eWORDofMOUTH Adds Text Messaging to Address Mega Trend in Customer Communications

eWORDofMOUTH online referral system adds text messaging to make it easier for businesses to take advantage of an affordable way to attract, reward, and retain customers. With eWORDofMOUTH, companies can combine the power of word-of-mouth marketing with the Web to increase traffic exponentially to their Websites.

Rancho Mirage, CA (PRWeb) November 5, 2007 -- www.eWORDofMOUTH.com has added text messaging to its online customer referral, rewards, and retention system. The enhancement expands the functionality of the Website and makes it even easier for businesses to acquire and retain motivated customers at the lowest possible costs.

With the new feature, people can refer friends and family using text messaging on their cell phone or other mobile device. When they do, they can have an electronic coupon or certificate" sent to their phone for redemption later.

eWORDofMOUTH is excited to offer the text messaging option because of the increase in texting among consumers. "Texting is becoming more popular than email with the younger generation," said Trevor Shanski, president of ANTON Publishing, which operates the Website. Integrating text messaging into eWORDofMOUTH addresses this important trend and now makes eWORDofMOUTH not only applicable to almost any business-online or offline-but any age demographic."

Indeed, industry research indicates a strong trend toward text messaging, particularly among younger consumers. More than two-thirds of U.S. adult mobile users can send and receive text messages, according to InsightExpress. More than four in 10 Gen Y mobile users text daily, according to InsightExpress. A little over one-sixth of younger baby boomers and 10 percent of older boomers said they text daily. And a recent study by mobile media authority M:Metrics found a similar propensity toward texting, with 41.6 percent of mobile users having texted within the past three months.

"Mobile technology is pervasive, impacting the lives of consumers across generations," said Joy Liuzzo, director of mobile research at InsightExpress, in a statement. "This widespread acceptance and appeal is precisely what makes the mobile market attractive to both B2B and B2C businesses."

The number of mobile users who text is important because text ads are among the most accepted by mobile users. An Ingenio-Harris Interactive study conducted in March and April 2007 found that many mobile users are adverse to the idea of mobile ads. However, about 30 percent of respondents said that sponsored text links were at least somewhat acceptable.

The preference for text ads bodes well for Websites such as eWORDofMOUTH and its new text messaging feature. And now that Yahoo! Mail allows its subscribers to email text messages to mobile phones users, the popularity of texting should rise even more.

Having more text messages is good for the environment. So is eWORDofMOUTH because it distributes promotional certificates electronically. This eliminates all of the costs and wasted paper associated with traditional coupons and direct mail campaigns. More than 100 million trees are destroyed annually to create paper for coupons and direct mail offers, with about 44 percent of direct mail offers ending up in landfills un-opened, reports www.41pounds.org. And the energy used to produce and dispose of paper coupons and direct mail offers exceeds the carbon emissions of 2.8 million cars.

eWORDofMOUTH combines the power of the Internet and word-of-mouth advertising to drive motivated prospects who are pre-sold on the users brand by a referral from a friend or family member. Referred customers are more likely to make a purchase, according to research. A study published January 2007 by Shawndra Hill, Wharton Professor of Operations & Information Management, study found that customers are far more likely to buy a companys product if they are network neighbors" with existing customers. Network Neighbors-those customers linked to a prior customer-adopt a service at a rate of three to five times greater than baseline groups selected by the best practices of the firms marketing team, according to the study.

To use eWORDofMOUTH, companies simply integrate the system into their Website or checkout process. They pay only when a new customer is added to the database. For more information about eWORDofMOUTHs text messaging feature, contact Trevor Shanski directly at (760) 200-7013. Or visit the Website at www.eWORDofMOUTH.com for a detailed demonstration.

About ANTON Publishing Inc.

ANTON Publishing Inc. is a full-service Internet marketing and business consulting company that holds the copyright and trademark of the proprietary eWORDofMOUTH system. Headquartered near Palm Springs, Calif., the privately-held firm is committed to becoming the leading developer of Web-based customer referral, rewards, and retention systems for both Internet and land-based companies.

Contact:

Trevor Shanski, President ANTON Publishing Inc.

(760) 200-7013

www.eWORDofMOUTH.com

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