During Super Bowl XLVII, watched by 109 million viewers, the NFL prompted fans to text MVP to 55171 to vote for the most valuable player. Somewhat surprisingly, fans couldn’t vote solely by text, as they can with SimpleTexting’s Text-2-Vote feature. Instead, those who texted in were directed to the NFL’s website, where participants could then log their vote. 

Text-2-Vote campaigns are particularly popular in major sports–the NBA recently had fans vote for the All-Star team via SMS. Unlike the NFL’s campaign, the NBA allowed fans to vote directly via text by sending their favorite player’s name to 69622 (MYNBA).

Joe Flacco won the Super Bowl MVP, though some fans thought the award should have gone to Beyoncé and/or the power outage.

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SimpleTexting is psyched to announce the arrival of our most affordable pricing plans yet! Text message marketing just got a lot cheaper. Like pennies in your pocket cheap. 

Here’s a summary of the new changes:
• Free-for-Life users now get 50 messages a month and 1 keyword.
• New paid pricing plans: Unlimited Subscribers and Unlimited Messages.
• Unlimited Subscribers: $10 for your first 200 texts, just 1¢ per text after that.
• Unlimited Messages: $10 for your first 100 subscribers, affordable rates after.
• Unlimited Keywords for all paid plans.

Check out our new Pricing page to see the full details.

We’re especially excited about these updates because they make SimpleTexting the most affordable text marketing provider in the industry. Not bad, eh?

If you’d like to upgrade to a paid plan, but aren’t sure which plans fits your needs for the lowest price, use our calculator at SimpleTexting Pricing.

To upgrade to a paid plan, log in to your account and click “Change Billing Plan” on the left sidebar.

Photo courtesy of puuikibeach. 

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Look out, Instagram: Flickr is gunning for you. The popular image-host has a new smartphone app, and they’re delivering it in a simple way: text message.

Flickr, seeking to capitalize on Instagram’s recent Terms of Service scandal which reportedly caused 25% of daily users to jump ship, has been aggressively pushing their own photo-sharing app. In an innovative use of SMS marketing, they’re sending download links for the smartphone app via text message.

If you visit Flickr’s home page, you’ll see one big button: Send to My iPhone. Click it, and you’ll be prompted to enter your number. Soon, you’ll get a text:

Flickr for iPhone: to get started, select http://bit.ly/TMCxNm

That’s an active link to the Flickr app within the iPhone’s App Store. Opened on an iPhone, it immediately gets you 1 click away from downloading their app.

It’s an ingenious use of mobile marketing; rather than having to open the App Store, click search, type Flickr, and select the right app, Flickr has streamlined the process to be as simple as possible for the consumer: enter your number and click the link.

SimpleTexting’s platform automatically turns long URLs into tiny bit.ly links, like the one Flickr uses. Linking to your website, app, or other downloadable content via text message is an effective way to get your product to the consumer immediately.

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Happy New Year from SimpleTexting!

Like millions around the world, you probably rang in the new year with friends, family, a bit of bubbly, and… text messages?

That’s right: New Years Eve was the busiest night for texting–ever!  Sprint even reinforced their network in preparation for a 200% increase in traffic!

A nifty survey on smartphones and New Years found that 70% of American users planned on texting their friends on family as they celebrated 2013, more than any other activity on their phone. Just 64% planned on calling, and 38% said they’d use their phones’ clock to countdown the new year.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, I’m pretty sure we’d still remember to text.

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This year, NBA fans are using text messages to send their favorite players to the All-Star Game in Houston, Texas.

Fans participate by texting a players last name to the shortcode 69622 (MYNBA). Fans can vote via SMS up to 10 times a day until balloting closes on January 14. The All-Star Game is slated for February 17, when superstars from the Eastern Conference, including Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Carmelo Anthony, will face off against the best from the West, among them Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, and Dwight Howard.

NBA All-Star voting has come a long way in recent years, pushing digital formats over antiquated paper ballots. Sportswriter Henry Abbot recalls the old days:

And yet I can still remember clearly a time when voting for All-Stars was like voting for your government: limited to very select times and places and riddled with hanging chads. At NBA games, in the right part of the season, they would hand out precious paper ballots. That was pretty much the only way you could get one.

Fans can also vote by mail, online, and, for the first time, on Facebook and Twitter.

SimpleTexting features Text-2-Vote polling, one many interactive SMS apps that come standard for all users.

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Not so fast. A new study reveals more than 1 in 4 pedestrians crossing busy streets are distracted by their mobile device. The study concluded that “Technological and social distractions increase crossing times, with text messaging associated with the highest risk.” Texting pedestrians took almost 2 seconds longer to cross the street, and were 4 times more likely to forget first-grade traffic lessons, like looking both ways or waiting for the light.

While traffic-related deaths are reaching all-time lows, pedestrian deaths are on the rise nationwide. Handheld digital distractions may explain this fatal trend. Researchers advocate parents teach their children safe habits: “Parents should tell their children to put down their cellphones while walking,” offered Jack Nasar. “[And they] should model and follow their own advice.”

We know its nearly impossible to resist reading that new text, but keep it out of the streets and stick to the sidewalk.

Photo courtesy of Conor Lawless

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The top 4 carriers (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile, who together cover 90% of cell users) have committed to release the feature as soon as possible, with limited deployments in 2013 and full capabilities by May 15, 2014. In the interim, users who text 911 will receive a bounce-back message advising them to call 911 instead.

“Access to 911 must catch up with how consumers communicate in the 21st century,” said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. The chairman announced plans for the initiative in 2007, after students in the Virginia Tech shootings attempted to text 911 for help.

“Over 30 million Americans with speech or hearing disabilities are not able to call 911 during an emergency,” stated the the Nation Emergency Number Association’s spokesperson. “It’s also valuable in hostage and domestic abuse situations.”

The FCC notes that while texting 911 may soon be a reality, it’s always preferable to call when possible.

 Photo courtesy of in-obt.

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The ruling confirmed the legality of sending a confirmation message to recipients who opt-out of an SMS campaign. Opt-out confirmations, an industry best practice advocated by the Mobile Marketing Association, were a legal ambiguity until now; in 2011 Barclay’s paid an $8 million settlement after allegations that it had violated the TCPA by sending opt-out confirmations.

The FCC was reportedly eager to make the ruling, having received complaints from consumers who failed to get an opt-out confirmation. The Mobile Marketing Association, who supported the petition for clarification, hailed the ruling as a victory. “When we originally issued the messaging guidelines, we felt strongly that a confirmatory stop message was vital to preserving consumer preference and protecting the relationship between a brand and customer,” stated the MMA in a letter to members.

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“Merry Christmas”

That familiar holiday greeting was the first text message ever sent, exactly 20 years ago today on December 3, 1992. The sender: then-22-year-old Neil Papworth, software engineer at Vodafone, who sent the inaugural text to Richard Jarvis, his managing director, who was at a Christmas party.

But it wasn’t until 1999, when texts could first be sent and received between networks, that the new medium really caught fire. Just 3 years later, in 2002, over 250 billion texts had already been sent worldwide. Today, Americans alone send over 2 trillion texts a year, and 4 out 5 cell-owners text regularly.

Papworth revealed in a recent interview that no one foresaw the ubiquitous adoption of SMS. “Back then, it was just intended to be used like an executive pager, to get a hold of people on the road,” he said. “No one knew it would evolve into such a monster.”

A senior analyst at Informa Telecoms reflected on what led to the texting-boom: “The characteristics that made SMS an essential mobile communications service [were] that it was inexpensive, universally available on devices and from mobile operators, and interoperable.” The benefits of SMS are as relevant today as they ever were, explaining the massive popularity of the medium still enjoys.

Happy birthday, text message. And many more.

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Yet another big brand is getting hit with a multi-million dollar class action lawsuit after sending unsolicited text messages.

Steve Madden Ltd., footwear giant, has put up a $10 million settlement to resolve the lawsuit. Allegedly, between July 2010 and September 2012, 203,254 people were sent text message advertisements promoting Steve Madden footwear, fashion products, and promotional events.

If you received such a text from the shortcode 91919 or 623336, you may be included in the settlement and eligible for a payment of up to $150 ($10 mil only goes so far among 200,000 people).

For more information, check out www.MaddenTextSettlement.com.

Here’s one of the texts sent:

Hello from Steve Madden! Good news! We are offering free shipping on all orders on our website. Ship, ship, hooray!
Use code HOLYSHIP at checkout. Shop right from your phone!: http://bit.ly/SMFreeShip

Pretty good marketing text, if only it weren’t illegal.

The case will be decided at the Final Fairness Hearing on February 25, 2013. Until then, we’ll be waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

Photo courtesy of J. Ronald Lee.

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