The partnership with Text Marketer’s SMS API is designed to give customers even better for value for money by reducing their SMS costs. Text Marketer Director, Henry Cazalet said:

“We’re thrilled to be entering into this new partnership with First Choice. SMS costs have reduced dramatically in the past few years and First Choice can now pass these cost reductions on to their customers. The software integration team at First Choice have been incredibly efficient in the way they have completed the SMS API integration work so quickly.”

All First Choice customers using Text Marketer as their SMS provider can test the service at no cost. Setting up an account is free and users receive 100 free texts to test the service before purchasing further text credits. The entire set up process takes no more than 10 minutes. (New users simply use the promocode CHOICE when they set up a free account.

This latest partnership reinforces First Choice’s commitment to providing the best possible value for money for its customers. Stuart Thomas, Client Services Manager commented:

“Text Marketer have been delivering low cost SMS tools for over 11 years and this partnership gives our customers a greater choice of quality SMS providers.”

No need to panic if you don't have a mobile marketing plan.

Mobile marketing is on the move. For years now we have been told that the breakthrough is on its way. But at last, 2012 might be the year that mobile marketing genuinely becomes mainstream. It’s been a long time coming.

When Text Marketer was set up, way back in 1999, we believed that by around 2003 most companies in the UK would have adopted an integrated mobile marketing strategy. We probably underestimated the power of inertia and the fact that it’s human nature to stick closely to what you’ve always done.

So if you happen to work for one of the 70% of UK companies that don’t yet have a mobile marketing plan in place, where to start? It’s a murky and confusing world out there, cluttered with annoying terms such as QR codes (overhyped), short codes, long codes, MSDN and so on. To the uninitiated, it feels like you have to be part of some exclusive club to understand how it all works.

Getting started though, is truly just a 2 minute of affair. The best strategy is to ignore all the hype over things like QR codes and smartphone apps and concentrate on mobile tools that absolutely everyone uses. That means SMS. The starting point for the vast majority of mobile marketing strategies is to look at how bulk sms can be used as a way of communicating with your customers prospects or staff. So one of the first things that you need to do is take a look at a web-based bulk SMS tool. Once you’ve set one up you can start to explore how the use of SMS could be profitable for your business.

There is no cost to setting up a bulk SMS account with Text Marketer. You will also receive some free text credits for testing. Once you’ve logged on and started to send a few texts you’ll probably come up with all sorts of mobile marketing ideas. Please feel free to give us a call on 0117 2050202 and we can help you develop those ideas into an integrated mobile marketing plan.

Papworth originally thought that texting would be quite a useful way for members of staff to keep in touch and had no inkling that it would grow to be the standard communication workhorse that it is.

So despite having been around for nearly 20 years, the use of mobile marketing as a mainstream activity hasn’t really happened yet. We estimate that just 20 or 30% of UK companies use mobile marketing in any meaningful or consistent way. The view persists that mobile marketing is a bit niche and would only be relevant if your target market was under 35 years old.

Some companies that we speak to say they tried mobile marketing a few years ago and it didn’t work. Usually that means that they sent one bulk SMS campaign with an offer, didn’t get the response they were hoping for, so wrote off mobile marketing as a bad job.

We are seeing some evidence that these attitudes towards mobile marketing are changing. We’re seeing many more enquiries from the type of companies that normally would have given us a wide berth. Every year at about this time we’ve all read optimistic blog posts about how this year is going to be the year of mobile. I think that’s 2012 will be recognised as a year when mobile marketing truly did become a mainstream activity.

So if your company is not yet involved, now is the time to act. Set up a free account, we’ll add some free text credits, give it a test, then contact us on (0117) 205 0202 to chat through how your business could benefit.

38% of consumers prefer text message marketing

Given a choice, people in the UK, France and Germany prefer receiving text message marketing campaigns as opposed to mobile web promotions.

The research was carried out by to Toluna for the Direct Marketing Association. The report sponsor Velti, revealed the somewhat surprising evidence that 38% of people in the UK prefer the well-established text message marketing channel, compared to just 15% who prefer mobile web.

The results were even more striking in Germany and France with 58% and 60% respectively favouring text message marketing, with just 21% of consumers favouring mobile web.

According to the report, which surveyed 4400 mobile users in Europe’s three largest economies, an encouraging 40% of UK consumers would be interested in being contacted by advertisers via their mobile.

Krishna Subramanian from of Velti, said: “From our perspective, this survey highlights a vast opportunity available to mobile marketers to address the gap in mobile engagement.”

So the evidence suggests that many of us would welcome text message marketing campaigns from advertisers. What is surprising is that so few UK companies are using SMS in any way in their business. Our estimate, which admittedly is only based on gut feel, is that about 30% of UK companies are using or have used text message marketing as a promotional tool. Despite having been around for 15 years or so, text message marketing is still viewed as a cutting-edge and slightly edgy marketing activity to get involved in. Nothing could be further from the truth.

If you haven’t yet tried text message marketing, now would be a good time to set up a free account to see how it might work for your business. If you would like to chat to us, please give us a call on (0117) 205 0202.

Using an SMS marketing company to send text reminders delivered a resounding success in reducing the number of ‘no shows’. SMS marketing enjoys open rates of over 98%, compared with e-mail where you can expect just 20% of recipients to read the message.

Sarah Barker who looks after the workshop bookings at Business Link commented:

“We’ve had a huge success with our first campaign – thanks for the help getting it set up.”

By using the merge to text tool, the message had even more impact as it was tailored to the individual recipient and included the deligate name along with the date and time of the event.

SMS marketing can be used as a reminder tool in a wide variety of ways and is an incredibly powerful way of getting your message straight into the hands of your customers.

Setting up an SMS marketing account is free and there are no contracts or monthly fees to pay. Free credits allow you to test the service before committing any funds. Call us on (0117) 205 0202 if you would like to discuss how SMS marketing could work for your business.

When Alistair was assessing a number of shortlisted bulk SMS companies, he noticed a wide range of prices on offer. He also recognised that there seemed to be two types of company; those that used direct connections to UK networks and those that didn’t. With reliability being so important, a direct route was the only option for him. He commented:

“Your low prices were important but not as important as providing my business with a reliable service.”

Text Marketer provided him with a free account so that he could test the reliability of the bulk SMS system before committing. They also provided with him as much support as he needed, together with training for all the users of the bulk SMS platform. As there was no minimum order, Snap-on could start their bulk SMS marketing strategy with a small campaign to begin with, moving up to larger text campaigns as they measured the success of the activity.

Setting up a free bulk SMS account takes just a minute or so. If you can’t be bothered to watch a brief instructions video or read a short document, then please feel free to give us a call on (0117) 205 0202 and we will gladly talk you through getting your first campaign out the door.

With read rates of over 98%, using SMS marketing was an obvious choice. Having built up a list of several hundred mobile numbers over a few weeks, he was ready to begin SMS marketing in earnest.

The first message that he sent, let people know that he was planning to send them news about the latest offers, giving customers the option to remove themselves from the list. About 3% of the recipients opted out at this stage.

The first SMS marketing message was to remind people about the now legendary £3 lunch deal. A choice of nine subs and a drink for just 3 quid. The message went out at about 11:30 AM, just as people were starting to feel a bit peckish. The response from this campaign was in Andy’s words, ‘overwhelming’. Overwhelming both in the sense that the number of people turning up was impressive but also overwhelming in that the staff could barely keep up with demand.

“We were a bit worried that we had underestimated the level of response. The last thing we needed was a queue of hungry customers that we couldn’t serve efficiently. We were so surprised about how many people came in just because they had received a text. Now that we have proved it works we will be using SMS marketing as a major part of our marketing from now on.”

If you haven’t tried SMS marketing before feel free to set up a free account. It will come with 10 free text credits so you can test the service at no cost. Please feel free to call us on (0117) 205 0202 if you would like to chat.

Reliability of the SMS Gateway was obviously a crucial factor in deciding to use Text Marketer as an SMS gateway provider. The company has invested heavily in ensuring that its SMS Gateway is as reliable and robust as it can possibly be. By using direct connections to UK networks, Text Marketer has reduced the number of points at which a possible SMS failure could take place.

There are plenty of SMS Gateway providers to choose from, with most companies offering a reliable and trustworthy service. Text Marketer have made it their policy to offer amongst the lowest sms costs in the industry. There is no setup charge, contract or monthly fee, users simply pay a flat rate per text with no minimum volume. So that customers do not run out of sms credits, there is also a low credit warning tool, that allows users to receive a text and e-mail alert when the bulk SMS account runs low on SMS credits.

If you would like to take a look at Text Marketer as your SMS Gateway provider, you can set up a free account here. Your account will come with 10 free text credits for testing. Text Marketer has been an SMS Gateway provider for over 10 years so there are plenty of experienced people to chat to if you would like to discuss anything. Please feel free to call on (0117) 205 0202.

Despite failing to crowbar funds out of the dragons, the product has been an overwhelming success. It’s available pretty much everywhere on the high street and sales have been extraordinary. The next target market for the wily entrepreneurs is the salon sector which is notoriously difficult and expensive to penetrate.

One of the most effective ways of gaining exposure is to offer a sample of your product to salons free of charge which is the strategy that Tangle Teezer have chosen to pursue. An ad has been placed in the trade publication Salon Professional, which invites readers to text in the keyword SAMPLE, followed by their address to a five digit SMS Short Code. Responders then receive an automated text response confirming that their free Tangle Teezer is on its way.

Response to the SMS Short Code has been brisk and within the first 48 hours over 200 salon professionals had texted into the SMS Short Code for their free sample. Using a text response with an SMS Short Code uplifts overall response to an advertising campaign by between 15 and 20%. It’s a simple and low cost marketing tool that many companies are only now starting to consider.

If you are doing any form of direct response advertising or marketing, whether that is consumer or b2b, then there is a pretty strong argument for including an SMS Short Code response in the creative. If you would like to explore how an SMS Short Code might work for you please feel free to call us on (0117) 205 0202. If you prefer to watch videos rather than read documents, you can view our brief SMS Short Code video, where Garry explains how it all works.

You can also find out if the keyword that you want to use is available here. There is no setup fee or contract, you simply pay a low monthly fee for the SMS shortcode and you can cancel at any time.

The aim is to keep customers better informed of any delays or cancellations. Using an SMS gateway means that customers are alerted wherever they happen to be. A recent text sent to French customers sailing on the Cork to Roscoff line, informed them that due to bad traffic on one of the main arterial roads into the port, the ferry was being delayed to allow customers time to fight through the traffic.

Using an SMS gateway as supposed to a standalone, web-based SMS system, means that Brittany ferries can automate the sending of texts directly from their systems. This allows them to submit messages to the SMS gateway on a wide range of subjects, triggered by their customer management platform.

Setting up the SMS gateway itself is very straightforward. If you would like to set up an account you can set one up here. You will receive 10 free text credits so that you can try the SMS gateway at no cost. There is no setup cost, monthly fee or contract. Text Marketer operates a simple pay-as-you-go service. You can purchase text credits for your SMS gateway either by credit card or by invoice.You can also set up a low credit alert to warn you when you SMS credits dip below a certain level.

If you would like to discuss using our SMS gateway, please feel free to call us on (0117) 205 0202.

The main concern about switching SMS gateway API provider was the pain and hassle that would be involved. His initial estimate was that it would take about two weeks of one person’s time to migrate their existing systems to Text Marketer. I suspected that he might have been a little pessimistic and that he might have been using this as an excuse to get me off the phone.

So without any high expectations I suggested that I open an SMS gateway account, add some free credits for testing and send him over links to all the relevant documentation. To my surprise I noticed that about half an hour later a new account had been opened. Later the same day we noticed that some test texts were being sent.

Our technical department also received a couple of calls from the customer with minor technical queries. After three days of inactivity I was beginning to wonder whether the customer had decided that SMS gateway API integration with us was indeed going to be too much hassle. However, a week or so later the customer purchased their first block of text credits and we could see the SMS volume flowing through.

So what initially the customer thought was going to be a major headache was actually pretty straightforward. It’s like most jobs that we think are going to be problematic, when you actually dive in, it’s often nowhere near as bad as you feared.

Software developers of all shapes and sizes use Text Marketer’s SMS gateway API. If you would like to explore this in more detail, please feel free to set up an account. We will add as many text credits as you need for testing and our technical team will be on hand to answer any queries that you may have.

We’d also love to hear from you, so please give us a call on 0117 2050202.

It seems that in Israel, cities with large Muslim populations such as Jerusalem, residents have had enough of being woken at odd hours with the discordant wailing. The suggestion of using bulk SMS to call the faithful to prayer is obviously causing a good deal of commotion in the delicately balanced state of Israel.

While the bulk SMS solution might be practical, the local Muslim population is rightly furious at the concept of losing the ‘Azan’ and replacing it with a soulless chirrup from a mobile. Maybe the bulk SMS could contain a link taking you to ‘Azan app’, allowing to tailor your own waking up in the middle of the night experience.

There’s no end to how bulk SMS can be used and this has to one of the weirder applications.

If you’d like to wake people up at unsocial hours for a spot of praying, then you can get your own free account here. You’ll only be able to wake 10 people for free and then you simply pay a low cost per text credit.

Your bulk SMS text credits don’t expire and there’s no contract or monthly fee. We’re also always available for a chat, so do call us on 0117 2050202.

The first web SMS campaigns have been sent out to customers encouraging them to attend a weekend sales event.

“Sytner Birmingham would like to invite you this weekend for the last chance to buy a new 61 plate BMW at incredible prices, please call 0121 234 6000.”

The web SMS platform has been designed to be incredibly easy to use. Nicola Panton, who is responsible for setting up all the SMS campaigns, was able to send out their first web SMS campaign in less than 15 minutes.

When you first login to Text Marketer’s web SMS system, you are taken directly to the Quick Send screen. Using Quick Send you can send out a web SMS campaign from just one screen. All you need to do is paste your mobile numbers into a box, type your message and select the date and time. So new users can get to grips with the web SMS system in no time at all.

If your company has never tried using SMS to communicate with prospects customers or staff, now is a good time to get started. Research has revealed that over 60% of Brits want to be able to communicate with companies by text but only around 3% of companies actually offer this service.

Set up a free account here. There is no contract, setup fee or minimum order. Your web SMS account comes with 10 free text credits so you can try the service at no cost. Text Marketer’s SMS costs are incredibly low. We’ve put together a simple web SMS price comparison table that shows Text Marketer’s SMS costs compared with many other companies.

If you’d like to chat to us about how SMS might benefit your business, please feel free to call us on (0117) 205 0202.

Text Marketer has seen a gaggle of local authorities integrating with its SMS API in the past couple of years. So it seems that even relatively slow moving local councils are starting to recognise the benefits of communicating by SMS. Most councils now offer SMS alerts on a range of different topics, keeping people informed of what is going on.

City of London is using Text Marketer’s SMS API for a slightly more mundane but no less important application. When there is a technical issue of any sort with its bank of servers, SMS alerts are automatically triggered and sent out to all the relevant engineers. Using an SMS API for getting the message across is far quicker and more reliable than e-mail. Messages sent through the SMS API are received almost immediately and as almost all SMS messages are read within 5 minutes, City of London can be sure that action will be taken, whatever the technical issue. Spare a thought for the engineers though, as no doubt their evenings may be cut short.

Integrating with Text Marketer’s SMS API is surprisingly straightforward and can take as little as 7 minutes. The clear and logical SMS API documentation means that developers and coders are given all the information that they need in one place. If SMS API support is needed, there are always people on hand to answer the phone and response to queries. Text Marketer does not operate a ticketing system for SMS API support so you can be sure that technical queries are sorted out immediately.

If you would like to see the SMS API in action, please feel free to set up an account today. The setup process takes about 2 minutes; you’ll receive 10 free text credits for testing your SMS API application. If you need more SMS credits for testing, just let us know and we’ll gladly add as many as you want for free.

We would also love to hear from you, so please feel free to call us on (0117) 205 0202.

SMS API Integration Support. Do you need the level of support Andy Murray receives?

At Text Marketer we speak to a good number of software development companies. Usually they are adding an SMS sending facility to an existing piece of software. So this might be used for sending appointment reminders, order confirmations or a huge range of other SMS notifications.

Integrating a system with Text Marketer’s SMS API so that the system can generate simple outbound texts is very straightforward. Things can become slightly more complicated if a system needs to receive texts, process delivery reports or automatically respond to the incoming text. With SMS API integration, the devil, (as so often is the case), is in the detail. Different levels of SMS API complexity needs different levels of support.

Text Marketer SMS API customers can choose the level of support that they need. Every customer has a dedicated SMS API integration technician whose job it is to be on hand to assist whenever they are needed. So if you need the fanatic support of the kind that Andy Murray’s mother provides, we will do our best. We don’t operate a ticketing system where you would have to to raise a support request and then await a response. Customers have the direct telephone number of the integration technician, which they can call at any time.

As well as the human support, we have developed a comprehensive range of SMS API integration documents. The documentation, along with code examples are designed and set out in a straightforward and logical way. We often find that with our support, successfully completing SMS API integration is far less of a hassle than originally anticipated.

We always provide a free testing account for software developers and you will also receive as many free test credits as you need, whether that’s just a few or a few thousand. if you would like to explore our SMS API, please feel free to set up a free account. You will automatically receive 10 free to credits but just drop us a quick line if you need more.

With so many activities to choose from, it’s easy to miss out on some great offers such as the recent free ballot for free premiership football tickets or discounts at events at the O2 Arena.

SMS has an open rate of of over 98%, so there’s no more effective way of getting a message directly to someone. Compared to email where open rates are as low as 20% of less, a web sms service is an obvious and cost effective choice for many companies.

The web sms service is run entirely by John Lewis. They are able to upload the different groups of members that are then held securely in their account. It’s then just a case of writing the message, setting the date and time they want the message to arrive and hitting a submit button. Setting up the web sms service is done in seconds. Every new user gets 10 free text credits to try the web sms service for free before deciding if they want to buy more sms credits.

Each web sms account also comes with a free unsubscribe service which allows users who no longer wish to receive further texts, to easily remove themselves from the sms list. Users who unsubscribe can no longer receive message from that company. Using the unsubscribe service with a web sms service is not only best practice, it’s also a legal requirement.

Set up a free web sms account today and see how it could benefit your organisation. We’re always on hand if you’d like chat about this, so please feel free to call us on 0117 2050202.

Price was always going to be a major factor in the decision making process as budgets are squeezed ever tighter. The quality of the sms service itself was also a crucial consideration and several sms service providers were trialed during the tender process.

Text Marketer’s platform got the seal of approval for being the easiest sms service to use. From the moment the user logs in, the simple menu structure makes sending bulk sms campaigns delightfully straightforward. SMS campaigns of any size can be sent from just one screen in just a few seconds and the full delivery reporting tools allow users to track their campaigns right to the users’ mobile phones.

Text Marketer’s sms service has evolved over 12 years to be one of the most widely used in the UK.

Find out how easy Text Marketer’s sms service is to use by setting up a free account. All accounts receive 10 free text credits, so you can test out the sms service before spending any money. Text Marketer’s costs are also very low. and you’ll find a handy price comparison table that shows you what many other bulk sms service providers are charging.

As well as providing great tools at low cost, Text Marketer’s experienced staff are always on hand to help you put your mobile marketing strategy together. Please feel free to call us on 0117 2050202.

A quick Google search by project leader Simon Pearce, unearthed Text Marketer and a few other likely looking sms gateway providers. We were lucky enough to be the first company that Simon contacted. Having explained the urgent predicament, Richard Hawley talked Simon through the simple process of getting a test sms gateway account set up. 1.5 minutes later, account set up was complete.

Show me an example

Now to the potentially tricky part, the sms gateway integration itself. The last thing Simon needed at this stage was to be presented with a massive technical document detailing all the intricate tools and features. What he needed was an example.

“How do your send data using Text Marketer’s sms gateway? Show me an example and I’ll be able to pick it up from there.”

Richard directed Simon to his ‘sms api account settings’ page where there is an preformatted example of how to send sms.

By clicking on the example shown, Simon was sent a test sms, so he could see the sms gateway actually working.

http://www.textmarketer.biz/gateway/?username=xxxxx&password=xxxxx&message=test+message&orig=test&number=44790012234X

This gave Simon all he needed to get started. A quick reference to the simple, clear sms gateway documentation and 5 .5 minutes later, the live system was sending texts again. So the total time from picking up the phone to getting the first text delivered was 7 minutes. (Admittedly, there was some further refinement for collecting delivery reports and setting up long messages.)

Set up a free sms gateway account. We’ll automatically give you 10 free text credits for testing. You’ll probably need more, so do give us a call on 0117 2050202 and we’ll gladly add as many credits for testing as you need. I’m sure it won’t be quite as quick as Simon but we’re always standiing by to answer any of your questions.

“Dear Henry,

I am really impressed with your customer focus and professional approach as a direct result of sending out texts to over 1000 customers, I had an amazing response with over 100 customers booking in to my clinic, within 48 hours of receipt. This generated many thousands of pounds of custom. I will continue to use your services and will be sending out message on a monthly basis.

I have recently been asked to attend local business forums to offer professional advice in how to generate business and survive!! I will certainty be promoting your company as an effective means to help with customer communication and generation of business, Please feel free to use my feedback on your site.”

Regards

Lisa Monaghan-Jones
Managing Director
Internal Beauty Clinic (Medical aesthetics)
Shepley, Huddersfield

So set up a free account and your bulk sms campaigns could be generating new business for you in no time at all. Talk to us, we’ll explain how it all works and how to get the most out of mobile marketing. We can be contacted on 0117 2050202.

Text Marketer’s SMS gateway has been designed to be as easy as possible for developers to work with. Having set up Text Marketer account, users can instantly view the correct format for the http posts.  A live sample post is created, which sends you a test sms, so users can see the whole sms gateway up and running in seconds.

Simple, Clear, Concise SMS Gateway Documentation

Nick Rich, Text Marketer’s technical director, spends considerable time listening to users about the best and clearest way of presenting sms gateway documentation. What’s needed is a quick overview so developers can understand the basics of how the sms gateway works, before drilling down to provide the detailed information. The result is a set of very clearly and logically set out sms gateways api documents which can either be read online or can be printed off as hard copies.

If you’re a developer looking to add an sms functionality to your systems, why not set up a free account? You’ll get 10 free text credits for testing our sms gateway, (although you’ll probabaly need more, in which case just ask and we’ll gladly give you all the test credits you’ll need.) Then make your way to our documentation area to find all the sms gateway documentation that you’ll need. Our prices are incredibly low so there’s a good chance you’ll be able to reduce your costs too if you already use sms. We’re always available to speak to if you have any specific question, so please feel free to call us on 0117 2050202.

We look forward to working with you