FINGER CANDY FRIDAY - THIS WEEK: Keeping Up with the Phoneses

KEEPING UP WITH THE PHONESES Radio’s odyssey for the next big thing. by Jessica Northey Websites, streaming, podcasts, HD, text messaging, social media…..mobile phone streaming? Internet Radio on the PC was a favorite for me as a sales person. Not only could I give clients high frequency for their message but it was in front of a highly sought after audience of Working Women 25-54 for an amazing CPM. Now with the invention of “Tuner Internet Radio”, and other radio apps you can plug your iPhone into home stereo system or car and have 4000+ radio stations to choose from. I was asked to write an article about how radio stations could integrate iPhone apps to their programming options. I was doing some research and determined that Apple has only 10.8% of the Smartphone Market. With the constant attention for Apple's every iPhone move you would think they were dominating the industry. Personally I have a BlackBerry and many of my friends still have flip phones or even candy bar phones. In fact new statistics from Nielsen show that when selecting a wireless carrier, a specific phone is as low on the priority list for U.S. cell phone users as it was before the iPhone's existence. At 1.5%, iPhone accounts for a minimal amount of the global phone market. Even with the iPhone sales hike due to the 3GS, it doesn't compare to Samsung with 17.8%. I am not trying to write a mobile phone review. I am only offering my humble opinion based on my expertise in New and Social Media for your use, free of charge. I will say that building an application for the iPhone is an excellent way to connect with a fast growing audience but unless apple wants to subsidize the development of a mobile phone app that is radio station specific I would hold off until it’s a little more affordable and see what other smartphone universal application will be developed for radio streaming. In the meantime there are other areas of Mobile Handset advertising you could focus on including your mobile website/.mobi. It is amazing how often I explain to clients and very smart people about the different experience someone has on a mobile adjusted website (.mobi) vs a regular (.com). I pulled this definition from Wikipedia:.mobi (also known informally as dotMobi) is a top-level domain (TLD)approved by ICANN on 11 July 2005 and managed by the mTLD global registry dedicated to delivering the Internet to mobile devices via the Mobile Web. Providing content tailored to the mobile handset should be your first priority. How to Mobilize your current website and make it user friendly for your listeners. dotMobi’s are growing faster than most TLD’s and can also provide a positive mobile web experience. Many consumers avoid the mobile web because of this issue. Another advantage for using a dotMobi domain gives it instant recognition to listeners and to search engine crawlers. Unlike other mobile domains like ‘m.KJESS.com’ or ‘KJESS.com/mobile’, the URL ‘KJESS.mobi’ makes your mobile website instantly recognizable for content and experience. The value of this instant recognition is effective in context of the mobile user and mobile search engine optimization as I mentioned before. When determining your stations mobile ability (or mobility) and marketing you should consider the following: WHAT ARE YOUR OBJECTIVES -Interact with listeners on their mobile handsets -Implement a Mobile Handset Marketing Solution -Ability to create additional revenue and programming opportunities CAMPAIGN STRATEGY -Utilize Mobile Handset Marketing to interact with listeners -Membership opportunity to receive exclusive or first-to-know announcements -Create appointment setting radio by telling text/mobile club members to listen at certain times -Use of trivia, mobile surveys and special offers -Offer codes to redeem for merchandise and/or sponsor products/services -Generate additional revenue by offering mobile marketing program to sales -Listeners text to get last songs and artist played OPPORTUNITY STATS -85% of Americans have a mobile device -Over 70% have used text messaging; 55% on at least a weekly basis -45% of U.S. mobile subscribers access the mobile web -125 billion+ text messages are sent every month in the U.S. -90-95% of all incoming text messages are read -Majority of text messages received are read within 15 mins -Most messages requesting a response are responded to within 60 mins -Less than 10% of messages received are unwanted (a.k.a. spam) versus 65% of email Jessica is a well rounded media professional with over 19 years experience including Radio, Television, Internet and Print Sales as well as an On-Air Radio personality. Her knowledge of media buying and planning, copy writing, commercial production, interactive concepts, fundraising, public relations and event planning makes her a valuable asset to creating an effective campaign. She lives in Tucson, Arizona where she attended the University of Arizona and majored in Political Science, Communications and Chemistry. She specializes in big ideas and is known for her ability to create complete marketing campaigns and bridge marketing partnerships. Her company Finger Candy(what she calls the QWERTY keyboard on her BlackBerry & PC) provides interactive experiences on mobile handsets and social media networks. Contact: Jessica Northey Social/New Media Solutions Twiva and Design Rep Finger Candy jessicanorthey@gmail.com 559-349-5933 twitter.com/jessicanorthey facebook.com/jessicanorthey