Last year, over 4 trillion SMS text messages were sent.
There are 4 billion stars in the unverse.
So the next time you're wondering if SMS text messaging is a marketing tool that you should be using, look up to the sky. It's clear that SMS marketing works, and your fans are comfortable - excited, really - to get a text from you.
And, when the text leads them to a rich experience, so much better!
2011-12-16
2011-12-05
Forbes Article that gets it
http://www.forbes.com/sites/marketshare/2011/11/29/music-to-our-ears/
If listening to music these days seems a bit different than it did during the days of radio disc jockeys, that’s because it is. What’s different? The user is now in charge. The transition from CDs to digital files coupled with the rise of social networking has transformed the music business from a push economy to a user-curated, pull economy.
This is a fundamental change.
The rest of this excellent article can be read at the link. Power to the People!
2011-11-28
Adva Mobile Crowdfunding - The Last Week
Here is the first screenshot we took when the Adva Mobile Crowdfunding Campaign began, and here's one today. We started this 31 days ago and in that time 34 people (and counting!) have donated almost $5,000 - incredible! It's been a wonderful experience seeing our friends, family and business colleagues so thoughtful, helpful and interested in the success of Adva Mobile. Of course, thanks so much to everyone who contributed, and those of you who wanted to but couldn't.
There are four days left, so it's a big push this week to make our goal. We're at http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Adva-Mobile-Campaign so if you're inclined to help out, great! Every contribution helps.
We'll write more about he experience as we wrap up the Campaign, but overall, it's encouraging to see that Crowdfunding can be a financing tool for commercial enterprises such as Adva Mobile. The use of Crowdfunding for creative endeavors is well documented, so it was an experiment to see if it could be used to help small businesses. Really glad to see that it can.
2011-11-18
New Perk for Bands Added to our Crowdfunding Campaign - Android App
2011-11-16
Crowdfunding Help from our Friends at Hypebot
Our friends at Hypebot wrote a nice article summarizing our Crowdfunding Campaign.
Here's the text:
Adva Mobile was featured on Hypebot in August for their free mobile websites for musicians. Now they're back with a crowdfunding campaign to help them bring the design aspects of their mobile portal and individual mobile sites up to the level of their backend and address what CEO Jack Kelly calls the problem of having a "Ferrari engine in a Chevy body."
When I spoke with Jack Kelly about Adva Mobile's services, I was impressed with what they offered and their general perspective on how such services should be managed.
The basic mobile website and service is free and they've come a long way as a small, self-funded business but they've hit a financial hump and are seeking help through a crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo:
"We built our first version in 2008 and over 1,400 bands have found us and signed up. We give artists everything they need to take advantage of mobile – phone friendly web sites, Apps, text messaging, downloads, tour dates, and a storefront to sell stuff to their fans. Most of the bands choose our free service."
"Lately though, they're telling us that their mobile site is not cool and our web site dashboard to manage their mobile campaigns is dated – thus, they are reluctant to use it. Some of our partner opportunities are turned off because the portal looks so old, and one has refused to partner with us until we display current design standards.... So we need to fix that."
"As long as we're working with a design expert, we would also have him design new mobile web templates for our free and paid subscribers...For artists that choose our free service, even they should have a design that is current and modern."
So check out the campaign and rewards and see if Adva Mobile is a business you'd like to support!
Hypebot contributor Clyde Smith maintains his freelance writing hub at Flux Research and blogs at All World Dance and This Business of Blogging. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
You can read the article on Hypebot at
http://bit.ly/v3S4l8
2011-11-11
Crowdfunding Update Nov 11
We're at the end of our second week of our Crowdfunding Campaign and it's been quite a ride! Twenty Five (!!!) of our friends and business associates have connected with our mission and already we've raised over $1,800 - 27% of our goal. From what I'm reading about Crowdfunding, there's a big push towards the end of the campaign, so we're still very hopeful and encouraged that we'll meet our goal.
Two things have really struck me about this campaign. First, every time a new contribution come in, we get an email and it's been a very warm, enjoyable experience to see who has contributed. These early contributions are mostly from friends who share our passion for Adva Mobile and helping both the business succeed and helping Artists use mobile to further their careers.
Second, the sheer volume of work to run this campaign! I'd read, during the research before I started, that making it successful was a full time job. You have no idea. While some people contributed upon receiving our first email, the truth is, many donors will need multiple "touches" before they take action, and it's this effort that's time consuming. Of course, it's fun to reach out to our network and let them know what's going on - and there are a lot of networks! Email lists, Linked In, Facebook, Bands, the blog community - and each need a different message, and contributors need a different update. So it's fun, but work - on top of Adva Mobile work! No problem, since it's important. Please help make it happen - contribute at http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Adva-Mobile-Campaign.
Two things have really struck me about this campaign. First, every time a new contribution come in, we get an email and it's been a very warm, enjoyable experience to see who has contributed. These early contributions are mostly from friends who share our passion for Adva Mobile and helping both the business succeed and helping Artists use mobile to further their careers.
Second, the sheer volume of work to run this campaign! I'd read, during the research before I started, that making it successful was a full time job. You have no idea. While some people contributed upon receiving our first email, the truth is, many donors will need multiple "touches" before they take action, and it's this effort that's time consuming. Of course, it's fun to reach out to our network and let them know what's going on - and there are a lot of networks! Email lists, Linked In, Facebook, Bands, the blog community - and each need a different message, and contributors need a different update. So it's fun, but work - on top of Adva Mobile work! No problem, since it's important. Please help make it happen - contribute at http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Adva-Mobile-Campaign.
2011-11-08
Finding our Design Partner
We’ve been in contact with a design pro from Rio de Janeiro that we really like, who could do a fantastic job for us. The talent we’re looking for is special, and it’s also global. We’re also talking to design pro’s from New Hampshire, Argentina and India. Very exciting for us to realize that, with your help, we can solve this problem and help bands use mobile to reach and engage their fans.
2011-11-02
Adva Mobile Crowdfunding - Our First Milestone!
We’ve reached a milestone – $1,000 raised in our first week!!! Thank you to everyone who has contributed, it means so much to all of us on the Adva Mobile Team who are passionate about making this happen and helping bands and recording Artists take advantage of everything mobile has to offer. We’re excited about our progress and the comments from our friends who have made contributions are warmly received.
The Artists that use our service really appreciate what we’re providing to them. They know that mobile is the future, they need to get into mobile now, and we provide them a platform for them to take advantage of everything mobile has to offer. We communicate with many of them, especially in the beginning when we’re setting them up. It’s especially rewarding to get emails back like this one:
I’m going to start with YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!!! I love what your company does and you’ve just taken customer service to a whole new level!
Mobile can help Artists by providing a whole new revenue stream. It’s great to be leading a movement that can change an industry.
The Artists that use our service really appreciate what we’re providing to them. They know that mobile is the future, they need to get into mobile now, and we provide them a platform for them to take advantage of everything mobile has to offer. We communicate with many of them, especially in the beginning when we’re setting them up. It’s especially rewarding to get emails back like this one:
I’m going to start with YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!!! I love what your company does and you’ve just taken customer service to a whole new level!
Mobile can help Artists by providing a whole new revenue stream. It’s great to be leading a movement that can change an industry.
2011-10-31
5 Days on IndieGoGo - What we've learned
1. Just because it’s online doesn’t mean that it’s easy
The success that some have found on the Internet often convinces many of us that achieving success online is easy, that all it takes is a halfhearted post into cyberspace and within 24 hours the post makes front page news. Well, after weeks of planning and preparation, and consecutive full time days working at this, I’m willing to go out on a limb to suggest that this is not the case!
2. Never underestimate the generosity of friends and family
We I have been blown away with the support we’ve received from our family and friends. We believe very strongly in our cause and project and are are grateful that others believe in it too.
3. Sharing is caring
One of the more difficult aspects of online fundraising is reaching people outside of your friends and family network. Pleading your case to strangers isn't effective. Conversely, when someone that supports your cause shares your project it speaks volumes about both the relevance of your project and that person’s belief in you to deliver.
4. Be thankful
We want to thank everyone who has gone out of their way so far to back and share our project. Your support means more than you could ever imagine. We’re early into our campaign and recognize there is still a lot of hard work ahead of us. However, we’re looking forward to the challenge, and to working even harder over the next 30 days to reach our fundraising goal. We’ll keep you updated in the weeks to come. Thank you so much!
2011-10-26
We Need Your Help - Adva Mobile Goes Crowdfunding
Since we launched in early 2009, we've grown to over 1,400 bands that recognize the value of the service we are providing. It's going great, however these bands and new partner prospects are telling us that our Mobile Web designs and Portal user interface, while delivering compelling capabilities, are not modern and cool and is, in fact, lame and old. We need to fix this, and are going to raise the money to get you Artists new mobile designs that are sleek and modern (even for free users of our service) and a better user interface to manage mobile fans, assets and campaigns.
There are more details about our campaign on our IndieGoGo page at http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Adva-Mobile-Campaign but we are going to raise $6500 through many small donations from friends, business interests, and Artists such as yourselves to redesign the user interface of our Artist Portal and new mobile web templates for your sites. For Artists, there are terrific rewards should you contribute, including big discounts on our premium services. I hope you have the time to look at our program and contribute to our success. Every contribution helps. Thank You.
2011-10-17
Conversations with John Taglieri
John Taglieri has created a profitable livelihood with his music, playing 200 shows a year and getting ready to record his tenth studio album. He's local, so we had a chance to sit down over lunch and talk about making music, making money, and the role mobile can play in his career.
Tag loves making music, but he truly is a performer. He's making a very good living, and it's 95% from live shows and 5% from music sales. He thinks that, of all the Artists out there making music, only about 6 percent are able to make a living at it, so he's in rare company. He was able to create this lifestyle for himself because he was willing to do whatever his agent asked him to do, Play a show in Georgia on Friday night and Syracuse on Saturday night - he'd do it. His fans - we'll get to that - know that they are going to have a good time when they go to his shows.
Tag knows his fans. He likes Reverbnation for the fan details he gets from them, and he's active on Facebook. He believes he has 1,500 - 2,000 "True Fans" - fans that show up when he's in town, buy his tickets, music and merch. He's also a big fan of download cards - he goes through about 5,000 cards every 6 months. And they work for him - last year, he gave out about 11,000 cards and got 4,400 hits. We're going to promote his mobile site on the next run of download cards.
Tag runs his operation like a business. Each year, he starts with a plan. In 2012, he'll be in the studio in January recording his tenth CD, and release it in March. From April through August, he'll promote the new material with a well thought out plan to offer the CDS, singles, and various packages of current and past music, including "best of" and full catalog products. One product will be a 50 track compilation. He'll tour on his own - acoustic shows, with the Joe Bachman band, and with his band. It's all planned out.
We talked a lot about mobile. He thinks mobile is the future, and he's always looking ahead. He knows that it's better to get into mobile now, at the front, so he's "there" when his fans want to connect with him on mobile. We talked about how to get fans to connect with him on mobile and he thinks the Artist has to tell his his fans how to connect with him on mobile and guide them to use new technology. "It's like American Idol - they told viewers to vote, how to vote, this is how it's done. Now, 80 million people vote on American Idol." If you run it like a business, it looks like the science of selling. It takes 10 touches to make a sale, so you have to keep at it. Give your fans a good product (music) and good customer service and you'll make the sale.
It was a treat to talk to a music pro who understands the hard work neccessary to make a career out of music, a forward thinker who sees that new mobile technology can help him grow fan loyalty and grow his sales. We'll be working with Tag throughout 2012 to create mobile marketing campaigns that complement his marketing activities. All part of the plan. You can check out his mobile site on your phone at www.adva.us/tag, and by texting gettag to 88704 on your phone.
2011-09-26
Are Text Messages Part of Your Music Marketing?
Some artists and music marketers shy away from mobile text messaging to engage fans because, done improperly, it can be intrusive and not as cost effective as virtually free email and social media. But they are making a big mistake, particularly if a portion of the audience is under 35. The average 25 to 34 year old texts 20+ times every day and 18 to 34 year olds text a whopping 55 times daily, according to a Pew Study. THE CHART:
This blog originally showed up in Bruce Houghton's Hypebot.
From the comments on the blog, there's a lot of confusion about text messages. There's a big concern about spam. The carriers are very strict about this ... you can only send texts after the fan has opted in, so they are telling you they want to get texts from fans.
2011-09-13
Adva Mobile Partners with The Orchard
The Orchard, a full service marketing and distribution company, has launched the Marketplace, a new service for its clients to access great third-party apps, including Adva Mobile. We're excited to be part of the Orchard Marketplace alongside other great companies building products that help it's clients connect with fans.
The Orchard launch is a global event, begun Monday in San Francisco, Tuesday in Los Angeles and continuing next week in New York, Nashville, Paris, London, Hamburg, Madrid and Barcelona. Adva Mobile will join the New York launch event on the 20th.
The Adva Mobile / Orchard partnership helps Adva Mobile expose our mobile marketing plaform to over 20,000 labels and distribution partners worldwide, companies very interested in taking advantage of the latest mobile technologies to help their artists acquire, engage and sell to their fans. We'll continue to improve the Orchard integration with new features and capabilities.
You can read the Orchard Marketplace Launch Press Release here.
The Orchard launch is a global event, begun Monday in San Francisco, Tuesday in Los Angeles and continuing next week in New York, Nashville, Paris, London, Hamburg, Madrid and Barcelona. Adva Mobile will join the New York launch event on the 20th.
The Adva Mobile / Orchard partnership helps Adva Mobile expose our mobile marketing plaform to over 20,000 labels and distribution partners worldwide, companies very interested in taking advantage of the latest mobile technologies to help their artists acquire, engage and sell to their fans. We'll continue to improve the Orchard integration with new features and capabilities.
You can read the Orchard Marketplace Launch Press Release here.
2011-08-25
Adva Mobile Reviewed in Let's Talk Digital
The on-demand segment for Mr. Shadeeds broadcast introducing the benefits of Adva Mobile on Let’s Talk Digital is now available for your viewing pleasure.
Adva Mobile enables an all-in-one mobile solution that enables direct-to-fan promotions, exclusive content giveaways, mobile pages and more.In this segment of Let's Talk Digital, Shadeed Eleazer discusses new direct-to-fan mobile platform, Adva Mobile, and its impact on the entertainment industry. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqEpPFv1rNg&feature=youtu.be
GO DIGITAL OR GO HOME, The Online Home of Shadeed Eleazer, is at http://www.mrshadeed.com/
Adva Mobile enables an all-in-one mobile solution that enables direct-to-fan promotions, exclusive content giveaways, mobile pages and more.In this segment of Let's Talk Digital, Shadeed Eleazer discusses new direct-to-fan mobile platform, Adva Mobile, and its impact on the entertainment industry. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqEpPFv1rNg&feature=youtu.be
GO DIGITAL OR GO HOME, The Online Home of Shadeed Eleazer, is at http://www.mrshadeed.com/
2011-08-07
Hypebot Article About Adva Mobile Get's It Right
There was a nice article on Hypebot last Friday (8/5/11) and Clyde Smith from Flux Research, who reviewed the site and interviewed me, got it right. Here's his post, and you can get to the Hypebot Article at http://bit.ly/advahypebot where there are some spirited comments!
Adva Mobile Offers Free Mobile Websites Designed for Musicians
Adva Mobile focuses on mobile websites for musicians. The basic service is free and the sites are dubbed "Mobile Fan Clubs" though you don't have to think of them as fan clubs per se. However, they are designed to build mobile contact lists, meet the needs of fans on as wide a variety of phones as possible and to monetize that activity.
I recently spoke with Adva Mobile's CEO Jack Kelly who shared their perspective on a number of aspects of musicians' mobile needs as well as future development plans for the service.
Currently Adva Mobile offers tiered pricing with a basic free account that allows you to evaluate the service for yourself. When you join, you can provide your MySpace account info and they'll automatically fill in some of the sections of the site to help you get started. They're currently working on a similar integration with The Orchard and they also offer tour updates from Artist Data and Jambase.
The sections of the sites are organized by templates with such features as gig schedules and ticket sales as well as a merch store. Sales are conducted via PayPal and artists provide their own fulfillment though digital downloads can be managed in conjunction with Bandcamp. However, they intend to develop their own digital fulfillment service.
Adva Mobile encourages artists to get fans to register via SMS which allows them to collect contact information for future text messages with band news. Some musicians are doing things like telling audiences in concert that the song they just played is available free if they send a text message to join the club. Kelly says they've gotten up to a 20% response during concerts for that call to action.
They do discourage overuse of text messaging but point out that such registration allows for building a contact list whereas downloads of native apps don't provide that information just as QR codes don't provide analytics. However, they will create native apps for bands that feel they're necessary which are then updated when you update your mobile site.
We covered more than I can jam into this post but I think it's a solid service that, according to Kelly, currently has around 1280 bands on board. He also points out that smartphones are still in the minority of mobile phones and that mobile websites such as Adva Mobile provides can reach a much broader range of fans including those with the simplest of mobile web access.
If you're in need of a basic mobile site for your band, I would definitely recommend checking out Adva Mobile's services. Even if you have native apps in the works, it's ideal to also have a mobile website to reach as many fans as possible.
Hypebot contributor Clyde Smith is a freelance writer and blogger. Flux Research is his business writing hub and All World Dance: World Dance News is his primary web project. To suggest websites and related topics for review, please contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
Adva Mobile Offers Free Mobile Websites Designed for Musicians
Adva Mobile focuses on mobile websites for musicians. The basic service is free and the sites are dubbed "Mobile Fan Clubs" though you don't have to think of them as fan clubs per se. However, they are designed to build mobile contact lists, meet the needs of fans on as wide a variety of phones as possible and to monetize that activity.
I recently spoke with Adva Mobile's CEO Jack Kelly who shared their perspective on a number of aspects of musicians' mobile needs as well as future development plans for the service.
Currently Adva Mobile offers tiered pricing with a basic free account that allows you to evaluate the service for yourself. When you join, you can provide your MySpace account info and they'll automatically fill in some of the sections of the site to help you get started. They're currently working on a similar integration with The Orchard and they also offer tour updates from Artist Data and Jambase.
The sections of the sites are organized by templates with such features as gig schedules and ticket sales as well as a merch store. Sales are conducted via PayPal and artists provide their own fulfillment though digital downloads can be managed in conjunction with Bandcamp. However, they intend to develop their own digital fulfillment service.
Adva Mobile encourages artists to get fans to register via SMS which allows them to collect contact information for future text messages with band news. Some musicians are doing things like telling audiences in concert that the song they just played is available free if they send a text message to join the club. Kelly says they've gotten up to a 20% response during concerts for that call to action.
They do discourage overuse of text messaging but point out that such registration allows for building a contact list whereas downloads of native apps don't provide that information just as QR codes don't provide analytics. However, they will create native apps for bands that feel they're necessary which are then updated when you update your mobile site.
We covered more than I can jam into this post but I think it's a solid service that, according to Kelly, currently has around 1280 bands on board. He also points out that smartphones are still in the minority of mobile phones and that mobile websites such as Adva Mobile provides can reach a much broader range of fans including those with the simplest of mobile web access.
If you're in need of a basic mobile site for your band, I would definitely recommend checking out Adva Mobile's services. Even if you have native apps in the works, it's ideal to also have a mobile website to reach as many fans as possible.
Hypebot contributor Clyde Smith is a freelance writer and blogger. Flux Research is his business writing hub and All World Dance: World Dance News is his primary web project. To suggest websites and related topics for review, please contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
2011-07-11
People don't buy what you do they buy why you do it.
I'm watching this really insightful presentation by Simon Sinek (here) about how to motivate people to buy your product. It's especially interesting because here at Adva Mobile we do mobile marketing for musicians, with mobile web sites, Apps, storefronts, text campaigns, etc. We tell you that all the time. We tell you what we do. Hey, we're technologists.
We don't tell you why we do it. We believe that mobile can be the center of the universe for a new successful business model for music. We think everything you do today to connect with fans, tell them where you're playing, how to buy tickets, how to find your music, buy your music, tell their friends about you, .... everything is better and easier on mobile. You thought you needed to be on MySpace? Where did that get you? Heck, PC's are going away. Mobile is not going away. Everything you are trying to do as a musician except make great music can be done on mobile better than any other service or system out there.
There is this cool concept called "The Law of Diffusion of Innovation." Here's what it looks like:
The key to this chart is that the "Early Majority", where innovative ideas (like Adva Mobile) take off, can't occur until you have attracted the Innovators and Early Adopters. And to get them (you) to try our innovation, we have to tell you why we're doing Adva Mobile, not what we do.
We really like the Innovators and Early Adopters. They want to be first. If you are the kind of person that believes mobile can create a whole new system for finding fans, sharing music, connecting with them and selling to them, boy do we have a product for you.
We don't tell you why we do it. We believe that mobile can be the center of the universe for a new successful business model for music. We think everything you do today to connect with fans, tell them where you're playing, how to buy tickets, how to find your music, buy your music, tell their friends about you, .... everything is better and easier on mobile. You thought you needed to be on MySpace? Where did that get you? Heck, PC's are going away. Mobile is not going away. Everything you are trying to do as a musician except make great music can be done on mobile better than any other service or system out there.
There is this cool concept called "The Law of Diffusion of Innovation." Here's what it looks like:
We really like the Innovators and Early Adopters. They want to be first. If you are the kind of person that believes mobile can create a whole new system for finding fans, sharing music, connecting with them and selling to them, boy do we have a product for you.
2011-06-08
Natalie Stovall's Blog Message
Natalie Stovall officially launched her mobile strategy yesterday with a simple blog telling fans she had a new mobile site and that fans can get a cool, free song if they texted in and joined.
Here's what she wrote:
News – Natalie Launches New Mobile Club
June 6th, 2011
We are excited to announce the launch of Natalie’s new mobile community. It was developed in partnership with our friends at Adva Mobile and over the months and years to come it will allow Natalie to communicate and interact with her fans in new and exciting ways.
All you have to do is text “GetFiddle” to 88704 and you will get:
-Access to Natalie blog and tour schedule right from your phone.
-Localized alerts when Natalie is playing in your area.
-The chance to participate in contests and offers that won’t be available anywhere else.
-And for a limited time you will be able to download a special live recording of her infamous “Fiddlepalooza Medley”
That’s right, the only medley where you can see a 5’2″ blond girl play everything from AC/DC to Michael Jackson on the fiddle in the same song, and it’s yours! All you have to do is text “GetFiddle” to 88704.
In less than 24 hours, more than 100 fan joined her mobile site.
She'll get many more fans when she tells them from the stage during shows, but it's great to see so many Natalie Srivall fans who want to stay connected with her on their phones. It's really the best way.
Here's what she wrote:
News – Natalie Launches New Mobile Club
June 6th, 2011
We are excited to announce the launch of Natalie’s new mobile community. It was developed in partnership with our friends at Adva Mobile and over the months and years to come it will allow Natalie to communicate and interact with her fans in new and exciting ways.
-Access to Natalie blog and tour schedule right from your phone.
-Localized alerts when Natalie is playing in your area.
-The chance to participate in contests and offers that won’t be available anywhere else.
-And for a limited time you will be able to download a special live recording of her infamous “Fiddlepalooza Medley”
That’s right, the only medley where you can see a 5’2″ blond girl play everything from AC/DC to Michael Jackson on the fiddle in the same song, and it’s yours! All you have to do is text “GetFiddle” to 88704.
In less than 24 hours, more than 100 fan joined her mobile site.
She'll get many more fans when she tells them from the stage during shows, but it's great to see so many Natalie Srivall fans who want to stay connected with her on their phones. It's really the best way.
2011-05-10
The Best Way to Connect With Your Fans
I read a lot about how bands should get email addresses because, well, it's the way to reach out to your fans, - About 25% of the people on our email list open and read the Newsletter
- That figure is HIGHER THEN THE AVERAGE for email marketing
So what's the best way for you to stay in touch with your fans? It's mobile.
- The "OPEN" rate for text messages approaches 100 percent, and since it's totally opt-in, your fans are likely to open a text from you 100% of the time.
- It's much easier to get your fans to sign up for your mobile text list than your email list - they text get
to 88704 and it's done. - They're always on their phones. Sure, they can read emails on their phones, but it's hard to get all the nice colors, pictures, etc. to show up on your mobile phone email app. A text that opens a mobile web page designed for their phone is a much better experience.
- Email has shown terrific growth over the past few years. Think spam has had anything to do with that? You collect e-mail addresses from your website widgets and merch table sign up sheets and launch database marketing campaigns only to find most of your messages are treated as junk mail, often ending up in spam folders.
- Text Messaging has more immediacy with mobile phone users than email, since emails are generally reviewed in batches, whereas SMS messages tend to be viewed as they arrive.
- There is a limit on the length of a text message – a limitation that tends to serve as an advantage. This limit allows mobile users to consume the message more quickly. We’ve learned that the attention span of users is getting smaller – they want ‘snacks’ vs. ‘meals’ when it comes to information (the same reason that Twitter has gained so much popularity)
- There are stricter guidelines that govern the distribution of SMS messages to consumers, and although they are merely guidelines, the Mobile Operators tend to enforce them. Therefore, mobile users can opt out of messages they don’t want to receive (thus filtering out unwanted messages more effectively). Opting out of emails can be more difficult and doesn’t always work – hence the success of Junk Mail filters.
2011-05-04
Your Mobile App Will Let You Down
Brands, including Recording Artists and Touring Bands, who take the time to consider their mobile strategy still struggle over whether a mobile website or a mobile app is the right way to go. If you have limited resources, you may wonder whether you really need to build both, and perhaps you are able to channel scarce resources into only one fully funded mobile project. Mobile Apps have historically been seen by web designers as the only way to provide a rich user experience of mobile. Add to that the countless partisan debates between those who want to sell you a mobile app and those who want to sell you a mobile site and it can be difficult to get to what it actually makes sense for bands to help them reach, engage and monetize their fans.
Here at Adva Mobile, we sell both Mobile Apps and Mobile Sites, so we don't have a position that clouds our passion. (We love mobile, so we love Apps!) However, there are compelling reasons why the strongest mobile strategy starts with a mobile website and uses it to build a fan base. Consider the following problems inherent with betting the farm on a Mobile App:
1. The most successful iPhone App which becomes viral enough to be passed around to every user on the platform, ultimately reaches only 7% of thev mobile market. Mobile websites have the potential to reach 100% of mobile web users.
2. There is a lot of buzz about Apps, and those who are looking to sell Apps have been successful propagating the myth that users prefer a mobile App experience. There's enough research out there that shows that most users in fact prefer a mobile website over Mobile Apps.
3. There are very few Apps that exist today that provide something beyond what a mobile website can do. Mobile browser technology is increasingly powerful, and there are many things a mobile website can do that they couldn't previously. For music artists, however, there's nothing about an App that can be duplicated in a mobile web experience, and with much greater reach and engagement.
Fan Unfriendly
4. The primary detraction of Apps for the Recording Artist or Touring Band is that Apps never let you know who your fans are. The mobile website can have a close relationship with inbound text services, including key words and short codes, and outbound text messaging that drives fans to a mobile website. Apps can't do this. These mobile marketing services allow you to capture information from opted-in fans that you can use to later market proactively to them and drive them to your mobile website. For artists committed to the direct-to-fan movement, this information is critical to building and maintaining your fan base, engaging them, marketing to them and selling them your music, merchandise, and show tickets.
5. The benefits of mobile websites for your mobile commerce strategy also overwhelm Apps. iPhone Apps seamlessly drive purchase interest to the iTunes Store, where - you guessed it - you cannot learn who you fans are and who is making these purchases. Mobile website storefronts deliver all of this information - and ALL of the revenue - to the Artist.
There is a segment of your fan base who prefer Mobile Apps and use them regularly. It is exactly for this reason that Adva Mobile offers inexpensive Apps that follow the brand of your Mobile Web and tie into your mobile marketing campaign strategy. All of the Artists using Adva Mobile services that are building their fan base use the Mobile Web to anchor their mobile strategy, and branch out to Apps from there.
Here at Adva Mobile, we sell both Mobile Apps and Mobile Sites, so we don't have a position that clouds our passion. (We love mobile, so we love Apps!) However, there are compelling reasons why the strongest mobile strategy starts with a mobile website and uses it to build a fan base. Consider the following problems inherent with betting the farm on a Mobile App:
1. The most successful iPhone App which becomes viral enough to be passed around to every user on the platform, ultimately reaches only 7% of thev mobile market. Mobile websites have the potential to reach 100% of mobile web users.
2. There is a lot of buzz about Apps, and those who are looking to sell Apps have been successful propagating the myth that users prefer a mobile App experience. There's enough research out there that shows that most users in fact prefer a mobile website over Mobile Apps.
3. There are very few Apps that exist today that provide something beyond what a mobile website can do. Mobile browser technology is increasingly powerful, and there are many things a mobile website can do that they couldn't previously. For music artists, however, there's nothing about an App that can be duplicated in a mobile web experience, and with much greater reach and engagement.
Fan Unfriendly
4. The primary detraction of Apps for the Recording Artist or Touring Band is that Apps never let you know who your fans are. The mobile website can have a close relationship with inbound text services, including key words and short codes, and outbound text messaging that drives fans to a mobile website. Apps can't do this. These mobile marketing services allow you to capture information from opted-in fans that you can use to later market proactively to them and drive them to your mobile website. For artists committed to the direct-to-fan movement, this information is critical to building and maintaining your fan base, engaging them, marketing to them and selling them your music, merchandise, and show tickets.
5. The benefits of mobile websites for your mobile commerce strategy also overwhelm Apps. iPhone Apps seamlessly drive purchase interest to the iTunes Store, where - you guessed it - you cannot learn who you fans are and who is making these purchases. Mobile website storefronts deliver all of this information - and ALL of the revenue - to the Artist.
There is a segment of your fan base who prefer Mobile Apps and use them regularly. It is exactly for this reason that Adva Mobile offers inexpensive Apps that follow the brand of your Mobile Web and tie into your mobile marketing campaign strategy. All of the Artists using Adva Mobile services that are building their fan base use the Mobile Web to anchor their mobile strategy, and branch out to Apps from there.
2011-05-03
Press Release:Rising Country Star Stovall first Artist to launch cross platform Mobile Strategy with Mobile Web Site and Apps from Adva Mobile
We sent an exciting story over the wires today, the launch of Natalie Stovall's mobile strategy; the first strategy to include mobile web and Apps to reach the world's six billion mobile devices. The Press Release is here:
May 3, 2011
Rising Country Star Stovall first Artist to launch cross platform Mobile Strategy with Mobile Web Site and Apps from Adva Mobile
Natalie Stovall engages her fan base in new and exciting ways with Mobile Web + iPhone App + Android App that brings fans deep into her touring world and features never before released bonus materialBands and recording artists can now quickly create Mobile Web / iPhone App / Android App at low cost that extend their brand across all Mobile Web and Mobile App platforms
Wayland, MA & Nashville TN – Prolific touring Artist Natalie Stovall is now coming to a phone near you, as she releases her very own mobile Apps today simultaneously across the iPhone, Android and Mobile Web site platforms. By releasing on all platforms, virtually all of the 6 billion mobile devices on the planet today can now access her music, videos, tour dates, and photos, make mobile purchases, connect with Twitter and Facebook, and more.
“Natalie is at the forefront of Artists that know connecting with fans on mobile is the next big thing and said “It’s a cool way to put your songs and tour dates directly in your fans’ hands. Your phone is with you all the time – I know mine is! – and it’s a great opportunity to let your fans get in there and really experience the music and my life on the road. I wanted everyone – not just the iPhone fans - to be able to have this, so we went the Apps plus Mobile Web route with something that gives the fans the most comprehensive application we could create. And I wanted it to be free for them, just to say thanks for being part of all of this!”
Adva Mobile Corporation is the world’s leading provider of mobile marketing services to the music industry, having created mobile Web sites, Apps, and marketing campaigns for over 1,200 bands. The Adva Mobile marketing platform enables Artists to create closer relations with their fan base on mobile phones and is the only company that provides mobile Apps, Mobile Web, and a complete marketing platform service. The platform includes text messaging, a mobile storefront, content downloads, concert listings, integration with social sites and fun engagement tools to keep fans connected with bands. During the course of Natalie’s busy touring schedule, text messages and alerts bring fans to her Mobile Web and App sites for new, free downloads, exclusive music and videos, contests, raffles, voting campaigns and special bundles of her music and merchandise that fans can purchase directly from Natalie on their phones.
Jack Kelly, CEO of Adva Mobile, said “Touring bands and Recording Artists need to connect to their fans on mobile phones across all major phone platforms, and we’re excited to bring the Adva Mobile platform to Natalie. It’s super easy to use and one cool feature is that changes update the Mobile Web, iPhone and Android version of the App automatically, simplifying the effort to manage your mobile assets. The Apps also power additional revenue streams through the sale of music, video, tickets, and merchandise, direct from Natalie to her fans.”
The Adva Mobile service has quickly become the leading mobile marketing platform for bands and recording artists to acquire, engage, and sell to their fans on mobile phones – over 1,200 bands now use the service. Natalie Stovall is the first Artist to create brand synergy across all digital platforms- Mobile Web Sites, iPhone Apps - powered by Mobiflex(r), Android Apps, Tablets and her Internet Web Site. Her branded mobile presence was easily deployed in a few hours and reaches virtually all of the 6 billion mobile devices on the planet.
Every fan with a phone that has a mobile browser can join Natalie’s mobile site by texting GETFIDDLE to 88704 or visiting www.adva.us/fiddle on their mobile browser. Android and iPhone fans can also get the Natalie Stovall App on the iTunes Store and Android Market.
About Natalie Stovall
Natalie Stovall's refreshing sound strikes a perfect balance of traditional country and high energy, soulful, rock music. Natalie has become one of the most booked artists on the college and military base circuit. She was recently awarded Best Music Performer, Top Entertainer and Best Female Artist by Campus Activities Magazine comprised of over 2,000 college campus buyers. Natalie has performed with artists such as Little Big Town, Los Lonely Boys, Gretchen Wilson, Gloriana, Josh Gracin and was invited by the President to sing God Bless America at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner. For more information, contact Paul Jarosik, (617) 529-1743 or paul@makeentertainment.com .
About Adva Mobile
Adva Mobile provides a software service that enables entertainment and recording artists to create closer relations with their audience on mobile phones. The experience includes mobile messaging, mobile presence (mobile internet pages and mobile Apps), mobile social sharing features, mobile commerce, and mobile content fulfillment. The service is free to the fan, and generates revenue to the band. Adva Mobile was founded by Jack Kelly and Amir Rozenberg in 2008 and is privately funded. For more information contact Jack Kelly, CEO, jackk@advamobile.com or 508-740-3359.
Adva Mobile Resource Center:
Web: www.advamobile.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/advam
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wayland-MA/Adva-Mobile/140513737394
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/advamobile
Twitter: http://twitter.com/advamobile
Blog: http://advamobile.blogspot.com
May 3, 2011
Rising Country Star Stovall first Artist to launch cross platform Mobile Strategy with Mobile Web Site and Apps from Adva Mobile
Natalie Stovall engages her fan base in new and exciting ways with Mobile Web + iPhone App + Android App that brings fans deep into her touring world and features never before released bonus materialBands and recording artists can now quickly create Mobile Web / iPhone App / Android App at low cost that extend their brand across all Mobile Web and Mobile App platforms
Wayland, MA & Nashville TN – Prolific touring Artist Natalie Stovall is now coming to a phone near you, as she releases her very own mobile Apps today simultaneously across the iPhone, Android and Mobile Web site platforms. By releasing on all platforms, virtually all of the 6 billion mobile devices on the planet today can now access her music, videos, tour dates, and photos, make mobile purchases, connect with Twitter and Facebook, and more.
“Natalie is at the forefront of Artists that know connecting with fans on mobile is the next big thing and said “It’s a cool way to put your songs and tour dates directly in your fans’ hands. Your phone is with you all the time – I know mine is! – and it’s a great opportunity to let your fans get in there and really experience the music and my life on the road. I wanted everyone – not just the iPhone fans - to be able to have this, so we went the Apps plus Mobile Web route with something that gives the fans the most comprehensive application we could create. And I wanted it to be free for them, just to say thanks for being part of all of this!”
Adva Mobile Corporation is the world’s leading provider of mobile marketing services to the music industry, having created mobile Web sites, Apps, and marketing campaigns for over 1,200 bands. The Adva Mobile marketing platform enables Artists to create closer relations with their fan base on mobile phones and is the only company that provides mobile Apps, Mobile Web, and a complete marketing platform service. The platform includes text messaging, a mobile storefront, content downloads, concert listings, integration with social sites and fun engagement tools to keep fans connected with bands. During the course of Natalie’s busy touring schedule, text messages and alerts bring fans to her Mobile Web and App sites for new, free downloads, exclusive music and videos, contests, raffles, voting campaigns and special bundles of her music and merchandise that fans can purchase directly from Natalie on their phones.
Jack Kelly, CEO of Adva Mobile, said “Touring bands and Recording Artists need to connect to their fans on mobile phones across all major phone platforms, and we’re excited to bring the Adva Mobile platform to Natalie. It’s super easy to use and one cool feature is that changes update the Mobile Web, iPhone and Android version of the App automatically, simplifying the effort to manage your mobile assets. The Apps also power additional revenue streams through the sale of music, video, tickets, and merchandise, direct from Natalie to her fans.”
The Adva Mobile service has quickly become the leading mobile marketing platform for bands and recording artists to acquire, engage, and sell to their fans on mobile phones – over 1,200 bands now use the service. Natalie Stovall is the first Artist to create brand synergy across all digital platforms- Mobile Web Sites, iPhone Apps - powered by Mobiflex(r), Android Apps, Tablets and her Internet Web Site. Her branded mobile presence was easily deployed in a few hours and reaches virtually all of the 6 billion mobile devices on the planet.
Every fan with a phone that has a mobile browser can join Natalie’s mobile site by texting GETFIDDLE to 88704 or visiting www.adva.us/fiddle on their mobile browser. Android and iPhone fans can also get the Natalie Stovall App on the iTunes Store and Android Market.
About Natalie Stovall
Natalie Stovall's refreshing sound strikes a perfect balance of traditional country and high energy, soulful, rock music. Natalie has become one of the most booked artists on the college and military base circuit. She was recently awarded Best Music Performer, Top Entertainer and Best Female Artist by Campus Activities Magazine comprised of over 2,000 college campus buyers. Natalie has performed with artists such as Little Big Town, Los Lonely Boys, Gretchen Wilson, Gloriana, Josh Gracin and was invited by the President to sing God Bless America at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner. For more information, contact Paul Jarosik, (617) 529-1743 or paul@makeentertainment.com .
About Adva Mobile
Adva Mobile provides a software service that enables entertainment and recording artists to create closer relations with their audience on mobile phones. The experience includes mobile messaging, mobile presence (mobile internet pages and mobile Apps), mobile social sharing features, mobile commerce, and mobile content fulfillment. The service is free to the fan, and generates revenue to the band. Adva Mobile was founded by Jack Kelly and Amir Rozenberg in 2008 and is privately funded. For more information contact Jack Kelly, CEO, jackk@advamobile.com or 508-740-3359.
Adva Mobile Resource Center:
Web: www.advamobile.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/advam
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wayland-MA/Adva-Mobile/140513737394
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/advamobile
Twitter: http://twitter.com/advamobile
Blog: http://advamobile.blogspot.com
2011-04-26
2011-04-11
Group Texting? Adva Mobile has your back!
At the SXSW festival this year, there was a lot of buzz about "group messaging" startups—GroupMe, Beluga, or textPlus, among others. Group chats are easy to arrange online through instant messaging services or social networking features such as Facebook Groups. But they don't work well on mobile devices, or if they do, they require a smartphone app and a decent cellular signal, which excludes lots of potential users. In general, users set up groups either online or through a smartphone app and then invite members—family, colleagues, jam-band fans—to join. The service assigns each group a unique phone number; when a member sends a text to that number, everyone receives the message. Wait a minute - you already have that! As a member of the Adva Mobile community, you have your own "phone number" - it's 88704. And the message you send to all your "members" (fans) isn't a text (well, it starts as a text) - it's a rich-media delivering mobile web site where fan can learn, explore, download content, find out about shows, buy stuff, etc. - much more than a text can deliver. Fans can text to get to your mobile web site, and leave messages through the Twitter link on your mobile site. We'll get to the fan to fan experience later this year, but for now, take advantage of your own mobile group texting feature and send your fans a text blast.
Use Voting Campaigns to engage your fans
We were part of ther MIT Enterprise Forum's In-NOW-vation technology showcase last week, and it reminded me how useful our Voting Feature is for engaging an audience on their phones.
Voting engagement is a very cool feature of the Adva Mobile platform, and lets your fans vote on their favorite song, band member charity, color - anytrhing you want to ask them! Have fun with it! After they vote, they get a "results" page - right on their phone - that gives them real time updates about the voting conte
st.
st.We used the Voting feature at the MIT Enterprise Forum event and it was wildly successful. Over 550 votes were cast and it was a spirited competition for categories like "Company I Most Want to Have a Beer With" and "Company most likely to be acquired by Dr. Evin in his quest for world domination."
Voting is a feature available to our Bronze, Silver and Gold members, and is incredibly easy to set up. Upgrade your membership now if you're not already a paying member (and get lots of other cool benefits also) and check it out.
2011-03-24
More apps may be coming for feature phones, too
There was a great article in CNN Online International Edition yesterday, which you can read at http://bit.ly/eJOlS5, titled "More apps may be coming for feature phones, too."
We like Apps - we now provide iPhone and Android Apps to complement our Mobile Web and mobile marketing platforms. The article points out that "According to comScore, as of January 2011 only about 28% of all mobile phones in the U.S. were smartphones. This means 72% of U.S. cell phones are feature phones, most of which have a broad array of features, including the ability to run Java-based apps." So we're struck by the hype over Apps for recording artists and bands, since they don't reach 72% of your audience.
Article author Amy Garham poinsts out that "One of the great strengths of smartphones is their fully featured, easy-to-use Web browsers. Increasingly these will support HTML5 functionality, which allows Web pages to work more like apps. Since it's much easier and cheaper to develop for the mobile Web than for several native app platforms, a lot of smartphone services that are delivered mainly via apps today probably will migrate to a mobile browser experience."
One question to ask is if the App needs to take advantage of the smartphone feature set to work. If you need access to the phone book, or camera, for example, then a native App is the way to go go. For bands that want to provide what fans are looking for - music, videos, tour dates, news, social net links, etc., you don't need anything the phone offers except the browser. The Adva Mobile platform leverages this strength, providing a consistent experience for fans, whether on iPhone App, Android App or Mobile Web.
2011-03-20
Rising Country Star Stovall first Artist to launch cross platform Mobile strategy with Mobile Web Site and Apps from Adva Mobile
We're proud to announce that Natalie Stovall has launched a mobile campaign to reach her fans across the three most popular mobile platforms - the Mobile Web, an iPhone App, and an Android App, all powered by the mobile marketing system from Adva Mobile. By releasing on all platforms, virtually all of the 6 billion mobile devices on the planet today can now access her music, videos, tour dates, and photos, make mobile purchases, connect with Twitter and Facebook, and more.Every fan with a phone that has a mobile browser can join Natalie’s mobile site
by texting GETFIDDLE to 88704 or visiting www.adva.us/fiddle on their mobile browser. Android and iPhone fans can also get the Natalie Stovall App on the iTunes Store* and Android Market.
Natalie is at the forefront of Artists that know connecting with fans on mobile is the next big thing. It’s a cool way to put your songs and tour dates directly in your fans’ hands and it’s a great opportunity to let your fans get in there and really experience the music. She went the Apps plus Mobile Web route to make sure all of her fans could connect to her on their phones - you can't get that with just Apps.
(4/1/11)
Is Mobile Better Than Facebook for Engaging Fans?
Today I'm writing about an article from Hypebot (one of our favorite daily Blogs) to share with you because it's very germane to what we're trying to do here at Adva Mobile. The article is by Robin Davey at Growmyvision.com) it's titled "Only 10% of your friends see your Facebook posts and only 1% like it."It's worth the read. It's a very prescient article because here at Adva Mobile we've always thought that the ability to proactively reach out to your fans with SMS texts that drive them to your rich media mobile webpage was far more effect than any of your other tools that reach fans where they had to find you. I've included a link to the Hypebot article http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2011/03/only-10-of-your-friends-see-your-facebook-posts-and-only-1-like-it.html?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzEmail&utm_campaign=0&utm_content=395530
The article affirms that it is still early for mobile and that the music mainstream has just not discovered mobile as a way to reach fans, because Robin suggests direct contact with your fans via e-mail as the most effective and essential tool to keep your fans updated. The e-mail studies show that only 20% of the recipients open an e-mail, so all you've done is exchange a 1% success rate with a 20% success rate. SMS Text messaging, however, is currently running greater than 95% open rate. At Adva Mobile we think that your most effective marketing tool to stay connected to, and engaged with, your fans. More than Facebook. The statistics bear it out.
The article affirms that it is still early for mobile and that the music mainstream has just not discovered mobile as a way to reach fans, because Robin suggests direct contact with your fans via e-mail as the most effective and essential tool to keep your fans updated. The e-mail studies show that only 20% of the recipients open an e-mail, so all you've done is exchange a 1% success rate with a 20% success rate. SMS Text messaging, however, is currently running greater than 95% open rate. At Adva Mobile we think that your most effective marketing tool to stay connected to, and engaged with, your fans. More than Facebook. The statistics bear it out.
2011-02-28
Everything. Is. Amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=itn8TwFCO4M
I posted this link on my Facebook page to remind my younger buddies that everything doesn't suck, and in fact, it's pretty amazing. It helps that it's a fun video with lots of laughs, especially if you're not so young that you don't know what we're talking about.
It's here on our AM Blog because being in music today doesn't suck, although I read every day about how hard it is to make any money, get fans, and the implosion of the labels. There are so many amazing tools make music, record music, edit music, tele-collaborate, distribute, build fan bases, sell direct, connect with fans. I mean, if you're in a band, you can show someone what you do right on your phone. They can listen to your music, watch a video, sign up to get messages and alerts from you, and buy your stuff. ON. YOUR. PHONE.
Amazing.
I posted this link on my Facebook page to remind my younger buddies that everything doesn't suck, and in fact, it's pretty amazing. It helps that it's a fun video with lots of laughs, especially if you're not so young that you don't know what we're talking about.
It's here on our AM Blog because being in music today doesn't suck, although I read every day about how hard it is to make any money, get fans, and the implosion of the labels. There are so many amazing tools make music, record music, edit music, tele-collaborate, distribute, build fan bases, sell direct, connect with fans. I mean, if you're in a band, you can show someone what you do right on your phone. They can listen to your music, watch a video, sign up to get messages and alerts from you, and buy your stuff. ON. YOUR. PHONE.
Amazing.
2011-02-24
Adva Mobile Now Offers iPhone Apps
We've signed a partnership deal with Mobiflex to offer bands an iPhone App. To our knowledge, no other company offers a complete platform of Mobile Web, Android Apps, iPhone apps and a Mobile Marketing dashboard to manage marketing campaigns across the entire mobile ecosystem.
Here's the text from the Press Release:
Adva Mobile and MobiFlex bring the Power of Affordable iPhone Apps to Bands and Recording Artists
Leading mobile companies partner to deliver new online service for providing iPhone Apps and Mobile Web presence under integrated mobile marketing platform
Bands and recording artists can now quickly create iPhone Apps at low cost that extend their brand across the mobile Web and iPhones.
Adva Mobile Corporation, a pioneer of mobile web, mobile App, and marketing services for touring bands and recording artists, has partnered with MobiFlex™, a self-service portal that lets you create robust native smartphone custom apps in just a few hours without coding, to provide this new support for iPhones. Features include playing songs and videos, showing concert schedules, band photos, sharing fan feedback, mobile purchases, targeting fans through location and more.
“Touring bands and Recording Artists need to connect to their fans on mobile phones across all major phone platforms, and we’re excited to bring the MobiFlex App creation platform to help them achieve this goal,” said Jack Kelly, Adva Mobile CEO. “The MobilFlex platform is simple and integrates seamlessly into our portal, ensuring that their messages and marketing outreach efforts reach their iPhone audience.”
George Adams, MobiFlex CEO, added “Mobile apps for the iPhone and other smartphones have quickly become a major new touchpoint for professional musicians and groups to engage their fans and reach new audiences. We’re very pleased to provide Adva Mobile with a version of MobiFlex to empower their band and recording artist customers to quickly create their own apps, leveraging the native resources of the iPhone without having to find engineers to do the coding.”
The Adva Mobile service has quickly become the leading mobile marketing platform for bands and recording artists, with more than 1,100 artists using the service to acquire, engage, and sell to their fans on mobile phones. Combined with Adva Mobile’s mobile web and Android App services, bands can now also use the MobiFlex iPhone App creation service to have a branded iPhone app presence that can be deployed in a few hours as part of outreach programs to virtually all of the 6 billion mobile devices on the planet.
Here's the text from the Press Release:
Adva Mobile and MobiFlex bring the Power of Affordable iPhone Apps to Bands and Recording Artists
Leading mobile companies partner to deliver new online service for providing iPhone Apps and Mobile Web presence under integrated mobile marketing platform
Bands and recording artists can now quickly create iPhone Apps at low cost that extend their brand across the mobile Web and iPhones.
Adva Mobile Corporation, a pioneer of mobile web, mobile App, and marketing services for touring bands and recording artists, has partnered with MobiFlex™, a self-service portal that lets you create robust native smartphone custom apps in just a few hours without coding, to provide this new support for iPhones. Features include playing songs and videos, showing concert schedules, band photos, sharing fan feedback, mobile purchases, targeting fans through location and more.
“Touring bands and Recording Artists need to connect to their fans on mobile phones across all major phone platforms, and we’re excited to bring the MobiFlex App creation platform to help them achieve this goal,” said Jack Kelly, Adva Mobile CEO. “The MobilFlex platform is simple and integrates seamlessly into our portal, ensuring that their messages and marketing outreach efforts reach their iPhone audience.”
George Adams, MobiFlex CEO, added “Mobile apps for the iPhone and other smartphones have quickly become a major new touchpoint for professional musicians and groups to engage their fans and reach new audiences. We’re very pleased to provide Adva Mobile with a version of MobiFlex to empower their band and recording artist customers to quickly create their own apps, leveraging the native resources of the iPhone without having to find engineers to do the coding.”
The Adva Mobile service has quickly become the leading mobile marketing platform for bands and recording artists, with more than 1,100 artists using the service to acquire, engage, and sell to their fans on mobile phones. Combined with Adva Mobile’s mobile web and Android App services, bands can now also use the MobiFlex iPhone App creation service to have a branded iPhone app presence that can be deployed in a few hours as part of outreach programs to virtually all of the 6 billion mobile devices on the planet.
2011-02-13
Adva Mobile Analytics - Measure Your Success
A music band's fans are essentially its "customers" and you should make every effort to understand and please them. That include's of course, maintaining close contact through a band-specific mobile web and App and other band-management tools, but sometimes, there's no substitute for good, hard analytics. The Adva Mobile service includes incredibly deep analytics to help you identify fans, measure social engagement, find hot markets, discover trends, gauge attitudes, create in-depth reports and more! The Reports tool - part of your Dashboard - is designed to give bands new insight into where their biggest fans are and what they want to hear.
Mobile allows you to collect so much more information about your fans than traditional media, even the Internet and Facebook.
Fan Analytics
o Collected information including phone number, carrier, location, phone type
o Volunteered information including email, age gender, likes, dislikes.
Mobile allows you to collect so much more information about your fans than traditional media, even the Internet and Facebook.
Fan Analytics
o Collected information including phone number, carrier, location, phone type
o Volunteered information including email, age gender, likes, dislikes.
Of course, location is critical. And also, you can test their likes and dislikes to help you craft the right products and approach. Don't discount info like phone type and carrier. If your fans are heavy smartphone/Verizon - AT&T users, they haver more money to spend than Virgin/Boost/Cricket featurephone fans, and that can help you target price points more effectively.
Behavior Analytics
o Activity on mobile website, most visited pages, content downloads
o Graph, statistics and trending analysis
Being able to test over time and measure what fans want to download from your mobile site helps you figure out what they will buy from you.
Engagement Analytics
o The platform allows you to test positions and fan preferences and measure engagement and response
Behavior Analytics allow you to measure what fans are doing on your mobile website. Engagement Analytics allow you to ask questions and engage in contests that measure the response of offers you make to your fans. This can be tremendously valuable in crafting the right set of products for your fans to buy.
The reports and analytics engine that comes with your Adva Mobile marketing platform are a tremendously valuable tool to augment your efforts on stage, on the web, and in print. Take advantage of these knowledge-creating tools and watch your music career explode.
2011-02-10
Use Voting on your mobile web to atract new fans
I am noticing a lot more polls today, being used on everything from Sports Illustrated, the Weather Channel, and my own Yahoo web landing page. Advertising for car insurance is even presented as a poll. It got me thinking about how valuable the VOTING feature on the Adva Mobile service is for music artists.
Fan engagement is the key to maintaining loyalty and Voting represents a very cool way to keep engaged with your fans. You never want to overwhelm your fans with too many texts, but I can see where they would never get tired of answering polls because they are so much fun. Asking your fans about everything from what they think the conclusion of the Egyptian revolution will be to what should your encore song be at the next show helps you understand your fans and connect with them in a personal way that only the mobile phone can offer.
The Adva Mobile Voting feature is easy to set up. Under “Your Mobile Web Pages” on your Dashboard, go to the Voting page and set it up. Then, scheduled a text blast to your fans that drives them directly to the Voting page on your mobile site. Very simple. It's only available to our Silver and Gold members so another good reason to upgrade your account - get a better looking mobile website and take advantage of some of the terrific tools on our platform that help you acquire new fans, engage with them and convince them to buy your stuff. The insight you get from asking your fans questions and getting that feedback is a key component to understanding your fan base and being able to connect with them in a very personal, rewarding way.
Fan engagement is the key to maintaining loyalty and Voting represents a very cool way to keep engaged with your fans. You never want to overwhelm your fans with too many texts, but I can see where they would never get tired of answering polls because they are so much fun. Asking your fans about everything from what they think the conclusion of the Egyptian revolution will be to what should your encore song be at the next show helps you understand your fans and connect with them in a personal way that only the mobile phone can offer.
The Adva Mobile Voting feature is easy to set up. Under “Your Mobile Web Pages” on your Dashboard, go to the Voting page and set it up. Then, scheduled a text blast to your fans that drives them directly to the Voting page on your mobile site. Very simple. It's only available to our Silver and Gold members so another good reason to upgrade your account - get a better looking mobile website and take advantage of some of the terrific tools on our platform that help you acquire new fans, engage with them and convince them to buy your stuff. The insight you get from asking your fans questions and getting that feedback is a key component to understanding your fan base and being able to connect with them in a very personal, rewarding way.
2011-01-14
New Mobile Web & App Designs
We've been busy and excited about new designs we've built for bands that are using our service. Over time, we may be able to take these designs ideas, turn them into templates, and offer them to other artists.
Our latest design is one we're building for country star and Entertainer of the Year nominee Natalie Stovall. I like the simple but visually stunning design. Also, the social links at the bottom of the home page send you to pages that are mobile friendly - that wasn't the case a year ago, when none of these sites rendered correctly on a mobile phone browser.
We also made a web design for Fistful of Mercy. This design is sort of a "portal" design - the home page doesn't provide a lot of content. Instead, the site links you to other pages to learn more and engage the band. I like the way this site "lays out", as the pictures represent the visually exciting element of the page and provide a clear delineation between the links. This picture shows it as an Android App.
Good designs are important to maintain the brand of the band and engage fans visually in ways that make them want to explore the site. There's some challenge to making that happen on a small screen (and even more behind the scenses to make them look good an the many different phones, browsers and operating systems). The design doesn't impact the back -end mobile marketing engine we provide, so all of the services for both Artist and Fan are available, regardless of design.
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