SMS Drives App Downloads

Yup, we've said it for a long time! Building an app is a small percentage of having an app. The key is getting people to download it and often telling them to "find" it in the cluttered app stores is not sufficient.

A strong way to drive app downloads is by using the trusty ol' short code and keyword strategy. Rather than asking people to remember your app and find it, let them text in to a short code and have the bounceback message contain a direct link to the download.

Worried about different handsets needing different apps? Send the texter to a landing page with a link to different apps in different app stores. Want a great example? See the one the NCAA sent out just today!

Facebook Creativity

Everyone on the Ballyhoo Mobile Marketing team is a fan of business ingenuity, whether or not we were the purveyors. Today I came across a neat persuasion device by the band Disturbed on Facebook. They have a group photo on their front wall, but it's scrambled. In order to see it, you have to "Like" the group...then it instantly clears up.

It's not mind-blowing creativity or astounding technology. To the local business, that is great! It means it is the small sort of "something different" that they could incorporate in their own page. Think about an even more focused business use: a local company could create a coupon that cannot be viewed or printed until someone likes their page...then they suddenly get the deal. Great reinforcement for becoming a fan!

Before "Liking:"


After "Liking:"

L...B...S

Everyone is talking about Location Based Services and, just as it was and is with SMS, no one knows exactly the best approach. In fact, we are still working on tightening up LBS for our clients at Ballyhoo. As I constantly research successful LBS promotions, today I came across a great one from American Apparel. Below is an excerpt from the article on Mobile Commerce Daily:

"During the promotion, Grindr users in New York City who logged into the application received a pop-up message displayed on their iPhone, iPad or BlackBerry.

The message said that American Apparel had a one-day 20-percent-off discount on Sept. 13.

Users who clicked on “more” were brought to a landing page that included store locations – clickable to maps – store hours and phone numbers – clickable to call – and further information about the promotion."

Knock, knock...

Who's there? HTML5 is here...in a big way. If you have not seen The Wilderness Downtown project, you're missing out. Heads up: it only runs in the web browser Google Chrome. IF you have Chrome or your system can handle downloding it, this is worth seeing.

Click here to download Chrome.

Click here for the Wilderness link.

Once on the page, enter an address with which you're familiar. Then sit back and enjoy. Abnormally, you will see new windows open and close but don't move or close any.


After viewing, think about the business implications. You could show different segments of a live concert at Red Rocks or view a friend in the Chicago Marathon while viewing pieces of the race, as well.