Using Text Marketer’s ‘Quick Campaign’ module you can save your thumbs a lot of stress by sending text messages straight from your desktop.
Keeping in touch with colleagues has never been easier and with you’ll make significant savings on your telecoms bill.

Business Fast Facts

· 65% of people send business text messages from their mobile phone on a daily basis
· 50% of people receive business text messages from a member of their team/ department/ office
· 47% of people receive business text messages from a colleague
· 36% receive business text messages from a customer or client
· 71% of people use business texts for setting ‘reminders of meetings and appointments’
· 18% of people used business texts for ‘notifying people about new meetings and appointments’
· 14% of people use business text for ‘chasing up suppliers or new orders’
· A third of respondents (36%) said that they receive text messages from a customer or client
· 11% of people receive text messages from suppliers

Built, in-house, in 2001 we are proud of our SMS Software. We began from the ground up, looking into what the average marketer would need to use in their Bulk SMS Software. Our research told us that most people need speed and efficiency, not SMS Software that over complicates the whole business of sending Bulk SMS.

Why is our SMS Software different?

Simple. It was built from scratch after months of consultation with experienced Bulk SMS senders. Our research over the past 7 years has consistently shown that our SMS Software is still the market leader for robustness, simplicity and ease of use.

Is your SMS Software expensive?

Simply, no! It is free to set up, has no monthly charges and our Bulk SMS Software Prices are the best in the industry using the highest quality UK network connection available.

SMS service made simple

We’ve been having a discussion here in the office about why people believe that setting up an sms service is complicated and confusing. We all agreed that our industry is guilty of ‘smoke and mirrors’! But it really shouldn’t be too confusing, what we’ve tried to do is simplify the whole process and make setting up an SMS service a two minute job.

What to look out for when choosing an SMS service provider.

There are a few golden rules to bear in mind when you appoint your sms service company. Number 1 is undoubtedly price! We strive to provide the highest quality sms service at the lowest possible price. Next is the availability of a free trial for the sms service . We all want to see if it works before spending our hard earned cash. Also, watch our for buying an sms service that quotes the prices in credits. In some instances it requires more than one credit to send to the UK networks. We’ve put together a more detailed sms service buyer’s guide that we hope is useful.

Picture a train or bus full of commuters flicking through newspapers and magazines. None of these potential customers are able to respond to advertising that grabs their attention.

By the time they have arrived back home or the office, the chances are they will have forgotten all about the offer that they were interested in.

Imagine now that they could make an initial response direct from the page by sending in a simple text with a keyword.

Most direct response advertising encourages people to either phone an organisation or visit their web site. But when you consider where people are when they notice advertising, they may not be willing to make a call or they may not be near a web connection.

By including a text response to your advertising you allow prospects to respond wherever they happen to be. The simple result is more enquiries and more sales.

Measure the effectiveness of your advertising

Include a text response in your advertising allows you to see exactly how effective your activity is. It also lets you measure the pull of your advertising in different publications, making sure you get the most out of your marketing spend

Whether you business is consumer or business focused, by adding a new and innovative response mechanism you will see an immediate benefit.

One of the main attractions is the low cost; An sms costs just a few pence and with read rates of over 97% it’s no real surprise that marketers are looking to develop their mobile marketing strategies.

Some Text Marketer customers are finding ways of further reducing their sms costs with effective use of the unsubscribe tool. By making it quick and easy for customers to remove themselves from an sms database, the cost for future business sms campaigns can be reduced.

To unsubscribe to an sms list, all a consumer needs to do is reply to the text with a unique unsubscribe keycode. That person’s number is then stored within the Text Marketer account which will not allow further texts to be sent to that mobile. It’s a failsafe system to ensure that if a user has unsubscribed, then he or she can receive no further texts from that organisation.

One Text Marketer customer now has over 55,000 customers on their unsubscribe list. The annual cost saving by not sending messages to people who do not wish to receive them is well over £10,000

Not only is this a sensible way of keeping customers happy but the Mobile Marketing Association guidelines state that you are required by law to include an unsubscribe option in your bulk sms campaigns.

Every Text Marketer account has a free unsubscribe tool so potential costs savings are available to all. If you’d like to find out more about this or any other sms marketing topic, please feel free to call us on 0117 9249207.

The surprising nugget of information was revealed by Alex Meisl of Sponge Group and came to light as part of an excellent series of interviews by Ewan McLeod from Mobile Industry Review.

Ewan had this idea that brands were becoming obsessed with smart phones and wanted to explore the notion that too many brands assumed they had to have an iphone app. To test his hypothesis, he interviewed some mobile marketing heavyweights and sought their opinions on the use of mobile services by UK brands.

The results were very clear. The gurus agreed that many UK brands seemed to hook onto the potential for increased customer engagement via apps and largely ignored or undervalued the massive potential for more straightforward SMS services. Just 20% of UK consumers currently have a smart phones yet nearly all have a hand set capable of sending and receiving SMS.

Here are a few of the more revealing quotes from the interviews. If you’ve ever wondered where you should start in developing a mobile strategy, then these videos are an excellent starting point. I urge you to have a look.

“SMS is the killer app. Everyone has an SMS sender and receiver on their phone. As marketers, we try to use it but we don’t use it well enough.”
Mark Freeman – Mobile agency – Movement.

“SMS is one of the most underutilised channels, with its scale and the kind of click though rates and uplift in awareness that it achieves.”
John Mew – IAB (internet Advertising Bureau)

“Too many brands assume they have to have an iphone app.”
Alex Meisl – Sponge Group.

So as with most things, the message seems to be ‘keep it simple’. SMS is still by far the most effective tool for marketers and we ignore it at our peril.

We’d love to have a chat with you about how mobile marketing could be used in your company or organisation. Please feel free to call me on 0117 9249207

Henry Cazalet

“97% of SMS opened, 83% in one hour but typically within 4 minutes”

If ever there was a statement that should encourage marketers to incorporate an sms service into their marketing, this is it.
This figure is in bold contrast to email open rates that are really struggling at around 15%.

So why is it that most UK businesses don’t have a mobile strategy? We’ve pondered this at length and we believe it’s just down to inertia. Marketers feel most comfortable doing what they have always done. Despite sms services being available for over a decade, it is still considered to be slightly alternative, edgy and dangerous. There is also a tendency for people to think that it’s going to be very technical and complex.

The reality is very different; mobile marketing is, simply using the mobile phone as a way of communicating with customers, prospects of staff. It’s really no more complicated than that.
One of the main benefits is that there are no set up costs, so you can get your first campaign up and running with a very low budget and like traditional direct marketing channels you can very easily measure the response that you achieve. As sms software is incredibly easy to use, you don’t need to come from an IT background to initiate a new sms marketing programme.

Set up a free account (which comes with 10 free text credits) and you’ll soon gain an insight into the potential applications for sms marketing in your business. If you’d like to discuss any aspect of your mobile strategy, please feel free to call us on 0117 9249207.

Will we see an sms voting service in 2015?

As the dust settles on the election, Orange have released some figures revealing that 20% more of us would bother to vote if there was a text messaging service that allowed us to do so.

The stats come from the Orange Election Report, which surveyed about 2000 nationally representative adults. As well as the need for a text messaging service, the survey also found that nearly a quarter of 18-24 year olds have received information on the general election via social networks and 11% have actually commented on it using social networking sites.

Anthony Parker, author of the Orange Digital Election Report says: “It’s clear from this research that the use of technology by the political parties has made politics more accessible and interactive, and ultimately more interesting to a younger audience.”

What’s particularly striking about this research is the implications that it has for our electoral system in the future. If 20% more people voted because there was a simple text message service, then it would seem very probable that this type of technology is lkely to become more prevalent next time around in 2010.

A text message voting service would undoubtedly bring some logistal challenges around data security and the voting procees would also need to be fairly slick or people would lose interest and either not bother or vote in the tradional way.
So let’s hope that sms services and technology in general play a more central role in engaging the country’s younger voters with the whole process.

Companies wanting to find out more about how they can reduce the impact of their waste on the environment, now have the option of texting a keyword to a 5 digit short code. The text response option is now being implemented on a number of business marketing materials being deployed during 2010.

Traditionally an sms service such as this has been used mainly by business to consumer companies but increasingly B to B companies are taking advantage of the increased response rates that can be achieved. If you give people the choice around half of them will choose to make their initial contact by sms. (source – Mobile marketing Association)

The take up of sms services by business to business companies has been surprisingly slow and the feeling that sms solutions are the preserve of the consumer still remains failry well entrenched. The notion that you need thousands of people to make sms marketing worth it just don’t stand up. Just because a campaign is going out to a relatively low number of recipients, it doesn’t mean that it is in any way a less effective channel.

SMS services – an attractively low cost option

A text response service costs just £25.00 a month and there’s no set up fee or minimum term. An outbound sms account can be set up for free and you can purchase as many text credits as you need for your campaign.

If you’d like to find out more about how sms could work for your business, please give us a cal on 0117 9249207.

Guide Dogs deliver mobility and access services that meet the needs and aspirations of blind and partially-sighted people in the Uk.

Registered runners for a wide range of races receive an sms alert of encouragement the day before their big race.

“Good luck tomorrow! We’ll be there to cheer you on & meet you after in the Royal Albion. Thanks for your support! To reply, send DOGS + your message to 88802.”

The bulk sms service also includes a text response option so that runners can respond to the texts of support that they receive.

Jayne, who was one of 500 Guide Dogs runners in the inaugural Brighton marathon, texted:

“im so looking forward to the first brighton marathon 2moro and doing my little bit for the guide dogs. I think its going to be a brilliant day. Jayne ”

There are dozens of events nationwide where people are running to raise money for Guide Dogs, the next one being the London Marathon on 25th April. The bulk sms service is an innovative way for the charity to make a stronger connection with its supporters on whom it depends.

The charity, which helps a million mums and dads each year through pregnancy, birth and the early days of parenthood, adopted sms as a faster and more responsive way of keeping in touch.

Members now receive subscription reminders by sms as well as receiving them by email.

More Organisations Using SMS Gateway

Many more UK organisations are now using sms as part of their communications strategy and integrating with Text Marketer’s SMS gateway, allowing them to send tailored messages to their customers, prospects and staff.
Using the sms gateway is very straightforward. Accounts are free to set up and come with 10 free text credits so you can test the sms gateway before you spend any money.

If you have any queries, please feel free to call us on 0117 9249207.

The report in its entirety is a little ‘dry’ but the general gist of it, is that sms is likely to continue and evolve over time rather than be taken over by some new form of communication.

This is good news for marketers wishing to capitalise on the success and responsiveness of sms by using an sms gateway to communicate with prospects and customers. Unlike email which has become increasingly frustrating to work with, using an sms gateway is still refreshingly simple, cost effective and responsive.

Low Spam Count

One of the keys to its success is the lack of spam that we all receive on our mobiles. It’s remarkable that sms has been around for over 10 years yet most people receive little if any sms spam. When was the last time you received a Viagra offer by text? According to the Mobile Marketing Association, the open rates for sms is over 98%, the same certainly cannot be said of any other communication method.

Free SMS Gateway Account

So if your business hasn’t yet taken the plunge and started using an sms gateway, now might be a good time to start. With Text Marketer’s account, there are no set up or monthly fees and your account comes with 10 free text credits so that you can test the system at no cost. As well as taking advantage of the lowest sms gateway costs, Text Marketer is the only sms provider that gives you a free unsubscribe tool so that your customers and prospects can easily remove themselves from your list should they wish.
We are always on hand to give you ideas and advice about how sms can work in your business. Please feel free to give us a call on 0117 9249207.

Would it be good if you could double your response rate? What if it was free to try so you could see if it’s really true?

Here’s how it works …
If you add a text response mechanism to your advertising it improves response rates by 100% on average! Even in business-to-business markets.

Why do you think all the big companies that advertise on TV allow people to respond by text message? …. Quite simply because they have tested this and it works!

We’ve been in the text industry since 1999 and we know it works but many, many companies in the UK are just missing this opportunity and as a result simply not getting the best ROI on their advertising spend.

FREE TRAIL
We want to prove to you how effective it is. So we offer a FREE TRIAL to all new customers with a full system & their own unqiue text response keyword so they can try it in their next ad.
It would be something like "Text ENQUIRE to 88802 and we’ll call you back" … these responses would then be emailed to you or your sales team as a new enquiry within a matter of seconds.

You can try it free for 7 days. When you are delighted with the results it is only £25 plus VAT per month after that to keep your keyword live – no long term contracts, you can simply cancel it whenever you like. This is the cheapest text response system in the UK, back by our Best Buy Guarantee.

Try it today. We can virtually guarantee it will uplift response rates to your advertising and if it doesn’t, it’s cost you nothing in any event.

Just think how often you would have rather sent a text to a company rather than call, email or write – over 80% of customers are asking for UK companies to offer this service …. be one of them.

However, a hefty 67% of people would be happy to receive sms text alerts in the future.

Nearly 60% would positively opt in and 80% of people say they would be interested in text response service that requested a call back.

The results of this survey are in line with a report from the telecom regulator Ofcom, which found that the UK is the second highest texting nation in the world, sending around 83 billion sms messages per annum.

It’s always good to have some stats to back up what we know customers feel about receiving sms alerts. So if you’ve been feeling unsure about whether to use a bulk sms service, now might be the time the act.

How can you set one up, quickly & easily?

1. Get a FREE Text Marketer account
2. Order a keyword to enable your account to receive incoming messages
3. That’s it. You’re set up for your customers to text you, receive instant automated replies and then text alerts.

Need to integrate texting into your company software or web site?

No problem. We have a full two way SMS Gateway Service which would allow your web or software company to integrate full incoming and outgoing text messaging functionality into your CRM Software or Web applications. Send your developer to our SMS API Integration spec’ for them to see how straightforward it is. In many cases, it’s a matter of hours and you’ll have the same functionality as you do with emails but by text messaging.

Setting up an account is free and our message costs are the lowest in the industry.

If you’d like a chat about how business text messaging could be used in your business, please feel free to call us on 01179249207.

The Mobile Data Association’s recently released figures show that our appetite for the medium remains undimmed and in the UK we send an eye-watering 11 million text messages an hour.

“The continued growth of sms messaging is highlighted by a 2009 daily average of 265 million text messages and 1.6 million picture messages. 2009′s text message total was 96.8 billion, while over 600 million picture messages were sent across the whole year.”

Some of the recent growth is down to new generation handsets, making it easier and quicker to send texts and the increasing popularity of ‘bundled tariffs’ has driven down the cost.

Bulk SMS – The prospects are excellent

These figures are good news for mobile marketers wanting to use bulks sms to get their message across. With sms remaining as popular as it is, there is clearly plenty of scope to use an sms gateway as both a branding and a direct response tool. Bulk sms still generates far more response than any other direct marketing channel and hasn’t been ruined by spam in the same way that email has.

There are no set up costs and sms marketers only pay for the messages that they send. Bulk sms message costs are also the lowest in the industry.

Drayton Bird, in typically relaxed pose

Have you come a across a chap called Drayton Bird before? If you’ve ever attended a direct marketing course or event, there’s a good chance you’ll have heard him imparting his marketing wisdom to an appreciative audience. Drayton is a marketing guru on a legendry scale.He’s been in the marketing world for over 50 years and has been described by David Ogilvy as knowing ‘more about direct marketing than anyone else in the world’. Praise indeed.

Drayton recently found himself on Text Marketer’s email list. We send out regular bulletins containing what we hope are useful items of news and advice on mobile marketing. Much to our amazement, he found what we had to say interesting and decided to reply to the email for more information. Now this is where it starts to go a bit wobbly from Text Marketer’s point of view. We receive titanic volumes of spam and in an effort to reduce this, we’ve put in place vicious spam filters that reject much of what is aimed at our in box, including on this occasion, Drayton’s email. So having been interested enough to reply, we failed to respond, committing marketing sin number 27.

Incurring the guru’s wrath!

Such was Drayton’s annoyance that he decided to blog about how we had done the hard work in getting his attention and then failed spectacularly to get back to him. We had actually become a case study of ‘how not to do it’. (It’s probably wrong to feel just slightly proud of this.)

A colleague of mine found his blog and I responded with a post along the lines of ‘honest guv, we didn’t receive your email, please talk to us’. We then began an email correspondence and had a couple of phone conversations.

Amongst his many other projects, Drayton is working hard on putting together a series of training videos. Under his Drayton Bird Learning brand, he will shortly be launching a Commonsense Marketing course which will include video interviews with industry experts sharing their knowledge and experience. So Drayton invited me to be one of the experts and be interviewed by him as part of the course. Extremely flattering though it is to asked, my media training has not, it’s fair to say, been extensive, so the prospect of ‘lights, camera, action’ was not something I relished.

A few weeks later, I found myself in the hot seat, wired for sound and feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Drayton has a very relaxed style so my performance improved as the interview progressed and the results are not a total write off. The interview will be released around mid February so we’ll do some editing and bring you the interesting bits in a few weeks.

What still astounds us mobile marketing types is that ten years on, SMS Marketing is still operating around the fringes of mainstream marketing. As Drayton fully admits at the beginning of the interview, he knew ‘next to nothing’ on  mobile marketing. If gurus like DB haven’t yet got to grips with the subject, then you can all feel slightly better if you feel you should know more. If you’d like a chat about how we can help introduce bulk sms or mobile to your business, please feel free to give us a call on 0117 9249207. We promise not to film you.

So watch this space, I might get a taste for this video business and start doing more of it. Or maybe not. As our technical director Nick Rich put it, “rather you than me mate”.

Using a bulk sms service really comes into its own at times like this. There is simply no more effective way of letting everyone know what on earth is going on. With decisions to stay open or close being made at the last minute a business text service keeps people informed instantly.

There is no set up cost or monthly subscription for Text Marketer’s sms service and bulk sms costs are the lowest in the industry.

The automotive retailing industry is very well suited to using sms as a way of communicating with its customer and prospect base. Dealers tend to hold a high proportion of mobile numbers on their databases but the potential of the mobile phone as a channel for communication is often overlooked. 

Dealer Benefits

Achieve higher response rates – text messaging is 5 times more responsive than direct mail.
Dramatically reduce phone bills. – sending a text to a customer is up 95% cheaper than a call to a mobile
Save time – time to phone 15 customers, 45 minutes approx. – time to text 15 customers, 1 minute
Create massive impact, builds customer loyalty -23% of people will show or forward an sms marketing message to a friend. (Source – Mobile Marketing Association)
Zero entry costs for SMS Service - accounts are free to set up and come with 10 free text credits
Easy to set up – no software downloads, only requirement is an Internet connection

Can I use my customers’ mobile numbers for sms campaigns?

There’s a huge amount of confusion in this area. Dealers are concerned that they might be breaking data protection or privacy legislation if they send sms campaigns to their exising customers. The regulations on this however are simple and make a lot of common sense.
If your customer or prospect has given you their mobile number during the course of your discussions, then you are permitted to send them an sms message or text alert You do however need to make sure of the following…

• Quote your company name in the message, so people know who the text is from!
• Quote your business contact telephone number.
• Include an sms opt out in your text (e.g ‘to stop further messages, reply STOP to this text) There is more information on Text Marketer’s opt out system later in this guide.
• You are only allowed to send sms messages on the same broad subject as your original communications. In other words, if someone rang for a new vehicle test drive, you can’t then send them a promotional text about a free pizza offer!

More information on this subject is available on the Information Commissioner’s Office website.

Using an SMS Service – It’s not just about selling!

It’s easy to think about the potential for bulk sms just in terms of selling services, MOTs and new / used vehicles. The mobile phone is in fact just another communication tool that you can use to communicate with your customers and prospects on a range of subjects.
You might consider setting up a customer text club where customers receive regular driving safety tips, reminders to check tyre pressure, oil level etc.
The most effective mobile strategies combine service messages, which have a tangible value to the customer, with specifically targeted promotional text campaigns.

How can I use an sms service in my dealership?

There are almost endless ways that dealers can use text messaging, some examples are:
Car ready for collection – ‘Your car is now ready for collection, please call in at Service Reception where your keys are waiting for you’
MOT/Service reminders – ‘Your car is now due its service, please contact our Service Department and we will be delighted to book it in at a convenient time’
Courtesy/thank you messages – ‘Thank you for servicing your car at Ricardo’s Motors, we look forward to seeing you in the Spring’
Questionnaire follow-up – ‘Don’t forget to complete and return our customer questionnaire in time for the prize draw on Saturday’
Sales lead generation – ‘The all new xxxx has arrived! Call our showroom today and we’ll deliver a brand new car to your home for you to test drive’
Part now in stock – ‘The parts that you ordered have now arrived, please call in at the Parts Department’
Deferred Sale -‘Your tyres are probably due to be changed now. Please call Service Reception on 01234 56789 and we will arrange a convenient time to change them’

Increase open rates to e-mail campaigns with sms campaigns

Text campaigns are particularly effective at increasing the open rates of e-mail campaigns. Open rates have been dropping steadily for years now as we’re all buried under piles of virtual junk. In contrast to this, the open rate for SMS is over 98%. Using an SMS service can be a very powerful way to alert customers about an e-mail that will be arriving in their in box.
E.g – ‘News! Look out for an e-mail this afternoon containing exciting information about new service offers for your vehicle ABC ltd, 012345 56789′

Targeting your message to the right audience

The more relevant that you make your offer to the customer, the higher the response you can expect. By segmenting your customer database into different types of customer, you can send tailored text messages to the different categories.
Within your account, uploading groups is quick and simple and you can upload as many different databases as you wish.

What type of sms messages work best for car dealers?

Each dealer will want to tailor their text campaign for their own customer base. There are a few golden rules that can help you get the best possible response from your sms campaign.
Don’t Be Tempted to Use Text Speak
Some of your target audience won’t mind ‘text speak’ but you can be sure that some of them will be incensed by it! Text speak can be confusing and projects an unprofessional image.
Don’t Cram In Too Many Points?
A standard text message is only 160 characters, so don’t be tempted to crowbar in multiple offers. Keep it simple, concise and clear.
Tell Your Audience Who You Are.
This may be obvious but don’t assume your customers will immediately know who the text is from. Within your account, you can change the sender ID so that the customer knows who the message is from before the text is even opened.
Have A Strong ‘Call To Action’.
Ensure you make it clear what you want the customer to do. Don’t just quote your phone number but ask the customer to dial it. E.g Call us now on 080012345678
Use An ‘Attention Grabber’
Start your text with an attention grabber that will arouse curiosity and induce the customer to read on. This is normally a single or couple of words, often in capitals. The word ‘news’ is particularly effective.

Can my customers reply to the texts that I send them?

Yes. Your account has a 2-way element that allows you to receive reply messages from your text campaigns.
To receive responses you require a unique keyword that is applied to your account. The customers then replies with the keyword as the first word of their reply text.
Replies are stored in your sms account and can be viewed live. You can also choose to have the responses e-mailed to you or sent to a web address if you wish.
Text Marketer will provide you with a text response number that you need to set as the sender name so that people can reply.

160 characters isn’t very much to get our message across. Can we send a longer text?

Yes. You can send a text of up to 614 characters or 4 standard text messages. If your message contains over 160 characters it will use more than 1 text credit. Longer sms messages arrive on the mobile phone as 1 message.

Is there a best time of day to send out my sms campaign?

To answer this question you need to think like a customer. For most working people the only opportunity during the day to sort out personal issues is during the lunch break. Aim to have your sms campaign arriving between 12pm and 2pm. If possible, avoid Mondays as this has been proven to be the least responsive day of the week.

How can I tell if my messages have been received?

For each text campaign that you dispatch, a delivery report is automatically created. This lists all the mobile numbers that you sent to and provides an outcome against each one. (Delivered, undelivered or pending.) Messages that are ‘undelivered’ indicate that the number you have attempted to send to is incorrect or is no longer active. You can remove the ‘undelivered’ numbers from your database so that you don’t send a text to inactive numbers again; this is a great way of cleaning your data and saving money on future campaigns.

How can my customers opt out from receiving further sms promotions?

Allowing people to opt out from your bulk text campaigns is crucial. There is nothing that will irritate your customers more than making it difficult for them to unsubscribe from your sms alerts.
Text Marketer have built a text opt out service into the standard sms marketing account which comes free for every customer. There is no set-up or monthly fee for either the account or for the opt out system. The system works using a keyword that the customer texts in to a 5 digit short code. An outbound text with an opt out might end with the following…
‘to stop texts, reply STOP’.
When the customer sends their reply, their mobile number is then stored in a database in the customer account. Every time an sms campaign is sent, the system checks the opt out list and deletes any numbers that appear in the opt out database. So, if someone has opted out from receiving texts, your account will not permit any further messages to be sent to that number.

Can I put a text response option on my marketing and advertising campaigns?

Yes.
If you give people the option, around half of them will choose to respond to your advertising and marketing by SMS.

Boost your green credentials

Using text as part of your communication strategy can project a strong environmental message. The automotive industry pushes billions of pieces of mail through the Royal Mail every year. The figures are really quite sobering and by using sms where possible to replace mailed items, the saving could be very significant.

1. It’s the most responsive direct marketing channel available.

2. It will make your Finance Director smile.
SMS marketing is very cost effective.  Bulk SMS messages cost just a few pence per text and with response rates of up to 15%, you’ll get a great return on your marketing investment.

3. It will save your precious time.
How much time do you spend on the phone getting bogged down in conversations with clients of colleagues, when all you wanted to do was get a simple piece of information across? It’s incredibly frustrating. Using sms takes a fraction of the time of a phone call and costs considerably less. Your time will be freed up to spend on more productive activities!

4. You’ll be gaining a competitive edge.
The take up of companies using an sms service for their communications is still very low, our estimate is that about 32% of UK businesses are using text in any meaningful way. Good news for companies like ours but also good news for you. If you adopt a positive, proactive sms strategy, using a reliable sms gateway, there’s a good chance that you’ll be doing something that your competitors aren’t.

5. You’ll be saving the planet. Bulk sms is a green way of communicating. For every 10,000 pieces of A4 paper that your company uses, you consume 2.5 mature trees. Sending a text is virtually carbon free.

If you’re not yet using an sms service in your business, we’d love to have a chat about how it might work for you. Please give us a call on 01179249207. We’d love to hear from you.
P.S – So that you can try our sms service at no cost, why not set up a free account here and we will add 200 free text credits.

We all know the problem with e-mail. Open rates have been dropping steadily and it’s becoming an increasing struggle just to get e-mails read let alone responded to.

SMS has presented a very effective solution that is going a long way to resolving the problem. By using a bulk sms service to send out a text to your customers, alerting them to the e-mail in their inbox, you can create a very dramatic effect on the open rate.

“We have quite a complicated product catalogue that we send out by e-mail to all our customers once a week with all out latest offers. About a year ago we had open rates of about 12%; in recent months we’ve seen this drop away to around 7%.

Last month we started sending all our customers an sms alert to let them know that the e-mail was on its way. The open rates have now risen to about 16%. We’ll be going back to customers where we don’t yet have the mobile number and a making sure that we update our customer records.” Julian Winter – AES Products

The same approach can be used to draw attention to a mailing piece that has just been sent to your customers. In the case of direct mail, where you will have spent at least 50 pence on each mailer, it make sense to maximise your return on investment by doing all you can to increase the response.

While these techniques are not particularly revolutionary, there are very few companies who are currently using this strategy. Those that are getting the biggest benefit.

Opening a bulk sms account with Text Marketer is free and your account comes with 10 free text credits so you can test the service.