Where were you in 2007? Did you know that while you were enjoying a business retreat or starting an exciting new venture, the world was in a state of upheaval – only, no-one knew it at the time. Yes, 2007 was the “Year of the Smartphone” when Apple launched their first iPhone and changed the face of the industry forever. What started out as a simple hand-held device for making calls and sending messages has turned many industry sectors on [...]
There’s an old saying that goes something along the lines of, “Let he who shouts the loudest be heard first.” And when month end creeps around and payday is just around the corner, this is very often the case for those of us who are expecting payments in. In these uncertain economic times, how will you make sure that your clients remember their debts and make their payment on time? While this challenge remains true of almost every business, it [...]
Few things are more important to a parent than their child’s wellbeing while at school. Good schools, pre-schools, and day care centres recognise that effective and timely communication with parents is one of the most important aspects of their business. The methods of school communication used to pass on important information to parents have changed over the years, and especially with the advent of mobile devices, even though the information itself remains very much the same. What information is important? [...]
Louis Freeh, former U.S. judge and Director of the FBI once said, “Ask the American public if they want a wiretap and they'll say 'No.' If you ask them do they want a feature on their phone that helps the FBI find their missing child, they'll say, 'Yes.” Indeed, tracking and monitoring of our movements via our mobile apps elicits mixed emotions from people. Some despise the Big Brother mentality and resist the idea of being tracked, and others embrace [...]
If you were offered the opportunity to save money, increase security and make your staff just that little bit happier, would you investigate it? Without sounding like some over-enthusiastic multilevel marketing recruit, this is exactly what companies who make the switch to mobile payslips experience. Bryan Collins wrote an article for Sage discussing the value of online payslips in which he says, “Employees who enter the workplace now expect whatever they want at the touch of a button which is [...]
“Mr Watson, come here, I want to see you.” These words spoken on 10th March 1876 on the world’s first telephone by Alexander Graham Bell, marked the foundational link in a chain of technical advances in the incredible world of distance communication. Fast-forward 116 years to 3rd December 1992, which saw the very first SMS message sent by test engineer Neil Papworth which simply read, “Merry Christmas.” Back at you Mr Papworth – look how far we’ve come! Instant messaging has [...]
The term ‘teenager’ has become synonymous with the image of groups of semi-adults hunched over mobile devices for hours at a time – and rightly so. According to some (frankly, pretty scary) stats from Safe Search Kids, 77 percent of teens (12 – 17), and 56 percent of tweens (8 – 12) own a cell phone. Further research shows us that the average age for kids to get their first smartphone is 11, and teenagers spend around six hours [...]
With unsurpassed delivery rates, the highest open rates of any platform, and anticipated access to over 48 million people worldwide by the year 2020, any business not making use of bulk messaging should sit up and take notice. Banks, in particular, find that the flexibility and security of bulk messaging now offers additional advantages that benefit their security-conscious customers as well as their own bottom line. Bulk messaging really is the perfect communication platform if your business wants to expand [...]
Email marketing, SMS advertising, USSD codes, WhatsApp marketing… businesses have no shortage of ways of contacting customers and accessing potential leads. However, when it comes to “easy as pie” there is one communication method which is the easiest and cheapest by far: short codes. Research and general opinion seem to point to the number 7 as the “magic figure” which is the number of digits that the average person can hold in their memory at any given time. Short codes [...]
As the wheel turns and Millennials become more populous in the workplace, we are no doubt finding that the communication styles in the office are being affected. True, we will probably never accept that “gud” or “K” are suitable responses to – well – anything, but there are key elements of this communication style that we can use effectively when engaging in marketing to Millennials. With so many messaging platforms available, it’s interesting to know that even our tech-savvy and [...]
