A few months’ back I participated in the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce Social Media Panel. There was a good series of discussions in this wide-ranging panel for mostly new-to-social-media business owners.

You can watch a series of mini-webisodes drawn from the session here:

http://bit.ly/socialmediavideos

I am listening to an advertorial from the marketing guy from HipCricket.

Now it’s getting interesting… the best stats I’ve heard to-date that should compell a small, local merchant to dive into mobile marketing:

• 73% of consumers want to receive mobile coupons, says The Yankee Group
• 9M households (1 in 12) have already received a mobile coupon
• Ten fold increase in mobile coupons in 2010 from 2009

Today’s paper coupon challenges: delivering paper, higher cost, conversion, and convenience (they’re forgotten at home!)

What is a Mobile Coupon? Offers received on a mobile phone, used for discounts, but it’s convenient and green.

Different types of mobile coupons – bluetooth, bar codes, texting.

Text Mobile Coupons > widest reach.

What works best? Discounts, buy one get one… answer: Depends. Different customers, different time frames for what they want…

Problems with bar codes are many, 12-18 months away from higher adoption: quality of campera phone, download a reader, screen distortion, accessing at POS must be instant, hardware investment. If you want reach, use SMS as the place to start.

Drivers of mobile coupons > higher SMS data plans – 61% of consumers have a data plan.

Web widget should say: Text me a Coupon

Redemption > Lots of ways to do redemption with real concerns about handing phone over to clerk. Could use alphanumeric codes.

Ten fold increase in mobile coupons in 2010 from 2009

Coffee Bean Case Study: “Bean” keyword in radio spots for a new product.

Jiffu Lube has $5 off coupon. People who came in, 50% were NEW customers. Best in the past was 20% new customers.

Belle Tire Advantage – capture email and market to monthly basis. Offers and fun contests for “Super Fans.”

55% who heard radio spot and offer of $20 coupon opted to receive the coupon.

77% opted-in to Mobile Advantage Club vs. 35-50% in email campaigns. The difference is “ease of use.” Redemption success due to alphanumeric redemption codes.

Future plans > mobile surveys, reminders, and rewards to Super Fans

Key learning is to use different mediums compliment each other: Use rewards and surveys to keep growing the list

I’m live blogging the keynote at CTIA given by Ralph de La Vega.

Very impressive statistics from Mr. De La Vega.

He starts off: U.S. is leading the way in innovation:

• Monitoring heart arythmias
• Blood alcohol tests monitored and submitted
• GPS to track vans, chart emissions, monitor tire pressure

U.S. is “clear” leader, 117G, 18% of world’s subscribers and 1/3 of advanced broadband #s.

# of Wifi hotspots tripled worldwide, U.S. has more than 2X nearest country, China.

56% of U.S. subscribers have connected to wifi.

Carriers spending $45Bn in infrastructure in 2010; $23BN of it is purely wireless.

Lead all countries in smartphones, 2X next nearest country, China, maintained through 2013 with 28% CAGR.

53M units sold in U.S.

And “most important market in world” according to Strategy Analytics.

1.2BN apps downloaded in U.S., 1BN downloaded in Japan!

Enabled devices U.S. leadership, 86M emerging devices connected by 2014, up 10X from 2008.

$39Bn emerging device retail sales in U.S. in 2014.

U.S. has highest % of mobile workers, expected to be 75% by 2013 with 20% annually spend through 2012.

I’ll be interviewed by Anita Campbell LIVE next Tuesday morning on Blog Talk Radio.

Topic: Text Message Marketing: 20x Return on Investment
Move over Facebook. So long Twitter. 2010 belongs to mobile marketing for the savvy small business owner. Paul Rosenfeld, CEO of Fanminder (http://www.fanminder.com), explains why text message marketing, in particular, is poised to be your next “must-have” tool to grow your business  – and he’ll explain exactly how you can take easy steps to drive immediate revenues for your business.

When: Tuesday, January 12th, 10:30 PST, 1:30 EST

Where: Just log in to: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smallbiztrends

We’re very excited to be hosting our first-ever webinar on mobile marketing with Intuit. They’ve graciously invited us to perform in front of their vast community of members and we can’t wait to dazzle ‘em.

But you don’t need to be an Intuit customer to register:

Sign-up here

Date: Wednesday, August 26th

Time: 1pm PDT

Place: Webex Hosted (see sign-up)

This webinar is designed for the small business owner who is interested in learning why mobile marketing is a must-do for his/her business and how precisely, to get started doing it.

This webinar is ideally suited for small, local businesses such as:

• General merchandise retailers, gift shops, and clothing stores
• Restaurants, cafes, bars, and nightclubs
• Personal services firms such as day spas, beauty salons, and yoga and martial arts studios
• Professional services such as doctors, dentists, optometrists, and chiropractor’s offices

In the webinar you’ll learn:

• About the explosive growth of mobile technologies among consumers and businesses
• Why big businesses are doing it – and small businesses aren’t
• What are the benefits to your business of mobile marketing
• Exactly how to get started with text messaging, the most popular of mobile applications

We hope to see you there!