After some time passed since we last covered Fanminder, we caught up with CEO Paul Rosenfeld last week in advance of yesterday’s announcement of new funding and its 2.0 release.

First, for those unfamiliar, Fanminder is a “freemium” SMB marketing and campaign management tool that counts simplicity and one-stop-shop appeal among its differentiators. This is of course a growing space with the advent of deals, mobile, social media and local in general.

The simplicity takes form most notably in the free entry level, and the two minutes it takes to design and publish local promotions according to Rosenfeld. Publishing then happens across Web, online, mobile, email and social channels (a Facebook fan page, for example).

Updates in v. 2.0 include (from the press release):

— Offers Gallery – Pick from 8 of the most successful, templated promotions.

— Hundreds of Bright Ideas – Choose from expertly-created headlines and content that take the guesswork out of what marketing to send.

— Themes – Skin offers with gorgeous seasonal and popular designs.

— Stunning Mobile Offers – Each offer has a dedicated mobile-perfect webpage to ensure fans have it conveniently in their pocket for in-store redemption.

Accompanying these feature updates was a funding announcement to the tune of $1 million. This comes from a notable list that include Square COO and prolific investor Keith Rabois. There’s also a “brain trust” of former Inuit execs invested (from whence Rosenfeld comes).

Meanwhile, Rosenfeld says Fanminder is used by 6,000 SMBs and growing by 1,000 per month across local verticals. Next up: a larger A round and further development of its email distribution channel — likely a subscription-based Constant Contact-like tool for local offers.

“The challenge gets harder for SMBs as technology get better,” says Rosenfeld, “reaching people across all of these [platforms]. We leverage assets SMBs have but don’t use, such as email lists or a Facebook page.”

The post New Features and Funding: A Conversation With Fanminder appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

As BIA/Kelsey’s Mike Boland has detailed, Fanminder‘s mobile coupon platform is notable for both its simplicity of use and economical price, hallmarks that should resonate with SMBs looking to utilize mobile messaging.

Fanminder’s latest release, Fanminder Offers, builds off this strategy to increase SMB accessibility. The Los Altos, California, start-up is primarily using SMS to take advantage of the ubiquity of texting to reach a wider initial audience. With U.S. smartphone penetration hovering between 20 percent and 25 percent and mobile subscribers projected to send 1.6 trillion texts in 2010, this is a logical first step. Mobile apps will launch soon.

While much attention is devoted to prospecting and recruiting new customers, Fanminder specializes in existing customer retention and upsell through mobile couponing. Its platform enables local businesses to build customer lists, then reach out with targeted and timely offers to their opted-in base. Interested users send a uniquely coded reply that allows for full tracking and fraud detection.

A crucial tenet of Fanminder’s growth strategy is building a reseller network that can connect to more SMBs. CEO Paul Rosenfeld recently told BIA/Kelsey that a partnership with Intuit to power a “Text2Vote” campaign achieved this goal.

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