Text Messaging Marketing

Unlike other forms of advertising that have been around forever, text message marketing requires you to be deserving of access to your client base.  The other forms of advertising only required some effort in putting together the ad, then paying for the chance to blast it out the masses.  This approach is more like a shotgun approach.  Yes, you can use demographics and yadda, yadda yadda however; you really do not know what you are going to get for results without spending a lot of money and praying to the advertising gods.

Text message marketing on the other hand is quite different…it is personal and you have to follow a certain text message marketing etiquette .  We all have cell phones on our person or very nearby and when we receive a text message, there is a 95% chance of it being open.  The person then has the choice to accept, ignore or opt-in for future messages from the sender.  Most of the time the receiver of the message is either really excited about the offer for example, buy one beer and get 5 free; does not care to get hair extensions (bald male) or loves to eat at the restaurant  where he get a free hot lava cake a la mode with every visit by opting in.  Now if I opted in and wanted to get messages from my local watering hole, I would not mind them keeping me informed on a weekly basis.  However if they started to text me every 5 minutes or even 1 time a day, I would get tired of it.  I also hate the ones that do not honor the 160-character limit and then I receive three or 4 pieces of one message in three or four individual text messages (those I really hate).

Anyway, the key point I want to make is, once you have a client or subscriber to your messages/alerts you have to be more than someone marketing to the masses…you have to be RESPONSIBLE and CONSIDERATE with your access.  Because what you have at the other end of your text message is a highly targeted client or customer who wants what you have to say and offer.  This is a relationship and if you are not considerate and responsible with your text message marketing you will lose access to that highly cherished client or customer.  For whatever reason the person opted in, you have to nurture and focus on building on that relationship.  You can do that with awesome offers, treating them like gold when visiting your establishment or keeping them informed of which band is playing this weekend.  The mistreatment of this relationship can be disastrous when you think about the how inexpensive it is, to get this client via text message marketing vs. what the client/customer’s revenue  would be lost by deciding you are rude with your marketing and therefore opting out of your messages.

Just like in every decision with your business, you need to have a plan.  Prior to text message marketing, you not only need a plan but a lot of money and resources to set it up.  With text message marketing it is very cost effective and can be set up in minutes.  This can make it very easy to underestimate the power of this form of marketing.  When you implement your text marketing solutions, the provider should also provide you with a plan.  One provider, Text Marketing Media out of Marlborough, MA not only provides the software and hardware, but they also provide a seamless integration into your existing marketing plan.  If you do not have a marketing plan, they will also provide you with the ability to rapidly create a customer loyalty program.

Therefore, keep in mind how you manage your text message marketing campaign will determine your worthiness with your client base.  Keep in mind, it is personal, you have to be responsible, considerate and bring value to your clients.  In return, you will be rewarded with a loyal customer base that also loves to improve your bottom line.  For all you bar owners looking for a hot tip to build a loyal client base,  you cannot lose when you offer buy one beer and get 5 free when it comes to customer loyalty.  Just let me know where you are located.

SMS stands for short message service. SMS is also often referred to as texting, sending   text messages or text messaging. Text message marketing allows for short text messages to be sent from one cell phone to another cell phone or from the Web to another cell  phone. Including spaces, text messages traditionally can’t exceed 160 characters. SMS was created as part of the GSM (Global System for  Mobile communications) Phase 1 standard. The first short message is believed to have been sent in December 1992 from a Personal Computer  (PC) to a mobile phone on the Vodafone GSM network in the UK.

SMS messaging is very similar to an email in that it can be stored by the recipient and read again later. On the other hand it has been estimated  that nearly 90 per cent of emails today are considered to be spam. SMS/text message marketing is a new and extremely powerful marketing  channel. In today’s dynamic and fast-evolving world, it is important to be able to reach your customers anywhere and at any time. SMS/text  message marketing is a new and extremely powerful marketing channel.

Text message marketing has gone mainstream and the audience for SMS marketing is only getting bigger. SMS will improve your sales and customer service, while reducing expenses in both areas.  Smaller firms often have an advantage over big brand names because you already have a personal relationship with your customers. As a result, contacting them by mobile phone does not appear intrusive. Smart phones are taking off, texting is spreading beyond the under-30 crowd, and it is quickly becoming such an integral part of everyday life. SMS / text message marketing is an effective marketing strategy for reaching people directly and can provide an unmatchable personal message about your product or service. Companies like Text Marketing Media, Inc. provide simple text message marketing solutions  for your business, whatever its size, to reach this huge market and increase your bottom line. Another huge advantage of text message marketing solutions, are they can be implemented in minutes and results can be seen in the first day (depending on your text message marketing solution chosen).

Text Message Marketing is gaining popularity because it is relatively inexpensive, effective, efficient and allows businesses to reach out to highly targeted consumers. There over 3 billion mobile devices, being used daily for business and personal communication, making the text message marketing a medium that is affordable for all businesses. Text message marketing is a direct, personal and cost-effective marketing or communication tool. It provides great exposure for a business’s products, services, organizations and schools.

SMS Text Messaging is a breakthrough communication medium that continues to expand over 250% year after year. A study from Emarketer shows that for the average mobile user in the US, the number of text messages placed is greater than the number of mobile calls placed…and the trend is that this is only going to increase.