Thursday, May 10, 2012

Merchants Get 2nd Swing at USPS QR-Code Discount

The U.S. Postal Service will repeat its offer of a postage discount to merchants who use a QR code in catalog mailings and other direct-mail pieces this summer. The 2% discount (smaller than last year’s 3%) will go into effect July 1 and end Aug. 31. The USPS thought last summer's discount was a success, but it looks at mail volumes not marketing results. The big question is whether more merchants, and customers, are savvy enough about QR codes to really capitalize on the opportunity this time around. For suggestions on using QR codes for marketing effectiveness, start with http://blog.multichannelmerchant.com/blog/2012/03/27/will-merchants-get-uspss-mobile-barcode-promo-right-the-second-time/

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

FCC, Suits Tighten SMS Marketing Opt-in Rules

Warning SMS marketers: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and recent class-action lawsuits are taking aim at lax opt-in policies to rein in mobile marketing spam. With spam text messages soaring to an estimated 4.5 billion globally in 2011, or almost two days’ worth of the text message traffic in the U.S. alone, the ire of cell carriers, consumers, courts and federal regulators is not going to ease. Mobile marketers who push the boundaries of recent amendments to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act requiring "prior express written consent" to send text messages risk onerous penalties. For a complete discussion of SMS permission requirements, see http://chiefmarketer.com/mobile-marketing/fcc-lawsuits-shape-how-marketers-must-handle-sms-opt-ins