BACK-TO-SCHOOL

Capture back-to-school moment to grow your mobile list subscribers using Text message marketing?

Back-to-school is a time when parents and students look for deals and coupons to buy back-to-school supplies.

As per recent study coupons that are sent via SMS are eight times more likely to be redeemed than coupons sent through email, and 90% of these messages are opened up within just three minutes of receipt. Marketers can promote their text message marketing campaigns online or offline with print material and have consumer signup to receive text deals alerts. Go viral with social media + text message marketing

Suggested text message campaigns for marketer

1. Text-to-Subscribe

2. Send mobile deals via mass text messaging

3. Text-to-Win campaign to engage consumer in a campaign

This is a perfect time for retailers, marketers and online businesses to grow their mobile list subscribers.

Mobile marketing is a world of new possibilities with endless scope for interactivity, personalization, and sales opportunities. It's expanding at such a fast pace that it can be hard to keep up with everything that's happening, but the key is that the basics never change -- capture your customer and communicate with them in a relevant way. We've compiled here five great starting ideas for your next mobile marketing campaign and included the best examples of who's done it well. Whether you're just considering where to begin with mobile marketing or you're a seasoned mobile marketer looking for something new, this quick guide will help you make your next mobile campaign one to remember.

Customers love mobile coupons

Mobile coupons are the next evolution of the traditional printed coupon and they're growing in popularity. The YankeeGroup released a consumer survey report in November 2009, which found that 73 percent of respondents were interested in receiving mobile coupons via SMS or MMS. The same report also predicted that mobile coupon redemptions would increase tenfold over 2010. Mobile coupons can be sent to a targeted group within a mobile database, such as people living within a certain area, or who have demonstrated certain purchasing habits. Mobile coupons are also a great way to instantly lift business in slow times -- if a restaurant knows you have eaten there on one of its weekly quiet nights (such as a Tuesday) and there are few bookings for the evening, they can target those customers with a two-for-one coupon or a free appetizer to sent to their mobile database and increase foot traffic within hours. In Mexico, coffee giant Starbucks sent 2D mobile coupons to its mobile database. Customers could easily redeem the coupons in store for Starbucks coffee products simply by scanning their barcode at the register. The highly successful campaign claimed a 60 percent redemption rate. Similarly, McDonald's and Arby's restaurants recently promoted new products with text coupons. McDonald's customers took advantage of a free McCafé Mocha, while Arby's customers texted in to receive the new BBQ Bacon Cheddar Roast Burger with the purchase of a drink. If you're a retailer, restaurant, or fast food chain, why not use mobile coupons to drive customers in store? Customers appreciate getting a discount or complimentary product, and you'll benefit with increased sales and the ability to instantly lift business whenever times are slow.

Holiday and festive day mobile marketing engages consumers via Text

Holidays and festive days (such as Valentine's Day) are a time when families and friends come together to celebrate, but they're also a great time for you to communicate with your customers and add value to their lives and to your relationship. During the busy holiday season, people are often strapped for cash, but in good spirits and much more likely to interact with a fun or interesting text message offer. Helping customers out with a useful alerts program, for example, can be a great way to engage them -- you'll be building strong customer relationships and loyalty and might even build your mobile database at the same time. Turkey producer Butterball re-launched its popular Turkey Talk-Line in 2009 with a brand new SMS alert component for Thanksgiving. Turkey Texts encouraged consumers to text the keyword TURKEY to a short code to receive tips for cooking their Thanksgiving meal. While simple, customers appreciated the extra help at Thanksgiving, and Butterball embraced a great opportunity to build loyalty and grow their database. Another great way to engage customers and facilitate personal communication during the holiday season is to create a holiday greeting-based TEXT based campaign. eBay used TEXT MESSAGE last holiday season, giving consumers the opportunity to send wishes to eBay's Live Wishes Stream by texting to a short code. Another great marketing opportunity is Valentine's Day, where retailers like flower shops have successfully used TEXT reminders and ideas for gifts to give love -- and sales -- a lift.

Text message reminders can work wonders for service industries

Reminders are one of the simplest uses of text message marketing, however, they have also proven to be one of the quickest ways for businesses -- particularly service providers -- to achieve an instant ROI. Mobile phones are carried everywhere, and the fact that it is very difficult to ignore the arrival of a new text message has ensured that people are no longer forgetting to drop off their car for servicing or arrive at the doctor's office on time. Typically sent in advance by a day or the morning of an appointment, reminder services can be used by every industry you can think of: medical, beauty, entertainment, sports, conferences, and events. You will quite often see thank you confirmations and follow-up appointments also sent out as text messages, which is a nice customer service touch. Non-profit healthcare provider in the U.S., has successfully used SMS reminders to significantly cut patient communication costs. Automated text messages sent to patients the day before an appointment have proven to be not only a cost effective method of communication but have reduced the amount of "no shows" for appointments.

Use Text with email to capture customers and send out information

Mobile marketing can be very effective when combined with other marketing channels. One of the easiest ways is to package it together with an email response that can provide more text and multimedia content, as well as lend itself to further interaction.

Text 2 Email, which allows consumers to text in their email address and receive an instant text message response, as well as a full-color HTML email to the nominated inbox. For the consumer it extends the brand and information experience, and for the business it provides an enhanced dialogue that can be built upon. Importantly, it captures valuable consumer contact information and provides an opt-in for both the mobile and email channels. For this reason it is often used as a registration and subscription tool, getting consumers to join an opt-in database. Text with email is also often used by large consumer brands like car manufacturers, which offer product brochures, typically, through short codes advertised on traditional media efforts, such as on TV and the radio.

Mobile marketing with zip code and Geo-location

Often seen as the Holy Grail of mobile marketing, geo-location can add incredible value to your customer experience, as well as what you know about your customers. While the days are gone whereby some marketers believed you could pinpoint any consumer location via their cell phone, there are some simple ways to use location in a mobile marketing context that gives consumers a richer experience. If your business has multiple locations, a great service offering is to ask consumers to text in their zip code to find their closest store or service offering. RadioShack and the U.S. Navy have both offered consumers the ability to find the nearest store by texting an  SMS short code. Another successful strategy is to ask consumers to register or sign-up to your mobile marketing database by texting in their zip code, which is an effective way to collect more valuable information for your marketing offers. It makes subsequent text message marketing (and other channels) more personalized and relevant, and enables marketers to refer to the address of the closest store within the message. 

Imediaconnection

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.

Repeat customers means more business more revenue. Now, turn a one-time customer into a repeat customer and change your slow days into busy ones with Text Message Marketing. Businesses put so much money in the advertisement online, print, etc. to bring customer in store. Collect customer mobile number while they're in store using SMS marketing to increase repeat customers. Send mobile coupons to your opt-in list to bring more customers on weekend or during holidays. We know customer will be out shopping on weekends or on holidays, you can attract more customers by sending mobile deals, coupons, sale, etc.

by TXTImpact

Build Text Alert Opt-in List using Text to Join campaign

#1 Setup a Text to Join campaign

Prospects and customer can send a mobile keyword and join your text alerts list.

#2 Optionally you can add a signup to your website or facebook page using our web widget tool.

Create customize web signup widget, which you can add on your blogs, website, or facebook to allow people join your Text Alert List

#3 Promote your Mobile Keyword

Add to print material, restaurant Menus, Yard Signs, Print Ads, Online, Shopping cart, at POS, Sales receipts, etc.

#4 Now time to enjoy fruit of all hard work, you have gathered opt-in mobile numbers, time to send a promotion, invite for private event, reminder, fund raising call, etc.

Be careful, send very specific message, actionable, to the point, should able to provide or point to the details. Alway include "Reply STOP to cancel. Msg&Data rates may apply."

Record Black Friday sales have given retailers hope that business will pick up a bit this holiday season. For many people, that news conjures images of crowded mall parking lots and busy big-box retailers.

But the news also offers opportunities for small businesses like those that line Hopkins’ Mainstreet.

Hopkins Patch spoke with Doug Denny—a local marketing consultant and copywriter—about how local businesses can make the most of the season. His company, DeJa Local Marketing, has done work for businesses ranging from Hopkins Auto Body to Chili’s.

Here’s what he had to say.

1) Connect your business to local holiday events.

Hopkins has plenty of seasonal festivals that local businesses can often tap into better than big-box retailers. Small-businesses owners should tie their sales into these events in order to emphasize how local they are, Denny said. For example, stores open during Hopkins’ Old Fashioned Christmas celebration could offer an “Old Fashioned Deal.”

2) Tie in to local successes.

Hopkins’ sense of community is one of its greatest strengths. While the standardization of big-box stores can make it hard for them to capitalize on that sentiment, local businesses don’t have that problem. Their owners often live in the city and have a pulse on local happenings.

Find out what’s successful in the schools, in churches and elsewhere in the community, Denny suggested. Then connect promotions to those local highlights. When the boys basketball team won its third championship in a row, for example, stores could have offered three deals for the three-peat.

“Think local,” Denny said. “Don’t just think about your customers. Think about your customers’ lives.”

3) Connect with customers on the go.

That means going mobile.Use text message alerts, smart phone apps, mobile websites and other options to reach potential customers as they go about their day.

The good news is that these products are no longer the domain of big corporations. Small businesses can hire someone to put together a functional app for less than $2,000—with financing plans available to spread the cost out, Denny said. Mobile websites are even cheaper, as low as $750 for an easily navigable site tailored to smart phones.

When you have the mobile pieces in place, promote them heavily at point of sale locations and other traditional ways in order to let customers know the options are out there. Offer mobile-only deals with coupon codes.

Local stores may offer products and bargains as good as those in a crowded holiday mall. But that doesn’t help if customers aren’t reminded about what’s available.

“Reach them where they are, so we can shop Mainstreet,” Denny said.

4) Avoid “interruptive marketing” whenever possible.

These are messages that force potential customers to stop whatever they’re doing to pay attention to the ad—whether that’s a commercial breaking into a TV show or a newspaper ad interrupting an article.  Customers, especially the younger generation, have become adept at tuning out this type of marketing.

But what about the text message alerts and other messaging that Denny recommends? Those aren’t interruptive because customers opted to receive them, he said, noting that about 95 percent of text messages are opened.

5) Build in a time element.

All that mobile marketing means businesses are no longer communicating with people comfortably ensconced on the couch. Those messages are coming in while people are in meetings, transporting their children or otherwise going about their day. 

Including a not-too-distant deadline—“Come in during the next four hours for a special price.”—encourages customers to stop by on their way home and choose your store for the spontaneous decisions they make while out and about, Denny said.

6) Don’t sweat it if customers share the coupon codes with friends who don’t subscribe to your mobile products.

The whole goal is to increase the number of customers. As long as you’ve included some profit margin, your store will be better off for the extra people stopping by.

7) Make visiting your store enjoyable—especially throughout the holiday season.

“During the holidays, people are attracted to bright lights and fun,” Denny said.

Source: hopkins.patch.com

 Read more about SMS Marketing and Text Messaging services 

SMS Marketing Ideas.. Keep Mobile deals exclusive!!

Your loyal customers have handed over their personal mobile number, this is a great deal. Remember, the mobile phone is very personal gadget any text message comes to it gets attention very quickly at any time of the day or night. We had customers received text messages late night at 2AM and they read it.

To continue enjoy loyalty of your customers and keep their mobile number in tact in your opt-in list, Reward them with exclusive deals, don't send same duplicated deals from web or print flyers.

Targeting your key customers, you’ll drive more profitable traffic to your store. Invite your mobile exclusive customers to the private sales event.