What Does New Verizon iPhone Mean For Digital Promotions?

Digital promotions experts will call February 11, 2011 the day their industry got a big boost, the day Verizon began offering the iPhone 4 to its customers. This means that not only will the Apple operating system (OS) see an increase in market share, but it means that a lot of people will be buying their first-ever smart phones, switching over from the old standard flip phones.

Some experts believe that Verizon may sell as many as 13 million new iPhones in 2011. (1) This will be a big relief to Apple, because many industry experts were expecting the Android OS to surpass them in market share in 2011.

Digital promotions professionals should be heartened by the news, because it shows that digital promotions strategies will not only have a new channel, but many, many new subscribers. Here are a few predictions for what the iPhone will mean for them in 2011.

1) Digital promotions marketers should focus on the new iPhone users. While many of the 13 million will be people switching from AT&T to the Verizon, many more will be brand new smartphone users who are switching from the standard flip phone. Digital promotions campaigns should be geared toward new users, showing them the best ways to use their new phones, and taking advantage of a new user's willingness to try new technology. For example, a campaign that includes free gift cards to the iTunes app store would appeal greatly to a lot of new iPhone users.

2) Digital promotions marketers who are creating apps need to continue to develop for both the iPhone and Android platforms. While the two operating systems are currently running neck-and-neck (according to ComScore, Google currently has 26% market share, while Apple has 25% (2)), app developers need to focus on both platforms in order to reach large portions of their audience. (Blackberry still owns 33.5% of the market share, although it has dropped 4% in two months.)

3) Digital promotions developers need to consider HTML5. This is the new html coding language that promises to replace Flash and Javascript. HTML5 is platform-agnostic, and web-based, which means anyone can use an HTML5 site, including Blackberrys and the Windows mobile operating system. Using HTML5 for digital promotions will save the cost of developing apps (which can be as much as $50,000 for a single app on one platform), but will allow the campaign to be accessed by anyone on any operating system, including laptops.

4) Traditional digital promotions properties, like wallpapers and free song downloads, will become even more popular. Rather than listen to songs on an MP3 player, smart phones have MP3 capabilities, where people can listen to music and watch videos on their mobile phones. Now, customers can redeem their free songs, movie downloads, and wallpapers directly from their mobile phones, using an app or a company's digital promotions page.

5) Digital promotions should be more locally-focused. Google recently announced they were focusing all their development attention on mobile usage for 2011. Google has already begun offering voice search with Google Maps and a turn-by-turn GPS navigation system (still in beta), and pulling local search results into Google Places from review sites like Yelp and UrbanSpoon. This means local retailers and restaurants should begin using digital promotions to increase traffic and sales to take advantage of the multitudes of new smart phone users.

The new iPhone-Verizon deal spells all kinds of new opportunities for digital marketers. With an expected 13 million new iPhone users in 2011, it is also safe to assume the Android platform will continue to grow as well. By focusing on brand new users, making digital properties available to all platforms, and focusing on local mobile marketing, digital marketers will see some amazing successes in 2011.


1) http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/01/10/verizon_may_spend_more_than_5_billion_subsidizing_iphone_sales_in_2011.html
2) http://comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2011/1/comScore_Reports_November_2010_U.S._Mobile_Subscriber_Market_Share

The Digital Promotional Incentive of Music Download Promotions Gains Loyalty of Gen Y

Digital Promotions are creating customer loyalty of generation Y. These promotional incentive campaigns provide mobile users with immediate gratification and instant rewards. These promotions include effective brand promotions of music download promotions, skins promotions, mobile promotions. Reach Gen Y through digital incentives and you will create customer loyalty forever.

Digital Promotions Incentives of Music Download Promotions and Mobile Promotions are Gaining Loyalty

Design your digital incentive promotion with the newest music, ringtone, and branded content. Hip Digital Media, the leading digital promotions firm, joined forces with Promotional Currency, merging digital content, entertainment licensing and proprietary risk coverage models to deliver turnkey, fixed-cost solutions for the promotional marketplace.

Music download promotions are popular promotional incentives. Consumers like them because digital music has broad appeal and is easy to download and enjoy. Promotional marketers like music promotions incentives because digital music is easy to distribute and helps consumers personalize a brand. Companies are able to increase sales and customer loyalty by using music download promotions as a consumer incentive.

Mobile promotions leverage the rapid market penetration of mobile devices. With mobile phone penetration approaching 90% in the US, mobile promotions allow you to engage consumers nearly anywhere and anytime. Through powerful digital incentives, such downloadable content, instant win games, and mobile coupons, your company can create excitement, drive traffic to an event or store, build an opt-in database, and ultimately improve customer loyalty and generate sales.


Mobile promotions are an effective way to leverage your traditional marketing channels such as print, broadcast and out of home signage. Not only do they allow you to deliver digital incentives quickly and easily to consumers' mobile devices, but they allow you to provide instant gratification to consumers.

There is a reason digital incentives have become a must-have promotional marketing strategy. They Work. What other incentive offers instant gratification for consumers, carries high perceived value that transcends demographics, and costs virtually nothing to deliver?


Digital incentives such as music download promotions, ringtone promotions, mobile promotion, skins promotions and online instant win games and sweepstakes are powerful, multi-pronged promotional marketing tools build customer loyalty and drive sales.


These promotional incentives must be redeemed online or via a mobile phone. They can also be used to generate website traffic, build customer databases and promote repeat sales. These promotional incentives are redeemed online or via a mobile phone and can also be used to generate website traffic, build customer databases and promote repeat sales. Digital promotional incentives are delivered through a unique promo code and URL or mobile phone short code (SMS). They can be distributed in-pack, on-pack, via a custom-branded card or even virtually, making them ideal for practically every application.


Entertain your consumers with promotional incentives of music download promotions, mobile promotions, and skins promotions to differentiate your brand and boost sales through increased brand interest and customer loyalty.

A Mobile Promotion Without Promotional Risk

A Mobile promotion is an excellent way to reach today's Generation Y customers through modern technology. A recent report — that any mobile promotion professional should read — showed that global data traffic exceeded an exabyte of data in 2009. That's 1 billion GB.

All told, there are 4.6 billion mobile phone users around the world, with a penetration rate of 68 percent. This is why mobile promotion strategies are so important in today's marketing world. In fact, mobile promotions may be one of the best marketing tools to come along in decades.

A mobile promotion doesn't require the traditional process and costs we've become accustomed to paying. No shipping, no packaging, no worrying about what to do with thousands of leftover tchotchkes.

That's because a mobile promotion is digital. Now, instead of giving out swag, you can give customers music downloads, movie promotions, special ringtones, and mobile games. Now, rather than sending out direct mail to people who might not be ideal customers, you can send out SMS messages to existing customers and people who sign up for your text club — people who want to hear from you. Everything is happening virtually, which means you don't have to worry about storage space

Of course, before you go planning your next campaign, make sure you include promotional risk coverage in your budget.

Promotional risk coverage is basically promotional insurance that makes sure you don't overextend your marketing budget or get yourself into a lot of trouble.

Let's say you wanted to run a contest where someone could win $100,000. The odds of someone winning are pretty remote, but what would you do if someone did win, and you didn't have $100,000? That's where promotional risk coverage saves your bacon.

Promotional risk coverage is also helpful to mobile promotion campaigns. It protects your campaign from over redemption on special gifts and downloads.

Let's say you've arranged with a music label to offer 5,000 downloads of their artists' songs as part of your mobile promotion campaign. But the stars align for you, the promotion takes off, and you end up with 15,000 downloads.

In the first week. And you've got four more weeks to go.

Most people would shut down their campaign right there, desperately hoping to cut their losses. That's where promotional risk can save you. Since it insures against instances like this, you're covered. The music label will still get paid, you can allow the mobile promotion to go on, and you gain more customers than you ever imagined.

We saw this happen in 2009, when Indianapolis-based Marsh Supermarkets ran a coupon promotion on Facebook, where they gave a $10 coupon for any purchase of more than $10... including $10.01.

They had 2,200 fans on Facebook, so the promotion should have cost $22,000. But 45,000 people redeemed the coupon. Marsh canceled the promotion, which angered a lot of their customers, and they took a big hit in the media.

But the biggest hit was the $450,000 in over redemption of the coupons — $428,000 more than they had expected. While they did generate a lot of resentment on the part of their customers, that was minor compared to what they could have lost if they hadn't shut off the promotion.

While it wasn't strictly a mobile promotion, it was a great example of why someone needs promotional risk coverage. Imagine if the same thing happened to your mobile promotion campaign. What would you do if customers were passing the free download codes to their friends? Would you cancel the campaign? Would you risk the backlash from your loyal customers who didn't get a chance to redeem their songs, just because a few people ruined it for the rest of them?

So is it a matter of people being irresponsible and greedy? Or did a mobile promotion succeed beyond our wildest expectations, and we didn't plan accordingly? While we like to think it's the latter, it's still hard to plan accordingly. No matter how wild our expectations are, we can't always see every possibility. That's where promotional risk coverage would have saved our mobile promotion campaign. And our bacon.

Mobile Promotions Including Music Downloads, Ringtones, Movies, and Games

Design your mobile promotion with the newest downloadable releases of music downloads, ringtones, and mobile games. Your promotion budget can be fixed with mobile promotions including promotional risk coverage.

It is worth the risk, but you don't have to take it. Promotional risk coverage protects your promotion budget from over redemption and assists you in fixing your advertising and marketing budget.

Promotional Currency is THE leading digital promotions firm, merging digital technology, artist licensing and promotional risk coverage to deliver turnkey, fixed-cost solutions for the promotional marketplace. Ask us why you can afford large prize offerings including mobile promotions on a budget. Fix your promotion budget with Promotional Currency, THE Digital Promotions Authority. http://www.promotionalcurrency.com

Digital Promotions Including Promotional Risk Coverage Roll With The Moment

Your digital promotion budget solution to increase customer loyalty starts with digital promotions including promotional risk coverage. Promotional Currency is THE leading digital promotions firm, merging digital technology, artist licensing and promotional risk coverage to deliver turnkey, fixed-cost solutions for the promotional marketplace. Ask us why you can afford large prize offerings including digital promotions on a budget. Fix your promotion budget with Promotional Currency, THE Digital Promotions Authority.

Digital Promotions Creating Customer Loyalty of Gen Y Forever

Digital promotions continue to spur billions of dollars in annual sales for product suppliers. By offering promotional incentives, through mobile promotions, online promotions, music download promotions, and other custom promotions, companies can tap into a vast pool of consumers that would otherwise be all but unreachable.


Promotional Currency brings a powerful combination of brand promotions including promotional incentives, entertainment promotions, music download promotions, ringtone promotions, mobile promotions, online instant win games and artist licensing - offering brand partners the first one-stop source for all online promotions, wireless and digital promotions.

Digital Promotions Generate Exposure, Entice Customers, and Boost Your ROI

Digital promotions give you valuable exposure to your market without burdening you with the exorbitant costs associated with traditional advertising. You can leverage them to tap into a large consumer audience in order to promote your brand and products. The incentives can be used to educate people about your products, lift sales, and generate intense customer loyalty.

For example, digital promotions such as online gift certificates and customer loyalty programs can reward people for purchasing your product. That strengthens their loyalty to your brand. It improves the likelihood that they will continue buying your product in the future. Likewise, free music download promotions can entice people to try your brand. Whether you're promoting video games, clothes, or sporting equipment, every demographic loves music.

Digital promotions are a powerful marketing tool because they leverage a low-cost platform to deliver high-impact incentives to a hungry market. That provides an enormous boost to your ROI. Below, you'll discover the three top reasons to integrate digital promotions into your marketing strategy. You'll also learn one of the most unique advantages of using them.

3 Reasons To Leverage Digital Promotions

To be sure, digital promotions can lift product sales and drive brand awareness. They can also bridge the gap between you and your target audience, so you can educate them about the benefits of buying your products. But, it's important to highlight why digital promotions are so effective.

First, they are distributed online. That eliminates most, if not all, of the production and distribution cost. After all, what is the cost of emailing gift certificates to your customers? What is the cost of allowing consumers to download music and play instant win games on their mobile devices?

Second, digital promotions can be customized to fit your products, brand, and target market. For example, would you like to improve brand awareness by connecting your products to a big-box retailer? Would you like to target fans of jazz music? Would you like to give customers who have spent $200 on your products a "30% off" coupon? A solution can be tailor-made for your company.

Third, digital promotions offer a robust level of tracking capability. You can measure your redemption rate and determine which incentives are most likely to generate a response in the future. You can also identify which consumers are actually buying your products down the road. If they are not buying, remove them from your list.

Tracking Results From Your Digital Promotions

Being able to track the results of your digital promotions gives you an enormous level of control over your marketing. It gives you unique, detailed insight into what works - and what does not - for your market.

For example, suppose you're leveraging music download promotions to market an exclusive line of dress shoes. By tracking your metrics, you might discover that fans of country music are far more likely to buy your shoes than fans of other types of music. With that information, you can refine your digital promotions to specifically target country music fans.

This same level of tracking can be used to hone your mobile promotions and skins promotions. For example, you might find that consumers who redeem mobile coupons to certain big-box retailers are more likely to buy your products than those who frequent other stores. Or, you might discover that a specific age group is more receptive to your skins promotions. That demographic may provide far more brand exposure.

How Digital Promotions Attract Valuable Consumer Data

Savvy marketers and advertisers know the inherent value of a consumer database. The more points of data categorized within their database, the more tightly they can target specific market segments. They can design their promotions based on certain demographics, past purchase history, or response rates within various product categories.

Digital promotions give you the same opportunity to collect data from your audience. In fact, it's less costly and less complex than doing so through traditional marketing channels. If you intend to email gift certificates, you'll need consumers to provide their email addresses. If you're launching mobile promotions, you'll need them to provide their mobile numbers. And if you're letting consumers download free music, you can ask them to provide information about themselves prior to redemption.

Imagine the marketing flexibility you'll enjoy when you combine the tracking capability of digital promotions with a perpetually expanding consumer database. You'll be able to hone your future digital promotions and personalize them to individual recipients. In doing so, you'll trigger a larger response from each market segment.

Digital promotions remove the largest obstacles advertisers face in reaching a broad consumer market. You can leverage them to improve awareness of your brand, drive ongoing product sales, and dramatically boost your ROI.

--Cyndi Walker, Promotional Currency

Mobile Promotions: How Ringtones, SMS Promotions And Mobile Coupons Engage Customers

Mobile promotions dovetail seamlessly with your company's marketing objectives. While you want to increase sales and improve your revenue base, there are several ancillary goals you need to meet along the way. For example, you want to improve your brand awareness to consumers; you want to attract consumer data for future CRM efforts; you want to increase customer loyalty and drive traffic - both online and offline. Mobile promotions provide the lever to accomplish each of these goals. And they do so at a cost that fits nearly every marketing budget.

As cell phones, PDAs, and other mobile devices have flourished, they have created a new marketing platform from which you can engage your audience. Below, you'll discover how to use mobile promotions, such as SMS promotions, mobile coupons, and ringtone promotions, to capture valuable mindshare within your market. Once you catch the attention of consumers in a way that excites them, motivating them to take action becomes far easier.

Mobile Promotions Leverage Affordable Digital Incentives

Even if your profit margins are healthy, every marketing budget has inherent constraints. It is critical that you offer incentives to your audience that are as affordable as they are engaging.

Mobile promotions are delivered digitally to consumers' mobile devices. As a result, the cost of delivery is extraordinarily low. This is the case whether you're allowing consumers to download songs, play instant win games, enter sweepstakes, or redeem mobile coupons. Because mobile promotions are comparatively inexpensive, you can launch them while continuing to leverage conventional marketing platforms, such as print and DOOH signage.

How Mobile Promotions Motivate Customers To Respond

The right incentives can drive market participation regardless of your product. The key is to offer incentives that your customers find immediately appealing. This is one of the unique advantages of launching mobile promotions. Consumers can download digital content (e.g. songs, games, images, etc.) instantly to their mobile devices. They can enter contests and sweepstakes for a chance to win alluring prizes.

When you launch mobile promotions to your audience, you're not only offering consumers attractive incentives, you're giving them an opportunity to enjoy instant gratification. Those two levers complement each other. In doing so, they trigger a response from your customers.

Mobile Promotions Capture The Mindshare Of Your Audience

If there were no other demands on your customers' time and attention, motivating them to buy your product would be simple. The reality is that your audience is inundated with a constant torrent of offers and solicitations. Consumers instinctively erect a mental wall that deflects them. That means there's a high likelihood your market is unaware of your product or uninformed with regard to its benefits. Mobile promotions offers a seductively simple solution.

Free song downloads, instant win games, and mobile coupons can quickly penetrate the mental wall your market has built to block other companies' offers. These digital incentives tap into your audience's desire for instant gratification. They are irresistible. They capture mindshare and engage your customers. As a result, your customers become attentive to your message, and far more likely to purchase your product.

Leveraging Mobile Coupons And SMS Promotions

While mobile promotions increase brand awareness, attract customer data, and educate consumers about your product, mobile coupons lift sales and improve customer loyalty. For example, you can use them to reward loyal customers with discounts, thereby driving repeat sales. You can also use them to entice consumers to try a product that you have recently launched. You can leverage these type of mobile promotions to temper the impact of price increases, or to move excess inventory.

Mobile coupons can be delivered to your customers' cell phones and PDAs through text messages. You can communicate the offer, expiration date, and any other relevant information through short, targeted SMS promotions. Consumers can redeem your coupons at the point of sale in-store or online. Plus, because these mobile promotions use redemption-based incentives, you can easily control the financial risk.

How To Take Advantage Of Mobile Promotions

You have access to a broad menu of engaging and affordable mobile promotions that you can leverage to tap into your market and trigger a response. Ringtone promotions, free music downloads, instant win games, and sweepstakes are attractive to consumers on an instinctive level. They are seductive because they offer instant gratification. As a result, mobile promotions help you capture valuable mindshare, delivering your message to an attentive audience.

By capturing your customers' attention, you can educate them about your product and its benefits. You can motivate them to purchase, and collect opt-in data for future CRM campaigns. And in the process, you can improve the loyalty they feel toward your company. Mobile promotions can propel your brand ahead of other companies struggling to reach your customers. In today's competitive environment, that edge can be priceless.

--Cynthia Walker, Promotional Currency

Digital Promotion Basics: How Skins Promotions & Mobile Promotions Drive Sales

Digital Promotions are gaining momentum with marketers and brand managers, because few incentives attract consumers and generate a response as effectively as digital promotions, such as skins promotions, music download promotions, and mobile promotions.

A digital promotion campaign can fit seamlessly within the broader framework of your marketing strategy. Skins promotions, mobile promotions, and music download promotions do not replace your current advertising channels - they complement them. They leverage them. Digital promotions extend your company's reach into your chosen market. By doing so, they improve brand awareness, attract invaluable market data, and encourage customer loyalty.

Over the last few years, there has been a dramatic surge of interest in using digital promotions to spearhead broad market advertising campaigns. Companies of every size are realizing that mobile promotions, such as downloadable coupons, instant win games, ringtones, and other digital currency can have an enormous promotional impact. Many of your competitors are already leveraging them.

Below, we'll explain why digital promotions, including music download promotions and skins promotions, should be an extension of your current marketing strategy. You'll discover why companies in nearly every sector have begun taking advantage of them.

Why Your Competitors Are Using Digital Promotions

Few incentives attract consumers and generate a response as effectively as digital promotions. They are a cost-effective promotional tool with which you can educate your market about your products. They build top-of-mind awareness of your brand. They encourage customer loyalty and long-term sales within the retail market. And they accomplish these goals while preserving your profit margins.

Because digital promotions can be delivered directly to an enormous base, they eliminate layers of costly advertising expenses. Mobile promotions, such as instant win games and sweepstakes, can be distributed at low cost to millions of consumers. That allows your company to generate sales without sacrificing your margins.

Music Download Promotions: Understanding Their Appeal

Have you ever wondered why music download promotions are so pervasive within our society? Consumers seem glued to their iPhones, PDAs, and other mobile devices on which they can download digital music incentives. To understand their appeal, it's worth noting how this type of digital promotion dovetails perfectly with consumer psychology.

First, music is enjoyed universally and is consumed on a near-primal level. Second, consumers can access music download promotions instantly on their mobile devices. These two dynamics can be leveraged to gain quick entry into a large retail market. Digital promotions that offer downloadable music incentives allow you to tap into an unlimited, universal reservoir of consumer interest. What's more, you can use them as the launch pad upon which to build an opt-in database. That creates a mechanism through which you can deliver a perpetual string of future digital promotions.

Digital Promotions And Skins Promotions Complement Each Other

Skins promotions allow you to advertise your brand on consumers' cell phones, laptops, and MP3 players. They can be personalized by consumers to fit their preferences and their devices. The effect of skins promotions is subtle, yet potent. They increase the level of loyalty felt by the device's owner toward your brand. They also help your brand gain broader market exposure as others observe the skins.

Digital promotions can build upon skins promotions to further increase brand awareness. For example, suppose you are promoting a soon-to-be-released movie by letting consumers download photos and create personalized skins of the main actors. Further suppose that you launch a digital promotions campaign through which consumers can download games and music based on the movie. These multiple points of contact (i.e. skins, games, music, etc.) strengthen each other. In doing so, they further cement your brand in the consumer's mind.

How To Leverage Mobile Promotions And Other Digital Promotions

To this point, we've merely touched upon the potential of using mobile promotions. Besides digital music incentives and downloadable games, you can also leverage instant win games, sweepstakes, and coupons. The key to making these digital promotions successful is to look beyond the immediate surge in sales they can produce. Their value extends much further.

Mobile promotions let you tap into the ubiquitous nature of mobile devices. They allow you to deliver your digital promotions instantly to a wide audience at a low cost. As a result, your promotional incentives will generate excitement in the retail market, which encourages consumers to participate. That expands your brand, builds customer loyalty, and paves the way for a long-term increase in sales. If you are not currently leveraging digital promotions as a key component of your marketing strategy, it's time to explore your options.


Author, Cynthia Walker