Text Message History Timeline

Bob Bentz is president of Advanced Telecom Services which provides text message marketing, apps development, mobile websites, and custom QR Codes to its media and advertising customers.  Bob would like to supply such services to Santa Claus as well, but Santa doesn’t answer his text messages, Tweets, Facebook friend requests, or LinkedIn contacts.  Santa, if you are reading this, please follow @BobBentz on Twitter, friend him on Facebook, or hit him up on LinkedIn.  He has a great deal for you.

What Santa Claus Can Teach Us About Inefficiency

The Greatest Businessman of All-Time

North Pole –When you think about the greatest businessman of all-time, who comes to mind? 

Ford?  Rockefeller?  Bill Gates?  Donald Trump?  Richard Branson?  Mark Zuckerberg?  Steve Jobs?

Give me a break.

The greatest businessman of all time is, without a doubt, Santa Claus.

8 Things That Santa Claus Does Better than Donald Trump

Think about it.  Santa’s customers return year after year.  He has a factory that churns out toys 24/7 with little overhead.  He has loyal and long tenured employees that work for near minimum wage.  Of course, there aren’t a lot of jobs in this tough global economy, so imagine how hard it is for vertically challenged elves these days. 

Santa Claus has a promotions department that secures prime visibility in crowded malls and gets him grand marshal positions in parades all over the world.  He also has a publicity crew that writes songs, poems, and even produces movies and television shows with him as the star.  His stamina is amazing and there are no performance enhancing drugs in his body, unless you count the chocolate chip cookies!

He’s an advertising genius.  Just watch TV in December and see how many commercials he’s on.  I’ve seen him drinking Coca-Cola for years now and am still amazed how he can balance himself on that Norelco razor after all the junk food he eats!

And talk about customer service.  It’s the best in the world!  No waiting on hold to talk to his telemarketers “Ryan” from Sri Lanka.  He knows what you want, often without your even telling him.

The Biggest Mistakes Santa Claus Makes

But, sometimes I think Santa Claus is slipping a bit the past few years.  He hasn’t really embraced html5, social networking, apps, or cloud technology very well. 

Santa doesn’t own an iPhone or an Android.  He thinks a Blackberry is a health food that he’d never dream of eating. 

I think he’s one of only about 15 people in the world that don’t have a Facebook account.  I’m not sure if he knows how to Google anything.  His website isn’t optimized.  I’ve never seen him Tweet.  His Klout score is below 25.

His workers still use basic tools from the pre-Industrial Revolution.  And, they don’t even have worker’s compensation or a decent HMO. 

His mode of transportation still involves harnessed livestock that take a treacherous route around the world. 

And, don’t tell me one animal with a light bulb on his nose is innovative.  It’s animal cruelty.  Call the ASPCA! 

As for knowing when we’re sleeping, even conservatives would admit that’s taking The Patriot Act too far!

His ordering process?  It’s downright archaic.  I mean, who writes letters any more? 

The Only Thing That Can Save Santa Claus’s Business

What Santa Claus needs is mobile marketing. 

Worldwide, 5 trillion text messages are sent each year, but how many of you have ever received one, or sent one, to the North Pole?  Even Verizon can’t hear you now at the North Pole. 

Did you know that 18% of those 5 trillion text messages are considered commercial text messages?  Don’t you think text message marketing would be a great way for Santa to get rid of some of his closeout inventory?  I hear there’s a warehouse at the North Pole that still has half a million eight-tracks in it!

Ever see the long lines at the mall with kids wanting to take their picture with Santa Claus?  By the time the kids get up to Santa, they are often crying and that doesn’t make for a great Christmas card photo opp.  Why not provide a Custom QR Code to scan while waiting in line?  Mom could scan it and Santa could entertain the kids with videos and the provide text message reminders to be especially good at this time of year.

Did you ever watch the late news on television on Christmas Eve?  There’s usually some hokey satellite picture of Santa flying over some other country.  In the eastern United States, I think Santa is usually somewhere around Slovakia during our 11 o’clock newscast. 

Well, I’m an insomniac and I often stay up late on Christmas Eve multi-tasking on my laptop while watching the History Channel, ESPN, or Skinemax.  I would love to check the app on my iPhone to know when Santa and his reindeer are getting close to my hometown so I can get to bed on time.  If his clever little engineers can’t figure out how to develop an app to track the progress of the flying reindeer, I’m sure Southwest could give them a hand.

Ordering is another issue.  How many of you still have envelopes and stamps in your house?  It’s been so long since I sent a letter that I have no idea how much it even costs to send a letter any more.  How many stamps do you need to send a letter to the North Pole anyway?  It’s not even on the USPS.com web site; I checked.  Plus, there’s the issue of the post office losing your snail mail.  No, that never happens, does it? 

By the way Santa, I’m still waiting for the Porsche I asked for last year.  I knew I should have sent my Christmas list by Fed Ex.

With text messages, we could send in our Christmas lists to Santa Claus through a short code, say 72682 (S-A-N-T-A).  With an easy-to-use mobile marketing solution like this, Santa could confirm receipt and even tell you if you’ve been…bad or good. 

Maybe that’s what happened to my Porsche.

Bob Bentz is president of Advanced Telecom Services which provides text message marketing, apps development, mobile websites, and custom QR Codes to its media and advertising customers.  Bob would like to supply such services to Santa Claus as well, but Santa doesn’t answer his text messages, Tweets, Facebook friend requests, or LinkedIn contacts.  Santa, if you are reading this, please follow @BobBentz on Twitter, friend him on Facebook, or hit him up on LinkedIn.  He has a great deal for you.

Opinion on Text Message Marketing

I was looking at the sales report of past few days.  The main attraction of the report was almost 43% sales came from text message marketing or mobile marketing!! It was a bit unusual because I never relied on mobile marketing. I am happy for the sales but I was stunned.
I am a business man so I check every possible way to get more profit to my company. Different idea comes up in mind. But always not the idea is important, execution of the idea is much more important than just thinking of the idea.
So I was not sure about the text message marketing yet I tried it because I talked with few people who said its effective. Now it seems like it’s true. The result was incredible as I said. Believe it or not , Text message marketing ROCKS!!!

All I Want for Christmas is a QR Code

Every year, the Mazza family of Philadelphia seems to out-do their neighbors when it comes to Christmas decorations.  And, out-do their selves from the year before.

“Each year, I add something different,” said Frank Mazza Sr. who has been decorating his South Philly home near the stadium complex since 1989.  “A few years back I had ice sculptures of Santa and his reindeer.  Last year, I had 3 inches of snow sprayed around my entire house.” 

Over the past 22 years, Mazza has tried just about everything imaginable when it comes to Christmas decorations.   With each new holiday season, it has become increasingly difficult to top the year before. 

“So, this year I wanted to go with something that would really bring attention.”

Mazza was Christmas shopping when he kept seeing QR Codes at the stores at the mall.  That’s when he came up with the idea of using a QR Code as part of his holiday decorations.  I guess you could say all he wanted for Christmas was a QR Code.

“When he first mentioned it to me, I had no clue what a QR Code was,” said wife Laurie Mazza who puts up with her husband’s slightly over-board hobby and the corresponding electric bills every holiday season.  “When I saw the first QR Code though, I started noticing them everywhere.”

Now, Laurie is noticing one every day -- one that is on a banner right in her front yard.

On the first day that the Custom QR Code banner was at the home, it received 24 scans from passers-by.  It has been consistently scanned at about that daily rate since the holiday season started, although last Saturday it topped 40 scans.  The Mazza’s also added a text message promotion with a short code so that those without smartphones could see their special message.

“We see the cars drive by and then people get out of the car to scan the QR Code, watching the video that we created,” said Frank.  “Then we see them laughing and showing their kids.  That makes all of the hard work I do on the house worthwhile.”

Scan the Custom QR Code or Text HOLIDAYS to 84444 to see just why the kids are laughing.

Advanced Telecom Services, of Wayne, Pennsylvania, created the Custom QR Code and supplied the text message marketing for the Mazza home at no charge showing that it too is in the Christmas holiday spirit.

Opinion on Text Message Marketing

I was looking at the sales report of past few days.  The main attraction of the report was almost 43% sales came from text message marketing or mobile marketing!! It was a bit unusual because I never relied on mobile marketing. I am happy for the sales but I was stunned.

I am a business man so I check every possible way to get more profit to my company. Different idea comes up in mind. But always not the idea is important, execution of the idea is much more important than just thinking of the idea.

So I was not sure about the text message marketing yet I tried it because I talked with few people who said its effective. Now it seems like it’s true. The result was incredible as I said. Believe it or not , Text message marketing ROCKS!!!

Advanced Mobile Services

Wayne, Pennsylvania --  Advanced Mobile, LLC, a leader in “Driving Mobile” through its Cars2Go Services for auto dealerships, announces the introduction of its Dealer TextChat TM platform and its 24/7 Managed Services feature.   Dealer TextChat TM is the latest addition to its Cars2Go services.
With Dealer TextChat TM, auto dealers are able to have 2-way communications with customers and prospects via text message/SMS.  Users can now text message the dealership’s sales or service personnel.  Dealers can, in turn, send and receive text/SMS messages from the convenience of their desktop computer, smartphone, or iPad.  Now, consumers have another choice in how they communicate with a car dealership.
Text chat sessions can be initiated by the user from either:  a keyword and short code; an iPhone or Android App; a mobile website; the HTML dealer website.  The dealer can either have one of its staff respond to the text/SMS inquiry or use the 24/7 Managed Services feature in which a trained agent will respond on behalf of the dealership.  All Dealer TextChat TM communications are archived and can be exported via ADF to any dealer CRM.
For example, a consumer is on a dealer’s  app or mobile website that is designed specifically for the auto dealer.  The consumer chooses to ask a question about a particular vehicle via the Click to Text option.  The text message arrives in the Dealer TextChat TM system.  The dealer now can either have an employee  respond to the inquiry or it can utilize the Managed Services in which a Cars2Go TextChat agent will respond on behalf of the dealership.
In the past, the auto dealer responded to the inquiry via a return phone call.  Many customers found this more intrusive than effective and were turned off by the return phone call.  With TextChat, the auto dealer can easily communicate with the customer or prospect from his desktop computer to the consumer’s cell phone.
For those dealers that do not want to have staff assigned to handle such inquiries, Cars2Go is now offering a turnkey 24/7 Managed Service solution that will handle the interaction for you.  When the TextChat communication progresses to the point of a legitimate lead, the customer contact information is turned over directly to the auto dealer staff.
“The fact of the matter is that many folks simply do not want to talk on the phone these days, said Bret Dunlap, CEO of Advanced Mobile.  “They would much prefer to text rather than talk.  Dealer TextChat TM gives auto dealers the tool to engage their customers in a text dialog, but from the convenience of their PC.”
Advanced Mobile, of Wayne, Pennsylvania, is an industry leader in providing mobile solutions to auto dealers.  Over 1000 auto dealers in the United States use its Cars2Go Services that include:  dealer iPhone & Android apps, custom mobile web sites, text message marketing, custom QR Codes, and Dealer TextChat TM.

CNN cool QR codes

Wayne, Pennsylvania – Advanced Telecom Services Custom QR Codes received 2 of the 23 Coolest QR Codes  as nominated by CNN.  CNN released its “23 of the coolest QR codes” articles on November 2, 2011.

Included in the 23 top QR Codes was a Custom QR Code created for McLaren and one created for the Camden Riversharks minor league baseball team.  These QR Codes were just some of the many Customer QR Codes, complete with branding, that have been created by Advanced Telecom Services’ Custom QR Code artists.

“We design our codes with more than just color, we bring the brand to life,” said Frank Mazza, QR Code artist at Advanced Telecom Services.  “Much knowledge and testing goes into the development of these custom codes, and we believe we can generate the most success.”

One of the great advantages of Custom QR Codes is that they contain branding of the product or business.  In the past, with traditional black and white QR Codes, they all basically looked the same.

“One of the raps against QR Codes, was that, as opposed to text message marketing, there was no branding with a QR Code,” said Bob Bentz, president of Advanced Telecom Services.  “We’ve solved that with the Custom QR Code model.”

And, most important, the Custom QR Code gets scanned more often.  In fact, in three case studies that Advanced Telecom Services has analyzed, the Custom QR Code out-scanned the traditional QR Code by 2.4 times with the exact same exposure.

“When engaging consumers in mobile, its vital that you create an attractive entry point and maintain the brands image” said Scott Bronenberg, regional sales manager at Advanced Telecom Services.  “We always stress to our clients the importance of looking and feeling like your brand, externally with your QR code, and internally with your custom mobile microsite. “

One thing is for sure.  To be nominated as one of the coolest anything is, well, pretty darn cool.

Text Message Marketing Drives Auto Accessory Sales for Auto Accessory Warehouse

Auto Accessory Warehouse has found success with text message marketing to its opt-in database of previous customers. Its initial text message marketing promotion resulted in an astonishing 2800% ROI.
Mike Kazi is the owner of Auto Accessory Warehouse. Kazi was looking for a new medium of advertising given that his print media and radio advertising were not generating the kind of results recently that he had hoped. He found that advertising jewel with text message marketing and chose to work with text message marketing company 84444.com.
Auto Accessory Warehouse did a broadcast text message program to its opt-in database of about 4400 customers. The initial offer was for a special window tinting service. Kazi wasn’t sure that his Fall promotion would be successful since window tinting is usually a product that is purchased in the Spring and Summer, but he went ahead with it anyway.
The text message promotion resulted in over 20 sales of the window tinting special. Many customers also made other purchases in addition to the window tinting. Auto Accessory Warehouse’s final sales were over $5000 directly from the text message promotion. His investment to send the text messages was a mere $175.
“We sent out our first broadcast and our phones were just ringing off the hook,” said Kazi. “They came for other stuff too like wheels and tires. We even sold somebody an Alpine navigation system.”
Not surprisingly, Kazi and Auto Accessory Warehouse are hooked. It plans to continue to use text message marketing for special offers about once or twice per month. It also plans to offer non-selling automotive tips to its customers since most of his customers are passionate about cars. Kazi recognizes that for text message marketing to be effective it must be used prudently since customers can opt-out of his text message alerts at any time.
Auto Accessory Warehouse is also planning to expand into other forms of mobile marketing and is considering developing an app, a mobile web site, and using QR Codes, but text message marketing will likely continue to be at the core of its promotions.
“I don’t know if there’s a better way to get a message across,” said Kazi, “because everybody is using cell phones these days.”
Auto Accessory Warehouse is a San Bernardino, California retailer of auto accessories, including wheels and tires, grills, lighting, navigation systems, security systems, audio and video, and window tinting. It has been in business since 1999 and is located at 327 East Redlands Blvd. in San Bernardino.

84444.com, a product of Advanced Telecom Services, is a provider of text message marketing services to businesses and organizations. With 84444.com, retail businesses can launch interactive and broadcast text message marketing promotions from the convenience of their desktop computers. Advanced Telecom Services, of Wayne, Pennsylvania, is a one stop mobile marketing shop offering mobile app development, mobile web sites, custom QR Codes, and text message marketing.