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Is Bluetooth better than SMS Marketing?

Bluetooth vs SMS Mobile Phone Marketing.

I get asked this question a lot, so I have set out the differences between them, you can make up your mind which you think is better value for money and targets your customer directly.

What is Mobile Marketing?

Mobile Marketing is a set of practices that enables organisations to communicate and engage with their audience in an interactive and relevant manner through any mobile device or network.

Why use Mobile Marketing?

With over 60 Million mobile phone users in the UK it makes Mobile Marketing the most effective and cost efficient strategy available with a high Return on Investment (ROI) when used correctly.
MOBILE MARKETING FAQ’S What information can we send to people?

You can send a variety of rich media to consumers (images, text, videos, sound, games etc.) Contact can be made to promote and inform a customer of special offers, product information and event news.

What is Bluetooth Mobile Marketing?

Bluetooth Marketing is the localised wireless distribution of advertising content assocaited with a particulur place. Information can be pushed towards users who have their devices enabled for bluetooth and then transmitted once the user has agreed to receive. Information sent can be text, audio, images or video and will hold information that is place or time specific.

How many people use Bluetooth?

95% of mobile phones sold today are bluetooth enabled which has increased by 5% since 2008. Statistics show that over 70% of consumers leave their bluetooth switched on throughout the day and through incentives this number has potential to increase.

Where can we use Bluetooth?

Bluetooth technology can be used both indoors and outdoors with equal success. Areas such as retail centres, exhibitions, sports stadiums and public areas are ideal, but equally people use our solution for private networks and information distribution.

What does it cost to send and receive Bluetooth messages?

Bluetooth is free to use and therefore once you have invested in the equipment , training and maintainence solution the number of transmissions are free no matter whether it is 1 or 1 million people you connect with.

Is Bluetooth permission based?

Yes – All content is delivered on an opt-in permission basis. Unlike SMS and Email it is not technically possible to fully transmit content over Bluetooth without first receiving permission from the end user.

Are Bluetooth messages SPAM?

No – Because people have to give permission to receive data this means that only people who accept the transfer will receive it. The server recognises and saves any phones that have rejected a transfer to ensure that the message is not re-sent to them.

How much data can I send?

Files up to 1MB work better, files larger than this can take longer to transmit.

How many people can I contact via Bluetooth?

Our technology can link with up to 105 people simulteaneously every few seconds per broadcasting server. There is no limit as to how many contacts can be made
per day.

Can I manage my own campaign?

Yes – You can upload your own content and schedule the delivery by time, day and date.

Can I measure how successful the method is?

Yes – The server logs all downloaded messages, so you know exactly how many and which customers have received your marketing content. Reports can be pulled down in PDF, Excel or word format using different types of graph be it by time, campaign, product or daily reporting.

How far will the Bluetooth signal reach?

The standard rules are that delivery distance works based on 3 classes:
Class 1, up to 100 metres
Class 2, up to 10 metres
Class 3 up to 1 metre

Atenna Boosters can also be used to increase delivery distance.

Here at isend we work with a team of developers meaning there is no upper or lower limit on the distance that we can deliver Bluetooth messages to. We always advise that a more targeted strategy is more beneficial as the recipient is in the right area of the offer when they receive the data meaning data is kept relevant and in real time.

What is SMS Mobile Marketing?

Brands use this service to promote brand awareness, services, offers and products by sending out a text style message to the recipient.

Does it cost to receive a SMS message?

Most SMS providers require a fee for this service for each individual message. Costs are usually associated with competition, music or subscriptions of some sort. Whilst there is not much initial investment upfront for equipment (maybe software if you chose to self manage) the on going costs in relations to bluetooth can be quite expensive.

How effective is SMS Marketing?

Information from the Mobile Data Association (MDA) shows that circa 217 Million texts are sent daily in the UK meaning this is one of the more effective ways of communicating. Statistics also show that 75% of texts are read immediantly showing this as 4 times higher than email readings.

Can we send data to our existing customer base?

Yes – We have the knowledge and experience of database integration, so you can send out marketing offers to your existing customers who have given you their contact details and agreed for contact to be made.

How many SMS Messages can I send?

There is no limit on how many SMS messages you send, this is entirely up to the company as to how much you would like to budget for SMS marketing

How much information can I send in 1 SMS?

Here at Orgatise we use a credits facility for charging usage. 1 credit is 160 characters. There is no limit as to how many characters can be sent but we advise that less is more and information should be direct and straight to the point.

What is a SMS shortcode?

Short codes, also known as short numbers are special telephone numbers, significantly shorter than full telephone numbers that can be used to address SMS messages. Short codes are designed to be easier to read and remember than normal telephone numbers. Like telephone numbers, short codes are unique.

Smartphones to help visually impaired and elderly see

www.i-send.co

Retail Theraphy Bluetooth Style

A consultant from i-send came across a most recent press release by LookTel announcing that two mobile solutions companies, Ipplex and LinkMe Mobile, have partnered to create mobile applications for elderly and vision-impaired consumers.
“LookTel allows users to instantly interact with their world through their mobile phone – recognizing everyday objects such as text, money, packaged goods, CDs or medication bottles, even signs and landmarks,” explained Ipplex in a March 24 press release.

The application also provides additional support to the vision-impaired by way of live video, audio chat, push-to-talk audio, and GPS-tracking data.

Their groundbreaking application was selected as a finalist in the CTIA Wireless Emerging Technology Awards Healthcare/Public Safety/Transportation Category in 2010.

Augmented reality-like technology has previously been used to help vision-impaired and blind people see with their ears. Almost 10 years ago, a senior scientist at Philips Research Laboratories in the Netherlands developed a “seeing” system called The vOICe.

The vision technology offered totally blind users a sonic representation of visual sensations by way of image-to-sound renderings. The technology is now available as an Android application from the Seeing With Sound website, http://www.seeingwithsound.com/.

I-send White Paper 2010: Access for the Visually Impaired.  If you would like a copy please email promote@i-send.co to request a copy.

Town Centres explore Bluetooth Marketing to help Retailers

www.i-send.co

Retail Theraphy Bluetooth Style

i-send is helping retailers around the UK explore the option of adding Bluetooth Broadcasting servers to help bring together Retailers and Consumers with the view to enhancing their shopping experience.

Bluetooth® Proximity Marketing provides exciting opportunities allowing retailers to broadcast rich content such as images, audio, video and applications to nearby mobile devices.

This powerful marketing technology is particularly effective for targeting  retail outlets, exhibitions and attendees at live events.

The result is increased footfall to retail stores, more visitors to your Town Centre, higher awareness of your brand and participation in other mobile services.

smarter way to connectWith over 60 million Smartphone’s sold in the second quarter of 2010, and over 60% of them activating Bluetooth, helping  retailers to connect directly with resident or visiting consumers will benefit Town centre fiscally over the next five years.

Bluetooth can deliver a cost effective, environmentally friendly, green campaign to a wide cross section of your Town

i-send Consultancy Services
Our highly experienced media and  technology specialists can provide you with the knowledge and tools to ensure your mobile project is successful and delivers maximum return on your investment.  We have in-depth industry knowledge, hands-on experience and understand business processes, which means we can advise on, and realise your organisation’s mobile aspirations.

With our extensive network of contacts within the mobile space we can put you in touch with the right people where necessary.  Open communication is core to our ethos and your long-term success with mobile is the ultimate goal.

We can provide consultancy services from a half-day discussion about your ideas, through to managing full life-cycle projects.  Such activities can include:

  • Project management
  • Feasibility and idea reality-checks
  • Vendor/partner evaluation and selection
  • Technical due-diligence for investment opportunities
  • Technical and architectural design and implementation
  • Systems integration
  • Matchmaking with potential partners

Contact us if you would like to arrange an appointment.  Please download our Retailers Bluetooth Discussion Document for more information.

Opportunity for Mobile Advertising & Coupons

i-send

the smarter way to network

It has been interesting to read a new report from Juniper Research which has found that the mobile marketing and retail sector (comprising mobile advertising, coupons and smart posters) will exceed $8 billion by 2012 globally.

Retail Theraphy Bluetooth Style

The Mobile Marketing and Retail Strategies report found that Retailers were already starting to exploit the mobile channel through advertising campaigns on the handset and by issuing money-off coupons.The market for these two activities alone is forecast to grow by half in the next two years.

According to report co-author Howard Wilcox, there research and interviews showed that location aware technologies will play a key part. Companies like Google and IBM are seeking to exploit the knowledge of where users are located to enable retailers to offer in store shoppers a rich set of capabilities such as personalised special offers. As a result forecasting the mobile coupons market to double to exceed $4 billion in 2012.

Retailers Migrating to Mobile

At a recent mobile industry event, CTIA Wireless 2010, more than 20 percent of the shows attendees were said to come from the retail space, showing that retailers were beginning to latch on to the potential of the mobile channel.

Whilst the mobile advertising and mobile coupons markets will reach similar sizes, Juniper believes that smart posters (which users can tap to obtain product information) will remain a niche sector within the overall market until NFC (Near Field Communications) capable devices are more widely used.

The report also warns however that failure to use targeted, location based advertising, particularly SMS advertising, may cause mobile users to regard such advertising as little better than spam. The report recommends that brands and retailers should consider geotagging their products and locations.

Further findings include:

a) Western Europe forecast to nearly treble in size between 2010 and 2014
b) Brands, retailers and merchants should use clever, engaging apps, which can be far more effective

To download a copy of the white paper click here.