by anton | May 23, 2014 |
HLR stands for Home Location Register, which is a central database that contains details of each mobile phone subscriber that is registered with a particular mobile network. When you do an HLR lookup, you can find out important info about a particular mobile number. The HLR or “Home Location Register” is at the core of every GSM mobile network worldwide. The HLR is a central database of all customers authorised to use the network. Every SIM card that is released has a unique number attached to it called an IMSI. This number is basically a primary key associated with the HLR record. You can use a lookup to see if a number is: Valid Currently active in a network. The original network a mobile number was assigned to Ported from another network and which network it was moved to Currently roaming If the mobile has been turned on recently and what country the mobile was last used Why would a business want to do an HLR lookup? It holds the most accurate, up-to-date information on a mobile subscriber. This could help you to eliminate numbers on your database that doesn’t exist or are invalid so you don’t waste time and money sending messages to these numbers. Is an HLR lookup difficult to perform? Nope. It is fast and inexpensive. A lookup can also be performed in real time during call setup or SMS delivery. You should be able to find network carrier information quickly and cheaply and even improve routing for VoIP and SMS traffic. What about privacy? These lookups are non-invasive and you perform it remotely. The mobile...
by anton | May 21, 2014 |
Most people are familiar with the term IVR (Interactive Voice Response) but not everybody knows that there is more than one type: Inbound and Outbound IVR. IVR (in a nutshell) is an automated telephony system. These system are used by companies to perform preprogramed functions and act almost like a real life consultant. Inbound systems are generally used to answer and direct telephone calls along the appropriate channels within the business. Outbound IVR allows a business to proactively engage with customers through multiple channels such as automated voice calls, SMS messages, email or social media posts with personalized communications. You can use it for things like: Surveys into customer behaviour Product orders Reminders for appointments, payment due Notifications of shipment arrivals etc. Account activations General enquiries Although the message are automated, the info can still be customized and personalized to fit the needs of your consumers. Providing info to customers proactively helps to create loyalty and a positive experience. The easier you can make a customer’s life, the better. Which is one of the reasons why companies have begun to use Interactive Voice Response for things like reminding a customer to refill their prescription or top up their airtime. You can take it even further by providing customers with direct assistance after your call to action. For example: remind the consumer that their airtime is low and then give them the option to top it up on the spot by directing the call to the sales department. This will, of course, help you to create more revenue while keeping your customers happy at the same time. Tip for using...
by anton | May 19, 2014 |
Number Scrubbing in general refers to the process of amending or removing data from a database that is incorrect, incomplete, improperly formatted, or duplicated. But what does this have to do with your business? You probably have accumulated a long list of telephone numbers over the years from your customers. However, people regularly change their phone numbers or switch from a landline to a cell phone. Also, you will always have a small percentage of numbers that were recorded incorrectly. Or you might even sit with a list of numbers that have opted out of your mobile marketing, but it still has to be removed. Without knowing it, your contact list, which you have worked so hard on, might not be so golden anymore. You could be thinking that it is not that big of a deal and you don’t need a program for Number Scrubbing, but did you know that you lose resources every time you send marketing messages to non-existing numbers? Sure you can hire extra help to painstakingly go through your contact list once a month. But it takes loads of time to accomplish this. Not to mention that you will have to pay someone (or even a team) to get it done. What can Number amount of time and can be less costly than fixing errors manually. If you don’t have your finger on the pulse of your business’s contact base, your marketing won’t be nearly as effective as you want it to be. Don’t let your weeks of toiling and planning campaigns go down the drain because you aren’t reaching your customers. And certainly...
by anton | May 16, 2014 |
Airtime vouchers will give you the opportunity to build relationships with your customers, provide insight it comes to your customers – no matter their age, gender or income. Airtime vouchers will add value to their lives in a way that is creative, fun or informative. You can actively keep track of the redemption of your vouchers. This won’t only provide insight into consumer behaviour, but also improve the quality of your efforts because you will be able to identify every marketing effort’s return on investment. Blockbuster UK has adopted the mobile voucher redemption solution across all its 630 stores. In the words Bryn Owen, Head of Marketing for Blockbuster UK, it makes better business sense to use mobile phones as the medium to issue promotional vouchers, rather than the paper alternative. “Since launching the customer loyalty scheme we have seen over 250,000 vouchers redeemed, providing us with a vast amount of data that is used effectively to target our customers with offers that will be specifically interesting and useful to the individual.” Airtime vouchers are clearly the next big...
by anton | May 14, 2014 |
You don’t have to choose between doing SMS marketing and having a website. In fact, you should combine the two to create a powerful presence for your brand. Mobile websites are cost-effective to build and maintain. They work on most phones so you don’t have to build a different version for iPhones, Smartphones, Blackberry etc. Text message marketing is great for the same reasons as well – plus everyone knows how to send and receive texts and it is a form of direct marketing. But combine the two and you can have the best of both worlds. Use a mobile web site to gather more info from your SMS marketing database. Thus, instead of the customer only sending you a shortcode and their phone number, direct them to an online application form they can fill out to provide you with quality data for your marketing purposes. Use your mobile website to enhance your mobile marketing. A text might be limited to 160 characters, but you can provide a link in your text to your mobile webpage. This way you can provide your customers with info on your mobile website that would otherwise be too much or too big to send. For example images, registration pages, schedules etc. Your SMS marketing can lure and introduce customers to your mobile website. Because a mobile site is often a skinnier version of your company’s site, it might not generate as much traffic as the latter. Text campaigns can be handy to create awareness. Remember that the way to a customer’s heart is through incentives, so don’t forget to make the visit to...
