Posts Tagged ‘text message marketing’

With 91% of consumers having their cell phone within reach 24/7, it’s no surprise that mobile marketing is on the rise.  In fact, according to Ask Your Target Market’s latest survey, 33% of consumers are interacting with text message marketing.

Of those interested in mobile advertising, 29% said they would like to receive exclusive coupons, 18% would like information about in-store sales, 12% would like information about new products, 3% would like generally company updates, and 56% would like other information as a text message.

With 94% of all text messages being opened immediately upon receipt, text message marketing is easily the most efficient way to target consumers.

In today’s world of fast-paced rising technology, text messages may be the closest thing in the digital marketing world to a guaranteed read.  In fact, 94% of all text messages are opened immediately upon receipt.  Unlike cyberspace, the SMS world remains to be a spam-free marketing network.  Consequently, the average person responds to a text message within 90 seconds, even a promotional one, whereas e-mails take 90 minutes.  E-mail is just so yesterday!

Since consumers are more likely to read text messages over e-mails, you can’t ignore this one-on-one marketing medium.  Text message marketing allows you to send the right text to the right people at the right time.  These interactive SMS campaigns convert prospects to customers, which translates into profits.

First, your clients must choose to opt-in (receive your text messages).  Whether it’s through a contest, mobile coupon, or voting poll, patrons can quickly type in the keyword and short code, and voila!  In seconds, your consumers have your personalized message right there in their hands.

SMS promotions allow you to increase traffic to your company by providing consumers with text messages informing them of your discounts and/or specials.  Lucky for you, most Americans always have their cell phones nearby, even when they’re sleeping, so you are able to reach them no matter where they are.  Compared to other marketing strategies (radio, TV, or print ads), text message marketing will deliver a better return on your investment.  In addition, this easy to use program allows you to test out different messages daily to see what works best.  Selling a product or service to 18-29 year olds?  They’re the hardest to reach by e-mail, yet 95% of them are texting on their cell phones.

Think about it.  How often do you leave your cell phone behind?  Most likely, never.  Do you know anyone who doesn’t have a cell phone?  Some employees even have two – one for work and one for personal use.  As a result, there are currently more cell phones than people in the U.S.

As the growth of mobile continues to explode, so does your opportunity to reach this vast audience of consumers.  Convert them into your customers with text message marketing that targets only qualified prospects – those who have chosen to receive your message.  These savvy consumers are using mobile to shop, access mobile coupons, do price comparisons, book reservations, and more.  Smart shoppers require smarter marketing.  Text message marketing allows you to deliver information to patrons they way they want it – fast and easy.

A leader among text message marketing companies, Advanced Telecom Services is your one stop mobile shop delivering a program tailored to meet you and your consumers needs.  Try out our do-it-yourself text message marketing solution at www.84444.com or take advantage of our concierge service where we put our expertise to work for you.  Whether you want to implement an interactive text message campaign, mobile website, custom QR code, or mobile app, ATS has the experienced media professionals you need ready to get you started immediately.

(Sources: CTIA.org 2012; Pew Research 2011)

Over the past weekend, American Eagle Outfitters’ aerie used text message marketing in order to drive more sales.  After achieving one million “likes” on Facebook, aerie sent out an SMS to consumers that included a free shipping mobile coupon.  Those who had not already “liked” the company on Facebook were encouraged to connect with the retailer online in order to receive the weekend long offer.

The text message sent to opted-in patrons read, “Whoa!  1,000,000 likes!  A million thanks isn’t enough… be our friend on Facebook and get free shipping on everything through 5/13!”  The message also included a link to aerie’s Facebook page.

This marketing tactic of combining mobile and social media allowed aerie to send out a time-specific deal to a targeted audience that increased the company’s social media presence while also encouraging more sales on their website and mobile site.

Tim Miller, expert in the mobile marketing industry explained that every company should pursue collecting SMS opt-ins.  These mobile opt-ins encourage sales during certain times of the year when your company may need a sales boost.   Having a list of interested consumers allows you to access them whenever you’d like.  “It is like having your own TV or radio station with all of your customers tuned in all the time,” Miller stated.

Interested in doing this type of campaign for your company?  Connect to 84444.com where a team of experienced professionals are ready to get started with your mobile marketing program!

It is a big election year and many political candidates will be using our voice broadcast, or “robocalls,” to reach voters. The question came up as to how the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 fits in with political candidates. You probably know that political candidates are given more leeway when it comes to outbound telemarketing without a bonafied opt-in.

Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, politicians and campaign volunteers may call voters on their landline or wireless phones. But when a campaign uses an auto dialer to leave a “robocall” (precorded message), calls to wireless phones are prohibited. In short, it is:

• legal for a campaign to call voters on their landline phones using an auto dialer to leave a robocall without the “prior express consent of the called party.”
• illegal for a campaign to contact voters using to use auto dialers and robocalls to their cellphones without prior express consent.

The same rules apply to text messages. It is:

• legal for campaign workers to send texts to voters’ cellphones. For this service, political candidates can use text message marketing services such as 84444.com.

To learn more about TCPA, please visit the FCC’s websites on telemarketing and SPAM texts.

Please do not consider this legal advice. You should consult your own attorneys to get your own legal opinion.

It is great to see that text message marketing is the most popular activity used by marketers followed closely by QR Codes.

There are three categories of short code programs from a pricing perspective.

• Standard Rate — The consumer is charged standard text messaging fees (usually decremented from their carrier messaging bundle) when participating in the program.  No premium fees are charged.  Standard rate is the type of text messaging offered by 84444.com.
• Premium Rate — The consumer is charged premium fees in addition to standard messaging fees that apply.  You can not run a premium rate text message campaign on 84444.com, but Advanced Telecom Services does not offer Premium SMS services through another short code.
• Free to End User (FTEU) — This is the newest of the short code categories.  With FTEU, the consumer incurs no charges at all for participating in the program.  The carrier waives standard message fees for these programs.  Such programs are currently extremely rare.

 

by Bob Bentz.

According to a study by AT&T, 34% of business owners are showing interest in using text message marketing in 2012.  Creating mobile apps is of interest to the largest amount of business owners at 43%.

Of all mobile marketing tactics, text message marketing is clearly the most utilized of them.  That likely explains why there is more interest in the development of apps.

AT&T’s findings are based on an online survey in September 2011 of 501 marketing or advertising professionals working at a US-based company with more than 1,000 employees. Respondents held a director or higher title and were personally involved with making or overseeing marketing or advertising program decisions for their company.

 

 

 

 

 

Interest in text message marketing and text message advertising continues to increase.  One of my favorite tools to prove out such theories is Google Insights which measures trends in searches over time.

This article was first provided to iMediaConnection.

 

Less is More: The Long and Short of Text Message Marketing Copywriting

The best thing about text message marketing is the likelihood that your message will actually get read.  In fact, 94% of all text messages are read immediately upon receipt, even the promotional ones.

But, once you’ve got the readers’ attention, how do you keep it and make them act on it when you only have 160 characters, including spaces, to work with?

Here are some best practices to be the master copywriter for the short message.

• Get straight to the point.  With 160 characters, you really have no choice.
• Use short and simple words.  No need to impress anybody with your Ivy League vocabulary.
• Think in terms of teasers.  Those messages on the home page of Yahoo that just force you to open them.
• Talk about benefits.  You probably won’t have room for the features part.  How much weight they lose or how much better their car will handle with new tires.
• Use the shortened text format that is already acceptable in personal text-speak.  It will make your message seem more genuine and not a sales pitch.
• Adding an embedded URL or phone number for quick access via a smartphone is a great addition, but don’t sacrifice the basic understanding of your message to add it..

The day will come when open rates of text messages start to decline, but for now, they remain high, even among those who receive a lot of promotional text messages.  Take advantage of those high open rates by maximizing the effectiveness of your promotional text message copy.

That’s the long and short of it.

Bob Bentz is president of mobile marketing company Advanced Telecom Services which provides text message marketing, apps development, custom QR Codes, and mobile web sites.

Text message marketing by radio stations has been a big part of our business at Advanced Telecom Services and 84444.com. That’s why Radio Ink magazine asked us to pen an article about the types of text messages that radio stations use.

Read the article in Radio Ink about radio text message marketing by Advanced Telecom Services’ president Bob Bentz.