feel disappointed (and a little angry) at the overage charges.

Sure, we could bump up the minutes, but when you go through several months not getting close to your limit, you'll kick yourself for buying too much.  And if you want to change your plan, you're stuck with the same carrier for another two years.

Why is this important?  Verizon and AT&T are introducing unlimited plans that are reasonable in cost, and they cover voice and text.  As these plans become more common, and continue to drop in price, consumers will feel more comfortable using their phones for commerce.

I think this is one of the big reasons mobile marketing hasn't taken off.  If 20-30% of users (and it's probably higher) feel like I do about minutes and paying for texting, the freedom and relative cost of unlimited plans will wipe away barriers to cell phone use.

All of a sudden, the attitudinal concerns consumers have about text clubs, coupons, and even mobile newsletters will be a question of convenience, and not cost.  Mobile will have caught up to e-mail and the internet as low-cost alternatives to the users.  If I'm already paying for it, I'll use it.  Why do you think people take such long showers in condos (water use is often covered as part of your fees in condo developments)?

Voterblast For Your Political Campaign

Voterblast Capabilities

• Campaigns utilizing voice broadcasting, Consumer Decoder, IVR and text messaging to reach constituents and staff
• Integration of voice broadcast, Consumer Decoder, email marketing, IVR and text messaging into traditional direct mail or advertising campaigns to get your voters interacting with your campaign
• Utilize our text messaging,Consumer Decoder, voice broadcasting, or IVR technologies to ease in the collection of supporter information at event sites

• Immediately connect a voice broadcasting into a campaign call center at the end of a message
• Respond to survey and polling questions and enter data by touch tone, voice recording, or text message
• Create a video and/or audio podcasts for voters so they can download to clearly see and hear your views on important topics

Gateway Interactive Marketing Association

Heard the funniest thing last night about mobile marketing. It was at a GIMA panel on lead generation.  The moderator said,

"Mobile Marketing is like high school sex.  Everyone is talking about it.  Everyone thinks everyone else  is doing it.  And those who are doing it aren't doing it well."

Heh.  It's an old joke, but a good one.  It's from Katie Muldoon in 1997.

Carnival of the Mobilists is up at Mobile Messaging 2.0, number 110.

And from Escape From Cubicle Nation, I found another blog to read, Shoestring Branding.  It's all about internet tips and tricks for small businesses. More about him later.

Radio Stations And Text Clubs

The very first text campaign I ever participated in was a radio promotion for 97.1 Talk FM.  It was some Christmas contest where you sent in a text message to get a chance at winning some gift basket.  i ws in the car - it was impulse, and it took me just seconds to do.

Contests are the first of many ways to use mobile marketing, and Kim Dushinski gives us a list of ideas for those stations looking to connect to their audiences.  Two of those ideas are below:

Voting
Set up a vote where listeners can choose the next song or discussion topic by text vote. You can combine it with a contest so that the 10th texter gets a prize.

Radio shows with more than one DJ could have some sort of contest where the audience gets to decide who wins a bet between the DJs. Listeners could vote via email, calling in or texting.

Location Alerts
Using a service like dodgeball.com, a radio station could get listeners to sign up to be friends and be alerted when the DJs go on location promotions. This could help them get more people at on-site events.

Think of radio text campaigns as the modern version of "the ninth caller wins."  And then move past to recognize that your advertisers are buying radio spots, but they'll pay a premium for a full campaign.  if you can upsell your advertisers 10% to 15% to use a text campaign, you're captured more of their marketing dollar, and delivered a better promotion.   The best part is that new tools like the Blast Marketing store allow you to manage the campaign on your own.

Would you like to boost ad revenues by 15% next year? 

Does Mobile Video Have A Future?

NewTeeVee is a GigaOm channel that just launched.  Their focus is the world of online video, so they had Stacey HigginBotham report live from Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress.  She doesn't think mobile video is here yet.

M:Metrics calculates the percentage of mobile TV viewers as 5.3 percent of the European subscriber base and 4.5 percent of the U.S. subscriber base, with most of that comprised of families sending video to one another. Less than 1 percent watched carrier broadcast TV, and less than 2 percent watched video via a browser in the U.S. and Europe. Even a pro-mobile TV release from CNN and Ericsson point out that 44 percent of people are poised to use mobile TV, begging the question of how many people don’t care or already have it. Of those that do have it, a scant 24 percent tune in daily.

The problem seems to be a mixture between pushing video among different carriers (all with different standards), and the elemental problem that watching video on a cell phone just isn't that great.  Given the choice, most people seem to wait until they get home or to the office to watch the video the way it's supposed to be seen - in 102" Plasma high definition, or at least on a 15" notebook screen with headphones.

Rules Of Texting In Business Marketing

We often hear from clients who want to use SMS texting to reach clients and prospects.  We think it's a great idea, but to approach business texting correctly, you have to realize it's a different business than e-mailing.

E-mail marketing is pretty mature.  We understand the rules, which usually mean don't send out multiple unwanted emails to people or businesses, and make sure they can opt-out if they choose.  The idea is that you can first reach out to someone, but you have to make it clear they don't have to get your e-mails, and they can shut you off if they want you to leave them alone.  That's the theory behind CAN-SPAM, and it's why we manage opt-out options for e-mail marketing.

Text requires more work. You can't send out thousands of text messages to a list of cell phone numbers the same way you could buy a list of e-mail addresses.  Text costs the consumer money, and if you're sending out unwanted messages, you're could find yourself fined or in other hot water for doing so.

Your goal is to establish a text club.

Text Club -This turnkey application allows mobile users to text in a keyword to a shortcode and choose to receive SMS text messages either daily, weekly, or monthly from a brand. Text Clubs are a great resource to create loyalty through mobile only coupons, specific alerts and brand updates.

So what do you do?

First, you establish an opt-in message. You have to get people to signal their willingness to be sent messages.  This can be created by using other marketing (like radio, direct mail) where you ask people to send you a message to join your text club.  You can create a website online that asks people to sign up, much as you have them sign up for your newsletter. Or you can launch an e-mail marketing campaign suggesting people sign up to get mobile messaging.

The goal is to get people who are already engaged in your product or service, to get special treatment and communication from your company.  This means you want to target a smaller number of prospects then your e-mail lists, with the tradeoff being people that are more likely to become your customers.

Catching Up With Chris Torbit

I'm sitting here with Chris Torbit, the president of Blast Companies, at a St Louis Bread Company (that's Panera to most of you folks).  We're strategizing about the use of the blog and the launch of the new store.

Our goal is simple.  We think there are lots of marketing people and small business owners who want to run e-mail campaigns and voice broadcast campaigns, but aren't sure how to do it or what the cost is.  If you are an experienced campaign, you hire an agency to do the work for you. 

But what happens when you're a small business, or you're someone who doesn't normally use e-mail to connect with customers?  Where do you turn if you have 250 on your list, and don't want to pay big bucks and sign-up fees every time you send out an e-mail?

That's what Chris built the store for.  It allows small businesses, marketing professionals, and firms that don't have their own solution the ability to manage marketing campaigns for a low monthly fee.  Try $35 to send 1000 e-mails.  And track them.

So my job is now to reach out to small business consultants, bloggers, and marketers, and let them know about the Blast Marketing Self-Service store.  Any help would be appreciated, both by me, and by your client, boss, or accountant.

Self-Service E-Mail Marketing For Recruiters

The new store has launched, and one of the things we'll be doing is showcasing the different ways you can use the store to run your business.  Our target is audience is simple - any small business that currently markets using e-mail, text or voice, or wants to.

Think of us as the prepaid cellular for e-mail marketing.  If you are sending out e-mails to a group of people from 500-5000, we're the cheapest and most effective option.

Today, we're going to make an impassioned plea to recruiters.  Recruiters speak with dozens of candidates a day, and connect with hundreds of candidates a week through e-mail.  Once a candidate has been interviewed, and found acceptable, the recruiter will keep the candidate in a file for open requirements.  Contacting the candidates can be difficult, especially for purposes of referrals, to announce new positions, or to check in on a candidate's availability. 

Until now. If you are a recruiter, I want you to try something.  Assemble an e-mail list of 1000 candidates in your field.  If you place accountants, get 1000 accountants.  If you place java programmers, get 1000 java programmers.  You already have the names and the e-mail addresses in your database, you just have to pull them out.

Sit down and write a three paragraph reminder to these people.  Tell them you're checking in with them on their availability, and creating a list of people to e-mail open jobs to once a month.  If they respond, you'll put them in an opt-in list, and once a month, you'll send them your top jobs to look at or refer people to.

Now go to the Blast Marketing Self-Service Store. Click on the E-mail marketing campaign button.  You can send that e-mail out to 1000 people for $35.  It will allow you to import the list you built, create the e-mail, send it, track the responses, make it html friendly, and even keep you current on spam regulation.

$35.  It's a single serving cost.  And next month, when you want to do it again, this time with jobs?  $35 for e-mail marketing list management, creation, tracking and response.  If you've been wondering how to go about contacting your prospect list, but are worried about agency fees, this is your solution.

And when you do it, we'll write about it on the situational marketing blog.