Textopoly does not fit into a neat box in the mobile world. Over the years I’ve tried to find the most accurate way to describe what it is that we do. And over theses same years mobile has grown dramatically in regulations, technology, creativity, etc. – and we’ve grown with it. We’ve stayed fluid and [...]]]>

Textopoly does not fit into a neat box in the mobile world. Over the years I’ve tried to find the most accurate way to describe what it is that we do. And over theses same years mobile has grown dramatically in regulations, technology, creativity, etc. – and we’ve grown with it. We’ve stayed fluid and well educated in mobile while keeping a focus on mobile. I think our business can be broken down into 2 large categories, Sexy and Unsexy – stay with me now!

The Unsexy: We’re not an aggregator, yet we service and manage both standard rate and premium dedicated short codes. We maintain relationships with Aggregators, Carriers, complete all required applications, provide strategies on how to efficiently get short codes certified and provide extra services such as giving guidance on, and hosting Terms and Conditions. On an ongoing basis we review advertising material for Carrier compliancy, manage audits and provide insight on various detailed areas of the business such as: refund policies; continuously changing Carrier requirements for standard and premium messaging; opt outs requirements by Carrier; AT&T subscription renewals process; and much more fun stuff!

The Sexy: For our agency and brand clients we provide strategy and innovative concepts that use mobile tactics such as SMS, WAP and mobile Applications to achieve a set of goals that insure maximum return on investment (ROI). This side of the business also includes advertising the marketing campaign through various mobile media opportunities such as banner ads on mobile publisher sites and Carrier decks. We create the banner ads using our in-house designers and then purchase media on WAP sites through relationships we have with various Carriers directly. We have strong relationships with agencies who controls Carrier advertising decks, so are able to purchase media directly from them in addition to media directly from publisher sites.

Mobile marketing and mobile advertising are best executed through integration with traditional marketing channels such as Online (including Social Networking) and TV. Our Digital Services create applications that use these traditional marketing channels in conjunction with mobile. For example, Super Text Mobile which is our Facebook application and mo:base which our web-to-mobile widget that easily captures mobile numbers from any website, web banner ad (!) or email and rapidly delivers branded content to handsets.

So given all this is it fair to call Textopoly just a mobile marketing agency? No, it’s not. We’re a Mobile Engagement Agency, we enable mobile communication.

On July 6, 2009, I popped my ‘mobile cherry,’ and entered into the world of real time data, real time response, real time updates, and real time issues. I was always ‘teased’ by mobile marketing, PSMS, WAP, Applications, Short Codes and SMS but never went all the way. Well, now that I’ve [...]]]> No longer “Virgin”…

On July 6, 2009, I popped my ‘mobile cherry,’ and entered into the world of real time data, real time response, real time updates, and real time issues. I was always ‘teased’ by mobile marketing, PSMS, WAP, Applications, Short Codes and SMS but never went all the way. Well, now that I’ve done it, I must say, this is going from a one-night stand to a full on committed marriage!

As in every new marriage, you learn things about your significant other that you never knew before. Some things are exciting, others are less exciting, but you strive and struggle for common ground. Such is the case with mobile. The industry is still young, procedures and processes are often changing which require flexibility to accept, implement, and sustain changes until further notice.

Premium SMS data is a prime example of something ‘less exciting’, but vital.  One of the challenges in premium SMS data is to obtain that data consistently. Being able to provide accurate and dependable premium SMS data is vital to our clients because this is their revenue.

Premium SMS data comes to us through our aggregator.  They receive this data from each carrier. Each carrier has their own process in which they release data to aggregators, meaning that on a monthly report that I receive a carrier may not have submitted their data because of a multiple of reasons.  One of the main reasons for this is to allow a ‘reasonable’ amount of time allocated to allow end users to complain and receive refunds. This causes a chain reaction; Carriers don’t submit data to aggregators, aggregators don’t submit data to us, and we aren’t able to provide data to our clients causing delays in revenue which may cause our client business models to change.

Recently I received data regarding billed premium SMS messages for our clients, and as I went through the report I came across data from a carrier that was already included in the previous months report! And, to make matters more confusing, the number of billed messages on the current report was more than previous stated on the prior months report! If the number on the current report was lower than the previous report, that would make sense because of refunds and/or rejected messages. But how on earth can it be more?! Did the carrier just assume the previous months numbers?

Even though issues like these are not that common, they still occur, and at this point there seems to be no resolution to the process or adjustments that can be made to the system. So, we deal with it the best we can, however, at the same time we educate our clients and make adjustments to our system and implement creative methods to ensure our clients success and longevity.

Mobile has definitely satisfied my needs and I’m sure it’ll do the same for you, give it a try, pop your mobile cherry.

From what we hear T-Mobile will soon be transition to their new platform called ‘3PG’ and while this sounds similar to a mobile video format (.3pg), I assure that that it’s not.  We don’t know much about the new platform, but we do know what they are starting to require.  As we move forward in [...]]]>

From what we hear T-Mobile will soon be transition to their new platform called ‘3PG’ and while this sounds similar to a mobile video format (.3pg), I assure that that it’s not.  We don’t know much about the new platform, but we do know what they are starting to require.  As we move forward in the SMS marketing industry, it’s becoming more and more regulated from both the carriers and the marketing companies initiating the campaigns.

Within this industry, if a end user opts into a program and then turns around to the carrier and complains that they didn’t mean to opt-into a campaign, the carrier usually sides with the end user and the campaign provider has to provide a refund.  This is why the MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) and carrier guideline state that a user must double opt-in to any premium campaign.  This ensures that the end user really wants to enter into a Premium SMS messaging campaign (PSMS).  However, as we can attest to, the double opt-in PSMS campaigns are not foolproof either – many end users still receive undeserved refunds.

This brings us to T-Mobiles new rules.  Now these rules mean more work for us, our clients, and the gateway, but at the end of the day it’s totally and completely worth it.  T-Mobile is asking for campaigns that are running standard rate subscription services, premium one-off services, and premium subscription services to pass along the opt-in details along in their parameter string to show which message id (SMSID) the user initially opted-into the program.  Thus, when a T-Mobile customer complains, the T-Mobile customer service representative can provide the end user with the date, time, and message of when they opted in.  This means more work for us at the start, but less refunds down the line.  Less refund as we know equals more revenue.  So we say, good for you T-Mobile and good luck getting everyone to comply, we know we’re trying.