Marketing to consumers’ cell phones has long been known to be valuable but frequently seemed beyond reach. Check out these mobile marketing trends you can latch on to today.

Text message marketing goes mainstream.
According to the Mobile Marketing Association, text message marketing is already the most widely used form of mobile marketing, but it’s hard to find it in use on Main St. U.S.A. This is changing. A text message promotion is similar to an online promotion, except instead of collecting an email address you collect a mobile phone number. But unlike email, you don’t need fancy graphics, just up to 160 characters of text. Your customers will instantly read your message 97% of the time.

Mobile apps will be offered by traditional media.
In 2010, large brands such as Conde Nast will be teaming up to create mobile versions of their media to generate more advertising revenues. Money Mailer, which traditionally direct-mails coupons to households, is selling a mobile coupon that gets placed into an iPhone application.

Retailers will use more mobile marketing.
In 2009 Wendy’s, Burger King, Subway, Taco Bell & Pizza Hut launched text programs and iPhone apps that enable a consumer to order food for pick-up. 7-Eleven stores in San Diego are testing scannable bar codes on consumers’ phones to get up to one free drink per day. Ace Hardware is combining weather forecasts with text alerts to sell more shovels.

Smartphones will amaze us with new technology.
‘Augmented reality’ applications like the Sekai Camera iPhone application lets a consumer point his phone at any store or object and create ‘Air Tags’ – virtual notes that are linked to a real-world location. The app was downloaded 100,000 times in its first four days of availability in Japan.

2010 promises to be a breakout year for how businesses use mobile marketing technologies. With all of the low-cost, powerful smartphones & high-speed connections, you now have many choices. Perhaps the biggest question is where to start?

In order to allow residents of Quebec to participate in a Sweepstakes, Sponsor must do some or all of the following things:

1) Pay a fee of 3-10% of the total prize value.
2) Register the Official Rules and all advertisements used to promote the Sweepstakes with the Quebec government at least 30 days ahead of the Sweepstakes’ launch.
3) Agree to allow the government of Quebec to mediate any lawsuits arising from the promotion.
4) Follow strict guidelines about the contents of the Official Rules. As an example, Canadian residents must answer a mathematical question to be deemed a prize winner.
5) Allow the Quebec government to determine if the sweepstakes may be changed or canceled once it has started.
6) File a written report after the promotion has concluded, attesting that the prizes have been awarded.

So in conclusion….It is not because Sponsors don’t want to offer these promotions to residents of Quebec. But rather many Sponsors cannot follow the stringent rules established by the government of Quebec.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA8z7f7a2Pk&feature=player_embedded

Welcome to the world of Social Media Promotions.

Over the past few years we have been witnessing countless examples of what the digital world can do for brands.  Whether its two guys submitting a video for a Taco Bell Super Bowl Ad and winning  $1,000,000 (based the ad winning highest recall per USA Today)

HYPERLINK “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8SWCqolDKM” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8SWCqolDKM
HYPERLINK “http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/admeter/2009admeter.htm” http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/admeter/2009admeter.htm

or Godiva’s 2010 Valentines Day Virtual Gifting campaign where it delivered a 100% increase in their Facebook Fan Base, we are seeing great results.

For years, Marketers had been hesitant to “try” news ways of connecting but are finally opening their minds and strategic plans.

The marketing world has changed and the dance floor is finally starting to groove.

Have a purpose going in
Determine what message your brand wants to communicate and who you’re trying to communicate with. Some other important aspects to consider include what you’re trying to gain from your social media presence and what your clients and prospects will be seeking within your profiles.

Engage your followers
Don’t be boring or ego-centric. Social media is not a classroom, so there’s no need to lecture anyone. Conversation and engagement are vital components of successful social media campaigns, so be sure that the way you’re communicating allows for such interaction. Continuously update profiles and include fresh content.

Establish meaningful measurements
Set a goal, establish meaningful measurements and let the numbers do the talking.

Unify your marketing message
Use each of your marketing channels to build on each other and strengthen your overall message.
Source: Lisa Wehr; http://multichannelmerchant.com/social-media/0112-social-media-guidelines/

The FTC says it wants to extend to digital communication the same user protections it enforces in offline advertising: namely, to make sure that consumers know when a commentator or content creator has a “material connection” to the marketer. Though most marketers don’t control what is said by the bloggers they enlist in their promotions, the FTC says, just the fact that they’re offering these bloggers benefits — even in the form of samples or review copies — must be made clear starting Dec. 1, 2009. Both the bloggers and the advertisers could be held liable for failing to disclose these links.

At the simplest level, the rules say bloggers must disclose when they are employed by an advertiser or by some third party that would benefit, such as a marketing agency.

But getting free products can also constitute material connection in some cases. The FTC will require that bloggers reveal those connections, and that brands and agencies monitor the bloggers they use in social marketing and set policies for handling matters when disclosures aren’t made.

The guidelines don’t specify what dollar value triggers the “material connection” rule. Legal experts agree that no one will get busted for praising a free sample of a new chewing gum, for example. However, sending a new video game to a college-age blogger could be valuable enough to require disclosure.

Expectation of future benefit could be another trigger: A blogger who reviews a sample of hair conditioner in the hope of receiving a six-month supply would also have to disclose the relationship. Some groups have objected to the new rules and have called for public hearings on the regulations.
For full details visit: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm
Source: http://chiefmarketer.com/disciplines/online/1201-ftc-heats-blogger-marketing/
Original Article: http://pstblog.com/2009/06/whatever-happened-to-freedom-of-speech/

The new less restrictive regulation better aligns with regulations upheld by the United States, therefore, seems likely that brands and sponsors will begin extending their promotions to residents of Puerto Rico.

Some of the key changes are as follows:
• Requirement of Spanish language has been eliminated. If promotion advertisement is in English only, than the rules can also be in English
• Presence of Notary Public and Certification of drawing is no longer required
• Abbreviated Rules are defined in the new regulation and clarifies that Abbreviated Rules are permitted in advertising (as long as the advertisement points to the full rules)
• The vague reference requiring prizes be delivered within three months has been removed.

For more details visit:
http://www.adlawbyrequest.com/2009/10/articles/regulators/puerto-rico-sweepstakes-regulation-revised/

It could likely be from a prize you won in a sweepstakes the prior year. Prizes over $600 are considered miscellaneous income to the government and sponsors are required by law to issue a 1099 form to winners who receive a prize (or multiple prizes) valued over $600.

If you read the Official Rules of a promotion before entering, it will clearly identify the value of your prize so you know what tax burden to expect.  Sometimes this is identified as the “ARV” or Approximate Retail Value of the prize which is what the sponsor estimates the prize to be worth (based on the fair market value at that time).  Once you receive your prize the actual value of the prize can then be determined and a proper 1099 form can be issued. For example, if the prize is a trip to a high profile event, the “ARV” may be estimated at $5,000 based on the ticket cost, hotel, and airfare but keep in mind the sponsor does not know where the winner resides.  So, if you are the winner and live in New York and the event takes place in New York, the travel costs may be significantly lower given you will not have to utilize airfare, thus the actual retail value of the trip will be lower as a result.

The same holds true for electronics.  At the time of the sweepstakes a television may have a certain value but by the end of the program it may be a lower value since a newer model may be available.

So, just enjoy your prizes and remember, “there is no such thing as a free lunch” when taxes are concerned.

Long before the first athlete stepped into the Olympic stadium, Olympic organizers had begun daily tweets on the Torch following its progress through British Columbia.

Alexandra Samuel of the Harvard Business Review recently commented that “the Olympic narrative of global community seems like a natural fit for social media: just as Olympic Villages have been the birthplace for international friendships among athletes, the online conversation about the Games can now give rise to new friendships among Olympic viewers.”

So just to be clear…with the new guidelines….if you use Facebook to publicize a promotion, it DOES NOT REQUIRE approval…. But administering a promotion DOES REQUIRE approval. Got it?

In addition, there a few other bits of etiquette you must obey:

• You must use a third party application to administer a promotion on Facebook. In the past, many companies have run promotions by telling entrants to post a comment on their wall, upload a photo to their Facebook album or click the ‘become a fan’ button to enter. Such promotions are no longer allowed and must be run using a third party application.

• Promotions can no longer be publicized/administered on Facebook that are open to citizens of Belgium, Norway, Sweden, India or countries that are embargoed by the US.

• Promotions can no longer be publicized/administered on Facebook that are open to anyone under the age of 18.

• Promotions can no longer be publicized/administered on Facebook that promote: gambling, tobacco, dairy, firearms, prescription drugs, or gasoline. In addition, they many not offer any of the following as prizes: alcohol, tobacco, dairy, firearms or prescription drugs.

• You cannot condition entry upon the purchase of a product, completion of a lengthy task or other form of consideration.

(Well, we don’t really know whether your wishes will come true, but hey, its worth a shot, right? Besides, we know you are aching to see whether you can still rub your belly and pat your head at the same time!)

1) What is “COPPA” the abbreviation for?

http://pstblog.com/2009/01/sony-to-pay-1-million-to-settle-coppa-case/

A. Charge Online Purchases to Pompous Associate

B. Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act

C. Childrens Online “Potties with a Purpose” Association

2) How do Sponsor’s award a million dollar prize without actually spending a million dollars?

http://pstblog.com/2009/04/how-do-companies-afford-million-dollar-prizes/

A. Ask a Genie

B. Insure the prize

C. Collect donations from friends and family

3) What is the “Speeding Analogy” tool?

http://pstblog.com/2009/07/am-i-going-55-how-the-speeding-analogy-can-help-you-evaluate-business-risk/

A. A tool to evaluate business risk

B. A date-o-meter

C. Radar gun jammer

D. A tool to help you determine how fast you are going

4) What does a NeoReader read?

http://pstblog.com/2009/01/new-technology-neoreader/

A. Rebels against the Machine

B. A Nelson Email Organizer

C. Barcodes with your mobile phone

D. Computer Programmers

5) When you just can’t seem to drive ____, the Speeding Analogy will help you understand the risks at hand.

http://pstblog.com/2009/07/am-i-going-55-how-the-speeding-analogy-can-help-you-evaluate-business-risk/

A. 25

B. 36

C. 74

D. 55

Now remember…rub your belly, pat your head…go ahead! …nobody’s looking!

Good luck!

Answer Key: 1) B; 2) B; 3) A; 4) C; 5) D