SMS Advice

With the mobile Internet continuing to expand (thanks to the iPhone and other Smartphone devices) one would expect SMS messaging to be losing ground  against  mobile social networking social networking sites and other social media applications. But far from losing its foothold, SMS is growing in popularity as a preferred communications mechanism, according to Ofcom’s most recent market report  and SMS is still proving to be one of the most successful data revenue streams for operators and service providers.

According to industry statistics, more than 100 billion text messages were sent in the UK during 2009, which is equivalent to more than 1700 per person. Mobile penetration, particularly in developing countries, means that SMS is no longer just a peer-to peer communications mechanism. SMS is being increasingly used in business as an effective communications channel and for machine to machine communication to facilitate support.

In the financial industry, global mobile banking services will be generating approximately 90 billion text messages per annum by 2015 (according to Juniper Research) as banks and other financial institutions seek to utilise SMS as a means of enhancing customer communications.

Below is a list of some of the key reasons why SMS is increasingly being used for business marketing applications:
 

• Improved conversion rates: -  Research has shown that while we tend to ignore emails and voicemail, the majority of us do read our text messages
• Cost effective – Business SMS campaigns are much more cost effective than other e-marketing campaigns because companies can buy SMS messages in bilk from SMS gateway providers
   
• Easy to manage – Carrying out Business SMS campaigns is simple and straightforward, particularly if you use text online facilities. Multiple messages can be prepared and delivered quickly and efficiently
• Targeted – Mobile phones are very personal to the individual, so provided you understand your customers and your markets, SMS allows you to run very targeted campaigns with successful results
• Time sensitive – Unlike other communications methods, SMS is the best way to promote time sensitive sales promotions because we always have our phone with us
• Interaction – SMS provides your customers with a really easy response mechanism which in turn provides you with invaluable feedback and helps you prepare for future campaigns
• Vast business reach – Global mobile penetration means the marketing potential for business SMS is enormous
• Unobtrusive – SMS messages are more concise than emails and don’t rely on your customers having implement an image facility
• Eco-friendly – Having train or cinema tickets delivered directly to your mobile phone as an SMS message will help you reduce your carbon footprint

Click here to find out more about our Business SMS service

We have recently implemented an upgrade to our system so that we integrate with the popular ‘Coach Manager’ software from Distinctive Systems. Coach Manager is a very popular booking system used by operators throughout the UK and globally.

Usually the jobs are emailed to the drivers, with the job details within a PDF attachment. Our system can now detect when a PDF is attached, and pulls out the relevant job details, and sends them as an SMS to the driver. If no attachment was included, then our Email to SMS service works as normal, completely transparently to the customer.

This custom development was done free of charge for the customer, and we are now looking to offer it to other coach companies to expand our reach.

We have spent quite some time recently making improvements to our Frequently Ask Question page. What we did was to go back though our support Inbox, and pulled out all the questions that are genuinely asked most often.

The new FAQ will hopefully allow people to find out much more easily the answers to the questions that they have, without having to wade through reams of other stuff that just gets in the way.

The most common question related to how long it takes for a text message to be delivered. Because of the investment that we’ve made in our system, and by selecting the highest quality suppliers to partner with, a typical SMS delivery time from sending to receiving is about 5 seconds! Any longer than this, and it usually means that the mobile phone is either switched off or out of coverage.

If there are any questions that you think are missing from the FAQ, then just let us know.

These days, mobiles are carried by every person. Naturally the most effective way to reach out to somebody is to contact them on their mobile phone. SMS is the smartest way of conveying a message to anybody as it is short, to the point and does not interrupt or disturb the recipient.

Thus, internet SMS is being widely used all over the UK to conduct promotions by commercial companies. Susan Marshall, the text search provider of ChaCha said that SMS is an effective method to communicate, not only to young people but people of all ages.

Sending bulk SMS to a large number of consumers spreads the promotional offers offered by a company instantly to the masses. Bulk SMS is cheap because the SMS is sent via the internet.

To send bulk SMS, the company needs to have a mobile number database of probable customers. Once the message is provided to the company that is offering the bulk SMS service, the message is sent immediately.

Bulk SMS is therefore a very cheap but extremely effective method for company promotions. So, use the available technology for the benefits of your company and stay ahead of the competition.

Short messaging service, or SMS, has become one the most useful tools of communication today. Communication with one another has been embedded into our lives as human beings. Human beings have survived all through the centuries as a result of their ability to communicate with each other.

History of communication
Messaging has been in our lives since the ancient times. Red Indians used smoke signals as a way of messaging from far of distances. The invention of the Morse code saw people being able to communicate with each other over large distances. Naval ships and sea fairing ships use light signals to communicate in the dark or during storms. The invention of the telephone enabled two people to talk each other. After a few decades came the invention of the mobile phones, portable hand held telephone devices were also invented.

How internet SMS works
Mobile phones allowed people not only to talk to each other but also to text message each other through SMS. This service is now not only from one mobile phones to another but also from internet to mobile. Online text messaging allows you to customise personal messages as needed, so that they can have an impact on whoever they are sent to. There are many websites which offer such services, and any person can make use of such services by registering themselves on the website or creating an e-mail account and thus availing this service.

The business world has to constantly come up with different, unique and effective ways to promote and market companies, goods and services. The more effective the marketing strategy, the better the goods and service will be promoted. Keeping this in mind, a marketing strategy has been formed that is unique and personal and which will definitely get the attention of customers.

Marketing through mobile phones

The number of people who own mobile phones greatly exceeds the number of people that have access to the internet all the time. For this reason, most companies have begun to market their products and services through SMS instead of the internet.

Why SMS marketing is a better strategy
People are sure to have their mobile phones with them all the time and even if they are busy, a message will surely get through. This means that they can check their messages when it is convenient for them. All companies need is an internet SMS service to get the message across to customers. With this internet service, companies need only to use a regular e-mail address, type in the message they want their customers to get and send it.

Spreading the message
Apart from being a very personal form of marketing that customers will appreciate, the SMS marketing strategy has another advantage. All customers may not want to use the product or service being offered. However, customers can forward the message to those they may know are interested in it.

Many of us today use mobile phones for communication. With the advent of new technology and its many innovations like mobile phones, it has now become possible to get connected with any person irrespective of their location. The availability and use of mobile phones has made it possible to contact any person at any point in time.

SMS or short messaging service is an excellent feature that comes with all mobile phones. It is a mode of communication by which you can contact people using simple text messages. SMS has a number of advantages and it is also an ideal way for having a conversation with the exchange of short messages. Using the short messaging service, there is no need to talk or make a call to have a conversation. Moreover, it does not disturb other people.

Internet SMS compared to an e-mail or a phone call consumes less time. One of the important advantages of SMS is that, even if the recipients mobile phone is out of coverage area or switched off, the message will be delivered as soon as the phone reconnects to the network. Also, when the message is delivered to the recipient’s mobile phone, you get a delivery report which is another important advantage of internet SMS.

The delivery of internet SMS compared to e-mail and other relevant modes of communication is faster and more reliable. Due to all these advantages, internet SMS has become one of the most efficient and convenient methods of communication.

Along with advertising and promoting your business, communicating with your existing customer base plays an important role in the success of your business. You can spend large amounts of money on advertising your products or services, but if you do not know the response of the targeted customer, the campaign may be a failure.

Today, many people have a mobile phone and use it for communicating with family, friends and business associates. In addition, it can also be used effectively by your business to communicate and promote your different products and services to your existing customers and prospective leads.

SMS marketing is one of the newest and most innovative forms of marketing that enables you to establish a personal contact with the target audience. When you send an SMS to a mobile phone, you can be assured that the message will be read by the recipient only and not by anybody else. In a short period of time, SMS marketing has become very popular among advertising agencies, marketing firms and both small and big businesses.

Mobile phone providers charge you a fee for sending SMS text messages, which can increase the costs of your marketing campaign. However, there are many internet SMS providers who allow you to send any number of SMS text messages at prices that are cost-effective and less than those charged by the mobile phone service providers. Internet SMS is the cheapest and most effective medium to communicate with your customers directly and for other business purposes.

In this digital age, all businesses want to stay ahead of their competitors by using the best available marketing strategy and advertising tools. It is essential to promote the products or services of your business in a way that connects directly with your customers.

One of the best and most effective marketing tools available today is mobile marketing. This marketing tool allows businesses to connect and communicate directly with specifically targeted people. In mobile marketing, businesses can send SMS or messages directly to the mobile phones of their existing clients or prospects to promote their service or product. It can work for several reasons, such as informing the client of the last day of a sale or of special deals that are exclusive for them.

Mobile marketing is a targeted advertising method. This helps the business to communicate with only those that they feel will be interested in their product or service. It is also a personal way of getting in touch with the customers, as the SMS is sent directly to their mobile phone.

Nowadays, most things can be connected to the internet and the same holds true for mobile marketing. With the help of the internet, it is now possible to send SMS messages to a mobile phone using your present email application such as Outlook or Lotus Notes. Here, the email typed by you is sent in the form of an SMS to the mobile phone and does not require any installation of external software.

The email to SMS and online text messaging service is an effective marketing medium to connect directly with your clients.

With each new day, a new invention is introduced to this fast-paced world. Large or small, these new discoveries and inventions are slowly changing the face of the earth. As we all know, one invention leads to another invention and perhaps, the invention of television was one particularly important discovery, as it lead to other major inventions, such as computers.

These inventions are constantly modified, to get more output from minimum input, and ultimately benefit the customers. In addition, the demand for such products is increasing everyday, which encourages the manufacturers to create new and simpler to use versions.

Mobile phones were invented primarily for communication purposes. However, with a rise in their demand and popularity, its uses were enhanced with features including text messages. A text message is a very effective and fast method of communicating messages. Many businesses use them to inform and stay in touch with their employees and clients, but often complain of high mobile phone bills. Although the cost of sending text messages has reduced considerably over the years, it is still comparatively costly to send many messages.

The solution to reduce your monthly mobile phone bills is by using online text messaging. Most online text messaging companies offer this service at a reasonable and cost-effective price that is much lower than the cost of sending messages through your mobile phone. Online text messaging companies offer you different plans to choose from, depending on the messages that you intend to send.

Online text messaging is very easy to use and does not require any software installation. So, to save money and reduce your mobile phone bills, start using online text messaging.