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 you 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.

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.

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. To help customers put their plans together, we’ve put together a Mobile Marketing and the Recruitment Process Guide that talks you through the process.

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

How does the sms opt out service work?

The opt out service works, using a keycode and a five digit short code. Customers who wish to unsubscribe from your list, simply text a unique keycode to a 5 digit short code, (88802). Their mobile number is then captured by your account and added to your unsubscribe list.
Your account will then check your unsubscribe list before sending out an sms campagn. This means that you cannot send an sms to an unsubscribed customer by mistake. IMPORTANT NOTE: This does not work for the Quick Campaign feature, only for full campaigns using uploaded list data.

How do I set up the unsubscribe service on my bulk sms account?

Setting up the unsubscribe service is free and is available to you as soon as you set up your free account. Immediately after setting up your free account, you will receive a welcome email containing confirmation of your username and password. This email also contains your unsubscribe keycode. This will be a 4 letter code, (eg WJBC) To unsubsbribe, your contacts simply text this code to 88802.

….for existing customers

…. go to “Text Response” / “Short Code Log” in your account to see what your STOP code is.

How can I see the list of people that have unsubscribed from my list.

To view your unsubscribers, go to Text Response - Short Code Log. Here you will see your unsubcribe keycode, in brown, along with the toal number of users that have unsubscribed. To downoad an excel spreadsheet or .csv file, cick on the grey download icon on the right hand side. The mobile number is in column C. You will need to format the column so that you can view the numbers. Click on the column header to hightlight it - right click - format cells - select ‘number’ and click down to 0 decimals places. You will then see the numbers in international format.

What’s best way of wording  the unsubscription option in the outbound text?

There are 2 options here.
Option 1 - Set the sender name as 88802. (Go to Sender - Set Sender Name - Change to 88802 and click Submit.) 88802 is the short code that you use for unsubscribing.
Then at the end of your texts add ‘Reply [code] to cancel ’ (use your key code.)

Option 2 - If you wish to keep your sender name as it is, you need to give fuller instruction on how to unsubscribe. E.g ‘Text [code] to 88802 to cancel.

Keywords are not case sensitive.

A code example for sending SMS via a Delphi Pascal language, thanks to Graham Murt for the example code.

{*******************************************************************************
*                                                                              *
*                 TextMarketer Delphi/Pascal Interface                         *
*                                                                              *
********************************************************************************

{

  example use:

  procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
  begin
    SendTextMarketerSms(username, password, sender, recipient, message);
  end;

}

unit untTextMarketer;

interface

uses Classes, IdHttp;

const
  C_HTTP_URL  = 'http://www.textmarketer.biz/gateway/';

type
  TTextMarketerSMS = class
  private
    FHttp: TIdHttp;
    FPassword: string;
    FUsername: string;
  public
    constructor Create; virtual;
    destructor Destroy; override;
    function SendSms(AOriginator,
                     ANumber,
                     AMessage: string;
                     AXmlResponse: Boolean): string;
    property Username: string read FUsername write FUsername;
    property Password: string read FPassword write FPassword;
  end;

  function SendTextMarketerSms(AUsername, APassword, ASender, ANumber, AMessage: string): string;

implementation

uses SysUtils;

function SendTextMarketerSms(AUsername, APassword, ASender, ANumber, AMessage: string): string;
var
  ASms: TTextMarketerSMS;
begin
  ASms := TTextMarketerSMS.Create;
  try
    ASms.Username := AUsername;
    ASms.Password := APassword;
    Result := ASms.SendSms(ASender, ANumber, AMessage, True);
  finally
    ASms.Free;
  end;
end;

{ TTextMarketerSMS }

function UrlEncode(const DecodedStr: String): String;
var
  I: Integer;
begin
  Result := '';
  if Length(DecodedStr) > 0 then
    for I := 1 to Length(DecodedStr) do
    begin
      if not (DecodedStr[I] in ['0'..'9', 'a'..'z',
                                       'A'..'Z', ' ']) then
        if DecodedStr[I] = '£' then
          Result := Result + '%C2%A3'
        else
          Result := Result + '%' + IntToHex(Ord(DecodedStr[I]), 2)
      else if not (DecodedStr[I] = ' ') then
        Result := Result + DecodedStr[I]
      else
        begin
          Result := Result + '%20'
        end;
    end;
end;

constructor TTextMarketerSMS.Create;
begin
  inherited;
  FHttp := TIdHTTP.Create(nil);
end;

destructor TTextMarketerSMS.Destroy;
begin
  FHttp.Free;
  inherited;
end;

function TTextMarketerSMS.SendSms(AOriginator, ANumber, AMessage: string;
  AXmlResponse: Boolean): string;
var
  AResult: Boolean;
  AParams: AnsiString;
  AResponse: TStringList;
begin
  AResponse := TStringList.Create;
  try
    AParams := '';
    AParams := AParams + ('?username='+FUsername);
    AParams := AParams + ('&password='+FPassword);
    AParams := AParams + ('&number='+ANumber);
    AParams := AParams + ('&orig='+UrlEncode(AOriginator));
    AParams := AParams + ('&message='+UrlEncode(AMessage));
    if AXmlResponse then AParams := AParams + ('&option=xml');
    try
      Result := FHttp.Post(C_HTTP_URL+AParams, AResponse);
    except
      Result := '';
    end;
  finally
    AResponse.Free;
  end;
end;

end.

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. Message costs start at 4.9 pence + VAT and go as low as 3.8 pence + VAT for higher volumes.

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 Text Marketer’s bulk sms account, they have been able to upload mobile numbers into different staff groups. Sending a message is simply a case of choosing the appropriate group, writing the message and selecting the time that they wish the sms to arrive. The sms campaign will then arrive on the mobiles simultaneously at the given time.

The bulk sms gateway can be accessed from anywhere with a web connection, so business sms alerts can be set up from wherever the sender happens to be.

Using sms as a way of keeping employees in touch, has an immediacy that no other communications channel can match and for field based staff can be an essential day to day business tool.

Accounts are free to set up and come with 10 free text credits. SMS message costs start at 4.9 pence + VAT and go as low as 3.8 pence + VAT.

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 texts cost from 3.8 pence per text.

Existing Thorntons customers have been sent a text reminder about delicious last minute Christmas gifts. Included in the text bulletin was a notification about their sale which began on Christmas day itself.

SMS Services beat direct mail for response

Using a bulk sms service to promote a retail business is incredibly cost effective and very responsive. Text credits can cost as little as 3.8 pence + VAT and you can expect response rates of up to 18%. (source - Mobile marketing Association.) In comparison, direct mail generates response rates of up to 2%.

Setting up a bulk sms account is free and you get 10 free text credits so you can test the system before making a text credit purchase.

They are using their new sms service to communicate some fantastically tempting offers to encourage as many new enquiries before Christmas as possible. The current deal gives customers free sat nav on all orders before Christmas.

“Vansdirect FREE Sat Nav if you order before Dec 25th! Quote “Nav1t”. Order now for pre-Xmas delivery & Drive Now, Pay 2010! www.vansdirect.co.uk 08450210444″

The bulk sms service has no set cost or monthly fee, Vans Direct only pay for the messages that they send via their Text Marketer account. Different business sms supplier costs can also be compared on the sms price comparison table.

Please call us on 01179249207 if you’d like to find out more about how bulk sms could help your business generate more sales.

An integral part of the programme is a text alert service that keeps members up to date with not only local events but also provides information about the various support groups that are available. Subscribers to the sms service receive regular text bulletins on a wide range of subjects.

Bulk SMS informs efficiently at low cost.

For busy parents and carers on the move, there is no better way of informing than by using a bulk sms service. It’s immediate, cost effective and gets vital information across wherever the recipient happens to be.

Text marketer has been chosen to run the sms project which began in November 2009.

Local councils are increasingly adopting bulk sms strategies to assist better communication with residents. This trend seems set to continue with a number of councils using Text Marketer’s sms service in recent months.

Bulk SMS accounts are free to set up and there is no monthly fee or hidden costs. Messages cost as little as 3.8 pence + VAT and are routed directly to the UK Networks.

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.

Simple Example of sending SMS with PHP

This class allows you to send SMS using PHP,  please feel free to modify at will. You just need the username and password from your account login as the constructor arguments. Download PHP 5 SMS API Class

Example:

$sms = new SendSMSXML("myUsername","myPassword");

/// send function args: mobile number, your message, the originator (sender id)

$sms->send("4477777777","my message","me");

As you can see there is nothing to it!

Take a look at the  more involved document describing how you can integrate PHP with the SMS short code service. This example uses a game where by you text in the number of sweets you think is in a jar. You then receive a response depending on how close you were.

The company has recently put in place a ban on using mobile phones while driving, which includes driving while using a hands free device.

To help bring home the message, Amey have used Text Marketer’s sms service to good effect. All drivers have been sent a bulk text message reminding them of the mobile phone ban and asking them to acknowledge receipt of the message by texting in a keyword to a five digit short code. By texting in the keyword, employees are confirming that they have read and understood the new ruling.

With staff safety at the forefront of company policy, the text service reminds drivers that using a phone while driving is dangerous and not acceptable, even when using hands free. Implementing such a significant change to the way employees work on a day to day basis needed an innovative way of getting the message across in a forceful and memorable way.

SMS Service for staff alerts

Using a bulk sms service is a great way of keeping in touch with members of staff. It’s particularly useful if you need to make sure an urgent piece of information is received immediately.

Setting up a bulk sms account is free and text credits cost as little as 3.8 pence + VAT. Please give us a call on 0117 9249207 if you’d like to find out more.

Time for those Christmas Marketing hats to come on

The Text Marketer creative team have been at it again, coming up with fabulous new ways for our customers to use SMS Marketing which makes a real difference to their business.

There’s an old adage I always think of in our business, “you never know until you try”. How true this is. So many companies still don’t ‘get’ the use of SMS in their business, yet, as soon as they’re out of the office they’re on the phone texting ninety to the dozen! What could be a more obvious advert for texting!? This is how people want to be communicated with nowadays.

Anyway, to those who have realised that using SMS is 5-10 times more responsive, 90% cheaper and 100% greener (probably the ones reading this, let’s face it!) – let’s get on with how to make this Christmas a stunning one for your business.

The GOLDEN Rule

True in all direct marketing but because of the mobile phone’s ‘personal’ nature, even more so with Bulk SMS …. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes before you send them a message, ask yourself (amongst other things);

• What’s their lifestyle like – student, working mum, shift worker, retiree?
• When will they be most likely to read the message you’re sending them?
• What will be the most important things on their mind right now?
• How can we give that particular customer exactly what they want!?

See database segmentation for SMS Marketing for more

Once you’ve done this you’re (according to Direct Marketing Association research) you’re about 70% there in terms of a winning SMS campaign.

Top 5 winning Bulk SMS Campaigns this Christmas

These won’t ‘exactly’ fit every business but with a little tweaking the concepts are the same for most:

Giving your customers a 'virtual present' by SMS really boosts positive word of mouth, attracting new customers.

1. Inform customers about opening hours, ordering deadlines, etc’ for the Christmas period
Whilst this seems mundane, it is proven to have an excellent response rate. It shows you care about your customer and also communicates a sense of urgency about ‘getting your order in’ before the big rush.

2. Contact customers who ordered from you this time last year
An often overlooked strategy. If they bought from you last year, there’s good chance they’re still in the same market this year.

3. Drive traffic to your website
Some companies are paying £1 or (sometimes much) more per click on Google AdWords when a text message costs as little as 3.8p! If you’ve got something special on your website for the festive season, tell people about it by text.

4. Get a much better sales response to your E-mail campaigns
Much in the same way companies used to advertise on TV, “New Christmas brochure out in our shop tomorrow”, text customers to tell them, for example, “Latest Christmas offers arriving by E-Mail tomorrow – please order early to avoid disappointment”. This will boost open rates and orders significantly. See get better e-mail open rates for more.

5. It’s Christmas – send them a present!
This will depend on your business but try to think of a small gift you can give your customers – maybe a Christmas ringtone (has viral marketing benefits too!), a virtual advent calendar, a free Christmas mobile game, a money off voucher, etc. etc. A small gift can go a long way in a customer’s eyes and will also help positive word of mouth advertising.

If you need any help, support or advice, don’t be afraid to give us a call. If you don’t already have one get a free Bulk SMS account and give it a go.

Merry Christmas and an SMS-powered prosperous New Year!

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 9249207.

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

2. It will make your Finance Director smile.
SMS marketing is very cost effective. Messages cost as little as 3.8 pence + VAT 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.