Mobile Marketing Tips - Page 2 of 3

SMS Marketing vs. E-mail Marketing

SMS marketing has some distinct advantages over email marketing. In this article we compare SMS marketing vs. e-mail marketing. Learn the pros and cons of both SMS marketing and e-mail marketing to see which is the best advertising and marketing for your business.

Technology offers business owners a number of opportunities to market their products and services to customers and potential customers. We are connected in ways that many of us could never have imagined even 15 years ago. For a while, email marketing was the big thing, since it allowed businesses to send messages to a lot of people at one time. However, even though email marketing can be effective, new types of marketing might be even better choices. One of the new trends in marketing is SMS marketing. You might find that this type of marketing provides you with advantages that outweigh email marketing.

Good Points of Email Marketing

There are definitely some good points to email marketing. Email marketing provides you with the ability to reach thousands of people at once. Additionally, if you catch the customer at the right time, you can see an immediate conversion. On top of that email marketing messages are highly customizable. You can also create a situation in which customers receive targeted messages. This can help conversions. Plus, because they are so simple to customize and send, email marketing is rather cost efficient. However, the truth is that many of the advantages associated with email marketing can be found with SMS marketing. And SMS marketing offers some additional advantages that email marketing can’t compete with.

Advantages of SMS Marketing

SMS marketing makes use of the popular cell phone communication method known as the text message. Businesses can send text messages right to the cell phones of customers and potential customers, reaching thousands in an instant. Additionally, it is possible to customize and personalize SMS marketing campaigns in ways that are similar to email marketing. However, SMS marketing has the added advantages of portability and the fact that recipients pay immediate attention to the message.

When it comes to email marketing, many users are beginning to discard messages. They see that the message is from a business, and may decide to discard the message unopened. Another issue with email marketing is that sometimes messages are automatically sent to the junk mail folder. If your message is caught in a spam filter, the intended recipient will never even know that it existed. This can be a real source of frustration for many businesses.

SMS message marketing, on the other hand, doesn’t have those problems yet. The text message is not consigned to a junk folder; the recipient is notified immediately that it has arrived, and many cell phone users will read such text messages. Even if the recipient decides to block you from send SMS marketing messages, it still represents an active step that the potential customer has to take, rather than something that happens automatically, as with email marketing messages sent to the junk folder automatically.

Another advantage that SMS marketing has is that it can provide a impetus for action while the recipient is available to do something. It is possible for businesses to send SMS marketing messages to the cell phones of people in a certain area, offering a special deal if they come in. Recipients are already in the area, so it is much easier for them to act on the message received. The immediacy that comes with SMS marketing can be a real advantage to businesses, and it’s something that may not be available with email marketing.

Bottom Line

Email marketing can have its place. It is a great way for businesses to share newsletters and exclusive deals to those who have opted in to receive communications. However, email marketing has some drawbacks that are difficult to overcome. SMS text marketing, on the other hand, represents opportunities for the future. The nature of SMS marketing encourages immediate action, and it also makes it difficult for recipients to overlook the messages they receive. It is definitely worth it for a business to consider the possibility of SMS marketing as part of an overall strategy.

How Bulk SMS Marketing Works

Bulk SMS marketing can be a great way to reach customers. Here’s how it works.

In today’s world, business owners need to be aware of how technology can help them reach customers in a wide variety of ways. With more and more people carrying cell phones, many businesses are starting to see the advantages of using these devices as marketing tools. This is very practical, since so many people have cell phones, and they are simple to communicate with — especially when text messaging is used.

SMS (text) message marketing is growing in popularity because it easy to send large numbers of promotional messages at one time, and because messages are very attention getting. Nearly everyone pays attention when they receive a text message. The same is not true of seeing a billboard or receiving an email. With bulk text messaging you have the chance to reach thousands of people at one time, and the chances that many of them actually receive your message are increased.

Bulk SMS Marketing

Bulk SMS marketing works with the help of service providers. Many SMS message service providers are willing to ‘sell’ their users. You probably won’t get to see a list of cell phone numbers, but you will have access to a subscriber list. You can create a message that you want sent out via SMS message. This message can be a promotional offer for a discount at your store, or notification of an upcoming sale. The SMS provider then takes care of all the logistics of sending the message to the people on the list.

It is also possible to create your own list of customers. If your customers are providing you with cell phone numbers, you can create messages aimed at specific people on your own list. This way, “exclusive” deals can be announced to hundreds of people who might have signed up for a special list that you have put together. You can have these messages sent out en masse, without having to worry about sending them out individually. With bulk SMS marketing, it is possible for thousands of the same people to get the same message at the same time. It increases the chances that you will get a few more of them to respond.

There are a number of bulk SMS marketing service providers that can help you arrange things rather simply. These service providers offer a number of options in terms of payment. You may pay per message sent, depending on how many people you want it sent to, or you may pay a monthly subscription fee that comes with specific services related to SMS marketing. In any case, you can determine your needs, and figure out which would work best for you. It is usually a good idea to have some sort of tracking code associated with promotions you run with bulk SMS marketing so that you can track how well a service is working for you.

Technology offers a number of great opportunities for the business owner looking to expand his or her customer base. Thanks to the prevalence of cell phones, you might find that bulk SMS marketing offers a number of advantages that can help you get ahead.

Outdoor Advertising for SMS

You can enhance the interactive nature of your outdoor advertising with help from SMS marketing. Outdoor advertising for SMS includes your business signage, billboards, vehicles, and more. Keep reading for tips on how to make the most of your outdoor advertising for SMS.

Technology is advancing to the point where it is becoming increasingly possible to have your potential customers interact with your marketing efforts on a more personal level. And, thanks to cell phone technology, it is also possible to reach your customers no matter where they go. With cell phones increasing in number — almost everyone carries a cell phone now — it is little surprise that SMS marketing is becoming so popular. With SMS marketing, also called text message marketing, short messages are sent to cell phones, offering something or advertising something. Your customers are likely to see these messages because most cell phones do something to attract attention at the arrival of a text message.

But you do not have to plan to always be sending something to customers; you can integrate outdoor advertising with SMS to encourage your customers to interact with your brand, and perhaps even drive a little more traffic to your store. If smart phones are involved, you might even be able to prompt a purchase almost immediately as customers order from their phones.

Interactive Outdoor Advertising for SMS

Cell phone technology makes it possible for potential customers to interact with your advertising while they wait for something. Billboards outdoors, signs on bus stops and in subway stations, and in other outdoor, public places, can provide something for your customers to do while they are waiting. There are some companies that offer to embed certain “tags” in your outdoor advertisements. These work through blue tooth or some other method to alert the cell phone user of something nearby. This can be access to a game, a special promotion, a digital coupon, or an offer for an immediate discount on something. It is a great way to gain customer loyalty by providing a distraction while the person is waiting for a bus or train.

This can even be used to draw foot traffic to your store. Special tags on outdoor advertising near your place of business can alert those with smart phones and GPS availability to a special. This might prompt a customer to walk into your store in order to take advantage of the deal notice he or she was just made aware of. This potential is great, allowing you to target people who are already in your area, and more likely to make a small detour for savings, or a product they are looking for.

You don’t even have to get that high tech to incorporate your SMS marketing into outdoor advertising. You can place a message on your outdoor advertising that says something like, “Text us to get 25% off on your next purchase.” Customers send a text to the number given, and an automatic reply with a code for 25% off is given. Customers can then bring their phones into the store and show the proper code to get their discount. This can accomplish two things:

It gets people into your store.
It helps you build an SMS marketing database. You have the customer’s cell phone number, and you can periodically send notifications of promotions, sales and special offers or discounts.

The point of advertising is to prompt potential customers to take action. Outdoor advertising for SMS is a good way to do this. Cell phone users can take action immediately, and they do it simply. There is not a lot of effort involved to engage in this type of interaction, and the customer will appreciate it if you are offering something that seems “exclusive”, or if savings are part of the equation.

In the end, it is up to you to determine whether SMS marketing will work for you. However, it is important to note that the growth of cell phone use is likely to result in more opportunities for those who use SMS marketing. With some careful thought, it should be possible for you to integrate text message marketing into various facets of your advertising campaign. This includes outdoor advertising for SMS.

Developing SMS Advertising Campaigns

Short message service (SMS) advertising campaigns can be an important part of a business’s marketing strategy, but there are factors businesses should consider when developing SMS advertising campaigns. Good planning and the ability to track success and make changes can help your business develop a successful SMS advertising campaign.

SMS advertising is a small but growing part of many businesses’ advertising campaigns, and as text messaging continues to expand as a form of communication among all demographics, more businesses will want to consider developing SMS advertising campaigns. SMS advertising uses text messages, which are limited to 160 characters or less, to encourage customers to buy their products or services. These bulk text messages have the ability to be very effective because they can be targeted to the right customers at the right time.

When developing SMS advertising campaigns, businesses should consider the following points:

Determine Market – Especially if they have not already done so, businesses need to determine their target or niche market, or those customers who are most likely to buy their products or services. Businesses can hire marketing specialists to do this research or do it themselves, but it is important to know the audience you want to reach before you spend money on an advertising campaign.
Create an advertising budget – Do some research about what SMS advertising campaigns and other forms of advertising cost, and determine how much you want to and can expect to spend in each category. These numbers will probably change over time, but by having a budget you can get a realistic idea of how much you are able to invest in advertising. Your advertising budget normally should include multiple avenues for reaching customers, and not just SMS text messages.
Decide on a general message – What message do you want to get across to customers? It is important to do this before actually sending any messages. Focus on the strengths of your business and what makes it stand apart from the competitors. If you already have an advertising campaign in other forms of media, tie your SMS advertising campaign into these ads. Though SMS text messages cannot transmit images or sounds, it can include a short slogan or tag line, and of course the name of your business, and these should be used consistently in all of your advertising.
Set up an SMS message service – There are several ways to do this, including leasing a short code for customers to call or signing up for an SMS message service that allows you to send messages from your computer.
Get customers to opt-in – You will need customers’ mobile phone numbers to start your SMS advertising campaign, and for it to be successful you need them to want to receive messages from you. You can offer coupons or other exclusive deals to customers who sign up to receive SMS text messages from you. Do not collect customers’ phone numbers or send them text messages without their consent or you will drive away many more customers than you will attract and possibly violate the rules of your SMS service provider.
Start creating your SMS advertising messages – These should be short, easy to understand, and encourage customers to take some sort of action. You should not use texting lingo or grammar like “u r” or “lol” in most cases. A good example of a short, action-oriented message might be, “Buy one, get one free smoothies with exclusive code ‘Thirsty’. Bring a friend and come in today. Annie’s, Great Ice Cream Since 1953.” Or, “Big sale today. Come in for 10 percent off everything in the store at John’s Sporting Goods, Where Houston Gets Its Gear.”
Send messages with appropriate frequency – How often a business should send SMS advertisements varies depending on the business, but it should be often enough to keep your business fresh in the customer’s mind, but not so often that it annoys them or causes them to ignore or block your messages. For most businesses, once a week or every other week might be a good number to start with as they test out SMS advertising campaigns. Of course, when a business sends an SMS advertising message, it should always have something interesting to say.
Track your success – Keep track of the SMS advertising campaign sales/success and make adjustments as necessary. By offering special codes or offers through SMS advertising it is easy to tell which customers are drawn in by the SMS advertising campaign and track how much revenue the SMS campaign is bringing in. From there, business can begin making adjustments in the markets they are targeting or the messages they are sending.

These ideas can help businesses start developing their SMS advertising campaigns. As they get some experience with SMS advertising, businesses can make adjustments to get the most out of bulk text messaging.

SMS Proximity Marketing

While marketing in general refers to commercial actions and strategies for selling goods to customers, proximity marketing is marketing that specifically targets an audience in a particular place. This article reviews some proximity marketing basics.

What Is SMS Text Messaging?

SMS (Short Message Service) text messaging can be sent from the same technology used to place phone calls (i.e., cell phones, computers, and handheld devices) when you want to communicate in a way that’s quieter and less intrusive than a phone call. SMS text messaging is a service created for the transmission of fairly short messages (160 or fewer characters) for a small charge. For English text messages, you can use alphabetic and numeric characters, as well as Latin text symbols. SMS text messaging is used for private conversations, but is also employed for marketing.

What Is SMS Marketing?

SMS marketing is marketing that takes advantages of the key features of SMS texts: portability, privacy, immediacy, and proximity. The portability of cell phones means that even if people are away from their computers, they’re likely to have a way to access the message available at nearly all times. The privacy of text messages means that there is less time during which people will be reluctant to access a message. Because they must be brief, text messages are less likely to be skipped, thus preserving the immediacy and timeliness of messages. And finally, since the location of the recipient can be identified, marketing appropriate to the person’s proximity can be delivered at just the right time.

More About Proximity Marketing

SMS Proximity marketing can target people by time (while they’re on vacation), by place (in Orlando, Florida), or both (while they’re on vacation in Orlando Florida). The GPS built into phones reveals the owner’s location. Contact can be initiated through other forms of marketing, travel agents, hotel concierge services, or chambers of commerce, for example. Once initial contact is made through a legitimate way and an opt-in is received, the marketing can begin. Though proximity marketing can be undertaken through several different types of media, SMS bulk text messaging is particularly well suited for proximity marketing.  

Some Approaches to SMS Proximity Marketing  

SMS proximity marketing can be undertaken by a single business or by a group. A restaurant, for example, could use a coupon or a two-for-one offer to induce customers to sign up. By differentiating keywords for responses by customers’ particular contact desires, helping build an efficient database. It could then tailor its marketing to certain meals and/or certain days chosen by the customer. Here’s an example: a restaurant provides regular information about Happy Hour specials late on Friday afternoon or Wednesday lunch specials at 11 a.m., for one customer. For another customer, however, the regular messages could be the soup of the day on Monday and the type of eggs Benedict being offered for Sunday brunch. The restaurant could create a loyalty program, could send marketing messages with menus and coupons to customers who are in town.

Businesses in the same mall or airport concessions stands, on the other hand, might find benefits in banding together and taking a joint approach to SMS proximity marketing: after all, their proximity is shared! After going through a signup process, retailers can use the added opportunity of sending customers the latest coupons and specials while they’re right on site. Folks who had no intention of shopping as they walk through an airport, might be enticed into a store by a sweet deal. Using information from past purchases, the SMS proximity marketing could provide a deal that would not only be geared for the customer’s location, but also for their shopping history.

Pros and Cons of SMS Marketing

SMS (short message service) marketing can be a great strategy for businesses that want to connect with their customers through their mobile phones, but it does have some drawbacks as well. Businesses should consider the pros and cons of SMS marketing before they incorporate SMS text messages into their marketing or advertising campaigns.

Every form of marketing has pros and cons, and SMS marketing is no exception. Though SMS marketing works very well for some businesses, they should be aware of both the benefits and the drawbacks of marketing with SMS text messages.

Some of the pros of SMS marketing that may draw businesses to use it:

SMS text message marketing is targeted to an interested pool of potential customers who signed up to receive SMS marketing messages, aka a niche marketing group.
It offers the ability to send on-the-spot messages. For instance, if a restaurant is having a slow day, it can send out a today-only, buy-one-get-one-half-off coupon to draw in more customers. Real estate agents can instantly notify customers about new listings. It is also possible to take charge of the messages being sent about a business, such as immediately doing damage control if a negative message may be starting about a business.
It can help businesses create a loyal customer base by providing exclusive news and deals to participating customers.
It can be easy to track the success of SMS marketing, which makes it easier to make adjustments to an SMS marketing campaign where necessary.
SMS text messages can be circulated to other interested customers, so customers can become partners with businesses in their marketing efforts.

Of course, there’s no perfect form of marketing or advertising. Some of the cons of SMS marketing include:

SMS messages are short and cannot include any pictures, sounds, or other forms of media. Though a lot can be said with 160 characters, this does limit what a businesses can do and say with SMS marketing.
Businesses have to entice customers to sign up for the SMS text messages. Messages sent without a customer’s willing participation will usually be regarded as spam and drive customers away.
Generally each SMS message a business sends must be unique and well thought through, which can take more time and creative energy than creating one good radio spot or print ad that can be repeated over and over.
It is easy for customers to ignore or delete SMS messages that don’t keep their interest, and since businesses usually pay for each message they send, they are potentially wasting money on a message that customers don’t see.
SMS text messages have a limited audience. Though text messaging is growing rapidly in popularity, not everyone uses it, especially among older customers, and not all customers are willing to sign up to receive SMS text messages.

When businesses are considering using SMS text message marketing they should weigh all the pros and cons, including the cost of SMS marketing and how well their target market is likely to respond to SMS marketing. Compared to traditional forms of advertising like billboards and radio ads, the potential audience for SMS marketing is more limited, but it can build a loyal customer base that will help advertise the business through word-of-mouth and social media. Some of the pros and cons of SMS marketing are tradeoffs, such as the fact that SMS text messaging is technologically savvy, which will appeal to some customers but may turn others off.

Depending on a business’s marketing budget and needs, the pros and cons of SMS marketing may fit well with the business’s general marketing plan, complementing its other marketing efforts, but each business has to research SMS marketing and its target audience to decide if it’s a good solution for the business’s needs.

Why SMS is Effective Marketing

There are many ways to market in the twenty-first century, and businesses may have to choose between a variety of marketing methods. SMS (short message service) marketing has proved especially effective. This article provides information about why SMS is effective for marketing.

Marketing channels have opened up, and currently include a wide variety of ways of reaching customers and potential customers. Ways to reach people include newspaper advertisements, billboards, television ads, radio spots, direct mail, targeted direct mail, business websites, Internet banner ads, pop-up ads, and spot ads, the blurb that appears in search engine results, email, telephone calls, and SMS. SMS has been considered highly effective marketing. Why is this?

The Foundation

SMS and email have a special place in the realm of marketing, perhaps second only to face-to-face contact. This is for several reasons. For one, no matter how carefully targeted other types of marketing are, the recipient may avoid the effect:

• The newspaper might not be opened, might be only partially read, might be damaged by the weather or animals.

• The driver or pedestrian may not look up at the billboard.

• The television viewer might mute or skip the ads.

• The radio listener may be interrupted, or not listen for a particular week.

• Direct mail may be discarded unopened or incompletely read, even targeted direct mail.

• Websites may not be visited and URLs may be forgotten, negating the possible effects of not only the website itself, but also any advertising that might appear on the site.

• Users may ignore search result ads, and focus only on ranked results.

• Phone calls are easy to let go to the voice messaging or answering machine, where they can be erased without listening.

What’s different about email and text messages? Legitimate business marketing through email and SMS must be requested by the customer. Unlike all the other types of marketing avenues, these two provide merchants with a chance to be specifically selected by customers who want to receive their messages and who can stop at any time. Presumably, remaining on the list is a strong signal of interest.

These facts help explain the response rates percentages that indicate that 94% of SMS messages are read and up to 23% are responded to, whereas broadsheet ads have a 1% response rate, direct mail 23%, and targeted direct mail, only up to 10%. Note that the numbers are distinctly lower for purchased lists.

The Preparation

Obviously, the effectiveness of SMS marketing depends on the preparation behind the receipt of the text message. To get to that stage, the business must have already earned a customer or potential customer, led him or her to a notice of the availability of text message contact, and received the opt-in. But according to the research, the opt-in was often gained through the more traditional media – after all, you can’t send someone a text message to ask him or her to opt-in to a text message marketing campaign!

The Potential Audience

Because SMS is used primarily by a demographic that is somewhat homogenous—primarily 18 to 34 year olds—it is already easier to target than the population who have telephones, for example. Nevertheless, there are a wide range of different audiences concealed in that group. And of all the people who are reached with an offer to subscribe to SMS, only half a percent opt-in. That sounds like a low return. The key is, that once the work is done to get those opt-ins, they’re golden.

Other Elements of Effectiveness

Besides the focused audience, or niche market, there are some other reasons that SMS marketing is effective:

• It’s discreet. You can receive a text message with less fanfare than a phone call, and—because it’s brief—than an email, too.

• It can be interactive. SMS, particularly if it includes video, or other multimedia, can be more interesting and engaging than, say, a newspaper ad.

• It doesn’t go on and on. If you consider answering a phone call or an email, you don’t know how long it will take. An SMS can only be 160 characters, making it easy to anticipate.

• Deployment can be quick. The time from conceiving a campaign to unleashing it can be minimal, and far less than planning and working through a newspaper, radio, or television advertisement.

What to Look for in an SMS Provider

There are many different SMS text messaging providers available these days, with many different plans and programs, so it can be hard to choose. This article gives you help in knowing what to look for in an SMS provider.

How Do You Plan to Use SMS?

While SMS can seem so revolutionary, there may be a desire to start using it as once, some prior planning can help in choosing the best provider and plan on the first try. Because SMS text messaging may be a new part of your marketing plan and because your business may benefit from using SMS from other purposes as well, it’s a good idea to have a clear idea of how SMS availability might change your business communications as well as business marketing before you choose a provider and plan. There are several specific areas that it’s good to focus on.

Depending on your industry, your use of SMS for marketing might involve either sending messages to customers, receiving messages from customers, or both. Because rates are different and because bulk text marketing SMS outgoing service is different from the mechanisms you would need to handle bulk SMS coming in, your uses will shape your service requirements. It’s also important to keep in mind that any kind of communication with customers that is timely, efficient, and desired—whether or not it can itself be called marketing—works to sell your business.

Number of Texts/Month

Of course, if you just consider marketing but don’t consider using SMS for communicating between employees or with vendors, you may either miss and opportunity to revamp company communications or underestimate the scope of the program that would best suit the business’s needs.

Where You’re Texting From and To

Because international SMS service is a whole different plan from domestic SMS service, and because people with United States domestic plans also need a separate plan in order to text if they leave the country, it’s a good idea to plan in advance in order to match up with a provider that operates in all the areas in which you need service.

Texting Features

While being able to send text messages is great, some SMS providers offer the ability to send images, videos, and instant messages as well. Interactive messages are yet another feature. If these could be important to your business, they’re worth considering.

Service Features

Besides prices, its worth comparing trial periods, whether a contract is required, and whether there is a setup fee. If you anticipate that you might need support beyond technical support, i.e., assistance in setting up marketing campaigns, having those services available can be very helpful.

Bundles

When you put all these factors together, you’ll begin to have a sense of what you need. The next step is to consider what other services might be needed to work along with SMS text messaging, as well as looking at communication and telecommunication services currently used by the business and determining if perhaps a single provider can meet multiple needs at a reduced cost.

SMS Providers to Individuals

If you have a very small business, you may choose to start off your SMS marketing by employing an SMS account designed for an individual. This can be a way to get your SMS use off the ground, but it’s worth looking at business providers to see some of the special features they offer.

General Marketing SMS Providers

Some companies—like golive! mobile and moto message—provide a general solution for businesses that wish to use text messaging for marketing. Typically, you’ll find that there are various levels available, with entry levels designed for small businesses, and upper levels for larger establishments. Other features to look for include the ability to send multiple types of messages, including text, videos, instant messages, audio (including MIDI, MP3, and WAV files), voice calls, and images in a variety of formats including BMP, GIF, and JPG.. Analytics to track your campaigns are also important. Also important are ways to sort and group your customers in order to deliver the most relevant content.

Industry-Specific Texting Services

Another way to approach looking for an SMS provider is to find one that has created applications specific to your company’s industry. For example, TextPower has specific solutions for performing arts groups to connect with potential customers before their seats go empty, power companies to provide warning when alerts are issued, real estate offices to help sell properties, and bar and restaurant owners to connect with customers, as well as providing general emergency alert solutions and interactive marketing solutions.

Sources

golivemobile.com

motomessage.com

textpower.com

What is Short Code?

What is Short Code? Short code is a popular form of mobile marketing, and one that many businesses may want to consider. Short code is just one type of SMS (short message service) marketing, however, so it is important to understand what short code is and how short code works to decide if it is right for your business.

With the increasing popularity of SMS text messaging and mobile marketing, short code is used in many places, from popular televised contests that allow viewers to text in their votes, to offers for free coupons at local restaurants. Businesses and organizations starting an SMS marketing campaign may be interested in short code, though short code is only one of several ways to run an SMS marketing campaign.

A short code is essentially a special phone number that is designed for use with cell phones and similar mobile devices. A person with a mobile phone types in a text message, dials the short code, and hits send to complete the call. The message sent to the short code initiates some type of automatic action, like signing the sender up for mobile alerts or sending a coupon code to the person’s mobile device.

Short code varies slightly from country to country, but in the United States, it is a 5 or 6 digit number, which cannot begin with the number 1, that is assigned by the Common Short Code Administration. The Common Short Code Administration makes sure that each short code is unique, and it works with wireless service providers like Verizon and T-Mobile to make sure they can all support the use of short codes through their wireless network. Some short codes are also assigned to each individual wireless company.

There are several ways that a person or organization can get a short code:

They can apply to the Common Short Code Administration for a short code or for multiple short codes. The cost is $500 a month to be assigned a random code, and $1000 a month for a short code that the business selects themselves, called a vanity short code, though, like any other telephone number, this code must not already be in use by another business. The person or business must apply for the short code and pay for the lease of the short code up front , with the minimum lease being 3 months. Through this method, the business will have a dedicated short code that remains solely for their use as long as they continue their lease.
They can sign up for a shared common short code through a short code service provider. The short code service provider leases a short code from the Common Short Code Administration, then rents out the short code service to other companies. This works because, even though the companies are sharing a short code, they each have their own keywords. So, for example, if the short code they were sharing was 223344, one company might have customers send the keyword “touchdown” to 223344 to get football scores, while another company might use the keyword “drinks” to send a free drink coupon to its customers. This approach is generally much cheaper than leasing a dedicated short code directly from the Common Short Code Administration, but gives the company less control over the short code.
They can get a short code through their wireless service provider, in cases where the wireless service provider allows customers to use its short codes. The costs for this service vary.

The use of short codes is carefully regulated, and users must follow certain rules about the contents of their messages and customer participation. Customers must opt-in to start receiving messages from a short code service, and must have the option to opt out when they want to stop receiving messages, usually by texting the word “STOP” to the short code.

Short codes messages offer the advantage of being easy to remember and use for customers, but they also can cost both the business or organization and the customer more money than other forms of SMS text messaging. Short codes fit well with some businesses’ SMS marketing strategies, but others may want to consider different forms of SMS marketing.

How to Market with SMS Text Messaging

Short message service (SMS) text messaging is a popular form of communication, and businesses can use SMS text messaging in their marketing strategy. Though businesses are just beginning to discover how they can market themselves with SMS text messaging, there are a few suggestions that can help businesses create a successful text messaging marketing strategy.

How to Market with SMS Text Messaging

SMS text message marketing involves cultivating a strong customer base through the use of short (160 word maximum) messages sent to potential customers’ cell phones or mobile devices. This marketing strategy allows businesses to use SMS text messaging to keep their business fresh in the customers’ minds and even allows businesses to receive input from customers. Businesses need to learn how to market with SMS text messaging effectively, however, to avoid wasting their resources and turning off potential customers.

As with any marketing strategy, one of the goals of bulk text message marketing with SMS text messages is to get your message to the right potential customers, your target market or those who are most likely to buy your products or services and encourage friends and family members to do the same. Who this group is depends on the type of business, and is usually determined by doing some market research as well as by past experience. Once a business has determined whom they are trying to reach with SMS text message marketing, they are better able to decide how to encourage those customers to sign up for their SMS text messages and how to use those messages to build relationships with their customers.

Text messages can be a vital component of Web 2.0 marketing, which is based on the idea that customers using technology don’t just want to passively receive information, they want to interact and help shape information. There are several ways that businesses can use text message marketing to understand their target market better, increase awareness of their products or services, and create a more loyal, involved customer base:

Have a web site where customers can sign up for text messages about information that is interesting to them. For instance, a clothing store could offer alerts for new products in several categories, such as shoes, coats, dresses, and accessories. Customers’ levels of interest in these categories could be gauged by the number of people who sign up for the text alerts in each category.
Offer coupons for various items if customers text a certain word to the business’s number. A restaurant could have three different coupon codes for appetizers, drinks, and desserts, and based on customer response could determine which category customers are more interested in.
Send retail SMS text alerts to customers who recently bought a product asking them to go to a website to rate their transaction or their product. Coupons or contests can be a good motivator to get customers to respond.
Create online polls and text message customers with invitations to participate. Customers could be given the chance to vote on subjects like which new dish a restaurant should introduce, which colors customers would most like to use in redecorating their homes, or even which local charity a business should make a donation to. This lets businesses know what their customers are thinking and builds a relationship between the business and its customers.
Create a text message VIP group or club that interested customers can sign up for and then send this group text messages about special sales and events. For instance, a business can text customers a code word that they can use to get an extra 10% off at a sale. This can serve as a reminder to customers about sales events as well as extra motivation to go and shop.
Keep customers informed about your business’s latest news. Customers who have opted-in to receive notices can get text messages about news ranging from a caterer winning a state-wide recognition award to a band’s last-minute change of venue. Short, relevant news items can keep a business name fresh in customers’ minds and help the business stand out from their competitors. Though text messages must be kept short, they can also refer customers to a business website for more details on news events, new inventory available, blog entries, and other information customers might find useful.

The best SMS text message marketing strategy will vary by business and, of course, marketing strategies must be updated from time to time and require ongoing creativity, especially to meet the rapid changes that occur in technology. Also, businesses need to include tracking in their SMS text message marketing strategy to see which approaches bring the greatest increase in customer responses and sales. This information will help businesses adapt and find out what works best for them.

There are a few elements of SMS text message marketing that businesses should avoid:

Do not gather customers’ mobile phone numbers without their knowledge or permission, and do not send text messages to customers who have not chosen to opt-in to receive them. Messages sent this way are considered spam and will drive customers away.
Do not flood customers with text messages. Sending too many text messages, or messages that are not relevant or interesting to the customer, will usually cause them to ignore the messages or opt-out of receiving them. Only send messages when there is something interesting to say or a new deal to offer.
Do not use texting language or grammar, especially if the target market is over 25. Instead, make messages clear and use traditional spelling and grammar in messages.

By keeping these strategies in mind, businesses can use SMS text messaging to market their business and build a better relationship with their customers.