Push notifications allow an app to notify you of new messages or events without the need to actually open the application, similar to how a text message will make a sound and pop up on your screen.
What are Push Notifications?
SMS = Short Message Service
SMS is used as an acronym for all types of short text messaging up to 160 characters per message.
What are SMS/Text Messages?
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Is your website mobile enabled? Start there.
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Honor permission. Don’t alienate your audience by sending unsolicited SMS.
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Link to a mobile site to facilitate additional interaction.
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Encourage consumers to associate your short/long code with your company in their phone. People are more apt to open a text from Best Buy as opposed to 85324.
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Reduce call center volume and costs with mobile alerts.
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Always include a call to action in push or SMS.
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Use targeted push messaging to reengage users who downloaded your app, but haven’t been back.
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Promote SMS campaigns in stores, on digital signage and across your website to maximize visibility.
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Pair SMS and Email campaigns together to deliver the right message through the right channel at the right time.
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Stay true to opt-in policy and honor the expectation of the campaign (no over sending!)
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Use SMS to gather feedback from large groups of people (fans, trade show attendees, etc)
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SMS is extremely effective for customer acquisition, customer retention, and increasing customer spend (growth).
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Building a Mobile App without a solid push strategy is like building a Facebook fan page without a social strategy.
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Use SMS to gather new email addresses for your email marketing efforts (Text your email address to # for a special offer!)
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SMS & Push Messages can be personalized and segmented just like email, think beyond the “Batch and Blast” mentality.
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Shared short codes are a great place to start for those new to SMS marketing as they are cheaper and quicker to implement.
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Private short codes should be used by brands looking to own every keyword necessary for a campaign
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Vanity short codes can be utilized to enhance branding efforts for a specific campaign
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Multiple short codes (or 1 long code) are necessary for International SMS campaigns.
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Push messages are essentially free for the end user (recipient), as they aren’t billed on a per message fee like SMS.
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When selecting a Keyword for an SMS campaign, the minimum length is 4 characters (i.e. JOIN or SALE).
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Honor preference. Some of your customers may prefer to receive certain messages via SMS - you don’t know until you ask.
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Similar to the Twitter’s 140character limit, SMS messages in the US can only be 160 characters.
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Before launching a SMS campaign, review the Consumer Best Practices, regulations developed by the Mobile Marketing Association.
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Get Local - Help your customers feel connected by personalizing the messages, including tailoring them to a specific area or location.
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Keep It Simple - When sending messages, use simple plain language with well-known texting shortcuts to avoid ambiguity.
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Reach Out and Reply - Talk with your customers and provide advice and tips. In return, you gain valuable feedback and increase customer loyalty.
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Make offers time-sensitive or limit uses to increase the engagement of your push or SMS notifications
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Train your staff to look for “from” number. If it’s not your short code, make sure they’re a subscriber.
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If you’re sending SMS messages internationally, work with a mobile expert to determine a short/long code strategy.
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If you’re sending time sensitive emails, SMS should be considered as a much more effective channel for delivery.
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The process to transfer or acquire a private short code can take up to 12 weeks. Consider this when planning your SMS messaging campaigns.
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Offer instant prizes or gratitude. Don’t make me wait until I spend money with your company.
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Do you read your friend’s short text or your dad’s novel? The content matters.
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Less is more for SMS Marketing
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If your SMS is 200 characters, see if you can make it 160 characters or even less.
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Surprise your customers. Show them you remember them by personalizing the message.
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Stop telling your SMS consumers what you have, just tell them what is in it for them (i.e. benefits).
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Deliver SMS and push coupons to increase redemption rates, as people always have their phones with them.
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Be clear and let your customers know what action you want them to take - what, how, when, who. Be direct and precise.
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Don’t forget to integrate mobile with social media channels.
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Think beyond simple outbound messages and leverage SMS to gain more information about your customers.
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Obtain opt-in approval before sending SMS messages. Email opt-in does not equal an SMS opt-in.
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Consider requesting a mobile number on your email opt-in forms but do so only if there’s a well-stated benefit to the consumer.
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Companies can expect response times to a text message to be within an hour, and within minutes.
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With SMS being such an immediate channel, it’s important to test your campaign before going live.
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Push messages can drive in App purchases and increase App usage.
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Gain Trust through a clear and concise opt-in process. Let your consumers know when and what they’ll be receiving.
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Consider mobile in combination with other channels and post across mobile, Facebook, Twitter, email, and any online communications you use.
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Before asking if a user wants to opt-in to your push messages, tell them what the benefit of opting in would be.
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Each time a user updates your App, an opportunity arises to prompt them to opt into your Push notifications again.
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Use email to promote SMS and Push messaging.
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When switching short codes, send a message to inform consumers of the change to increase awareness and engagement.
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There are rules and regulations when sending messages to people under the age of 13. Read the MMA guidelines to stay compliant.
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Remember that customers pay for text messaging, so don’t send a lot of messages. Three to four per month is plenty.
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Use a single marketing platform to obtain reporting across all your marketing channels (e.g. email, social, and mobile).
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If you are running a sweepstakes, seek legal guidance when drafting the rules to ensure compliance with laws and regulations.
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Enforce a double opt-in for mobile subscribers. After the consumer has opted-in send a confirmation message.
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Identify your brand; don’t assume the consumer will identify you through a short/long code number.
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When using a vanity short code, be sure to put the number equivalent in parenthesis for ease of use - e.g. TIRES (84737)
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Make consumers feel special. Vary your mobile content and offers from those on your site and email.
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Avoid hype, slang, and abbreviations.
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Allow in-store consumers to sign up for loyalty and charge card programs via mobile as they wait for the checkout process.
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Tell users how to opt out of your messages. For example - Text STOP to 80565
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Consumers expect immediate responses with mobile. Ensure your communication is real-time, to optimize the consumer’s experience.
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When selecting an SMS provider, ask which aggregators the provider uses, as this can affect deliverability.
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Use SMS to trigger send an email to deliver content that won’t fit into 160 characters.
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Utilize Rich Push to send video, audio, HTML, or maps to your App users.
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Do not confuse your customer with too much information in a short amount of words. Keep your focus on one message at a time.
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Whatever action you want your customers to take, start with that. Simply use verbs such as: buy, sell, save, jump, run, and purchase, to grab their attention.
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Respond Quickly. People’s memories are short when it comes to mobile marketing. Respond quickly once they have opted in.
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Do you have mission critical messages? 90% of SMS messages are opened within 3 mins of receipt.
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If you need to use text shorthand, then you need to rewrite your message.
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Send SMS less frequently than your email marketing campaign (if you send emails three times a week, send SMS once).
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If your database of mobile contacts is out of date, it may be a better choice to start from scratch, as people change numbers often.
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Don’t include graphics or images, just text.
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Streamline communications: “TXT STOP” to unsubscribe, or “TXT HELP” for customer support.
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Offer a gift for signing up - discount, free product sample, ebook.
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Try including a “scannable” coupon that can be redeemed at your physical stores
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Include a forwarding option in your messages.
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Encourage more subscribers by offering an immediate discount upon sign up.
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Let your customers know that you’re not going to sell or exploit their cell number.
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In your privacy statement, let your customers know that their mobile provider may charge them for sending and receiving texts.
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Conduct a short SMS Poll - always learn from your consumers about how they view your mobile campaigns and offerings.
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Trying to help someone decide dinner plans? Text them around 2:00-4:00 PM.
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Include your short code on all your SWAG - you never know where it is going to end up!
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Keep your SMS marketing campaign focused on one message. One clear message.
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Don’t use all of the character spacing in your messages - you’re taking away space for customers to forward and include their own message.
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Short codes need to be easy and relevant to your company.
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Vanity (custom) short codes can be difficult to use with the absence of the T9 texting on most mobile phones. Try a random code.
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Request - Ask for feedback early and often via email or text a link to an online survey.
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Don’t try to sell something in every Push message. Provide value to your App user and build a better relationship
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Give your text campaign plenty of time to go through aggregator and carriers, so as not to show up at 2:00 am on your customer’s phone.
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Include your business name somewhere in the SMS. It’s easy to get SMS’s confused when other short code initiated messages are coming in frequently.
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Because SMS and Push are the most effective forms of interruptive marketing, make sure your message is accurate before sending.
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Review tracking and analytics to enhance your SMS and Push campaigns. Discover which campaigns work best for you.
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Use SMS text campaigns instead of QR codes since QR codes can be difficult to scan depending on the environment.
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What would I do if I received this SMS? Ask yourself this question every time before hitting send.
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If a carrier blocks a short code, all senders from that short code are blocked. Owning a private short code alleviates this problem.
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Holidays are a great time to do daily campaigns. 12 days of Christmas, 8 Nights of Hanukkah, Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday.
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Leverage all of the information you have on your contacts to send them highly personal messages (just like email!)
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Allow users to set up SMS or Push alerts based on getting a product (or certain size) back in stock.
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Customers have a lot of Apps installed. An effective Push messaging strategy can keep your App top of mind, making it more successful.
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Headed to a trade show? Set up a simple text response campaign with your business card information to stand out in the crowd.
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Headed to a trade show? Deliver your marketing materials via email after a prospect texts into your short code.
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Planning on developing a mobile App for Android or iOS? Now is the time to start planning your Push strategy.
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Analytical insights into your SMS and push campaigns is critical to evaluating success and ROI.
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As smartphone adoption rates increase, the opportunity for effective Push messaging campaigns will only increase as well.
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Make sure your Push messages fit within your app users’ schedule. Let them dictate when they want to receive notifications.
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Stay true to your brand. Make sure your mobile messaging stays consistent with the tone your customers are used to.
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Don’t repeat information that consumers have already received from your other marketing channels.
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Consider a double opt-in even when it’s not required.
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Occasionally restate how consumers can opt-out of your campaigns (don’t just mention it after the first message).
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Market your SMS campaigns everywhere possible, as your success with SMS is determined by the number of people in the funnel.
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Think long-term when it comes to mobile.
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Not every phone has the capability to scan a QR code, so consider using SMS campaigns instead, as almost everyone can text with their phone.
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SMS and Push are one of thechannels that marketers use that the customer is almost guaranteed to read the message.
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Test, test, and test your placement and media of your SMS advertising campaigns.
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SMS is no longer viewed as a “high spam” channel. It is used by the best brands to drive real results. It’s time to dedicate budget to this channel.
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Welcome emails create excellent visibility and relationship building between the consumer and the brand after SMS opt-in.
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Create a targeted email campaign to customers viewing on a mobile device. Offer an incentive to download your app.
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Add a pop-up to your website that promotes your mobile app.
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Use social channels to promote mobile. Make sure your Facebook pages are mobile optimized for easy viewing.
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Take advantage of traditional communication methods by including mobile call-to-actions on an invoice or packaging.
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Mobile phone number becomes more valuable when it’s paired with an email address or Twitter handle.
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Your welcome strategy for any new mobile customer should include a combination of channels-email, mobile, and social.
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Be consistent. Consumers anticipate your message. Do not let them down.
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Remember to always review analytics and reports. Data should help define strategy.
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Context is key. Be smart about when you send communication, in order to stay relevant.
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Try implementing cart abandonment push notifications to draw the consumer back to purchase.
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If an email goes unopened, follow up via SMS a week later. Integrate channels.
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Use a one-time incentive-based email to reengage lapsed mobile users.
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Reward loyal customers with geo-location targeting. If they live close, get them in the door!
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Give customers easy access to update message preferences with a unified profile center.
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Facebook is the world’s most downloaded app, use it for acquisition.
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Don’t think of “welcome” as a single message. It takes time to get to know each other.
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Consumers who interact with your brand through mobile-specific channels are among your most engaged.
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Customer completely disengaged? Offer a drastic discount for a purchase conversion via your app.
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Win-back or comeback programs can be some of the most succesful mobile strategies.
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Mobile coupons get 10 times the redemption rate of traditional coupons.
-Mobile Marketing Association
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Connect anywhere, any time with ExactTarget mobile marketing solutions.
We’ll help you every step of the way.
www.ExactTarget.com/GoEverywhere
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