According to recent research carried out by mobile transaction network, mBlox, more than two thirds of consumers in the UK would like to receive their shopping coupons in the form of a text message.  Not only that, almost a third of them are already familiar with this concept and have used mobile shopping coupons.

The research revealed that over 70% of UK consumers would be interested in receiving coupons via SMS while out shopping, to alert them of special offers or promotions and such like – could add a whole new dimension to Tesco Club points!

In addition, separate research carried out by the Mobile Marketing Association has shown that a quarter of  European consumers (based in France, Germany and the UK) would be more likely to respond to advertising  campaigns of any medium if they could do so using their mobile phones, with SMS being the preferred option.

With such astonishing figures, there is little wonder that over 38% of retailers in the UK have incorporated SMS marketing into their overall advertising and promotional strategies.

Why are the statistics so high for SMS compared to other marketing mediums?

• Well for starters there are more mobile devices than any other technology gadgets in the UK, so the potential business reach is enormous
• More and more businesses are turning to SMS for important communications because emails can easily get lost or overlooked
• Bulk text messages are delivered within seconds and redeemed within minutes – no other communications method can reach consumers so quickly and in such a contextual way
• SMS allows for easy interaction – consumers only have to text a key word to a mobile number or short code in order to receive further information
• High response rates allow retailers to further tailor their advertising campaigns.
• SMS marketing allows consumers to engage with big brands – bringing them to life
• SMS is the preferred communications method for the younger generation
• SMS can compliment overall marketing campaigns
• And finally – Receiving tickets, coupons etc via mobile phones as text messages helps businesses to become greener in the way they operate. 

Click here to find out how our business SMS solution can add an extra dimension to your existing marketing campaigns.

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.

The new trend with the internet is sending online messages to your friends, family and colleagues. Online messaging is used widely on the internet as it is very simple and quick. The online messaging service allows you to use the computer and the internet to send messages, which is beneficial for all those who use the internet widely.

For all those who use the computer extensively, for personal or business; they are much more accustomed to typing on the keyboard of the computer. Texting on the mobile phone is difficult as the keys are very small. Thus, online messaging can be very beneficial as it makes it easier.

Another important point is that the facility of online messaging can help ensure that your mobile bill is reduced as online messaging is very cost effective.

Whether you need to send a work-related message or just a casual joke, online messaging allows you to send messages instantly. As soon as you send the message, it gets delivered to the recipient within no time.

Online messaging is useful to send multiple messages or the same message to a large number of recipients at the same time, thus reducing the time spent on sending a message from a mobile phone. Most often, you might have to send a common message to all your friends or clients; with the help of online messaging you can send it to all those people with the help of one click and within seconds all of them will get the message.

Recently, a lot of people, whether for personal or business purposes, are using the online messaging service to stay in touch with their family and friends.

Due to the continuous developments in technology, a lot of people are commonly using the internet and the various services it offers. Over the years, the service of online messaging has become very popular.

Because of the easy access to the internet, the use of online messaging has increased tremendously as it is very easy and simple to use.

Online messaging VS messaging from a mobile phone

With people using the computer to a large extent, they find typing on a keyboard a lot easier compared to using a mobile phone to key messages. Thus, people use the internet as they frequently use it, making messaging a lot simpler.

Online messaging allows you to send messages to more than one person at the same time, saving a lot of time and energy. If you need to invite someone to a party or need to inform a group of people about an event, it is recommended to use online messaging as it is faster and easier.

Online messaging is cost effective compared to messaging from your mobile phone. If you have to send a large number of messages, then online messages can save you a lot of money.

Another problem that most people face is that the battery of their phone dies. At such times if they have to send messages then online messaging is helpful. The service even allows you to store the numbers and names of people on the internet, which makes messaging very convenient.

Businesses have always been encouraged to consider the benefits of SMS marketing after the success of a campaign led by Bistro Live restaurant group. Presently, the organisation has a record of over 10,000 customers who opted to receive promotional literature and offers on their mobile phones.

During a particular event, the latest text-based promotional strategy encouraged around 2.7 percent of receivers to spend a total of over £8,000 at the Bistro Live outlets. Editor of Mobile Marketing Magazine, David Murphy expressed this as “impressive”, especially as the company only paid around £470 to run the promotional campaign. Due to these impressive results, David greatly recommends that other small businesses utilise SMS marketing strategies to get the best results.

David Murphy said that the Bistro Live story makes clear the opportunity that mobile SMS marketing provides to smaller organisations. According to uSwitch statistics, approximately 60 billion text messages are sent every year by consumers in the UK.

With mobile phones being used by the majority of people, it would be ideal for organisations to promote their brand using SMS marketing strategies. Bulk SMS is one of the best features of internet SMS and allows the senders to send a single SMS to numerous recipients at the same time.

Nowadays, online text messaging has become very popular. By using an internet text messaging service you can communicate with a lot of people with just a click of a mouse. It is like sending messages from your mobile phone but in online messaging you make use of a computer with an internet connection.

The benefits of online messaging

• The messages are delivered instantly. You can send bulk messages to all your customers. You can also send funny texts to all your friends very easily.
• It is convenient to type on the keyboard, in comparison to the keypad of the mobile phone. Typing on the keyboard is much faster than typing on a mobile.
• With online text message services, you can reduce your mobile bills. It can be reduced up to 50 percent.
• There are no restrictions in these online services. You can use it for your business and also to message your friends.

Sending messages is one of the fastest way to communicate and now online messaging has made it very convenient. With it you can be easily connected to all your friends and relatives. Internet text messaging helps you to send texts without using your mobile phone.

According to the latest reports from one of the leading mobile marketing firms, SMS marketing is emerging as a top tool for sports clubs that wish to keep in direct contact with their players. SMS marketing is ideal, quick and easy for sending important messages to a large group of people.

Rugby, golf and football clubs use internet SMS to send out messages to their members in order to keep them updated with the latest events and activities happening in the club. Nelson RFC in Wales is one of the rugby clubs that have successfully introduced text messaging campaigns.

The club is reported to use text messages to communicate with players and coaches about training, match timings, team selection and committee meetings. Club manager, Rob Bowden, said that text messaging has worked wonders to ensure player turnout at training sessions. He also said that they had a great reply to their training day alerts. In fact, they wanted to introduce a complete new team following a 15% increase in training turnout.

Football club, Preston North End, also utilises internet SMS to keep players updated about club news. A spokesperson from the club said that text messaging proves to be ideal for speedy communication. It can easily and quickly send out a single message to a large group of people which is one of the biggest advantages of the internet SMS service.

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.