The Value Of SMS Text Marketing

English: Author: Redvers. Two "welcome" messages received via SMS text messaging. T-Mobile welcomes Proximus to the United Kingdom; BASE welcomes Orange subscribers to Belgium. Both are Nokia phones, but the picture was taken with another brand of mobile phone camera. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Whether you run a for-profit business looking to increase sales, or represent an organization that simply wants to be able to reach your members quickly and affordable text marketing is the perfect solution. That's because text marketing can be as much a money-saver as it is a money-maker.

Here are a few reasons why SMS text mobile marketing is vital to your business or organization.

1. You Can Reach More People Than With ANY Other Method

Did you know...

• 6% of Americans have a Twitter account
• 33% of Americans have a Facebook account (more than 50% of males do NOT check their Facebook daily)
• 37% of Americans actively use email
• 92% of Americans have a cell phone (98% of which have SMS enabled handsets!)

In fact, believe it or not there are 2.5 times as many users of "texting" than email. But that's not even the most important point. You see, 33% of email addresses change on a yearly basis. Your email database gets more and more outdated with each passing day. But with phone number portability and the popularity of mobile phones, people are ditching their home phones and keeping their cell phones for life. That means your contact database will continue to grow - and almost never get old!

2. More of the People Who Receive Your Message Will Actually Read It!

• With text marketing your SMS reminders, notifications, or coupons are received at the exact time your customers need to see them-and often at the precise time they are making a buying decision.
• Consider this incredible fact: 95% of all text messages are read within 5 minutes of delivery, with an overall read-rate of 97%!
• Compared with other forms of marketing and communication, mobile is the clear winner...

3. More of the People Who Read Your Message Will Actually Take Action

Reaching more people wouldn't mean much if it didn't have any effect on their actions. But perhaps the best news of all regarding text marketing is that it actually does drive behavior. According to research done by the Direct Marketing Association, 70% of recipients react to SMS (text) marketing messages, compared to just 20% for email. And the same study shows that up to 30% of users redeem mobile offers, compared to 5% for email.

Consider this...

• 94% of consumers who receive a mobile marketing offer recall the specific call-to-action (Hip Cricket Research)
• 15% of consumers admit to increasing what they spent toward a specific brand based on mobile marketing (eMarketer)
• User response to a mobile ad is often 10 times higher than a computer/email offer (Quantcast Data)
• 33% of Americans acknowledged using a mobile coupon received via text marketing within the past month (eMarketer)

In fact, according to ABI Research, the average ROI with mobile marketing is $10 for every $1 spent!

4. Your Customers and Members Actually Want to Hear from You

The most valuable piece of your business is not your building or your computers or some specialized piece of equipment. It is your customer database.

Text marketing allows you to build and nurture your customer database so that they will have more loyalty to you and ultimately do business with you more often. And the best part is, they WANT to hear from you more often. DMA research shows that the vast majority of consumers not only want to receive special offers and information by text, but that they wish more businesses and organizations offered this option! Likewise, Nielsen Mobile discovered that 70% of consumers they surveyed are happy to receive promotional information via text message.

The true power of mobile marketing is that your customers are "opting in" to receive your information. By texting your keyword to your shortcode they are telling you they want to hear from you. There is no better way to build an ongoing (and profitable) relationship with your most valuable asset-your customer.

5. Text Marketing Will Save You Time and Money

If you are a for-profit business, there is no denying that text marketing can increase your sales. But even if you are not trying to sell anything, Text marketing can help your bottom line.

Text marketing can replace many costly and time-consuming tasks for much, much less. Paying employees to call your entire list when you have to cancel an event or a game? Text marketing can do the job a whole lot better, faster and cheaper. Mailing postcards and placing ads to promote a concert or meeting? Text marketing will get the message across instantly at the touch of a button. And because people read their texts, you'll reach a greater percentage of your audience with your information! You can even include a direct link to a phone number, email address or web site so that recipients can contact you instantly.

There's never been a win-win quite like SMS text marketing. And for less than $2/day you can put this powerful tool to work for you immediately. In just 5 minutes you can be up and running with your own account and custom keyword.

Article Source:
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Marketing via Social Media: What Professional Firms Should Know

SAN FRANCISCO - NOVEMBER 15: Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during a special event announcing a new Facebook email messaging system at the St. Regis Hotel on November 15, 2010 in San Francisco, California. Facebook will launch a new messaging system aimed at enhancing it's social media product to its 500 million users. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

The recent explosion of Social Media - Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, in particular - has probably caused enough head scratching and unease among marketing directors to last them a lifetime. How does Social Media actually work? Who does it reach? How influential is it? What happens if you ignore it? How should it be used? And how much time should be devoted to feeding it? Nobody seems to have clear answers to these questions, and the few that do, speak a language that most ordinary human beings struggle to understand.

Marketing heads at large professional organisations, by which I mean commercial law firms, accountancy firms and financial services companies, are as concerned about Social Media as anyone else - which, on the face of it, is surprising, because traditionally these outfits have relied upon a relatively discreet universe of mainly corporate clients. Their business relationships are built on face-to-face contact (not Facebook to Facebook contact) and often long histories of proven service. Nevertheless, the perception exists that Social Media is an arena in which every serious player has to be visible, as if to be invisible there would mean being invisible everywhere - an unforgivable capitulation in this age of mass communication. Just such preoccupations drive much of the current interest in Social Media: a fear of missing out, of seeming out-of-touch, rather than excitement at the arrival of a new marketing opportunity. So is the promise really there? And are the fears justified?

The first thing to remember about Social Media is its name: not Marketing Media, but Social Media. The reason sites like Facebook caught on in the first place was not because people saw an interesting new opportunity to go shopping. They saw it as a way to keep in touch with friends old and new, and to reach out to people with similar interests. Though discrete retailing of one kind or another has crept on board, most users says they don't like it. The exception here is cultural product: music, films, books and (to a lesser extent) video games. But even here - very much at the mass consumer end of things - the amount of promotion users will tolerate is limited. Any marketing that firms do attempt must be discreet, as well as useful, readable and current. Achieving all this is easier said than done.

Celebrity Seeding - Seven Marketing Tips

English: Reese Witherspoon at the premiere for Water for Elephants in May 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Did you know that after Reese Witherspoon received an Oscar nomination for best actress for her work in Walk the Line, she also received hundreds of gifts from brands trying to capitalize on her Oscar buzz? According to news stories, one of the gifts Witherspoon received was a Nokia 8801, then valued at $900.

In a brilliant fashion, the phone came with a note that congratulated her on the nomination and asked her who she was going to call about her exciting news.

Nice gesture? Of course. Selfless? Hardly. What Nokia executives did is called celebrity seeding, and you can do it, too, even if you are a small business owner and your brand is currently small. Companies have been sending celebrities products in the hopes of associating their merchandise with the names of Hollywood's best and brightest. How do you jump on to the celebrity seeding bandwagon?

Here are a few tips:

1. Do your research beforehand and make sure the product you send is something the star would want to use. If you specialize in sports and workout wear, do not send products to fashionistas like Sarah Jessica Parker and Leighton Meester. On the other hand, you may do well to send items to stars like Jessica Biel, Fergie and Cameron Diaz, who are often photographed working out.
2. Make sure your packaging is memorable, professional, and neat.
3. Customize your letter. If you can, be witty, like Nokia was with their "Who are you going to call about the exciting news?" Catchy, creative lines can merit a chuckle or an approving grin or two. If you cannot think of anything witty, though, don't. Simply be polite and direct to the point. Strike the right balance between warm and courteous.
4. Include some information about your service or product. You can include a single-page info sheet or FAQ. You may also include your most recent catalog or brochure.
5. Make it easy for them to get in touch with you. Some celebrities write to say thank you. Don't make them jump through hoops to send you a note. Include two business cards in your package - one for the celebrity and the other for their representative.
6. Use professional cards and letterhead. This will ensure your notes inspire confidence that you are a reputable company to deal with.
7. Mention the reason you gave the present. Have you noticed how much Paris Hilton loves pink? This is a thoughtful detail that can strike the right level of connection in the stars you are sending products to, provided of course that you do it right.

Celebrity seeding is a long and involved process that will not yield results overnight. Sometimes, you will have to wait for a few weeks before you receive any type of feedback. Other times, you won't receive feedback at all. But, do not give up your marketing efforts just because you are not seeing immediate rewards. Done correctly, celebrity seeding can give your sales a dramatic boost!


Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/4401805

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Pay Per Click Marketing - Does It Work For Industrial Companies?

Image via CrunchBase

I discovered pay per click marketing in late 2001, launching my first campaign with Google Adwords. At the time, I was managing a search engine optimization (SEO) project for an industrial controls manufacturer and immediately recognized the potential of this new channel.

I opened a Google AdWords account, compiled a list of keywords, and developed a small group of text ads. Within five minutes of my campaign going live, the four lines of text that I had crafted into an advertisement were appearing on the right side of Google's search results. More importantly, targeted visitors began trickling into my client's website; the power of this marketing platform really struck a chord with me. I had achieved visibility on Google's highly coveted first page using the same keywords being optimized through my "natural search" project.

Let me distinguish between paid listings and natural search listings - I am not suggesting that they are equal in value, but rather competitive in value. Natural listings enjoy a higher perceived relevancy in the eyes of search users; however pay per click advertising, when managed properly, affords businesses immediate penetration into desirable search engine result pages (SERPS). Additionally, paid search marketing is much more flexible in its approach to targeting markets and budgeting for return on investment.

Search engine optimization is a valuable strategy that can deliver a strong return on investment when properly managed. Businesses can cultivate a web presence that organically ranks high in the search engine results pages, delivering requests for quote and product sales. By the same token, the effective implementation of SEO is a long term strategy, often requiring months of development and significant project costs before a return on investment is realized.

Pay Per Click marketing on the other hand is completely measurable, making it possible to monitor profitability on a real time basis. Furthermore, the pay per click model enables marketers to revise their advertisements, budgets, and target audience(s) on a real time basis. This flexibility, when properly harnessed, is the key to an industrial manufacturer's success in the world of Internet marketing.