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A 16-store franchise of Subway Restaurants in the Buffalo/Rochester, New York region has generated increased repeat business through its My Subway Mobile program. Set up to influence more visits from its current customer base, the program has been promoted through marketing literature and radio and TV campaigns in the area.

In line with Tatango’s service, Tagga, another SMS provider, developed a system for customers to simply join the group by texting a Keyword to a short code (a five-digit number). After customers opt-in to the promotion, they are sent product offers and coupons via text message. A coupon with high incentive for return visits may consist of a “free 6-inch Subway sandwich with purchase of a 32-ounce drink.” After analyzing the response from these messages, Subway has determined that the most effective format features 4-6 messages per month, consisting of an expiration date for each discount.

After only a few months, the 16 restaurants have seen an extraordinary return on their investment. Over 5,000 customers have signed up, 13,000 messages have been sent, and most importantly - they have experienced a 9% redemption rate of all messages, as opposed to a 1% rate for direct mail. With My Subway Mobile now ramping up, a buy-one get-one SMS alert will result in a nearly instant increase in customer traffic.

This campaign is only possible through the use of group text messaging. SMS allows your business to send valid promotions that are delivered instantly to each customer’s mobile phone. As Subway has accomplished, any business can gain more control of traffic through SMS marketing efforts.

Subway has now continued to expand on the program’s success, initiating a 300-restaurant campaign in Seattle, WA. To view the full case study, click here.

The recently released Vlingo Consumer Mobile Messaging Habits Report finds that nearly 60% of mobile phone owners use their phones to text, with teens leading the way (94%), followed by 20-somethings (87%), 40-somethings (64%), and 50-somethings (46%).

Among all users, texting is also gaining on sending/receiving calls as the primary use of mobile phones, with 35% of all respondents using their phones for texting more than for phone calls.

Here are some other key findings among all those surveyed:

In terms of texting, the 13 to 19 age group remains the most active, sending on average more than 500 texts per month;

73% do not use email on their mobile phones;
70% do not browse the Web;
41% do not text;
44% cite cost as a barrier to adopting text messaging;
59% cite cost as a barrier to web browsing;
53% cite cost as a reason for not adopting mobile email.

You can view the rest of this post here.

With the smart phone market booming and new technologies being introduced every day, what do you think the next big thing is? Could the LG GD910 watch-phone give the likes of Apple’s iPhone and Blackberry’s Storm a run for their money? Who knows, in the years to come, with two free hands, you may be streaming video calls from your waterproof watch-phone. 

Growing up, my mom always said, “safety first!” I guess the same can’t be said for the rest of America, as a recent poll shows that 1-in-4 Americans text while
driving. Now, I’d be lying if I said I’ve never texted while driving, but with the recent enactment of the ban of text messaging while driving in Washington State, I’ve been trying to tone it back a bit. ;D

Here’s a quick piece from the article, “The survey, which was conducted by Vlingo, says that 26 percent of people admit to texting while driving—the implication is that plenty more people text while driving than admit to doing so. (Note: Polls are created with this type of “are they telling the truth?” scenario in mind, so it should make a huge impact on the final percentage.) The poll surveyed 4,800 people.”

You can check out the rest of the article on MobileCrunch, and hey, be safe out there!

In a groundbreaking effort to create buzz surrounding the upcoming North American launch of the internationally celebrated and redesigned 2011 Ford Fiesta, The Ford Motor Company has decided to put faith in individuals with Social Media influence by letting them speak.

Tatango Founder and CEO, Derek Johnson, who has built a service with over 400,000 users, credits the interaction provided by networks like Twitter and Facebook for Tatango’s viral growth throughout its first year. With an evident social media presence, Derek has been selected to be one of only 100 privileged Ford Fiesta Agents who will be sharing their firsthand experience with the unreleased Fiesta. All Agents, who are now leading the highly followed Fiesta Movement, will be accomplishing monthly themed tasks ranging from adventure to entertainment, capturing the action with a Sony Webbie HD video camera (also provided), and posting content to their trendsetting accounts.

“We’re very enthusiastic about the 100 agents who were selected,” says Sam De La Garza, marketing manager at Ford. “We can’t wait for them to begin participating in missions and sharing their experiences and feelings about the car. This is an exciting stage in the Fiesta Movement. The chosen agents are socially vibrant, unique and able to tell a good story.”

The Fiesta Movement is now underway - check out the live feed of video postings to see what the agents are saying!

Ford has made a very bold move by placing a great deal of faith and resources into Social Media. The Tatango team is nothing but amped to be apart of a another big step towards the adoption of social media in business.

Gary Vaynerchuk, Founder of WineLibrary.com and social media guru on GaryVaynerchuk.com, explains how the internet is evolving as a communication platform for businesses and personal brands. Gary shares how he has become so successful in utilizing the likes of Twitter and Facebook to build such a powerful brand. Check him out on CNN!

The team at Tatango has taken Gary’s preaching to heart over the last year, resulting in strong relationships with a very passionate user base that we can’t be more thankful for. Be sure to connect with your community if you are not already.

The Tatango team is excited to participate in the Relay for Life fundraising event this Saturday, May 16, to support cancer treatment and cure research by the American Cancer Society! The event, which has developed into an overnight community gathering, brings people of all ages together to reminisce of their loved ones who have passed, and also honor those who have fought and survived cancer.

If you are in the area this weekend, be sure to come by and have some fun! The walking and games will be in full swing from Noon on Saturday until 8:00 AM on Sunday. You can help out our team by donating here! 

Recently, the Tatango CEO (Derek Johnson) created his own personal blog to discuss anything from young entrepreneurship to dating. The blog can be found at thederekjohnson.com.

Though the name of the site may come off somewhat condescending (he’s very modest), the content of the blog is great. Below, I’ve embedded a video blog from a couple of months back on how we came up with the name Tatango. Enjoy, and feel free to check out some additional posts by Derek here. 

Why are text messages limited to 160 characters? It’s a question for the ages. In a recent article from the Los Angeles Times, we’re given an interesting insight into where that magical number came from.

Here’s a quick excerpt from the article: 

“As he went along, Hillebrand counted the number of letters, numbers, punctuation marks and spaces on the page. Each blurb ran on for a line or two and nearly always clocked in under 160 characters.

That became Hillebrand’s magic number — and set the standard for one of today’s most popular forms of digital communication: text messaging.”  Article continued here…

So, what do you think, is 160 characters enough for the text messages you send?

Recently, Tatango CEO Derek Johnson was selected as an agent for the Ford Fiesta Movement, the ultimate foreign exchange program where 100 agents will spend 6 months behind the wheel of their own Ford Fiesta.

So, to celebrate both the arrival of the Fiesta and Cinco De Mayo, we’re going to hold a little contest. Tomorrow morning we’ll be parking the Fiesta at the Western Washington University Park and Ride in Bellingham Washington between 9-12 AM.

The first person to call the number on the dash of the car will get lunch with the entire Tatango team at the mexican restaurant of their choice on us! You can check out our new Fiesta below…

Bust of luck and very happy Cinco De Mayo everyone!