There were 121 million smartphone and 94 million tablet users in the US in 2012.  That represents a 31% and 180% increase, respectively, compared with 2011. (eMarketer)

But search behavior between smartphones and tablets is really quite different. More searching happens on the tablet and it is largely located in the home. Searching on the smartphone is less common, but more likely to happen outside the home and result in a conversion taking place.

It simply makes sense.  The mobile smartphone buyer is closer to the buying process as many studies have shown.  That’s why text message marketing makes so much sense.

91% of smartphone users send and receive text messages.

ATS Mobile provides several learning opportunities each month for advertisers and advertising agencies to learn more about mobile marketing.  One of the regular presentations that is done is one called “Texting Tuesday.”

We do a variety of educational webinars each quarter concerning mobile marketing. Want to come to the next one? Visit this page and you’ll see our complete list.

If you missed today’s webinar on Texting Tuesday, we’ve put it below so that you can catch all of the action.

One of the great things about text message marketing is that you can reach your customers when they are most likely to buy.  That’s why Subway does all of its text messages with us at 11:30 am when its opt-in customers in the office or out on the work site are starting to get hungry for lunch.

A quick look at the statistics below show that dining for breakfast and lunch is far more impulsive than dinner.  I’d say the same for items like ice cream, yogurt, and other snacks which tend to be even more of an impulse buy.

Eating out for dinner is more of an event and consumers do tend to plan such events out earlier than their lunch and breakfast plans.

While there’s no exact time that is best to send a text message for a restaurants, I’m going with 11:30 am for lunches and 4:30 pm for dinners.  The greater the cost of the restaurant, the earlier I’d send it for dinners.  Experiment with different times and different offers and see what works best for your restaurant.

Given the popularity of mobile and restaurants, it’s important that you make the right decision on the best time to text.

So how far in advance should you send your text message?

ATS Mobile, parent company of 84444 sites, is seeking a webmaster for employment in the Philadelphia area.

ATS Mobile is now accepting applications for a webmaster and web developer to oversee its existing and new websites.  Check out Craigs List for more information or Contact sales@advancedtele.com .

Reaching students via text message marketing during the prom season is a great way to make extra sales in Spring.  Delux Tux in Massachusetts made posters and hanged them in local high schools to promote its tuxedo rental business.

Rent more tuxedos this Prom season with text message marketing.

Florida Gulf Coast University cheerleaders

How’s your bracket doing?  1 in 5 US office workers participates in a March Madness office pool.  Here at 84444, we actually have a pretty cool wrinkle to the rules.  During the second round, we award the point value of the seed.  It encourages choosing upsets and makes for a very interesting round 2.

Yeah, nobody in our office pool had Florida Gulf Coast either.

Here’s some mobile stats, however, that we can all appreciate.

26% of fans will use their mobile phone as the primary viewing tool for March Madness.

In the past three months, mobile access to internet sites has grown by 26%.  Mobile accesses tripled in the past two years.

A real mobile strategy today includes more than just text message marketing.  It also requires a mobile website and possibly an app or custom QR Code to engage the growing number of mobile users accessing your corporate or brand website.  Nowhere is this trend more important than in the vertical of restaurants.

Mobile browsers now account for 13% of all internet accesses.

Many of us watched the Blade Runner at the London Olympics on multiple screens. More recently, we’ve been watching Blade Runner for a very different reason.

The more screens you own, the more you are going to watch.

At least, that was the case during the London Olympics, according to a recent study by ComScore.

If you own 4 screens, you spent A LOT of time using them during the London Olympics.

One of the problems with email today is the amount of spam that we receive in our in boxes.  It can overwhelming, no matter how diligent you are about opting-out of email marketing that you don’t need.

While more people are opening your promotional email messages than they were in the past, perhaps thanks to improved spam filters and the like, it is still not an impressive statistic.  Only a quarter of all emails are being opened on average and its been that way for some time now.

That’s where text message marketing differs.  An impressive 97% of all text messages are opened within 15 minutes of receipt.  Compare that to email marketing where its only a quarter and you can quickly see why email marketing is so yesterday.

With 97% of text messages being opened, it’s difficult to justify doing email and not text.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is cracking down on text message spam, primarily in that area of annoying opportunities to get a free gift card.

Spam text messages are a serious offense as these defendants may soon discover.

According to a press release today by the FTC, more than 180 million spam text messages were sent by 29 different defendants.  The spam messages promised consumers free gifts or prizes, including gift cards worth $1,000 to major retailers such as Best Buy, Walmart and Target. Consumers who clicked on the links in the messages found themselves in a quagmire of elaborate websites that requested personal financial information.

According to the report, 12% of Americans received the spam text messages. In many cases, the spam messages went to consumers that did not have  a text message subscription plan, thus causing the recipients to pay for exorbitant text message costs for the unwanted spam.

These charges are serious, which is why 84444.com requires a legitimate opt-in from its consumers.  A year ago, 84444 implemented a policy where customers could not immediately upload a list of supposed opt-in phone numbers until proof of the legitimate opt-in was supplied to 84444.  You can read the Anti-Spam Policy of 84444 here.