Nearly a quarter of mobile phone users are likely to respond to a text message promotion, according to a survey in the USA by the Direct Marketing Association.

Twenty-four per cent have responded to a mobile marketing offer, making text messaging the most often responded to mobile marketing technique.

Classical music download website Classical.com is using Bluetooth marketing at the Royal Albert Hall during The Proms season.

Concert-goers entering the hall with their Bluetooth reception on will receive a viral mobile film, which includes a link to access a free download from each night’s concert via a computer.

Classical.com has shifted its marketing spend away from banner ads, email and search marketing to proximity-focused mobile and viral work.

by Helen Simson, Eclipse client services director

What would happen if direct marketers were banned from using electoral roll data, as recommended in the Prime Minister’s recent data-sharing review? We believe it would be a catastrophe, not only for the dm industry but also for consumers and for our clients.

Far from reducing the amount of unwanted direct mail landing on doormats, such a move could actually increase the problem.

Customer satisfaction is being jeopardised by poor technology in call centres which forces agents to spend the majority of their time on administrative duties.

Call centre operatives are spending an average of 71 per cent of their time entering data, making notes, seeking advice and reading from information screens, according to new research.

A survey by Direct Magazine registers an increase of 10% from 2007, in the usage of e-mail marketing by direct marketers.

According to the report, contacting prospects through e-mail is fast becoming the most desired medium employed by the direct marketers, with over 70% contacting customers via e-mail.

However, this development doesn’t signal the end of snail mail. If not as popular, it continues to be utilized as an accompaniment for marketing strategies. The report details that 66% of direct marketers still harness direct mail as a supplement to e-mail. This is a 4% decrease from 2007. The report also records that 59% of direct marketers also use snail mail to reach sales prospects.