This week, the Pew Research Center released a study that focused on mobile phone users who donated to Haiti Relief in the days and weeks following the devastating earthquake there in 2010. Not surprisingly, the survey found that 73% of donors contributed via text message within 24 hours of hearing about the option to do so. The report is very in depth and highlights what tech the mobile users own, what charitable organizations they give to and how they perceive mobile giving overall.

Interesting to note:

The first in-depth survey of mobile donors, focusing on individuals who sent a contribution to the Haiti earthquake relief effort using the text messaging, finds that a sizeable majority of donors acted in response to images they saw on television, and involved minimal background research. The vast majority of these donors (89%) heard about the Text to Haiti effort on television, and half (50%) made their contribution immediately upon learning about the campaign.

You can download the full report here.

CommerceTel’s own Brad Morrow shares his thoughts on the importance of having SMS in the marketing mix for small businesses.

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/72904.html

There has been much written about the explosion of QR codes in the mobile industry and their impact on how companies are reaching out to consumers. While QR codes may be “cool” from a technology standpoint, they aren’t an effective means of engaging a broad client base. In the end they make potential customers and consumers go through unnecessary steps in order to receive information. This can lead to confusion, and a disappointing user experiences. In addition, only roughly 35% of phones support this type of technology. SMS continues to be easiest and quickest way to reach your audience. It also can’t hurt that 100% of phones can send and receive SMS messages. Feel free to reach out me or anyone on the Mobivity team as you continue to build and implement mobile programs. We are always here to help answer questions and share the latest industry news and best practices.

CommerceTel Corporation (OTCBB: MFON), an award-winning provider of proprietary mobile marketing technologies and solutions, announced today that it has acquired Mobivity (http://www.mobivity.com/). This marks CommerceTel’s second acquisition in less than 30 days.

“We continue to execute on our strategy of acquiring and integrating complementary mobile marketing businesses. We plan to provide enterprises, brands and agencies with a high quality one stop shop of technologies,” said Dennis Becker, CEO. “Our first two acquisitions, TxtStation (closed April 1) and Mobivity, are expected to increase our revenues by over 150%. In addition, this allows us to cross sell CommerceTel’s technology to Mobivity’s and Txtstation’s existing client base.”

More than 20 million mobile engagements have been facilitated via the Mobivity SMS solution. CommerceTel plans to enhance the feature set of the solution by adding its award-winning technology so that Mobivity clients can expand their mobile marketing strategy. CommerceTel’s lower cost network operating infrastructure is also expected to streamline Mobivity’s operating systems and make for a more competitive and profitable service. With thousands of unique visitors seeking mobile marketing services online, the combination of CommerceTel’s technology and Mobivity’s easy-to-use platform is expected to greatly increase the two companies’ combined customer base.

“We believe in CommerceTel’s vision and are pleased with the opportunity to be a part of a bigger play in growing the mobile marketing industry,” said Greg Harris, CEO of Mobivity. “Combining our business with CommerceTel’s resources and technology makes us a more competitive player in this rapidly growing space.”

The terms of the transaction are more fully described by CommerceTel in a report on Form 8-K previously filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

For more information, please visit http://www.commercetel.com.

About CommerceTel

CommerceTel is an award-winning provider of proprietary mobile marketing technologies and the inventor of C4, a unique, enterprise-grade platform empowering brands to engage mobile consumers via multiple channels. The only system of its kind, C4 is a cloud-based solution providing broad mobile communications and extensive CRM features. It is integrated with multiple tier-one PSTN/ IP carriers and micropayment processing facilities as well as with carrier premium SMS billing systems. Customers include CNN, Disney, Sony Pictures, AT&T, Verizon, USA Network, numerous professional sports franchises, the Golf Channel, and NBC Universal.

Safe Harbor

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”). Statements including words such as “seek,” “intend,” “believe,” “plan,” “estimate,” “expect,” “anticipate” and other similar expressions are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act. Some or all of the events or results anticipated by these forward-looking statements may not occur. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include the impact of intense competition, the continuation or worsening of current economic conditions and the condition of the domestic and global credit and capital markets as well as the Risk Factors disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 27, 2010. Further information on CommerceTel’s risk factors is contained in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. CommerceTel does not undertake any duty nor does it intend to update the results of these forward-looking statements.

AT&T just announced a deal to buy T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom in a cash and stock deal worth $39 billion.

The deal would make AT&T the nation’s largest wireless carrier by a wide margin, so it will probably face significant government scrutiny, and AT&T could have to make some big concessions.

Or the deal could be blocked completely — last year was the first year that the FCC did not conclude the U.S. wireless industry was "competitive." The companies expect the deal to close in "approximately 12 months" — a long time.

Read more from the Business Insider.

Consumer marketers are naturally drawn to tactics that offer the greatest reach. Brand marketers, in particular, are reliant on distribution channels. As a result, the largest audience of possible buyers usually dictates where marketing dollars flow.

Yet a universal truth has emerged: The best return on investment (ROI) comes from targeted, personalized, and (often) one-to-one marketing methods. It’s been relatively easy to classify available marketing tactics according to how much reach or targeting is afforded by each, but mobile is different.

Communication between a brand and consumer via text messaging can be an effective way to engage, share offers, and send/receive alerts, but the ROI is difficult to measure, and little is learned about consumers (aside from their mobile phone numbers).

In this article from MarketingProfs, you’ll learn…

Why mobile marketing has a "one and done" reputation—and why it needn’t be that way

How mobile can be part of an ongoing channel for interfacing with customers

Why mobile can become integral to integrated, cross-channel marketing campaigns

To learn more about how to get the most out of your text messaging/SMS campaigns, you can read the article here.

I just came across this article from January 2011. This is a fun promotion, successful for the participants and shows a lot of creativity in the execution. 

From Mobile Marketer, highlights include:

Promotion
Southwest NBA Finals Getaway Text-2-Win

Target audience
Fans of the National Basketball Association’s Boston Celtics

Call-to-action
Win a flyway trip to the NBA Finals in Los Angeles, including a pair of tickets to a 2010 NBA Finals game, roundtrip airfare and hotel accommodations.

Marketing Takeaway
“This particular case study exemplifies a truly successful interactive campaign that leveraged the station’s promotional assets and text-message platform to reach thousands of consumers in a very short amount of time.”

No surprise here, the number is unchanged from last period, confirming again that text messaging is a very popular activity for phone users.

Per ComScore, 68.1 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device (Jan 2011):

It makes a good case that marketers should always give their prospects and customers the option of receiving SMS marketing communications as part of an integrated program.

Android has finally reached the top the heap in the smartphone wars, but not so fast. RIM and Apple are still the lead as the only manufacturers of a combined device/OS, according to Marketing Charts. 

Read the full story here.

The webinar should provide an excellent 360 degree view of the latest industry data:

As mobile continues to play a more prominent role on the digital stage, it’s imperative for marketers to understand how consumers are using mobile devices, what devices they use and how the dynamic growth in the market will affect their business.

Key questions addressed during the webinar will include:

How have market enablers like 3G/4G, smartphones and unlimited data plans driven mobile media usage among consumers?

What were the year’s top device trends, how have smartphone devices changed the market?

What mobile content categories are most popular among consumers, how do these differ across geographies?

How do browser and application access influence mobile content consumption?

How are consumers using mobile media to stay connected, how has daily consumption changed?

What will be important in the coming year for mobile, what role will mobile advertising and commerce play in 2011?

Join Mark Donovan, comScore’s Senior Vice President of Mobile, on Tuesday March 15th at 1 PM ET as he reviews findings from the comScore 2010 Mobile Year in Review, which offers an overview of the prevailing trends in the mobile industry during the year and considers their implications for the future. This webinar will focus on trends in the U.S. mobile market as well as include important analysis of mobile trends in Europe and Japan to provide insight on the global mobile landscape.

To register:
http://www2.comscore.com/e/1552/egister-867594321/PJ4MC/344021542

The webcast will last an hour, including Q & A session.