By Sandeep Gulyani

Continue with our Text Message Marketing series, today I like to talk about Text message marketing using Auto responder also known as Text-for-Info. Our clients have been using auto responder campaigns from past 5 years. It works exactly as our text-to-join text message marketing campaign.

Text-for-Info Text message marketing campaign

With Text-for-info campaign, customer receives an auto response a predefined text message when they text your mobile keyword to the short code. The auto response may include

·     Business contact information (Business cards)

·     Store Directions with link to Google map

·     Event organizers can provide Event registration details, exhibition direction, customer service number etc.

·     In Political Fundraising or Non-profit, patrons can text to receive contribution details

·     Product brief along with mobile or web site link or details

·     Customer care/support information

·     Song/Ringtone download link given as reward

·     iPhone or Android App download link very popular with VOIP providers

·     Realtors can use Text-for-info to provide property information along with house photos.

·     Car dealership can use it as off-hours sales tool. Prospects can text unique code found on windshield stickers and receive car details.

Possibilities are end-less, you just have to think and plan, rest we'll do for you.  

How it works?

·     Setup Text-to-Info campaign using our mobile marketing platform. You can choose your desired mobile keyword on our shared short code or on your dedicated short code hosted with TXTImpact.

·     Promote the keyword in your adverting material, at point of sale, flyers, etc.

·     Customer send text message to short code with your company mobile keyword.

Now, this is great tool for providing customer instant on the spot information while business put your contact details in their hand; business can also capture customer's mobile number and built their opt-in list. Businesses may follow-up with customers using mass text messaging and include promotional codes, special offers, deals, etc.

"To go further level Mobile Coupons feature can be added to your text broadcast, or a mobile web site or simple mobile page to provide customer more information."

Through TxtImpact effective and affordable Text Message Marketing and group text messaging services now businesses will be able to launch their mobile marketing campaigns without any hassle!

Click here to contact TxtImpact sales and learn more about current promotions and their text sms marketing services

How campaigns can reach supporters through one of the fastest growing forms of communication.

Ambitious political candidates are now using text messaging to communicate with their supporters in the hope of replicating President Obama's 2008 social media strategy. But these imitators may not enjoy the same success, in part, because they’re not developing a mobile marketing strategy around their text messaging effort.

Text marketing needs to be part of an overall communications strategy that includes print, online, radio and TV advertising. Moreover, campaigns need to have a strategy in place for collecting supporters’ mobile phone numbers and using those numbers to push for action.

The Obama campaign, for instance, built its enormous mobile phone database by promising to break the news of his vice presidential pick via text message. Obama’s campaign messaged more than 1 million mobile phones with the announcement that then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) had been chosen.

Obama’s strategy also included running a Super Bowl ad in February 2008, asking supporters to text “HOPE" to 62262 (or O-B-A-M-A) on their mobile phones. The campaign collected the mobile numbers and used them to inform supporters—particularly elusive young voters—about speeches, local volunteering opportunities and, eventually, get out the vote (GOTV) efforts.

Making text messaging interactive and requiring supporters to engage is the real key to success when it comes to utilizing this communication channel.

Take Wisconsin’s Russ Feingold (D), whose 2010 text effort showcased one example of how to successfully capture cell numbers. On opening day for the Milwaukee Brewers that April, his Senate campaign asked people to text them predictions of who would win the infamous mascot sausage race—Bratwurst, Polish, Italian, Hot Dog or Chorizo. The Polish sausage won, by the way, and while Feingold didn’t it was undoubtedly a clever and successful text marketing technique.

By some estimates, there are 4.3 billion text messages sent every day to the some 330 million mobile devices in the United States. Here are a few ways for campaigns to harness this fast growing medium:

Develop a database of supporters’ mobile phone numbers. It is essential that these lists are formed of supporters who have specifically opted in to receive text information from the campaign. Use meetings, monthly publications, newsletters and other events to gather this data. Don’t wait: start developing this list today, even if you don’t plan on investing in a text strategy until next year. This is crucial to the success or failure of your text campaign. 

Choose the right partner. This is extremely important. Sending large volumes of texts requires specialized messaging infrastructure and an experienced messaging provider to ensure successful delivery. If delivery cannot be guaranteed, campaigns have no way of knowing their messages were received and voters don’t know if campaigns received their response. Your service provider should be able to deliver real-time confirmation.

Decide how often to send messages to supporters. Text is a timely channel, but in some cases constant and repetitive messages do more harm than good. Some frequent messages turn into spam and annoy people. Text is still considered a spam-free channel. 

Once the data is collected and the text strategy is in place, campaigns can do everything from conduct surveys, inform supporters about voter registration and absentee ballot deadlines, promote down-ballot candidates or make a GOTV push.

It’s a powerful tool to send supporters a text message to remind them to “VOTE TODAY” or “BRING A FRIEND WITH YOU TO VOTE.”  In 2012, elections will be won by the candidates who get it.

Source:Campaign Insider 

New York City’s Office of Emergency Management is testing the personal localized alerting network or PLAN.

A total of six  alerts will be sent until 3 p.m. on 15th December, 2011.

A notification will be displayed on the screen of your mobile device with a text that reads: “Severe alert” or “Extreme alert.”

Officials say you will then see a message that says “This is a test from NYC Office of Emergency Mgmt. Test Message 1. This is only a test.”

It’s a new, free emergency notification service that will allow authorized government officials to send emergency alerts to enabled mobile devices on the AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon wireless networks.

Emergency Management Commissioner Joe Bruno says this is only for newer phones and those certain carriers.

“So there may be some phones out there that if they’re in the area where we’re broadcasting a message, they could get this message and see it,” Bruno said.

A pilot version of PLAN is set to go live in the five boroughs on New Year’s day.

 Smartphones, and what I call my “dumb” phone, are an underused method for communicating with customers. Text messaging is like soccer: bigger everywhere in the world, but the USA. That is changing however, and because of that, mobile marketing is entering a new phase of acceptance and adoption.

No doubt you’ve heard that 2012 will be the year mobile takes off. Umm, it was also the year of mobile in 2009, 2010, 2011… Never mind all the prognostication. Just make sure that you open this door if your customer wants to keep up with you via mobile. The following 11 text messaging solutions may help you earn a new sale or keep an existing customer happy.

1. GroupMe. GroupMe is a completely free mobile app. If you have a small set of people you want to send a group text message to, this may be the ideal tool. You don’t even need a smartphone or mobile phone of your own to make this work.

2. Signal. Signal is a significant player in the mobile marketing space because that’s not all they offer. Their platform allows you to manage all your customer communications in one dashboard. E-mail, Facebook, interactive promotions (think surveys, geo-location stuff) are all in one place. Plans start at $30/mo.

3. Fanminder. I’ve mentioned these guys a few times. They combine the power of Facebook with Mobile. You can send social and mobile messages to your fans. The 0-100 Fan package is completely free.

4. TellMyCell. TellMyCell lets you upload existing contacts/customers via .CSV (spreadsheet) file and then create groups. You can schedule messages to go at specific times. It offers pay-as-you-go pricing, then bulk plans start at $29/mo.

5. TxtImpact. I like the simple way TxtImpact has designed their site. When you click on Text Message Marketing, you get a simple chart that shows the different ways small business owners can use it: Text-2-Join (build your list), SMS voting/polling (ask your customers for their opinions), and so forth. Free trial, then plans start at $25/mo.  

6. Trumpia. Trumpia makes it clear what you get in each plan. I like that they have a way to tie a QR code (that bar-code like technology that is growing in popularity) to your mobile marketing. Their appointment reminder option looks like a great one for many small businesses. Basic plans as low as $15/mo with annual prepayment.

7. EZ Texting. EZ Texting doesn't charge for incoming messages, so if your customer responds, you’re not paying for that additional message—many plans offer this, too, by the way. You can send a message from your phone or from the Web app. I like that you can send a voicemail broadcast, too. Starter plans begin at $29/mo.

8. Mobivity. Mobivity looks to be more of a full service shop with a team to help you develop a custom app and mobile marketing process at your company. Their basic plan starts at $79/mo and offers a limited free trial.

9. Clickatell. Clickatell offers a robust and detailed mobile marketing solution. You can get a dedicated two-way number that allows you to engage with your mobile customer. They have a clear message pricing calculator if you want to add specific options. Plans start at $9.95/mo.

General note: Some mobile marketing services offer you only a shortcode, which is not two-way—meaning you can’t start a conversation with your mobile customer—but often you don’t need that if you’re sending a coupon or one-way offers. 

10. Txt180. Txt180 has a simple, yet elegant service. It is flexible to the point that they even have an alternate opt-in message you can send to your customer. All mobile services, like many e-mail services, are required to send a message allowing the customer to opt-in or out (permission-based). Txt180 makes this easy and seamless. Plans start at $9.95/mo.

11. CallFire. CallFire is more than just text messaging. They are a full-service VOIP (voice over internet protocol) provider and have interactive voice responders, voice broadcasting and a cloud call center in addition to SMS marketing services. Pricing starts at $.03 (meaning 3 cents) per message, pay-as-you-go. I like that they break down their offering by industry, too, so you can see how others like you are using it.

To close, mobile marketing via text message (SMS) is not about spamming your customer base. It is only going to work on a permission based philosophy. You don’t need to listen to the hype around mobile marketing being the next big thing; that doesn’t really matter. The question is only can you share something via text message that serves your customers. If the answer is yes, then jump on the mobile marketing train.

Source: OpenForum

Fiserv, Inc., a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, announced today the results of a survey of the mobile banking and payment plans of top-tier financial institutions. The in-depth survey, conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Fiserv in September 2011, evaluated the plans of 10 banks and credit unions that in total hold more than one-third of all U.S. deposit accounts. The results revealed that these financial institutions are moving beyond the basics to deliver increasingly sophisticated mobile capabilities. Transactional services such as remote deposit capture and mobile person-to-person payments will account for the bulk of mobile investment in 2012. However, despite a nearly unanimous commitment to expand overall mobile functionality, institutions remain split on plans to support mobile point-of-sale payments.

"After several years of technology-driven expectations, mobile banking is finally seeing sustained traction in the U.S., and banks have rolled out support broad enough to enable consumers with nearly any mobile device to access basic banking functionality," writes co-author Brad Strothkamp, VP, principal analyst, eBusiness and Channel Strategy, Forrester Research, Inc. in the May 2011 independent report, The State of US Mobile Banking: 2011. "As consumers gain confidence with the channel, their needs are shifting from simple functionality like account balances and ATM locators to transactions like bill payment and account transfers."

Movie rental merchant redbox has rolled out a gifting option in time for the holiday season that lets movie lovers gift DVD rentals to friends and family through the company’s Web site or MASS SMS.

Why start with Text Messaging?

Here are three good reasons:

1. Cost-effectiveness

It’s not news that in many marketing departments these days money isn’t always easy to come by. Coming up with the budget for a mobile app, on one platform let alone two, is not always easy.

Creating a mobile website, depending on size, scope, and content management system, is not cheap either. Text messaging marketing can be extremely budget friendly, especially if you’re already printing signs for something or running traditional media.  Just revise the creative to add a “text-in for this or that” call-to-action and you’ve just started a mobile marketing campaign.

Best of all, almost all SMS marketing providers charge based on the number of messages or subscribers in your database. The cost starts small and when it increases that means your campaign is working!

2. Biggest Audience

When marketing dollars are tight everyone likes to see “good numbers” at the end of the campaign. Because text messaging is available on essentially every phone and used by just about everybody (over 70% of adults), you’ll have the best opportunity to reach the most people and build the largest opt-in database.

Every other mobile marketing technology has an inherit “audience-limiter”. Mobile websites; must have an HTML-capable phone.  Apps; must have a smartphone. QR codes; must have a smartphone and a QR reader installed. The more things your audience needs to participate, the smaller the numbers get. Start with the biggest audience and then target the more technology capable groups later.

3. It will “launch” the other ones

At the end of any text message marketing campaign there will be a database of mobile phone numbers (the people who texted-in). Launching a mobile app or website? Send out a text and tell them.

They’ve already had one mobile interaction with you so there’s a good chance they would be open to another. Instead of counting on the app store or mobile searches to drive traffic you can generate that initial burst of activity on your own. Think about it, it’s a lot easier to drive traffic to a new website when you already have a big email list of people who would be interested.

Ok, so you agree text messaging might be a good place to start mobile marketing.

But where do you start with text messaging? 

1. Traditional media

As mentioned above, this is an easy one. Instead of telling your audience to “call now” or “visit our website”, have them send a text message. Maybe they’re entering to win something or getting an instant “show this message on your phone for something” coupon.

2. Events

Are you still using clipboards and sign up sheets to gather data at your events? Still putting out that plastic fish bowl for business cards? Try having your event attendees get out their phone and text to vote, answer a question, put a message up on a screen, sign a petition, win something, or get a discount. It’ll be more fun for you and your audience, and in the end you’ll get a valid mobile number instead of an email address you can’t read anyway.

3. In-store

Many businesses have more people passing through their doors everyday than visits to their website. Those people also have phones in their pockets and purses. Print out a sign and create a mobile loyalty club by having visitors text-in for a discount on their next visit. They’re in your location so you know they have an interest in your business. Give them an easy way to offer up their valuable mobile phone number so you can bring them back later.

Reduce no-shows and wait times with automated text messages to patients & practitioners

Being effective, easy and economical -it is also incredibly simple to setup and start sending Text Message appoitment reminders (SMS) with our easy to use web interface.

Integrate the capability into existing appointment scheduling system using our SMS Text Messaging Developer APIs

Some of the use of Text messaging for Appointment reminder Applications

With more than 7 trillion text messages sent around the world in 2011, it is no secret that mobile users are hyper-engaged and hyper-connected via mobile messaging. Why is it then that marketers continue to overlook this opportunity to build a relationship with customers?  In a recent Hipcricket survey of mobile users, 57 percent of respondents said they would be interested in opting in to a brand’s SMS loyalty program. Yet, 80 percent of survey respondents said they have not been marketed to via SMS by their favorite brands. Even more compelling, 90% of survey respondents who had participated in an SMS loyalty club felt they had gained value from being a part of the program.  Why the hesitation to include SMS into the marketing mix? Many hoteliers simply don’t know where to start, and are rightfully cautious to reach consumers through this nascent channel.

Despite hoteliers’ apprehension to engage in this channel, many hoteliers understand the potential SMS offers to effectively reach consumers. In HeBS Digital’s 5^th Annual Benchmark Survey on Hotel Digital Marketing Budget Planning, 25% of hoteliers indicated that SMS marketing was an initiative they planned to leverage in 2011.

 Source: Hotel News Resource

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