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,

right? Here at Adva Mobile, we use email marketing - our Adva Advantage newsletter, and guess what? Here's the lowdown on email marketing:

• About 25% of the people on our email list open and read the Newsletter
• That figure is HIGHER THEN THE AVERAGE for email marketing

That's right! If you have an email campaign that performing above average, three quarters of your fans don't even open your email.

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.

A fan list is key for an Artist, but the mobile phone list is so much more powerful than the email list.

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.

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.


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