Are you Utilizing Text Messaging?
Text messaging is becoming more prevalent everyday. How many people do you know who communicate via text? Chances are, it’s a large amount of people. Companies have taken notice and are now using texting for various uses some of which include:
• Coupons
• Gift card redemption
• Receiving to-go orders
• Reminding loyal customers of promotions
• Processing donations
Industries that seem to be gaining the most through text messaging are hospitality, retail and non-profits. Although these industries may be leading the way, it is a good idea to research if text messaging campaigns can work for your company.
The costs of printing coupons can add up fast, and sending coupons through SMS can be quite inexpensive. Youstring for example has a starter package for SMS that allows you to send 500 messages for only $5 and for $20 you can send 2250 messages. If you are a retailer you can integrate your POS system to accept these promotional codes that would appear on these type of coupons. All the customer needs to do is show their coupon to the cashier to redeem their coupon. Some fast food chains that have already implemented SMS coupons are: Wendy’s, Burger King, Papa John’s and Dairy Queen.
If you have ever lost a gift card you know how frustrating it can be, retailers like Target have taken notice and implemented a way for consumers to redeem their gift cards through their cell phone. If you receive a Target gift card all you need to do is go to their website and register your gift card. Once you do this you will be sent a text message that has a 2D bar code. When you get to the checkout line simply bring up your bar code and the cashier can scan the text.
Freeing up your employees from answering the phone can help with your ticket times if you are a food retailer. Places like Subway have been able to free up their associates from answering the phone by accepting to-go orders that are sent through text.
With recent tragedies like the Haiti and Chile earthquakes the Red Cross is able to accept donations via text, making the donation process much easier. This trending way to receive donations could change the way people view telemarketing services, since traditionally many non-profits use this technique to solicit donations.
Texting can be a less invasive way to reach your audience at a much lower cost than other traditional tactics. Taking a step back and seeing if you can utilize texting into your marketing strategy may be a useful and cost effective way to get your message out to your target audience.
March 15th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
A relatively new start-up called Flexhire focuses on text messsaging to incorporate a new way to ease the job-application process. It’s called “Text2Hire” and utilizes your mobile phone number and a universal job application that you fill out on your Flexhire account. Not only can you can receive job opening updates to your phone in the form of a text message, but you can also apply to those jobs by responding to the text. Thought this related to your post really well! I enjoyed reading it!
March 16th, 2010 at 3:53 am
Hello Betsy,
While I applaud your decision to write about sms text marketing as it is the future an a great option for small and large businesses alike, it is important to distinguish between fact & fiction.
First, for businesses researching text marketing some questions you want to ask: (1) is the platform (how the text messages are sent) internet based or direct thru the carriers (Verizon, ATT, T-Mobile…etc)? Internet based companies are usually very cheap and provide very limited reporting if any.
They also, and this is VERY important, do NOT give you access to the cell numbers you have to collect to build a campaign, i.e. YOUR CUSTOMERS. In my opinion, if you do not have access to your “subscriber list” you should NOT pay for the service. (2) What kind of back office do you get access to? May you create multiple groups? Can you schedule messages in advance? Do you have the capability to send an auto response? May you use polls, surveys, images…etc?
SMS text messages marketing when done correctly may get response rates up to 20% at 1/3 the cost of traditional print media. It is worth taking your time to find a good company that will help you grow your campaign and do it correctly. Although businesses will see all kinds of different packages, if the company providing you the service isn’t charging at least 10 cents a messages I’d be very careful as it is probably a scam or just somebody just spamming. ALL text marketing campaigns should be 100% opt-in and include a “how to” opt-out.
March 16th, 2010 at 11:10 am
We do custom SMS projects which even allow customers to text back. Our rates are identical to the link provided in the article. We are currently building a website which monitors web servers and text messages the techie (and the owner of the domain) when the website goes down. This will help reduce down time with websites as a text message is sent within 5 minutes of a web server going down (the server gets checked every 5 minutes — the text message is instant).
I won the Face-to-Face challenge last year — and to show my gratitude, if there are community members who are interested in using SMS technology feel free to email us (we’ll offer you a discounted rate on text messages - 7 cents instead of 10). Or, even just ask “is this possible”. We do custom programming so that it can be!
We designed a SMS-poll for one client for a few concerts (exactly like American Idol). Very cool stuff this SMS. But I agree that it is an excellent avenue to provide customers with coupons. It allows you to connect the right message, with the right person at the right time. No other medium allows for all three (e.g. email is the right message for the right person at the wrong time).
It can be especially good for time critical messages - like a coupon delivered for a cafe at lunch time on a down day can generate extra business!
Get creative. But know your laws. And be kind - don’t spam!
(jeff@redfishbluefishdesign.com)
March 16th, 2010 at 11:14 am
@Jim Kostopoulos
I agree that you should be informed — however, not everything Jim said was true. There are many internet providers of SMS based services. Many of them offer different levels of ease, flexibility and information.
For example the statement that internet SMS-based companies cannot (or do not) provide access to your subscriber or phone list is not true. As an example, with our services, one maintains control of that list. It is important to investigate to find the service which will serve you best.
March 16th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Just a thought, if you are building a customer database, can’t you use outlook to send texts? All you need is to have the customer list their carrier along with their phone number. (ie… 999-555-1212 = 9995551212@sprintpcs.com or similar)
Many of the places I do buines with ask for that info already.
March 18th, 2010 at 5:13 am
Justin,
Most carriers do provide an email-to-text service. But you do need to know carrier information (as opposed to just a phone number). But also, if timing is important, email to text-messages aren’t always delivered immediately (in Canada, rarely — some carriers also have spotty service). By contracting a service that uses SMS you can have the message delivered as fast as if sent by phone. In addition, you can create programs to interact with. If someone sent a text back - would it be received by you? (Some phones cannot send to an email address). And what would Outlook do with it? Outlook cannot be programmed for interaction. In some instances that is okay.
Your clients also won’t be able to text a number — many people don’t know how, or even know if it’s possible, to send an email from their SMS enabled phone.
Beyond that there are tons of reasons you’d use software based solutions. If you want to collect phone numbers you can have people text your number and have it saved to a list. You can easily text all, or some based on criteria (including things like: demographic data as collected, previous SMS interaction, purchase history, area code, ect..). Also by using software you can create an interactive experience (as stated above). Ideas include, ensuring you get accurate contact information by requiring a return text or texting a password to them. You can provide instant feedback, place orders, return phone calls, notify specific staff, create contests, measure results (such as polls), create web based results, ect…
There’s so much potential, and relatively little cost!
April 21st, 2010 at 12:03 pm
Thanks Justin and Jeff for the feedback and comments. Appreciate it!
November 25th, 2010 at 1:28 am
Here’s what text messaging on every phone ought to be like: http://www.smashtalk.net #smashtalk