Mobile marketing pioneer since 2004

• More than 225,000 mobile marketing and mobile advertising campaigns
• Selected as a global finalist in the GSM Association’s (GSMA) Mobile Marketing and Mobile Advertising category
• Winner of Mobile Marketer’s Service Provider of the Year award for 2011
• Named an “industry powerhouse” by wireless analyst firm Frost & Sullivan
• Manage more short codes for mobile marketing and engagement than any other company
• Robust mobile advertising capabilities with post-click expertise leading to remarketing opportunities
• Deep experience in more than 15 industries, including consumer packaged goods, retail, health/pharma, media/broadcast
• Seasoned executive staff with 200+ years of combined experience in traditional and mobile marketing
• Winner Frost & Sullivan’s Market Penetration Award
• Received Mobile Marketing Association’s North America Cross-Media Integration Award — Hipcricket and Wiley’s Txt4Dummies
• Only two-time recipient of CTIA’s Pioneer Award
• Hispanic Ad Network with dedicated bilingual Hispanic account team

No company can simply buy a list of mobile numbers and start sending bulk text messages. This is spam. Mobile marketing requires an explicit opt-in from mobile subscribers. Hipcricket has and continues to work with the mobile operators, Mobile Marketing Association, and others on messaging rules and regulations. The company has representation on the Consumer Best Practices committee.

No — even if you have mobile phone numbers, you must explicitly opt in mobile subscribers.

Hipcricket’s patented AD LIFE® platform enables brands to create engaging experiences on the mobile web. Learn More.

For a successful mobile marketing campaign, you need to work with the right partner. Here are a few key questions to ask when considering candidates:

Question: Is the vendor a member of the Mobile Marketing Association or does it at least abide by MMA guidelines?

• Why it matters: Beyond the important area of best practices, a mobile marketing agency should keep you out of trouble, steering you clear of blunders like buying and marketing to a list, and creating content that might mistakenly be viewed by children. The MMA guidelines, created in part by member companies, are written to help brands avoid such transgressions.

Question: Does the provider have extensive carrier connections and relationships?

• Why it matters: Connectivity to all the mobile operators gives you the assurance that all your customers and prospects can take part in your program. Solid relationships between your vendor and the carriers often move proposed campaigns along faster.

Question: Will the vendor be strategic and creative or purely on the execution side?

• Why it matters: You have business goals, and your mobile dollars need to help you achieve them. It’s important to align your brand with thinkers and innovators rather than pure workhorses.

Question: Will this partner help me build or expand my customer marketing database?

• Why it matters: Beyond just a marketing tactic, mobile is a tool to help you create, manage, and monetize permission-based, opt-in databases. According to a Hipcricket survey, 37 percent of mobile subscribers are interested in joining a mobile loyalty club. Further, 83 percent of consumers surveyed have yet to be marketed to by a brand.

Question: Is the vendor a mobile expert or new to the party?

• Why it matters: If the agency was an SEO expert last Thursday and now hangs a mobile sign on its door, how much help can you count on?

Question: Does the provider have solid references and ongoing relationships (as opposed to a history of one-off promotions)?

• Why it matters: Given its permission-based nature, mobile marketing lends itself to sustained programs. Ask for references from clients on annual contracts that are leveraging dollars spent for ongoing engagement and success.

Question: If you want to use text as a component of your program, will they provide a dedicated shortcode and its inherent advantages?

• Why it matters: If you are a pizza company doing mobile on a shared shortcode, the keyword pizza is likely taken. Plus, having a dedicated shortcode is an imperative aspect of building your unique database, which can be a vital part of your customer relationship management program.

Question: Will your business goals be met if you choose a vendor purely on price?

• Why it matters: While mobile might be new to you, it’s like everything else — you get what you pay for.

Question: Are there tools you can access, allowing you to view your campaign in real-time and make adjustments along the way?

• Why it matters: Optimization often makes or breaks mobile campaigns — insist on the ability to look at how your program is performing in real time so you can make changes if necessary. For example, we’ve seen clients extend street team activities and also re-cut broadcast spots in order to deliver the results they were expecting.

Question: Does the vendor have the capabilities you need to deliver your unique brand experience?

• Why it matters: The first rule in branding is consistency across touchpoints. Mobile has a unique set of challenges, including the need to produce marketing materials to be viewed on hundreds of handsets with varying levels of sophistication. The agencies that can produce consistent brand experiences across devices are the keepers.

Question: Is there a record of return on investment, especially in your category?

• Why it matters: Some industries — automotive and quick-service restaurants, for example — produce better results on mobile than other categories. Just as in traditional marketing, there are nuances that can make or break campaigns. Agencies with repositories of case studies can show you what works and what doesn’t.

Network-based location techniques utilize the carrier network infrastructure (Cell towers) to identify the location of the wireless device.
Carrier network-based location information offers some significant advantages:

• The ability to access precise (Assisted GPS) and course (Cell ID) location data
• No device dependency — Operating Systems, GPS, Smartphone or Feature Phone
• No device or interaction required (Cell ID)
• No user download required (Cell ID)
• Secure and can not be manipulated like GPS location on smartphones

1) The goal of a mobile database is to maximize customer lifetime value. Make sure you have a plan for how to develop an ongoing relationship with your subscribers, rather than just planning for a one-off campaign.

2) Enrich your subscriber list with metadata so that you have more filtering criteria for sending outbound messages. By filtering your lists you can increase the relevance of the messaging that you are sending out. This will increase customer engagement, which will then in turn increase the value you see from your subscriber list and ultimately ROI.

3) When collecting subscribers, you’ll also want to adhere strictly to MMA and carrier compliance guidelines. For example, for SMS marketing you have to deliver an opt-in text message to a person’s phone when they are added to a list, even if they sign up on a website or Facebook without using their phone.

4) The best way to build out a sizable mobile database quickly is to take advantage of the power of viral media. Use incentives that encourage people to refer others. For example, a viral sweepstakes campaign is one where people increase their chances of winning the sweepstakes by referring others. Using this tactic you can see thousands or tens of thousands of opt-in subscribers in less than a minute — literally.

Yes

Not all QR codes are created equal. QR codes can be created via free software, however, if it is hard-coded (Static QR Code), the code is set to drive to one location, and that destination cannot be changed in the future. The QR codes Hipcricket creates through the AD LIFE® platform are not hard-coded, as they are Managed / Dynamic codes. The URL (or content) is stored within the AD LIFE platform’s barcode tracking and management system. This system deciphers the code and tells the phone what to do, while also allowing a client to update the destination for that code on the fly. The AD LIFE platform also provides real-time tracking and reporting on performance metrics such as total scans, unique users, and geography. Before creating and marketing with QR codes, make sure your use-case is supported with a barcode management system.

Hipcricket is an Oracle Gold Partner which means our system has been reviewed and verified by Oracle

Hipcricket AD LIFE® platform has been audited and validated by Oracle. The platform is proven, resilient and future proof, meaning your solution can and will grow with your business.

Mobile advertising, a subset of mobile marketing, is a critical component in driving consumers to engage, sign up and purchase. Through capabilities like local and hyperlocal targeting, ambient targeting and highly interactive rich media, marketers reach THEIR audience with highly relevant messaging & calls to action.

Mobile is the most capable medium for driving brand awareness, affinity, engagement and purchase intent.

Hipcricket works with the BBB Mobile Giving Foundation to extend its capabilities for non-profit organizations and philanthropic efforts. This mobile fundraising management solution includes an SMS donation capability. For example, by securing and promoting Text-2-Donate keywords on one of Hipcricket’s charitable short codes, users can send a text message and authorize the addition of a $5 or $10 donation to their mobile phone bill.

Download Data Sheet PDF.

In order for a charity to be able to solicit donations through text messaging and have those charges placed directly on each donor’s mobile phone bill they will first need to achieve qualification by meeting the following standards - MGF Guidelines

The Hipcricket AD LIFE platform can also support mobile giving solutions that take the following form:

• Text/scan to receive mobile web link that drives a user to a donation landing page and initiates an m-commerce (mobile web) interaction that integrates with the charity’s existing e-commerce platform (if one exists) used to collect the donation.
• Text/scan to receive mobile web link that drives a user to a donation landing page which is a data capture page for the charity to re-contact the donor through e-mail or phone and collect the donation.
• Text to initiate an SMS pledge interaction that engages a user in an SMS conversation that is used as a data capture event for the charity to re-contact the donor through e-mail or phone and collect the donation.