Assured Social Media

Simply put, one of the most important technological developments in recent years has been the advent of social networking. Allowing users to connect and interact with friends, relatives or just generally people of similar interest and hobbies, social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace have become very popular in a short space of time. As mobile devices are now capable of running social networking applications, the opportunities for advertisers are exciting.

Social networks have their roots in the basic online communities that existed over a decade ago. While rudimentary compared to the services offered today, these communities allowed users to interact with other users by linking in their email addresses for the exchange of information. These communities were quickly replaced however by the first social networking services that offered a far wider array of functions and the ability to create personalised accounts with which users can interact. It was these personalised accounts that allowed advertisers the first opportunities to target specific markets based upon a users interests. Since these first steps, social network services have rapidly developed to the point where they can now be accessed remotely on a mobile phone.

The injection of mobile technology into social networking is where it becomes really exciting for advertisers though. Recently, Red Bull used the location-based social networking service Whrrl to create the Red Bull Society as part of its promotion for the New York Air Race. Individuals who joined up to the society were able to access ticket information, drink specials or other exclusive content through their mobile phones. The notable feature about the Red Bull campaign was that the content reflected a members physical location keeping them up to date with any local developments or offers they may benefit from.

With social networking heavyweights starting to show interest in location based services, the use of social networking as a marketing tool will continue to be refined.

Facebook in particular has signalled that it will work with services that already utilise location data so that it can create a more immersive and responsive social networking experience. This will allow for tailored marketing campaigns that take account of the places a user most frequently visits thus intuitively reflecting their preferences. Coupled with the scope and reach of social networking giants like Facebook, this presents an exciting opportunity for businesses to advertise to establish sophisticated and effective marketing campaigns.

To find out more about how Txt2Get’s mobile marketing tool can help you embrace the benefits of social networking, visit www.txt2get.com

Text marketing offers numerous unparalleled opportunities for marketers, in particular the ability to bridge traditional and social media. A simple and well designed mobile marketing campaign can offer a supplementary form of advertising which connects different campaigns.

Integrating the two occurs by adding an SMS marketing keyword to any traditional form of advertising. It could be a billboard, television, radio or even a magazine. The possibilities are huge. The mobile marketing portion then transitions consumers initially interested through these traditional forms of advertising and refer them to social and digital forms like Facebook, email or websites.

The mobile marketing portion is then used to transition interest first generated through the traditional forms of advertising into digital and social mediums. By integrating these two distinct forms of media, advertisers can interact with consumers on multiple levels, increasing the number and effectiveness of their calls to action as well as sustaining interaction through multiple channels.

Woman’s Day did an excellent job of combining the two in a May issue of the weekly magazine. An article about a famous German jeweler now living in New Zealand concluded with a keyword that readers could text to enter and win an original piece of her jewelry. From here, users were offered calls to action via email, a website and Facebook, ensuring interaction in the social and technological sectors as opposed to relying on the traditional cues offered through magazine articles. The text marketing was measured, receiving over a thousand responses as well as generating substantial traffic to the Facebook page and her website.

Mike Pero utilized a similar method of integration, adding a mobile marketing portion to his traditional television advertising. Users could text the keyword ‘ute’ to the number provided onscreen for a chance to win a hot lap in a V8 ute. Within two minutes of the advertisement showing, 500 responses were received, with an additional 300 following up in the next five minutes. The text response to the competition entries followed the same path as the Woman’s Day advertising, offering links and encouraging interactive via Facebook and a website, both of which received a marked increase in hits in the immediate aftermath.

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