Hey TracFone, Virgin Mobile is Stealing your Customers!
Written by Elaine Warner (contact - e-mail) -- February 14th, 2008 |
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Recently I was thinking about the prepaid wireless market, comparing carriers’ strategies and how consumers are reacting to marketing. The prepaid wireless market is especially competitive - since consumers have so much control. Once their prepaid minutes are used up, the customer can buy more, or they can use a different carrier or phone. Worse, some customers may have multiple prepaid plans with carriers and switch back and forth between them. Prepaid wireless service is definitely a tough market to stay connected with your customers.
TracFone, a leading prepaid wireless carrier with over 9 million active subscribers, has been known for its high customer retention rates among prepaid carriers. I wanted to investigate TracFone’s strategy for keeping retention rates high, so I looked at its online customers’ consideration of competitors’ websites using a new Compete product called Behavior Match. Behavior Match measures overlap of a targeted segment (TracFone online customers) with domains (competitor websites) against the overlap of the general Internet browsing population (IBP) to the same sites. An index over 100 means that the targeted segment frequents the given site more than the average consumer does.
With a Composition Index of 333, Virgin Mobile leads the pack in terms of TracFone online customers’ consideration. TracFone customers are over 3X more likely to visit Virgin Mobile’s website than the average American Internet user is likely to. The inclusion of several online agent sites could mean that TracFone customers are interested in comparison shopping or that they need extra support in making their decisions. The exclusion of Big 4 sites (vzwshop.com being the lone exception) is also interesting in that it signals that prepaid and regional carriers better suit TracFone customers’ needs.
Since Virgin Mobile is the most considered competitor, I took a deeper look into the interaction between TracFone online customers and Virgin Mobile consideration.
This chart shows the percentage of TracFone’s online customer base that is considering Virgin Mobile. Since Q3 2006 TracFone online customers’ consideration of VMU has more than doubled. There is a distinct upward trend here and it indicates that TracFone is increasingly exposed to VMU. To be fair, not all of the TracFone customers will make the switch to VMU, but the steady growth in consideration indicates that more of them will.
This is an alarming trend. Acting on this type of insight would require targeting TracFone customers that are considering Virgin Mobile specifically, which can be tricky. Obviously TracFone can’t advertise on Virgin Mobile’s website, and advertising on contextual sites (like tech review sites) can be expensive. In this example we evaluated TracFone against competitive sites, but Behavior Match can be used to index over one million sites on the web, so it could be used to target segments of consumers in almost endless ways. (Check out this automotive-focused blog post for a different perspective.) TracFone could find intentionally non-contextual sites that these specific customers visit in high concentration, and advertise retention programs to them there.
In the already hyper-competitive prepaid wireless market, every advantage helps. It will be interesting to see if TracFone can reverse this trend in the coming quarter, year and beyond.
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March 13th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Tracfone is offering FREE phones when you buy airtime cards, FREE bonus minutes, and 8 cents a minutes prepaid service. You can see current promotions and over 45 bonus minute codes at http://www.thebonuscodes.com
September 14th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Free 60 minutes when you activate with Virgin Mobile. Enter BsqV5X4L as a kickback code when you activate your phone online and you get 60 free minutes when you complete your first top up, or charge of at least $20 within 45 days of activation.
October 30th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Enter oTeVvdt4 when you activate the phone online (not when you order it) and receive 60 free minutes when you complete your first top up or charge of at least $20. It works!!
November 1st, 2008 at 9:59 am
For 60 free bonus minutes. At new activation ese this bonus code.
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November 1st, 2008 at 10:01 am
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November 1st, 2008 at 10:01 am
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December 12th, 2008 at 5:19 am
I’m wondering which pre-paid cell phone provider is the best value for money at the moment. Is there anyone out there with some experience who can give me some advice? I don’t want to spend a lot of money on the phone or the minutes as I would like to keep in contact with family and one or two friends but not for work. I’m not image conscience so I don’t need to show off with some fancy phone!
December 12th, 2008 at 5:21 am
There are a few choices out there, I can say without a doubt that Tracfone or Net 10 is the one for you. Your other choices are AT&T or Verizon but neither offers as good a package. Net 10 has the cheapest minutes of all the pre-paid companies but their cell phones are slightly more expensive than Tracfone’s which are subsidised by Tracfone. Net 10 is a subsidiary company of Tracfone and both have very good reception coverage over America including South America if you travel a lot like me. If you’re happy to buy a cheap phone then Net 10 works out as the best value for money but if you want a slightly better phone then Tracfone is the better deal especially if you get DMFL (Double Minutes For Life, that is the Life of you phone.) It’s always best if you do some investigating for your self, check out all the options on their web pages and see their rates. I’m a Tracfone fan, I’ve had their phones for the last 6 years with no problems, I don’t buy flip-phones as they break too easily but the slide phones or the straight phones are great.
December 12th, 2008 at 5:22 am
Thanks James, I think I’ll definatly go for Net 10.
December 13th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
I just activated my new virgin mobile phone on 12/11/08 and recieved this kickback code 4T60Hv7H
Use this code for free minutes.
January 3rd, 2009 at 8:49 pm
When activating a new Virgin Mobile phone on a new account, enter h975Uwv4 where it says “kickback code” (this must be entered at activation) and you will receive 60 free bonus minutes when the first $20 is added to your account. This code is current and works 100% of the time. Code does not expire.
January 6th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
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January 6th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
KICKBACK CODE : 4GqIv6JX ENTER AT NEW ACTIVATION AND GET 60 MINUTES OF TALK TIME, IT’S EASY TO DO ONLINE!
January 6th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
VIRGIN MOBILE KICKBACK - N9QGGLLX
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DOES NOT EXPIRE!
January 6th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
BEFORE YOU ACTIVATE A NEW PHONE, USE THIS CODE OWT45NDM AND RECEIVE 60 BONUS MINUTES ON YOUR PHONE AFTER ACTIVATION! USED AND WORKS GREAT!!!
CODE - OWT45NDM
January 7th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Activate a new Virgin Mobile phone, enter PeuDQocO in the “Kickbacks” block and we
both will receive 60 free bonus minutes when you add at least $20 to your account.
The code does not expire. Thanks for using my code.
January 23rd, 2009 at 6:09 am
60 FREE MINUTES!! ENTER CODE 4T60Hv7H AT ON-LINE ACTIVATION ONLY AND GET 60 MINUTES OF BONUS AIR TIME AFTER YOUR 1ST TWENTY DOLLAR TOP UP. IT WORKS! (copy and paste)
January 28th, 2009 at 1:28 am
A lot of Tracfone users visit all the prepaid sites, but when they see that they can’t get the coverage from the other prepaid companies that they currently get from Tracfone they realize they have the best deal there is that fits their needs.
Virgin Mobile and T-Mobile to go have great rates, but they do not compare to the coverage provided to Tracfone users from At&t, Verizon & T-Mobile.
February 1st, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Now it has become a very easy job to Buy Airtime refill online. The only you need to do is to choose your plan according to your use of airtime. There are so many easy options for you. Comparison today and enjoy your life.
February 3rd, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Activate a Virgin Mobile phone (on new account), enter PeuDQocO (case sensitive, use upper and lower case letters) in the kickback block, at online activation only. We both will receive 60 free bonus minutes when you add at least $20 to your account. Expires 01/01/2010. Thank you for using my code, you are helping a college student afford phone service.
February 6th, 2009 at 1:37 am
Enter kickback code 4T60Hv7H when you activate the phone online (not when you order it) and receive 60 free minutes when you complete your first top up or charge of at least $20. It works. (copy and paste)
February 13th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Elaine, your article is interesting in that the ability to track competitive website viewership even exists, but to be fair and transparent, you should have showed the number of Virgin Mobile subs visiting Tracfone’s site. I’ll bet you a dinner, they are almost equal. If I was shopping for a prepaid, those are the first 2 sites I’d visit and then I’d visit Walmart.
February 14th, 2009 at 1:01 am
When activating your new Virgin Mobile phone online at virginmobileusa.com just enter this code in the Kickbacks Code box: WTspYnQL. Enter it exactly as shown and you will get 60 minutes in free airtime as soon as you top-up with at least $20.
February 20th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
code: gTMewOqw
Free 60 minutes for new phone activation (US only). During your new phone activation (online) enter this Kickback Code: gTMewOqw . Once you activate, then add atleast $20 or top-up. That’s it, you will get free 60 minutes. Expires 01/30/2010
February 20th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Enter kickback code 4T60Hv7H when you activate the phone online (not when you order it) and receive 60 free minutes when you complete your first top up or charge of at least $20. It works. (copy and paste)
February 26th, 2009 at 10:31 am
I agree with Eric on this article. The research seemed to be a bit subjective, and I think if you did the same test run with any other prepaid provider, you would find similar results. A fair assumption would be that consumers are shopping around more to pinch those pennies in these tough economic times, resulting in more frequent price comparisons.
And sadly, I wonder if those that DO switch to Virgin are not shooting themselves in the foot. A quick search on both companies at the consumeraffairs.com site showed a lot more complaints about Virgin compared to Tracfone, even though Tracfone has been in existence a lot longer.
March 4th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
KTtJwvtT use this code when activating phone and get 60 minutes
March 14th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
cTV6PMdJ
Enter That Code in for 120 Mins of FREE TALK TIME! + 10 Bonus Text Msgs.
Hurry as this code expires 4/30/09
March 19th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
NTuXsHOt
I tried the code, and it works ! Great for an extra 60 minutes of bonus talk time =0)
March 20th, 2009 at 12:00 am
6TuFFXXU
TYPE THIS CODE: 6TuFFXXU (Case Sensitive)
INTO THE “KICKBACKS” BOX WHEN YOU ACTIVATE YOUR VIRGIN MOBILE PHONE ONLINE TO RECEIVE 60 BONUS MINUTES FOR FREE!!!!! THATS 60 FREE MINUTES. FULL PROOF! NEVER EXPIRES! WORKS 110% OF THE TIME! THANKS AND ENJOY YOUR FREE MINUTES!
March 24th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
7T9nd5nG
If you are activating a new phone online you can receive 60 FREE Bonus Minutes by entering Kickback (or Referral) Code: 7T9nd5nG. Virgin Mobile USA will credit your account after you Top-Up at least $20 within 45 days of activation.
Thinking about using a different code? Many people won’t tell you that when you use their Kickback Code your FULL NAME and TELEPHONE # will be revealed to them.
Entered correctly, this code will work and is 100% safe. Never receive a single unwanted phone call, EVER.
Enjoy your airtime : )
June 1st, 2009 at 4:13 pm
When signing up for Virgin Mobile use KICKBACK CODE: zT7wqPGX
We’ll both get 60 minutes for free :]
June 19th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Please use this kickback code when activating your new virginmobile account and get 120 free minutes through June!!!! Could really use the extra help. Thanks.
asF976Uw
June 25th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
when you start up or top up using my new code fTXWFMnu we both will get 120 free minutes after july 4th it will go back to 60 minutes
June 26th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Hey Good Lookin,
I think you and Virgin Mobile would make a great match.
So if you’ve been looking for a new wireless service,
check out virginmobileusa.com.
If you buy a Virgin Mobile phone, input this personal Kickbacks Code:
DT5XMnwq
exactly as above (capital and lowercase)
When you activate your phone, and Top-Up within 45 days,
you and I both pick up 60 minutes of bonus airtime!
Not a bad start, huh? Well, that’s what friends are for.
Remember to enter personal Kickbacks Code:
DT5XMnwq
during phone activation so we can each spend an extra hour talking it up!
Thanks!
June 30th, 2009 at 3:02 am
wTWWYpqs
Copy this Virgin Mobile Kickbacks code and paste it in the “KICKBACKS” box or the “REFERRALS” box when you activate a new Virgin Mobile phone online and youll get 60 minutes of free phone time and so will I. A win-win situation! Youll be helping out a single mother with a 2-year-old. Thanks and enjoy your free phone time!
July 15th, 2009 at 8:55 am
well Tracfone and Virgin Mobile will battle on the auction site they both have…prepaidbids.com, i just discovered it yesterday, its new but we will see how big things get with the two companies!!
July 23rd, 2009 at 4:23 am
Brand new fresh coupon bLpnUqWd. Using this code to activate a new membership will give both of us 60 Minutes in airtime. Just put this code in the kickbacks box and when you top-up with at least $20 you will receive the bonus airtime. Coupon is 100% working.
July 25th, 2009 at 4:18 am
I like very much the writings and pictures and explanations in your adress so I look forward to see your next writings.
August 11th, 2009 at 2:52 am
Use this Virgin Mobile Code for 1 HOUR BONUS: FTVJLGVu
? Works with online activation only
? Enter case sensitive code in the “Kickbacks” line
? Purchase $20 of talk time within 45 days of activation.
? Free phones at the official Virgin Mobile website:
Now is the time to dump your lousy cell service.
http://www.virginmobileusa.com - No contract required.
Activate your service and get your bonus 60 minutes!
Puts bonus minutes on my phone too. It’s a WIN-WIN!
Use anyones kickback code. Here’s mine if you need it. FTVJLGVu We’ll BOTH get 60 minutes of bonus airtime after you add money to your account. Then register for Kickbacks on Virgin Mobile’s website and you’ll get 60 minutes of bonus airtime for every friend you refer.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Enter this code: ATUoHTtw
when signing up for a new account and earn 60 minute of bonus airtime once you first top-up or charge at least $20!
August 20th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
To earn 60 FREE Virgin Mobile Bonus minutes use code MT97VLc7 when activating.
It really works!
August 23rd, 2009 at 4:13 pm
How could people even think of switching from TracFone to Virgin?! That’s ridiculous! TracFone has really surprised me. I was not too keen on purchasing a prepaid cell phone, but after the economy slip I had no other choice. I did research and found that TracFone had the best testing value around. I refused to believe that they could compare to a contract phone. After using it for a couple of months, I realize that I was completely wrong! Nothing could beat the deal and the phone.
September 18th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
For United States,use my kickback code
mL9Qo9uq
when signing up for Virgin Mobile (NYSE: VM) service and get 60 minutes free (applies to new activations only) in order to get the free minutes, you must load at least $20 into your virgin mobile account within 45 days of activation
September 22nd, 2009 at 11:38 pm
I just used my best friends virgin mobile kickback code and it worked! I got 60 minutes free!
Her kickback code is w4pPc7dp
October 8th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
kool
October 10th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
60 FREE MINUTES!! ENTER CODE 4T60Hv7H AT ON-LINE ACTIVATION ONLY AND GET 60 MINUTES OF BONUS AIR TIME AFTER YOUR 1ST TWENTY DOLLAR TOP UP. IT WORKS! (copy and paste
October 28th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
When you do activate, enter this kickback code: copy and paste it:
1LGUPPo or vLGHtuJT You will receive 60 free minutes if you activate a new account with at least $20 ( I recommend $30 the first time) and enter the code under kickbacks. And also punch in promo code word purple under promos. I believe you will receive 20 minutes from VM.