Adva Mobile Launch News – The Dashboard

The Dashboard is the most important new page on the portal because it directs you to all of the activities of the Adva Mobile marketing system for Artists. But we really need to hear from you about whether it works for you, and how we can continually make improvements.

Artists, especially those managing their own fan outreach efforts, don't always know what to use mobile for, so the Dashboard starts with a simple HELP suggestions that tell you what you're supposed to do. The top navigation headers for both Account Management and Mobile Site Design are straightforward, and the Quick Links can be an easier navigation tool for the Artist to get to exactly where they want on this portal.

We especially hope that the Message Board will be a communications tool between Adva Mobile Artists to share best practices that work for them, and also to talk to us. The Dashboard is a really important new feature of the Portal, and we’re always looking for your insight about how to make it better. Let us know.

Adva Mobile Launch News - While We Were At It

The redesign of our entire platform -- our Website, the Artist Portal, and the Artist Websites/Apps -- was a major project. A number of new features were also added and really are to the benefit of Artist -- fan relationships.

One feature that was really fun to add was the result of the progress that HTML5 has made. Our Artists told us that, when a fan wants to play some of their music, we would send them away from the Artist website and open the music player that was part of the mobile phone operating system. ITunes player, for example. And this wasn’t supporting the Artist goals. But with HTML5, you can now embed a music player right into a mobile website. So we did that, and it's really a much better experience for the fan.

Another cool new feature is digital sales. Now, Artists can sell their songs directly to their fans, and unlike iTunes & Amazon, know exactly which fans made a purchase.

We think Amanda Palmer has it right -- it's not about figuring out how to get your fans to buy your music. It's about letting your fans buying your music. And that includes making it easy for them to purchase your products on mobile.

Adva Mobile Launch News – Why Mobile at all?

I am a big fan of Theodore Levitt. He was a Harvard professor who wrote about marketing principles, primarily in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Very famous. One of his famous quotes is that, when buying a drill bit, people do not want a quarter inch drill bit. They want a quarter inch hole.

Same with Artists. You do not want a mobile website. You do not want an iPhone App. You do not want an Android App. You want engaged fans who will support you with their money.

When we went about creating Adva Mobile, we thought that the mobile environment could provide a new capability for Artists to sustain their careers by connecting with fans in a very personal way that was only available through the mobile ecosystem. So, building a platform to provide this toolset for Artists was our mission. We started with Mobile Web because it was a platform available to every fan. Today, the advances of HTML5 are such that the experience of the fan on a Mobile Site is equivalent to the experience of a fan on an App. 

The platform you use to manage your mobile strategy is a single platform that propagates to your mobile site, your Android App, and your IPhone App, simplifying your marketing management. The strategy provides confidence that all of your fans get a terrific experience when they are experiencing you on a mobile phone. Your mobile marketing program can be cost-effectively across all of the platforms because you are not paying for individual development over multiple platforms. 

The endgame, of course, is that you don't care about Mobile Web, Android Apps, iPhone Apps, or marketing platforms. You don't want quarter inch drill bits, you want quarter inch holes. You care about your fans and your relationship with your fans.

Adva Mobile Launch News - OK …. We Learned

OK, We Learned …. You really need a mobile website and App that is beautiful to look at and that you are proud of and want to show to your friends and your fans.

The new mobile sites we are offering for Artists who take advantage of our Free level are elegant, modern and visually attractive. They're designed to give your fans a terrific user experience when they engage you on a mobile phone and we want your mobile site to help you create loyalty with your fans and engage them in ways that will let you sell to them. For these emerging Artists, we offer our Free platform with a visually attractive mobile website and a very comprehensive marketing toolset to help you attract, engage, and begin a mobile commerce relationship with your fans.

For Artists that are making money and need a more comprehensive strategy, our Plus service ads Android and iPhone Apps so that you are everywhere mobile is and can demonstrate that you are hip with mobile. Not all of your fans are smart phone users, but some of those who are want an App experience.

Brand conscious Artists want to move beyond the very slick templates that we offer for mobile website and App Design to a mobile strategy that maintains their Brand across all of their digital platforms. We provide these Artists customized HTML5/App designs and these can be anything that you imagine.

Check out what we can provide you at www.advamobile.com

SMS Horrors

Coca-Cola Co. is being sued for allegedly sending unsolicited spam text messages to thousands of individuals without prior consent, violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

The class action complaint cites one example wherein a consumer allegedly received a text message with a scoreboard update from a football game between the University of Alabama and Louisiana State University (LSU) informing him to vote for one of the teams.  After the consumer placed his vote, he received an additional unsolicited text message with a Coke Zero ad.
According to the complaint, Coca-Cola used marketing firm Mozes Inc., to send unsolicited advertisements for its products, thus violating the TCPA.  The TCPA forbids companies from reaching out to people on their phones using a mechanical dialing system or prerecorded message without their prior permission.
Here at Adva Mobile, we are insanely protective of you're fan's privacy and, when a fan texts in to your band name keyword (by texting GETLyasia to 88704, for example), the only text that can be sent to that fan is from Lyasia. 
Text services from Adva Mobile are a powerful tool for you to use to reach and engage your fans. It's a very regulated world to play in, and the Adva Mobile service has undergone strict review to be approved by the wireless carriers. This story is a good example of what happens when it all goes wrong.
 Sending SMS from the Adva Mobile service is set up to comply with all these carrier rules. And your fan info is secure - and only available to you. We've got your back.

12 on 12-12-12

You only get the opportunity to post a blog like this once every 100 years, so here are Twelve Great Things about mobile technology and mobile marketing happening on Adva Mobile.

1. The New Portal is almost ready to launch
We're weeks away from launching the most powerful mobile technology and marketing service available.
2. Twelve New Artists on the AM Platform
Jeff Bujak, Traumavic, JaLonBlacc, Bluemarch, Jimmie Van Zant, The Heritage, Niloy Phukan,  ROCKET McFLYY, The Deadly Strawberry,  Calypso Toad,  Terror Alert Elevated, The Suspense
3. Digital Content for Sale
The new platform will let you upload your music / videos, set your own price, and sell to your fans right on their phones
4. Hybrid Apps
By wrapping your mobile web site in our iPhone and Android App wrappers, you can manage your mobile assets across all platforms through one CRM  
5. More Detailed Fan Info
The new platform provides even more info about your fans so you can target your superfans with special offers.
6. Sneak Preview of the Portal
You can check out what's coming right now http://prezi.com/tduzbii7rd43/sneak-peek-the-new-adva-mobile-portal/
7. Contests & Voting 
The new portal helps you engage your fans with contests on their phones where they can win things, and a voting game where they can vote for their favorite  ... (whatever!)
8. Adva Mobile Homepage Contest
Here's a game - go to the Sneak Preview and the last "slide" is the new home page. Tell us who the artists are by sending an email to info@advamobile.com and you'll win a prize. (We'll figure something out.)
9. Cool New Mobile Web Designs
When the new portal launches, you'll have two new very cool designs for you to choose from (and more on the way!). 
10. Your Own Mobile Store
Digital, physical, bundles  .... sell direct to fan on your own mobile store - and keep the list price $$.
11. More fans in 2013
Here's to more fans, loyal fans, and more money for you in 2013 with the help from the Adva Mobile platform.
12. Tom Brady - #12
Coincidence? I don't think so!

HAVE A GREAT 12-12-12 EVERYONE!!

How well do you know your fans?

Oftentimes you'll hear people say that the purpose of business is to make money, but that's not true. Making money is the result of a business, and it's essential to keep a business going. But it's not the purpose of business. The purpose of a business is to attract and retain customers. For musicians in the business of making money, your business purpose is to attract and retain fans.

Not all fans are equal, however. You need fans that will buy your music and merchandise, and pay to come to your shows. Your "Superfans", or "1,000 True Fans", whatever. What's difficult, besides making great music and just getting fans, is knowing exactly who these fans are so you can personally reach out to them.

I propose that mobile technology provides a solution to this problem better than any other marketing tool available to musicians.

Check out this screen capture:

(We blocked out the email addresses and names because, hey, it's a real list!!)

This is a fan database from an artist on the Adva Mobile platform. It provides their phone number (for reaching them via our SMS Text Service), and their email address  (for sending them email marketing, either through our service or your own email service like Constant Contact, Mail chimp, or Fan Bridge), details about their age, gender and location. Also, the number of page views of your mobile site / App for that fan. It's incredibly useful to know that two fans on this page (circled in RED) have visited you mobile site pages 204 and 106 times since they joined your site. Those fans are checking you out all the time!!

Mobile can provide so much more, however. Here's another screen capture from our soon to be released new portal, showing enhanced fan data (again, real info, so the name is blocked).

With this information, you can learn more about your fans, how they engage you on mobile phones, and what they are interested in. You can target them precisely - even individually - and you can expect great results from your efforts to market and sell to them.

Mobile is a new world of fan engagement and the ability to data mine fan information and behavior on your mobile site and App will improve your ability to make money with your music.

Postscript:

From Jonathan Ostrow and Music Think Tank

Back in November 2010, Jonathan Ostrow  wrote a blog titled "How well do you know your fans?". It was picked up and re-published by Music Think Tank - you can read it again here. It's a decent attempt to categorize fan types to help Artists spend time cultivating fans that really matter. I remembered this article when I was writing the article above, about what Adva Mobile was doing to help Artists figure out who their best fans were.  Enjoy!