The following is a guest post from Shane Neman, CEO of Web-based SMS marketing provider Ez Texting.
One of the most consistently exciting things about working in the SMS Marketing business is watching how quickly things change. When I got into this business, six years ago, text messages were just beginning to catch fire, there was no such thing as an iPhone and my BlackBerry was the ultimate in cutting edge mobile tech. Every year brings change when it comes to the mobile industry, and 2011 was an especially busy year – which is why it’s important to look back at the past 12 months.
Over the past couple of weeks we have been looking at the many things that affected Ez Texting this year, internal and external. What really stood out was the degree to which we are affected by changes in the broader world of mobile (outside of the mobile marketing ecosystem). Whether you develop platform specific apps, power mobile websites, run mobile ads, or provide text messaging services, as a marketer you cannot ignore the larger, external trends. After compiling our list and sharing it with our team here, we realized that a lot of other mobile-focused marketers would find the content interesting. So, we decided to put together a public review of 2011’s biggest stories in mobile.
Our list covers important hardware and operating system shifts, carrier takeover attempts (and failures), and important events in emerging technologies like mobile payments and location based services. This was, like I said, a very busy year, and some stories needed to be updated just this week (AT&T/T-Mobile), while others await conclusions (the fate of RIM and its BlackBerry). Other stories made our first draft, but ultimately got cut from the final list (more wireless device subscriptions than citizens) – again, showing what a wild year this truly was. So browse our top stories, read our quick bits of analysis on each event, and if you think we missed anything leave a comment here.
About Ez Texting
Ez Texting provides web-based SMS Marketing services to over 50,000 clients. Since 2006, Ez Texting’s do-it-yourself service has been used by clients ranging from small organizations to Fortune 500 firms. Text message marketing features like mobile coupons, keyword autoresponders, and efficient group messaging allow Ez Texting clients to reach their customers wherever they are, at anytime. Follow the company on Twitter at @EzTexting and follow CEO Shane Neman at @ShaneNeman.
