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Friday, 12 August 2011

Why Mobile SMS Text Marketing not E-mail Marketing?

With over 1.8 billion mobile connections worldwide, mobile marketing has now become a particularly effective device to marketers for promoting their brands in multiple ways. With growing population of mobile phones and decreasing usage expenses, SMS (text message) is becoming a powerful proposition for direct marketers who till now trusted emails and letters alone. Very often comparisons are drawn between effectiveness of Email and SMS (text messaging). On face of it, Email seems to have a natural benefit of being less costly than SMS. A slightly deeper study reveals that being close-to-free is now the main reason for Email loosing all its relevance when it comes to being effective.

Emails get blocked: An internal study revealed that most individuals have more than three Email accounts. Some of these accounts have become inactive as these receive only unsolicited SPAM. Various companies have set up extremely effective SPAM filters which block marketing mails and if not blocked by SPAM filters these land up in the Junk folder of the recipient. The marketing mails which are still able to make it to the Inbox are quite likely to be deleted from there without the recipient even taking a look at the subject matter.

SMS are always read: Now compare this with a marketing message sent as an SMS. A small element of cost associated with SMS has prevented it from being too widely used. SMS are easily personalised and are always read prior to they get deleted. Recipient sees the SMS immediately on receiving it and the impact and retention of the message is much higher than any other medium. SMS is not ignored and one may be almost fully assured that once a message lands on a phone it’s going to be seen, read and retained at least for quite a while.

SMS cover all buying segments: SMS unlike E-mail are pushed on mobile phones instantly. An E-mail user might not fetch his mails for some time, particularly when he’s using numerous accounts. In context of marketing also cellphones cover a much larger and wider segment of potential buyers of items and services than E-mail. Some of the significant segments, with substantial buying power, which get neglected by E-mail are house-wives, elderly people not very technology savvy, etc. Mobile population is much larger than regular Email customers.

The following is the comparison of email and SMS marketing:

Reach

Email: Internet customers
SMS: Mobile users

Cost per transaction

E-mail: Low
SMS: Medium

Access

E-mail: Home and work
SMS: Everywhere

Impact

E-mail: Low
SMS: Medium to high

Personal

E-mail: No
SMS: Yes

Synchronous

Email: No
SMS: Yes

Viral

Email: Yes
SMS: Yes

Conclusion: Mobile marketing is a new addition to the media mix, with fantastic opportunities for direct interaction with customers and cost-effective data collection. SMS-based marketing is more influential and has much higher penetration than Emails. A serious campaign, either for a brand building exercise or for short term promotions, can rely much more on SMS than Emails. Choosing a SMS marketing technology partner that understands the medium as well the needs is the key to success.

Source: http://internetbasedbusinessarticles.com/56730/why-mobile-sms-text-marketing-not-e-mail-marketing/ by Aikednea Johansen on 4th August 2011

Want to know more & feel it yourself? Contact us at +603-8996 4780 or sales@moceansms.com

SMS marketing holds an excellent future

Cell operators have enhanced their technologies over the last few years. There has been a time when SMS could only be sent from mobile phones. But today, with the appearance of public SMS gateways the complete SMS scenario has changed completely. Public SMS gateways have opened the floodgates for mobile advertising companies and its allies.

Such gateways at the moment are exploited to the fullest when it comes to marketing of goods and services. Some gateways provide more features than others but overall the system works at the same principles. SMS gateway companies provide free software on signing up for bulk SMS service that are setup on various platforms consisting of websites, desktops and handheld devices. It’s become an indispensable tool for marketers in addition to small business users.

Over the time frame many new features were added to the SMS gateway. One such feature called the API or application program interface offered more contemporary advertising tools reminiscent of feedbacks, polls and “Information on Demand” service.

SMS has suddenly become essentially the most trendy, low-budget and reliable marketing tool. A decade ago establishing a brand or making a buzz for a brand new service took ages and put a giant dent within the company’s pocket. Not anymore. Today SMS marketing has changed the scene completely.

Short messaging service or SMS because it is popularly called operates discreetly, unlike emails and phones which are usually noisy and intrudes into people’s privacy.

SMS in tandem with short codes and keywords forms a sturdy platform for buying instant feedbacks from loyal customers who opt-in to receive such offers and questionnaires. It’s the best way of interacting together with your customer.

The high conversion rate of SMS (starting from % to %) makes it a vital tool in today’s competitive times. It really is sure to increase your sales manifold at a cheap price. As increasingly people take part the SMS bandwagon the variety of companies offering these services has also increased.

Technology savvy users have suddenly discovered the good thing about online SMS that is fast, free and will be availed twenty hours an afternoon. Online SMS has no geographical limits making it extremely versatile. People from all strata’s of society are shifting towards this platform for sending SMS.

The process is actually simple. Users must first register themselves and supply personal details. Once the registration is complete she or he can then SMS anywhere on earth using the provider‘s website. Sending SMS online is hassle free and efficient compared to cellular phone as a result of size of the input device. Even brand new mobile phones with QWERTY interface make the duty of composing and sending SMS a cumbersome chore.

Online SMS is excellent method to reduce cellular phone bills and collectively remain in touch with friends and relatives. It’s a valuable tool for any organization, because it allows its workers to send and receive messages for free of charge.

Source: http://www.sckl.net/general/sms-marketing-holds-an-excellent-future/ by admin on 2nd August 2011

Want to know more & feel it yourself? Contact us at +603-8996 4780 or sales@moceansms.com

Thursday, 11 August 2011

Eight Reasons Why Your Business Should Use SMS Marketing

If you haven’t heard, SMS Marketing is big business. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent every year in the United States on text messaging campaigns. Businesses from Fortune 500 companies down to mom and pop shops have jumped on the SMS marketing bandwagon.

Not convinced yet? Here are eight reasons why your business should use SMS Marketing.

1. Text Messaging Is Affordable

SMS Marketing is very affordable. We’re talking about pennies per message. A small business can get started for as little as 10 to 20 dollars a month.

2. High ROI

We just said SMS marketing is affordable. But can you really get much out of 10 to 20 dollars a month? Absolutely. Let’s look at a quick example. Say you’re the owner of a local restaurant and you’ve collected a list of opt-in phone numbers of your patrons (more about opt-ins below). Now you want to send a message to 100 of your customers offering a free appetizer with any entrée. You’ve spent 20 dollars to accomplish all of this. Text message open rates are about 95% but let’s assume only 20 of those customers actually redeem that coupon. You’ve just drawn in 20 new reservations for 20 dollars.

3. Text Messages Arrive…Instantly

Forget email spam filters, postage and drawing visitors into your website. When you send a text message campaign to your marketing list it arrives in seconds.

4. Insanely High Open Rates

We just said text messages are opened 95% of the time. Compare that to email that is opened, at best, 25% of the time.

5. Permission Is Key

That phrase we mentioned earlier – opt-in – is what makes SMS marketing so effective. Consumers have to opt-in to join your text messaging list – they are telling you they want to hear from you. They do this by texting your keyword to a short / long code or by signing up via a web form. And if they ever want to stop receiving messages all they have to do is reply STOP and they’re automatically removed from your list.

6. It’s To The Point

A text message is limited to 160 characters. That means you need to say exactly what you need to say. Whatever you’re offering you get to the offer quickly. There’s a reason why over 95% of text messages are read and this is it.

7. Everyone Has A Mobile Phone And We Love To Text

Nearly every American has a mobile phone. We sent over 2 trillion text messages in 2010. If you aren’t sending text messages to your customers you better believe that your competitors are.

8. Text Messaging Is Green

Forget direct mail which gets tossed in the garbage. A text message is digital which means it’s green. Your SMS Marketing campaigns will drive sales and save the environment too!

Souce: http://www.mobilemarketingratings.com/eight-reasons-sms-marketing.html

Want to know more & feel it yourself? Contact us at +603-8996 4780 or sales@moceansms.com