2010 Mobile Access survey shows “more people doing more things on their cell phones”

Mobile trends continue to show in 2010 that people are talking less yet doing more with their mobile phones and devices. According to the latest report from the Pew Research Center, their 2010 Mobile Access Survey shows that now 38% of users access the internet on their mobile device. However, the two mobile activities people do the most include: taking pictures on their phone (76%) and sending or receiving text messages (72%).

Other popular activities by mobile users include:
34% Play a Game
34% Send/Receive an Email
33% Play Music
30% Send/Receive IM
34% Record a Video (quickly growing)


Compared to April 2009, 76% of people take pictures with their phones, up from 66% and 72% send/receive text messages compared to 65% in 2009. Other comparisons include: over a third play games, up from about a quarter. A third of people now play music on their phones, compared to 21% in 2009, but the biggest jump is in recording video: 34% vs. 19% before. Given the number of new video-enabled phones released throughout the last year, it is expected this will grow to the heights of pictures.


Additional mobile activities are now being tracked. Among all cell phone owners:
* 54% have used their mobile device to send someone a photo or video
* 23% have accessed a social networking site using their phone
* 20% have used their phone to watch a video
* 15% have posted a photo or video online
* 11% have purchased a product using their phone
* 11% have made a charitable donation by text message
* 10% have used their mobile phone to access a status update service such as Twitter

Mobile Internet usage growing.
Nearly 89 million people in the U.S. have used the mobile internet in the past year — close to one third of the total current U.S. population.

Pew also found that 53 percent of Americans who use their phones to go online do so at least once per day. That’s more than 47 million daily mobile internet users in the U.S.

One would think that these growth numbers come solely from the increase in smartphones. And while there certainly is a bump, consumers are using more mobile internet even on their regular cell phone. According to Forrester Research, by the end of 2009 only 17 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers owned smartphones. So while the iPhone and Android user consumes more mobile web, the average user using newer feature phones are also hitting the mobile web in droves.

Mobile Web Usage by Demographic:

African-Americans and Hispanics leading mobile usage trends
When we break out mobile web usage by demographic, you find 46 percent of non-Hispanic blacks and 51 percent of English-speaking Hispanics using their phones for internet access, compared with only 33 percent of non-Hispanic white Americans.

The survey also found cell phone ownership is higher among African-Americans and Latinos than among whites (87% vs. 80%) and minority cell phone owners take advantage of a much greater range of their phones’ features compared with white mobile phone users.

Mobile Web Usage by Age

About 65 percent of U.S. cell phone users ages 18-29 go online from their phones, compared with 43 percent of those aged 30-49. Young adults are heavily invested in the mobile web, although 30-49 year olds are gaining ground.

Nine in ten 18-29 year olds own a cell phone, and these young cell owners are significantly more likely than those in other age groups to engage in all of the mobile data applications we asked about in our survey. Among 18-29 year old cell phone owners:

* 95% send or receive text messages
* 93% use their phone to take pictures
* 81% send photos or videos to others
* 65% access the internet on their mobile device
* 64% play music on their phones
* 60% use their phones to play games or record a video
* 52% have used their phone to send or receive email
* 48% have accessed a social networking site on their phone
* 46% use instant messaging on their mobile device
* 40% have watched a video on their phone
* 33% have posted a photo or video online from their phone
* 21% have used a status update service such as Twitter from their phone
* 20% have purchased something using their mobile phone
* 19% have made a charitable donation by text message

Although young adults have the highest levels of mobile data application use among all age groups, utilization of these services is growing fast among 30-49 year olds. Compared with a similar point in 2009, cell owners ages 30-49 are significantly more likely to use a range of mobile data applications on a handheld device.

The mobile data applications with the largest year-to-year increases among the 30-49 year old cohort include taking pictures (83% of 30-49 year old cell owners now do this, a 12-point increase from 2009); recording videos (39% do this, an 18-point increase from 2009); playing music (36% do this, a 15-point increase); using instant messaging (35% now do this, a 14-point increase); and accessing the internet (43% now do this, a 12-point increase compared with 2009).

For more information, click here: Pew Internet Research 2010 Mobile Access Survey

Tap into the power of mobile marketing, give us a call toll-free today @ 877-747-9274..

July 9, 2010 in Blog   |   No Comments

Text2Drive powers mobile campaigns at the New York International Auto Show

New Suzuki mobile marketing campaign allows interested car buyers to get quick and easy info on available cars at the last major North American new-car event of the season.

Text2Drive, the leading mobile marketing firm in the auto industry, is in the driver’s seat again - taking car information mobile for auto buyers at the New York International Auto Show. Building on the success Text2Drive achieved by powering the Chicago Auto Show in February with their Mobile Marketing Platform, Text2Drive has recently been selected to promote Suzuki’s mobile ad campaigns during the New York International Auto Show from April 2 – 11, 2010.

Suzuki is using the Text2Drive Mobile Marketing platform to offer car shoppers a very quick, easy and hassle-free method of obtaining vehicle information without the need of the Internet on their phones. Using text messaging (SMS) and picture messaging (MMS), car shoppers can take home important information on different makes and models available from Suzuki. According to Nielsen, only 30-40 percent of consumers have Internet connectivity on their phones. Text2Drive allows car shoppers to get instant information on their cell phone about a specific car including mobile website links and photos sent via MMS.

Text2Drive is powered by leading mobile marketing and mobile commerce company, QWASI, Inc. The Philadelphia-based company provides cross-market interactive solutions for fortune 500 companies, as well as SMBs (Small to Medium Businesses), across the nation.

It’s exciting to see how auto manufacturers are using the Text2Drive service at the New York Auto Show and other car shows around the country. It’s important to provide today’s car buyers with instant information that is easy to access. The power to connect with these car buyers is available through a program like Text2Drive so car manufacturers can also connect with them after the show ends.

We see more and more carmakers and dealers finally beginning to get serious about offering mobile marketing and communications at dealerships, their advertising and direct communication with their customers. Text2Drive can be found online at http://www.text2drive.com

April 9, 2010 in Blog   |   No Comments

QWASI brings together Mobile and Social Networks for Real Estate

Share your next home on Facebook and Twitter with CellSigns. Buyers and Agents can now share real estate listings via Mobile and on Social Networks FaceBook & Twitter.

PHILADELPHIA, November 19, 2009 – CellSigns, Inc., the leading provider of mobile tools and services for real estate, announced today the addition of new social network features to its CellSigns Property Marketing and Mobile Agent solutions. CellSigns brings together two very powerful forces: mobile and social networks.

`Continuing its leadership within the Real Estate Industry, CellSigns brings new ways for Home Buyers and Real Estate agents to tag and share their properties on social networks. With the addition of FaceBook and Twitter connections, home buyers can now tag a home and share it with family & friends on social network accounts. It’s become vital for REALTORS and real estate agents to reach across social networks like Facebook.

According to Parenting Group’s research panel of 5,000 moms, 60% of moms report having used a social network in the past 24 hours. Of that group, over 80% are online with Facebook. According to a recent eMarketer survey, “mobile social networkers” will total 56.2 million by 2013 in the United States, accounting for 45 percent of the mobile Internet user population and highlights the importance of using this media to reach Gen X and Gen Y as a means of communication.

Agents using CellSigns Property Marketing and Mobile Agent can easily extend their area of influence through mobile and social networks. The services can also distribute and syndicate their listings, automatically. This allows agents to provide greater reach for their listings and reach new buyers and sellers in the process.

- Automatically distribute listing content to FaceBook or Twitter

- Allows FB and Twitter friends to see full details of the listing content

- Data automation available through MLS Feeds (IDX or RETS) and Direct Broker Feeds

The first client to launch with these new features is the Allen Tate Company. Allen Tate, the Carolinas’ leading real estate company and the 11^th largest broker in the country, is making real estate text messaging available throughout the Charlotte, Triad, Triangle and Upstate South Carolina regions. Properties with mobile texting capabilities will be identified with sign riders, indicating the unique property ID and text messaging number. The mobile texting technology is compatible with all types and brands of cell phones.

“The power of mobile search, mobile marketing, and social networks come together with the CellSigns mobile real estate service,” notes David Geipel, COO of QWASI, Inc. “Mobile is not a trend or fade but a way of life in real estate. It’s a ubiquitous activity that encompasses search and discovery. What we’ve done with our services is to tap into the strengths of mobile and social networks. Allowing home buyers, for example, to pull up to a home for sale, search via their mobile phone using SMS (text messaging) or even Mobile Web (WAP) and then share that property with their family or friends is very instinctual. It gives the buyer a chance to let others share their thoughts on that home directly with others.”

Home buyers can sign up for Mobile Agent by visiting http://www.mymobileagent.com.

CellSigns has also introduced these features to its popular mobile IDX service Mobile Agent. Mobile Agent is the only mobile real estate service that allows buyers and agents to search and interact via SMS & WAP. The CellSigns real estate text messaging service and mobile search tools were awarded the “Most Innovative Technology of the Year” award in real estate from Inman News.

ABOUT CELLSIGNS

CellSigns (www.cellsigns.com), a wholly-owned subsidiary of QWASI, Inc. company, is a leading mobile applications company providing interactive solutions and mobile marketing for businesses via text messaging, SMS, MMS and WAP. Supported by every major wireless carrier and working on over 99% of all cell phones, the company offers Mobile Agent real estate search, private label mobile search tools, mcommerce, SMS Chat, Text Ordering, Mobile IM (MIM) applications, customized alerting and the only interactive property marketing service for real estate. CellSigns powers over one million real estate listings, 1.5 million mobile ads and mobile alerts.

VIDEO: CellSigns and Mobile Agent - the power of Social Networks

November 19, 2009 in Press Releases   |   No Comments

Mobile social networking Exploding according to Forrester

Everyday, the number of people accessing social network from their cell phone grows as people find it more convenient to stay connected to their friends and acquaintances while on the go. Forrester Research reports this in a new report called “Why Mobile Could Reinvent Social Computing.”

Forrester claims that the number of people regularly accessing social networks on their mobile phones has doubled in the past six months. The percentage of mobile subscribers in the US accessing social networks from their mobile phones at least once a month has jumped from 5 percent in early 2009 to 10 percent last quarter.

“If mobile experiences are convenient, consumers will use them.” said Julie Ask, San Francisco-based vice president/principal analyst at Forrester Research. “In mobile, convenient mobile experiences will have context, that is, leverage location or past usage, be simple and be such that consumers value immediacy of the information or service,” she said.

The Forrester report argues that mobile phones hold the key to unlocking the full potential of social technologies, because the digital social experience is fragmented. People have separate identities in each social network they visit.
Facebook nets 1M mobile app downloads weekly over

However, in the future, universal social IDs will enable a portable identity that will empower consumers. And that is when the mobile phone will become the hub of social computing activities—the glue that holds the social graph together.

The always-on handset connected to the mobile Web is what frees social from the chains of the PC and thrusts it into the real world, according to Forrester.

The ubiquitous experience that mobile creates when it links together online and offline communication and touchpoints will further be realized by consumers when they are able to have a seamless, easy and convenient experience.

A methodology at QWASI used to evaluate customer connections and communication touchpoints is called Synchrosy. This approach allows QWASI to evaluate the customer experience in light of existing forms of communication and reveals new methods to connecting customers to communications and community. Contact QWASI today to learn more about Synchrosy when creating your Mobile Strategy.

October 21, 2009 in Blog   |   No Comments

Jiffy Lube: Mobile Marketing Campaign beats out Online

Part of a Series: Mobile Campaigns Live Up to HYPE

As seen on Mobile Marketer.
A Jiffy Lube mobile advertising initiative that was part of a larger multichannel campaign achieved a 0.2 percent response rate, outperforming its Web counterpart.

Jiffy Lube tested this program in Los Angeles, California using a geo-targeted mobile ad campaign offering coupons for oil changes. The program launched in March where twenty-eight percent of respondents texted in their ZIP code to receive a list of oil-change stores closest to them. More than 200 coupons were redeemed at Los Angeles stores, which equates to around 10 percent of original respondents.

According to the company release, “The strategy was to reach the 18-24-year-old demographic group by advertising on text messages being sent to existing mobile content subscribers. The goal was to evaluate the mobile channel, and gauge the interest of the audience in engaging with the brand over a mobile device.”
A similar campaign was advertised online to compare the opt-in and response rates between the mobile and wired Web channels, she said. Jiffy Lube agency Kovel/Fuller declined to disclose the online metrics in the case study first posted on MarketingProfs.com.

The 20-percent-off messaging generated more text-in responses overall. However, the coupon for $7 off resulted in more coupon redemptions. The text message ad copy was appended to user-requested text message content with messages such as “20 percent off Jiffy Lube Oil Change! Reply JIFFY” or “Save $7 on a Jiffy Lube Oil Change! Reply JL.”

Customers who replied to the ad received a text message with a coupon code for redemption, and an invitation to find their nearest Jiffy Lube location by replying via text message with their ZIP code.
Jiffy Lube wanted to find a new way to reach consumers ages 18-24, a demographic likely to ignore the company’s television, newspaper and Yellow Pages ads.

Further building the case for mobile, the company chose to conduct its test in the Los Angeles metro area, where residents—especially Jiffy Lube’s target demographic—spend a lot of time on the road.
Mobile offered a means for connecting with these hard-to-reach individuals even while they were out and about.

The companies learned a few lessons from this campaign including:
• To win over the attention of a hard-to-reach market, first figure out how you can best work your way into their existing day-to-day routines.
• Test multiple mobile offers and messages to determine the optimal approach for attracting your audience and driving conversions.
• Refresh mobile ads regularly to optimize performance.
• Try advertising SMS campaigns via mobile advertising. You may generate a higher response rate because all user activity is performed using the same channel and device

Activate a Multi-Channel Mobile Campaign today.
Contact QWASI: Call 877-747-9274.

October 15, 2009 in Blog   |   No Comments