Having established your short list of  bulk sms companies, you’ll then probably look at details such as the system itself, pricing, support and so on. There are 2 things that you should watch out for though, that might not be immediately apparant when you’re making your decision about which bulk sms service to use.

Expiring Credits

About 30% of bulk sms suppliers operate a curious policy of expiring sms credits. If you don”t use your bulk sms credits in a given period (usually 12 months), then your unused credits just disappear. We’ve always felt this a particularly harsh approach. After all you’ve purchased your bulk sms credits, it would seem reasonable to have as long as you want to use them. Take a look at our bulk sms price comparison table, which also includes information about whether each company has an expiring credits policy.

Unclear Pricing

You’d expect that when you’re looking at cost per bulk sms credit, that would mean the cost to send one text. Correct? Not necessarily. There are 2 companies that operate a credits systems where it costs more than one bulk sms text credit to send a message to a UK mobile. So a headline price of say 4.2 pence + VAT per credit may actually cost 6.75 pence + VAT to deliver the text. (1.5 credits needed to send a message to a UK mobile.)

The argument here is that when you have international bulk sms services, there are different prices for different counties so you need a system that can handle this. We’re not sure that this is the best way though and we know this causes confusion for buyers, It’s much clearer to have a simple 1 text credit is 1 text sent system.

If you haven’t already done so, you can set a free bulk sms account with Text Markerter here. You can assume that your credits  will never expire and the pricing is on a simple, 1 sms credit is 1 sms sent basis.

The club has recently adopted Text Marketer’s web to sms service as a cost efficient way of securing short term warden cover for its huge range of sites.

Using bulk sms is a superb way of getting a message about a job opportunity to a large number of people. Within just a few minutes, an sms alert can be dispatched to any number of potential applicants, who can then respond either by text or by calling.

Compared to email, the open rates for sms are in a totally different league at over 97% and receipients receive the message wherever they happen to be. SMS can also be used as a way of drawing a customer’s attention to an email; so by combining sms and email you achieve a far higher open rate for your campaign overall.

With no minimum order for text credits, organisations can try sms software on a very small scale and on a very low budget. Text Marketer’s commercial director, Richard Hawley said:

“With a budget of just a few pounds, companies can start to explore what mobile marketing can do for their organisation. They can can easily measure the results and then decide upon a future strategy.”

Setting up an account is free and there is no monthly fee or contract. Your account comes with 10 free text credits so you can trial the sms service at no cost. You can also compare our sms prices against other companies with our sms price comarison table.

If you’d like to discuss how sms might work for you, please feel free to call us on 0117 9249207.

The Group has over 120 dealerships and is committed to providing customers with unrivalled service, through its “Customers for Life” programme.

Their first web sms campaign is promoting the release of the new 60’ registration, with some fantastic offers on the Corsa and Astra.

Last 60′reg batch Sold Out in 3hrs! Ltd New Batch Available -Astra SRi 3dr from just £9999 & Corsa SXi from just £7999 -September Offer Only! Call 0151 2009000

Text Marketer works with motor manufacturers and franchised car dealerships, helping them to develop their mobile marketing strategies. Many dealers are now achieving impressive cost savings by using sms for service and MOT reminders.

By giving the customer the choice about whether to opt for text reminders instead of a letter, dealers can not only save a great deal in postage and admin costs but also save significant time in doing so.

“The biggest impact for me is that I now have time to concentrate on other elements of my job. We save money on our communications and generate more business.” – Jim Bailey, Lathams Torbay.

Most car dealers initially use bulk sms in Service Reception, as a way of letting customers know that their car is ready for collection. As there is no set up cost or monthly fee, dealers can get started at very cost. When the benefits of a text messaging service become clear then they also use sms across the sales and service departments.

If you’d like to start using sms in your dealership, set up a free account. There’s no set up fee and no minimum order. Compare our bulk sms prices with many of our competitors using our price comparison table. Please call us on 0117 9249207 if you’d like to discuss this further.

The data held on their database includes the postcode of the customer, allowing them to send news alerts to subscribers in specific geographic locations. So sms alerts can be sent out to readers in just one postcode sector which typically containes between 2 and 4 thousand households. (e.g EH13 2)

For example, a recent text informed local residents about a planning decision on a block of flats that would have an impact in the area.

“Fountainbridge flats set to go ahead. Read about controversial plan in today’s News. To stop, txt EXIT to 88802.”

By alerting readers to local stories, The Scotsman is engaging with customers in an innovative way and is proving a successful strategy in driving  newspaper sales. The Scotsman is also making good use of Text Marketer’s unsubscribe tool that allows readers to easily remove themselves from the list. Once a customer has unsubscribed, the sms system will no longer allow messages to be sent to that number. This is a failsafe function that means that a customer cannot accidentally send out a message to someone that has already unsubscribed.

Text Marketer is delighted to be working with The Scotsman and looks forward to helping them further develop their mobile marketing strategy.

For more information about how sms soutions could be used in your business, please feel free to call us for a brief chat on 0117 9249207.
Setting up a bulk sms account is free and your account comes with 10 free text credtis so you can test the service before you spend any money. Compare our prices with other providers using our price comparison table.

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

Choose your bulk sms supplier with care

If only sourcing the right sms software company was as easy as finding the lowest price and signing up. As usual, it’s a little bit more involved than that. Companies package their products and pricing in different ways that make differentiating all the possible suppliers a tricky business.

So here’s a list of simple questions that you should be asking of your potential sms software company. You’re after straightforward, waffle-free answers that give you confidence that they can deliver.

Is the bulk sms pricing transparent?

We know that some companies have a complicated credit system where it takes more than one text credit to send to a UK mobile. So what on the face of it appears to be a great price could actually cost you up to 50% more. Are there any set up fees, minimum orders of ‘price plans’? You should be able to set up a free sms account and then purchase as many or as few sms credits as you need. Also, watch out for expiring credits that get removed if they haven’t been used in 12 months.

Does the company use a direct connection to the UK Netowrks?

This is a popular topic amongst us sms software companies and has been covered thoroughly in a previous article. All you really need to know is that non UK sms gateways suffer reliability problems and often have poor or non existent delivery reporting. So a UK connection is the only option.

Where are the sms software company’s systems hosted?

How reliable are the servers that your business sms service will run on? What back up procedures are in place? Are there any guarantees on ‘up time’?
Granted this is all dull technical stuff but it’s important that you can rely on the service being up and running 100% of the time.

Does the sms service have an opt-out / unsubscribe tool provided at no cost at the point of setting up the account?

The best practice guidelines issued by the Mobile Marketing Association state that you need to have a text opt-out option on your text campaigns. This means that customers who no longer wish to receive your sms alerts can quickly and easily remove themselves from your list. If the sms software company is not offering this as standard, then you could find yourself on the wrong side of the law.

What are the payment options?

Flexibility is the key here. You should be able to make payments for sms text credits online and automatically. Are the text credits added to your account automatically or does someone have to add them manually. Can you pay by invoice if you wish without a price penalty?

What experience does the sms software company have?

How long have they been about and who have they worked for? Mobile marketing is not just about having an efficient sms solution but it’s also about getting the advice in getting the strategy right. Choose a company that want to get involved in helping your sms campaigns succeed.

It’s for this reason that we’ve had a surge of software developers that are switching to Text Marketer’s SMS API. We’ve put together an incredibly attractive package that allows software developers to switch SMS API suppliers with the minimum of effort.

Many software companies have bulk sms deals in place that are no longer competitive and in some cases we’ve been able to reduce the cost per text by as much as 2.5 pence. For a company sending around 50,000 sms per month, that’s a saving of £15,000 a year.

Switching to a lower cost SMS API is not just about the cost saving though. There is redevelopment work to be done that requires time and resource. There’s also the uncertainty that comes with a new supplier. Are they going to be reliable and trustworthy?

The software developer package that we’ve put together addresses these concerns and provides a solution that minimises the hassle and worry about choosing a new SMS API provider.

Why choose Text Marketer for your bulk SMS API

• One low, flat rate per sms, regardless of the sms volume that your systems send
• No set fee or monthly fee
• Loyalty rebates for long term customers
• Free test platform with as many free text credits as you need
• Unlimited technical support – both over phone and on site
• Dedicated integration technician – express response – all support queries addressed within 30 minutes
• Connections to all UK networks (Not via the Isle of Man or Jersey.)
• Bullet proof systems and IT infrastructure – hosted with global leader Rack Space – 100% ‘uptime guarantee’
• All systems developed within Text Marketer
• Blue chip  clients include Microsoft, Samsung, MOD, Exxon Mobil, Red Bull, Interflora, Cineworld etc.

So the cost savings are there to be had! We’d welcome the opportunity for you to put us to the test. You can be sure that we’ll do all we can to make the transition as hassle free as possible. Please contact us on 0117 9249207 for a chat.

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.

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.

Subscribers to the text response service receive regular text alerts informing them about support that is available including local events, changes in benefits and opportunities for short beaks.

Text Marketer chosen as sms service provider. 

Text Marketer has been selected as the bulk sms provider to supply the platform for sending the sms alert campaigns; their Marketing Director, Richard Hawley said:
“We have been working with many more local councils recently and we are delighted to be working with Stockton Council and the Families Information Zone.”
SMS is proving far more effective than other communication channels. 98% of text messages that are sent are opened and read, compared to open rates for e-mail of typically less than 20%. (source – Mobile Marketing Association)

Text response services are becoming increasingly popular and many organisations are now taking advantage of Text Marketer’s low cost sms response service which comes with a one week free trial.
To find out more about how your organisation could use an sms short code service, please call us on 0117 9249207.

They have integrated their own customer contact system with the sms gateway as a powerful and flexible solution to their sms communication requirements.

By using the sms gateway rather than a standard account, there is no need for them to export mobile data from one system and upload it into another.

Text campaigns are sent directly from the customer’s system and can use specific customer information to send tailored text alerts. Individuals receive messages specifically for them as opposed to one message being sent to a group.

The SMS gateway uses simple HTTP GET requests to communicate with the Text Marketer gateway server which allows for flexible and rapid intergration of systems. The SMS gateway also generares delivery reports so that users can monitor that their campaigns are being delivered and any ‘dead’ numbers flagged.

Set up your SMS Gateway account in 1 minute

Setting up an SMS gateway account is free, accounts come with 10 free text credits so that you can test the system at no costs. (Please let us know if you need more sms credits for texting, we’ll be more than happy to add more to your account.) We’re pleased to offer very low sms costs even if your systems will only be sending low volumes of texts.

At Text Marketer we have an experienced team of techncial people ready to assist with any SMS gateway integration issues of queries that might arise. It’s very likely that they will have come across similar sutuations to yours and will be able to advice on the simplest solution.

We’ve helped many software developers intergrate with our SMS gateway, so please feel free to call 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.

A local advertising campaign in the Thames Valley area invites applicants to text the keyword SPECIALS to short code 88802. An automated text response is then generated that asks candidates to visit the Special Constable recruitment web site where more information is available.

The sms response campaign is running for 3 months and has generated well over a hundred responses in its first month.

Using a text response and bulk sms service as part of a recruitment campaign is becoming increasingly common. In the past 12 months Text Marketer has been involved in over 20 separate campaigns.

Please feel free to call us on 0117 9249207 to discuss how mobile can become part of your recruitment process.

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.

But that is only part of the story. Just as crucial to reliability are the systems in place that connect to the networks. There’s no point in have a direct Network connection if the servers are prone to falling over on a regualr basis. The chain is only as strong as the weakest link, so the saying goes.

So when companies are assessing different sms gateway providers, they should be asking where the provider’s systems are hosted. Server hosting companies vary enormously in quality and offer different services level agreements. SMS gateway providers need to be using specialist hosting companies that will guarantee server ‘up’ time.

In order to eliminate any server issues, Text Marketer uses Rack Space who is recognized as the global market leader in server hosting. They offer a guarantee of 100% up time.

In addition to bullet proof server hosting, Text Marketer has also developed a system architecture that maximizes the reliability of the sms service. Now for non-techies, all this means is that we’ve done all we can to make sure your bulk sms campaigns are delivered as planned. For the more technically minded, you may be interested in a quick overview of how this is achieved.

1. Our servers are based in a load balanced, clustered environment.
The idea is that internet load is balanced between machines and should one machine fall over another can take its place. The application server is the machine that does the processing of our code.

2. Our servers have RAID 1 (or mirrored) disks
This is where you have 2 hard disks in the server that mirror each other, should one fail, the system can keep running.

3. We use 64 bit Unix
All this really means is that we are using the most up to date operating system on our servers.

4. Managed backup
We have systems in place that back our data up to an off-line storage medium. This means should everything fail we still have the data to rebuild our systems.

If you have any specific technical queries, Nick Rich, our Technical Director is the man to speak to. He can be contacted on 0117 2050202

This disruption might be the impetus that some businesses need to look at business sms as a low cost alternative to snail mail. Using a bulk sms service is an effective and simple way to make sure that day to day communications are untroubled by the chaos with the mail service.

Companies use business sms services for a whole range of day to day communications, not just for generating new sales. When they experience first hand how effective it is, they often use it in areas of the business that they hadn’t originally intended.

 “When we first got our sms account we used it in the Service Department for sending customers MOT reminders. Then the Parts Manager saw it and wanted to use it to let customers know when their orders had arrived. Now the Sales Department also sends out texts with latest used car event details.” Alan Wilding – Evans Halshaw

You can try Text Marketer’s bulk SMS service for free by signing up for a free trial today. Setting up an account will take no more than a minute or two and your account comes with 10 free text credits so that you can test the service before purchasing additional text credits.

Subscribers to the sms service receive regular text alerts to remind them about all the events aimed at young residents in the area.
“Find out what’s on during the school holidays for children and young people aged 0 – 19. With hundreds of FREE and low-cost events, activities and venues we hope you agree that Westminster is a great place to grow up.”

Text Marketer chosen as sms service provider.

Text Marketer has been selected as the bulk sms company to provide the technology to enable the sending of the sms campaigns; their  Marketing Director, Richard Hawley said:
“We have been actively working with many more local councils in recent months and we are delighted to be adding Westminster to our selection of clients.”

SMS alerts for events are far more effective than any other communication channel. 98% of text messages that are sent are read, compared to open rates for e-mail of typically less than 20%. (source – Mobile Marketing Association)

Sending sms campaigns using Text Marketer’s web-based system is very quick and easy. Users do not need any specific technical skills and accounts are free to set up.

Reliability of these services varies enormously and they support a range of different functions.

Overseas gateways, where the sms is dispatched from abroad, tend to be far less reliable than sending directly to a UK network.

What sort of problems can be expected using an sms provider that uses an overseas gateway?

- Message delays (which can result in your messages being delivered in the middle of the night!)
- No delivery reports
- Messages not arriving
- Inability to set the sender ID. (who the message is from)

Text Marketer uses a direct connection to Vodafone UK, ensuring that the reliability of our service is outstanding. Our customers have the peace of mind that messages are being delivered quickly and efficiently.