hey thx for the visit. i'm JimEJr, actually short for James E. Washok Jr. i've been on the web for a long time... since '94 actually... & thought in the early days of blogging, "what's the point?" once i finally figured that out, i tried a few times to be a professional blogger. it's tough to force it. now, i just write about those few things that interest me most from an innovation perspective as that's the type of stuff that many friends, family, coworkers and others have sought my thoughts on for many years. so u will find my comments to be primarily about mobile communications, great user interface design, customer loyalty, & simplicity in life & work. i love helping others & breathing life into good ideas. if u find my words having some impact on ur thoughts, i'd be honored to get ur feedback.160 characters… that’s all there is a standard text message. If you’re a marketer trying to engage consumers in a meaningful way that adds value to the consumer’s life, then that’s not a lot of real estate to work with. But, you can’t have 160 characters!
The carriers now want all text message based mobile marketing messages to not not only reiterate to consumers over and over that they can “unsub: reply STOP” but now want all such messages to also contain this warning: “Msg&Data Rates Apply”.
Combined, these lawyer-satisfying messages consume 40 characters when you allow for terminating periods and separating spaces. So, for every message a consumer receives, one quarter of that message will contain legal jargon that has no recurring value to the consumer. The carriers, of course, require such notices so they can feel protected from the angst of consumers that receive messages that didn’t want them or forgot they signed up for them. The carriers may mean well, but sometimes the best of intentions is not the best solution.
Can you imagine flipping on a light switch in your house and having a message displayed or spoken warning you that you will consumer kilowatt hours? Or how about a confirmation message concerning the cost of gas when you attempt to start your vehicle? The warnings are overkill… plain & simple.
The carriers could solve the problem by simply making text messaging part of every cell plan. No longer an add-on that costs extra, they would not have some customers without text message plans when most of them do have one. That doesn’t mean marketers would be free to bombard consumers with messages… no, opt-ins and standard, mandatory, instantaneous opt-out processing would still be required of mobile marketing solution providers. It’s just the warning would no longer be needed, freeing up such limited space for content so that more meaningful messages can be conveyed and the value of marketing-to-consumer and vice-versa messaging improved.
Filed under: marketing, mobile Tagged: | carriers, marketing, mobile, sms
