Info

Frequency Asked Questions

Overview

Publishing

Contacts

Messaging — Email AND SMS

Pricing — Free and paid versions of Promote

Sophisticated marketing solutions and deep integration

Overview

What does Spongecell do?

Spongecell lets you create and promote events easily across websites, email/SMS, blogs and social networks. You can also collect detailed information on how people interact with your events and how they spread virally. Spongecell lets you use this data to more effectively create and promote future events, and to follow-up with targeted messaging that enables you to do scalable, one-to-one marketing.

What do you mean by scalable, one-to-one marketing? Isn't that an oxymoron!

Scalable, one-to-one marketing refers to how Spongecell gathers information on interest levels for each of your contacts and enables you to send targeted follow-up messages that speak to their interests. Each time you use Promote, we feed all the rich data back into your contact database. The result is that you continually better know and understand your audience on a mass scale, and can simultaneously speak to each of their specific interests individually.

What do you mean by events?

Life is a series of events. An event can be almost anything — a rock concert, a cover story, a trade show, a featured recipe or product tip, a contest, or any gathering of people. Spongecell makes events successful with effective and targeted promotional tools to make sure the right people participate and attend.

Why the name Spongecell?

Sponges naturally absorb, and cells are the smallest living organisms. Spongecell absorbs rich information and allows users to publish it across websites, email/SMS, blogs and social networks. The Add to Life Technology built into these promotions interacts with end users like a living cell, and they absorb information from each interaction like a sponge.

You guys mention Add to Life Technology in every other sentence, but what does it really mean?

Add to Life Technology refers to how Spongecell literally helps people add online events to permanent places in their offline, real lives. Each time someone interacts with an event powered by Spongecell, they can: set email/SMS reminders, forward to friends, add to personal calendar or MySpace page.

What is the Promote Center?

The Promote Center is the user-friendly interface you can log into anytime to manage your event promotions, publish widgets, and see real-time reports on all of your events and contacts.

What are Viral Promotions?

“Viral” is a term that stands for the spread of information from consumer to consumer as opposed to marketing directly. The best “viral promotions” travel literally like a virus, with consumers who like the marketing message helping to spread it by telling their friends. There is no better medium by which to spread or receive a message than from a friend who endorses it. Viral is also a synonym for Word of Mouth (WOM).

Will something get lost or change when my promotion “spreads virally”?

Not with Spongecell. Conventional online and e-marketing tools often lose information and the content mutates with each pass similar to how a virus spreads. Spongecell is different because our Add to Life Technology spreads promotions in secure ways that retain branding.

What is an ATC?

ATC is short for Add to Calendar. ATC refers to the number of times someone adds an event to their personal calendar (Outlook, Google, iCal, Yahoo). When given the choice, 16:1 people ATC vs. set reminders by email, and 32:1 ATC vs. set reminders by SMS.

What is a Widget?

A Widget is a piece of software that usually performs a simple task or two and typically can be implemented with one line of HTML code. It can easily be customized and used in any website due to its innately simple nature. Spongecell's interactive calendar widgets are all of that and then some as we not only provide rich functionality to our users through our Add to Life Technology, but we also track all of those interactions and generate detailed metrics based on usage. We are truly serving a sophisticated marketing platform inside of a widget.

Publishing

What is an interactive calendar widget?

An interactive calendar widget is the tool that you use to publish this information. When you publish an interactive calendar widget, the events will appear exactly how you created them inside of Promote with all associated dates, times, and images.

What types of interactive calendar widgets can I publish?

Spongecell currently offers three different types of calendar widgets. We have a traditional “boxed view” calendar widget which can be accessed in the Promote Center by clicking on the “Add a calendar to your website” link. This widget is best when you want to display a typical calendar on your website for a lot of events which occur frequently.

We also have a list view widget which can be accessed in the Promote Center by clicking on the “Add a list view calendar to your website”. This widget is best used when you want to display a list of events in a narrow space, potentially on your homepage.

Another list view widget which is geared more towards social networks can be accessed in the Promote Center by clicking on the “Add an event list to your MySpace page”. This widget is best used when you want to publish a series of events into your social networking page.

Remember, you can generate different widgets that all serve the same events throughout your site enabling you to publish one on your homepage, another on your dedicated events page and yet another in your MySpace or other social networking page.

Is there a limit to how many times I can publish interactive calendar widgets?

No. You can create an unlimited number of interactive calendar widgets for each event calendar, and you can publish them an unlimited number of times on any website, blog or social network.

How do I create an interactive calendar widget?

Easily. Just go under an event calendar or event details page, and click the type of calendar you want to use under “Publishing.” This will take you to the page where you can customize and publish.

Can I customize the size and color of the interactive calendar widget?

Yes, you can easily customize with simple templates once you select which type of calendar you want to publish.

How do I add interactive calendar widgets to my website, blog, MySpace or other social networks?

After you customize the look and feel of your calendar, save the information and Spongecell will automatically generate code. Copy this code and paste it anywhere you want to publish the widget — really, it's that easy!

Is there a limit to how many dynamic event pages I can create within each event calendar?

No. Many companies charge a lot for dynamic event pages because they are like custom websites, but we give you them for free.

What is a Dynamic Event Page?

Spongecell's dynamic event pages let users invite their friends, set reminders, or add the event to their calendar easily with one click. They also feature interactive video, images, maps, RSVP and comments.

Someone wrote a nasty comment on my event page — can I erase it?

Absolutely! Just go into “Moderate user comments” under the messaging section for the event, select which comment you want to moderate, and make changes quick and easily.

I made a mistake, and now my promotions are posted everywhere with the wrong information. What do I do?

No problem. You can easily edit and update your information inside of the Promote Center, and then these changes will propagate in real time anywhere on the web that the events are published.

Why won't the address I put in show up on the map?

Either the address is incorrect, or Google doesn't have a map for that area.

Contacts

What is this disclaimer like-thing I have to send people to add them to my contacts?

This is what the law requires for people to opt-in to your list. It gives you permission to send them emails. We protect privacy of everyone and this makes sure you are compliant with anti-spam laws.

Do you manage opt-ins and opt-outs of my contacts?

Yes, and we do so automatically — of course, we doubt anybody will want to opt out of your list after seeing your cool events powered by Spongecell!

How do I upload and export contacts?

Many programs (Microsoft Outlook, for example) allow you to export your contacts into a CSV file. You can also create a CSV file by copying and pasting lists of email addresses into a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel. You can then upload the CSV file to Spongecell Promote and use promote to manage your communications. Whenever you want to download your contacts simply click on the “Download” link while looking at your contact list.

I want people to be able to subscribe to my list — can you help me?

Sure thing! We have an opt-in subscription widget that does just that! Place it anywhere on the web and contact information will go straight into your Promote account database.

Our Add to Life Technology built into all of our interactive calendars widgets and dynamic event pages also allows people interested in your events to opt-in as your event spread virally. Once users opt-in, these contacts go straight into your Promote contacts list.

Will Spongecell use, sell, or share my contact lists?

Never. We respect your privacy and the privacy of your audience, so your contacts remain your contacts. To read more, go to Spongecell.com/legal

Messaging — Email AND SMS

What is the difference between “viral messages” and “email and SMS blasts”?

Viral messages are sent by our Add to Life Technology when someone encounters your event powered by one of our interactive calendar widgets or dynamic event pages. Email and SMS blasts are messages you send from within Promote that you blast out to your contact list of users who have opted-in to receive communication from you.

Do I pay for messages sent by your Add to Life Technology?

No, messages we help spread virally are free. You pay for only messages you send to contacts directly from within Promote. We send a lot of viral messages and we're happy to do that as we know that is what helps your event to spread!

What is SMS?

SMS stands for Short Message Service, and is most commonly referred to as a text message that you receive on your cell phone.

How do I buy more messages for email and SMS?

You can buy email and SMS messages inside of Promote using your credit card. Premium Promote users can also purchase them directly from our sales representative.

Are messaging discounts available based on volume?

Yes. Our message rates are competitive with industry standards, plus we include all the reporting and viral contact collection from our Add to Life Technology. Please see the pricing page for details.

Are messaging discounts available based on frequency?

Typically they are not, but in some special cases we make exceptions. So, if you have a very large list and you send very frequently and you would prefer to pre-pay a set monthly amount each month please contact sales for our high-volume monthly plans. Please send along any information you have about the list, how you currently send email marketing, and attach relevant campaign history stats as well.

Do you have built-in HTML email templates?

Yes, we have HTML templates that let you create emails quickly and easily.

Can I use my own HTML too?

Yes, you can also upload your own HTML and do email blasts that way. We try to give you as many options as possible to make it convenient for you to do blasts however you like.

Can I SMS multiple people at once?

Yes, just upload all your contacts' phone numbers, and you can send an SMS blast just like you would send a mass email to your list.

Can I get my own short code for SMS messages?

Yes, contact sales if you are interested in this option.

Can I send SMS blasts internationally?

We currently support carriers in the US and we have an integrated partnership in place to support Canada, UK and Europe. To set up your international SMS campaign please contact sales.

Pricing — Free and paid versions of Promote

What do I get with a Promote Free account?

One event calendar that you can publish an unlimited number of times, unlimited dynamic event pages within the event calendar, unlimited viral messaging by our Add to Life Technology, basic reporting on event interest, plus a starter package of 50 email and 5 SMS messages.

Why should I upgrade to a paid version of Promote?

Paid versions of Spongecell Promote offer unprecedented capabilities to do scalable, one-to-one marketing. Access rich reporting broken down by each contact, and then use these detailed metrics to send targeted follow-ups to people who show a proven interest. Increase opt-ins, tag contacts, and segment lists. Easily upload and export information to manage RSVPs and enrich your Contact Management System (CMS) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) databases. White label our technology to customize branding, serve ads, and integrate into any website with flexible API calls. Plus a whole lot more!

What is the difference between Spongecell Lite and the Premium versions?

Spongecell Lite is designed for independent promoters and small business owners who want to take ownership of their online promotions by accessing features like detailed reporting on events, creating private events and assigning management permissions to various team members.

Premium versions are designed for Brands and Agencies, Web Publishers, and Community Builders. They grant access to advanced features like ad serving, and also allow white labeling and deep integration of Spongecell technology into any website.

How do I serve Ads?

Ads are served by entering one line of HTML code to deliver ads in standard formats. Currently our event pages support a “medium rectangle” at 300x250 and a “leader board banner” at 728x90. This enables you to drop in your ad code from any ad server and start serving your own ads through our event pages immediately. You need to purchase the option to serve ads directly through one of our sales representatives. We also recommend that paid clients consider wrapping the entire event page and calendar with branding for much more interactive, integrated advertising.

Sophisticated marketing solutions and deep integration

What is Rich Reporting?

Rich Reporting is highly detailed data collection on every interaction with Spongecell's Add to Life Technology.

Spongecell's patent-pending algorithms give an overall interest level based on all interactions each contact has with our Add to Life Technology. You can also look at individual types of interactions, such as email views, event page views, invitations sent to friends, ATCs (Add to Calendars), and reminders set by email and SMS. Additionally you can also monitor comments and RSVPs. Spongecell also reports on contact list growth as well as managing unsubscribes.

What is a Targeted Marketing Filter?

A targeted marketing filter is what Spongecell uses to help you send follow-up messages to contacts based upon information you want to use to identify them. This information can be either data we collect (such as interest levels, previous time contacted, date added to your contact list) or it can be on information you may currently have to identify contacts, such as age, gender, location, types of events they like (i.e. tags), etc.

What is an API?

Application Programming Interface (API) is a source code that we provide in order to support requests to implement our software from your website. Our API gives you access to all the advanced reporting and features of Spongecell while allowing you to completely customize the look and feel of our technology according to your website's style and branding.

What does it mean to set permissions?

Permissions allow an administrator to give users controlled access to different aspects of Promote based upon their login. For example, one person could access only the rich reporting but not send email/SMS blasts, a designer might access only the area to create dynamic event pages and calendars, an editor can access the email/SMS blasting feature but can not see the Promoter's contact list, etc.

Can I synch your data collection with my own Content Management System (CMS) or Customer Relationship Management (CRM)?

Yes, this option is available to Premium Promote accounts. It requires some basic customization work but can be easily done by utilizing our API. This lets you easily enrich your current database with all of the valuable information we gather on your contacts, both existing and those collected virally.

Can I white-label your technology to have all the cool functions with my own branding?

Yes, this option is available to Premium Promote accounts by easily utilizing our API. Your designers can then do whatever they want with the layout and feel of the front-end interface.