SMS Proven to Build Communities, Increase Interaction and Enable Advertising Revenues

Redwood City, CA, May 12, 2009 – Even during tough economic times, the mobile social networking phenomenon is here to stay. People want to stay connected and in touch while on the go, and the addition of text messaging to social networks makes it possible anywhere, anytime. Especially in times of high job loss, people want to stay in touch with friends, colleagues, past employers, and others to keep up to date on job status and conversations regarding possible work opportunities. Immediately opened when received, text messaging is the fastest growing communications method in mobile social networking today. Brightkite, mig33 and Mobiluck agree—they’ve chosen Clickatell as their trusted SMS provider to deliver reliable text messages to millions of their community members around the world.

Brightkite, available independently on Brightkite.com or via Facebook, is a mobile location-based social network, which allows friends to be found or find others–a great way to meet up any time. “Finding the best party, meeting up for dinner, or meeting new people are some of the reasons customers enjoy Brightkite,” commented Brady Becker, Co-Founder. “Working with Clickatell made it incredibly easy for us to implement our SMS strategy and we count on the reliability, ubiquity, and global appeal Clickatell provides. We look forward to working with Clickatell as we expand in 2009 and beyond.”

As Twitter bursts into the mainstream, the social networking phenomenon continues to astound Wall Street – billions of people engaged, yet little monetization. People won’t pay for services to connect with peers, but companies are highly interested in reaching these people in new ways. Growing three times faster than the overall rate of Internet growth, social networking applications stand to attract many customers as they connect and interact with friends, family and business associates around the globe.

“Read within minutes, text messages can reach millions instantly. Research has shown, SMS is surpassing voice as the preferred way to communicate – it’s quick, easy, direct. As social sites continue experiencing phenomenal growth – they are introducing mobile advertising and location-aware services via SMS,” said Pieter de Villiers, CEO of Clickatell. “If, for example, a restaurant or retailer sent a text message offering a free beverage or point-of-sale coupon to someone passing the physical store, chances are customers would stop in for a free drink and maybe also purchase other items as well. They might also text friends, further extending the value of mobile communities. Sent to the masses via mobile social networking, retailers of all kinds could drive traffic into their store during slow times, reaching new customers through these circles, ultimately increasing the bottom line.”

At pennies per message, implementing SMS is the best way to get started immediately. Using www.Clickatell.com -- the world’s #1 mobile messaging self-service website -- all developers and marketers simply need to do is go to www.Clickatell.com, create an account, enter a credit card number to purchase future message quantities and then access their favorite social networking messaging solution. Clickatell has made it incredibly easy to SMS-enable any existing application.  There is no need for heavy software installation, long purchase processes or complex implementation. In a matter of minutes, organizations of all sizes can rapidly deploy SMS-based mobile social strategies and campaigns. Clickatell's easy-to-use social mobile messaging solutions include seven API choices, developer tools and provide one central point to quickly integrate new SMS capabilities into existing or new offerings. And, Clickatell has years of experience and deep relationships with mobile carriers and can reach more than 775 networks in more than 200 countries around the world.

The uptake in social networking is being driven by popular global sites, including mySpace, Twitter, Facebook, Friendster, Hi5, Orkut, Bebo, and others. Further, the social networking sector is undergoing a rapid transformation as these and other community sites are embracing mobilization strategies of their rapidly growing communities to facilitate even more member interaction and collaboration. eMarketer predicts that over 800 million people worldwide will be participating in a social network via their mobile phones by 2012, up from 82 million in 2007. The global social networking market will grow to a massive $28.9 billion for revenues generated from all business models in this industry by 2012, according to Informa. Within that market, SMS is rapidly being used to mobilize the social networking experience to create greater member stickiness, usage and community growth, as well as to achieve monetization business objectives.

For more information about Clickatell’s solutions for Mobile Social Networking, please visit http://www.clickatell.com/solutions/social_networking.php

Clickatell Customers Agree: Mobile Social Networking via SMS Adds Value

Founded in 2005, Brightkite brings social networking back into the real world. Brightkite’s location-aware mobile service helps people connect with friends and share real world experiences. More than two million people use Brightkite’s free service every month. Use Brightkite to meet people, keep track of friends, explore and discover new places, and annotate places with notes and photos. Best of all, Brightkite is available to anyone, anywhere, worldwide. All you need is a mobile phone or Web browser to bring friends together in the real world, wherever you are.

mig33 is a leading mobile community with more than 18 million users, globally, providing a choice of communications and entertainment services for users to connect on their mobile phone. In over 200 countries, members engage in the vibrant chat community, instant messaging, email, photo sharing, virtual gifting, profiles, as well as cheap voice calls and SMS. “Clickatell has been a good partner over the past four years in helping us build our global community, so we can deliver the kind of service our customers deserve and have come to expect,” said Steve Boom, CEO, mig33. 

Mobiluck, the world’s fastest growing mobile location-based social network, now has one million mobile members with 5,000 new people joining daily from all over the world. Mobiluck allows people to find nearby people, places and events, sorted by distance. In just a minute, people and businesses can create a free mobile webpage in order to be easily found on the mobile web. Mobiluck is available on all cell phones and PCs, in all countries, on all operator networks, and without any download. Members receive free Clickatell-powered SMS alerts to inform members of interesting events such as nearby friends or recent profile views. “Clickatell has proven to be the best choice for us in terms of global reach, performance and price point to deliver the millions of monthly SMS alerts around the world that are essential to the interactivity, relevance and fun of our service for members’,” said Olivier Chouraki, Mobiluck CEO.

About Clickatell

Clickatell enables businesses, governments and communities to leverage the ubiquity of mobile messaging to inform, alert, notify, transact, interact and share information. Delivering mobile messaging solutions since 2000, Clickatell is a global leader in mobile communications specializing in SaaS messaging services and Bulk SMS gateway connectivity to small, medium and large enterprises in a variety of vertical markets. Clickatell's multi-modal capability and worldwide coverage gives organizations the power to deliver any message to any device anywhere in the world. Reaching 775+ networks in more than 200 countries, Clickatell serves 8,300 customers including BBC, Continental Airlines, First National Bank, Metropolitan Life, Oracle, Shell, and other industry leaders. Clickatell products and services increase customer acquisition, improve loyalty and build trusted brands through direct, personal, easy, and immediate communications. A Sequoia-backed company, Clickatell is headquartered in Redwood City, CA, and has offices in South Africa.