June is the start of Hurricane Season, and that means public safety officials have already begun preparing for the intense ocean-incubated storms. As the first tropical storm in the Americas for 2009 brewed last week, I got to thinking about how public safety departments can, and should, use SMS marketing technologies whenever a hurricane–or other disaster–strikes.

Text messaging is especially important whenever a large area is affected, along with utilities. When land lines and Internet connections go down, most people turn to their cell phones. Trouble is, voice service takes up a lot of bandwidth–so that it’s nearly impossible for someone to call for help, or for worried loved ones to contact someone in a disaster area. 

SMS, however, is not affected by busy traffic and other problems. As Cellular South said in a recent hurricane-preparedness press release, “Text messages require less network capacity and are more likely than voice calls to reach their destination during periods of network congestion.”

Numerous government agencies, as well as institutions like universities, already have some kind of message alert system in place. These are for large-scale disasters as well as individual emergencies. For example, the Marietta, Georgia school board has an SMS program in which students can send crime tips to police–using mobileStorm’s technology to make it possible.

It’s pretty satisfying that what was originally a marketing solution can also be used for the public good.

Eydie Cubarrubia

“I’d rather you text me”

(The following is an excerpt of an article, written by Senior Account & Support Manager Forrest Knighton, that appeared in mobileStorm’s newsletter, Outside The Inbox.)

SMS marketing requires different rules of frequency and message content than other types of digital messages.

Because of “number portability,” which allows cell phone users to take their digits with them when they change carriers, a mobile number has a much longer shelf life than an email address. So marketers do not need to send messaging campaigns to phones nearly half as often as they do to email addresses, because they don’t need to curb turnover in their mobile contacts lists.

Texting frequency works best at only two or three times a month. Marketers really should avoid sending daily text message campaigns, a practice that will cause their lists to dry up faster than government funds after a nationwide bailout.

SMS marketing needs to be handled delicately, with extremely targeted messages, and by dangling “carrots” in front of consumers that are delicious enough to prevent them from unsubscribing. When customers see that your marketing SMS messages offer them value, they’ll decide to keep receiving them—and to keep spending money at your company.

(If you’re not receiving Outside The Inbox, mobileStorm’s twice-monthly newsletter, you’re missing out on extremely useful digital messaging tips and information, such as the full version of this article. To subscribe to Outside The Inbox, click here.)

(The following comes from Patrick Knight, Director of Client Deliverability for mobileStorm.)

In the world of email, bought lists are pretty common. Buying a list is not against the law per se(CAN-SPAM never specifically states it); however it’s not such a safe bet since it’s not necessarily clear how these lists are compiled. In many cases they contain addresses that were collected by third-parties who use pre-checkboxes, `and or contain harvested, spam traps (old addresses used to monitor and identify spam activity) and invalid addresses (addresses that are no longer active and bounce).

Contrary to what many marketers think, purchasing lists is not very cost effective, when you consider the facts. Anywhere from 80-90% of these lists have data that is useless. Not to mention the costs marketers incur by having to resolve issues as a result of using these lists.

There is never a time when you should send messaging to people who didn’t opt in. The question to ask your self is …Did these people request to be on my list? Do they expect to receive emails from you, have you sent emails to these people before. The main point here is consent.  These people did not give you permission to send them messages.

Those marketers who do buy lists run serious risks. Beside the fact these people never sign up to receive your messages, even if you were to perform a permission pass campaign you run the risk of hitting spam traps, and in the end, it’s just not worth the risk.

 A sender’s reputation is based on measuring many variables including, spam trap hits, number of complaints, and invalid addresses.  As mentioned, many of these lists contain addresses that affect these variables negatively which can hinder if not ruin a good senders reputation.

Ultimately, good senders can end up being listed by major blacklists.  IP addresses used to send messages in some cases can be permanently blocked.  Furthermore, subscribers who have given permission to receive messages will most likely not receive it because of blocks place on your IP. It may also take a significant amount of time and resources to repair your reputation. If utilizing an ESP this can also cause collateral damage to your provider.

Unlike 2009, digital marketing is no longer in its infancy.

We all hope to keep providing you readers food for thought on the industry all through the coming year!

-Eydie Cubarrubia, Marketing Communications Manager, mobileStorm

“I’d rather you text me”