Category: SME Guides to Mobile Marketing

Guides for individual organisations on Mobile Marketing and how they get the best out of it.

SME Guides to Mobile Marketing

Beginners Guide to creating a mobile marketing list…SMEs

Every company, whatever size, started off without any mobile marketing department or without a list of mobile numbers for their customers and they had to perform data gathering exercises on their potential mobile customers.

As members of the SMe community, your small business will be in a similiar position.

You will know the power of mobile based on how you communicate with your friends and how you can recieve content and alerts from your favourite programs, sports clubs etc.. but you may not know how you can achieve this level of communication in your business (however small) with the customers you serve every day.

Whether you have a bricks and mortar store or an online business the ability to perform simple data gathering exercises to increase / or start your mobile marketing program is something you can do with very little time and effort required.

Whatever your business, product or service, you have to create something that offers the customer something special and gives added value to your customers.

Mobile Marketing allows you to communicate with your customers on a one to one, personal basis in the first instance, but it has many more benefits than just that.

It’s cost effective, meaning that you can use mobile to cut costs on call centre staff, administration roles and to some extent even the way you advertise across other channels can be streamlined to improve cost efficiency.

It’s convenient, it allows people to receive and digest your communication when and wherever they are best placed to do so and likewise they can text back whenever they want too. It is also very easy to set up and manage for your business.

It helps to increase relationship building, as you can keep your customers in the know and up to date with your business as well as ask them for their opinions etc, increasing that feedback which is so important as you grow your business.

You have the ability to mass market your message very quickly and easily making it totally personal to the end recipient.

You can integrate your mobile campaign with any other form of marketing communication, making it the most adaptable marketing channel ever.

And when your campaign is done, you can sit back and check out the results to a deep level of understanding. Or perhaps check the results as you go, using real time reporting, so you can stop your campaign and make alterations if you feel the need.

So when we start looking at building a list of subscribers for your business we can assume that anyone who joins your program or list will be specifically interested in your products or services.

Here are the 3 stages to creating your very own opted in mobile numbers list;

STAGE 1- ACQUIRE & GROW

Create a product or service that offers something special of gives added value to your customers. Bricks and Mortar stores have 2 for1’s and BOGOF’s whilst for Online Business you can use online only discounts or offers that arent available anywhere else and that the customer will gladly give his or her details to get.

*TIP* – Dont ask for more than 5 fields of information when data capturing for mobile, use Name, Address, Postcode, Email & Mobile as standard and amend accordingly, but if you ask for too many you will switch people off.

Include signage and Point of Sale for your offers to gain greater publicity and if your an online business then your primary way to gather user data is to offer a rich, rewarding & satisfying customer experience from the initial opt in point to the re-engagement communication and beyond.

Make sure you include permissions and a link to a privacy policy on your website & let the customer know where they can find information relating to what you will do with their data.

STAGE 2 – MAINTAINING YOUR SUBSCRIBER DATABASE

It is really hard to “ACQUIRE” a client, but its even harder to keep them for any length of time… On the flip side you can lose a customer in 5 seconds flat if you dont keep them interested.

Send mobile exclusive deals, information, rewards, offers and vouchers to increase the value of your mobile program for your customers.

*TIP* – Make sure your content is worth sharing!! If you have great content your customers are more likely to spread the word.

Try sending messages to your customers that include a call to action. A simple text back keyword response to recieve a voucher or bring their phone into the store & show a code to the till assistant etc…

This allows you to monitor responses rates & judge the success of your offers by the number of delivered SMS messages against the number of responses back.

STAGE 3 – ENCOMPASS SOCIAL MEDIA INTO YOUR MOBILE CAMPAIGN

Call out some of your mobile exclusive offers on social media sites like Facebook to encourage people to visit you & respond to the CTA. If your an online business ensure you add your links back to your website in any socila media ads. This way you can direct them to your privacy policy, email or newsletter subscription or simply other areas of your website.

DATA SECURITY

The easiest way to start managing your mobile data, is to look at the initial data you have from your customers, this should be in the main customer database, with other information on that client. You may decide that you need a separate database for Mobile than for other communications like email, direct mail etc…

Whichever way you maintain your mobile data, you need to remember that you need an initial database of “opted in “numbers with which to start your marketing from. As you promote your company / product / offers you will inevitably receive some “opt outs” back, people who no longer want to receive your offers.

To comply with legislation on spam messaging, you must withdraw the numbers that “opt out” within a time period of no longer than 1 week later. This will maintain a healthy, concise database, with lots of live data to send your messages out to.

Manage your “opt out” lists on a weekly basis; take time to do this right, make sure you keep your lists separate, have one “opt out” list and one “opt in “ list. The “opt in “list is your “live” database and should always be up to date, as this list is your catchment area, this list will provide you with your actions, whatever they may be.

Good Luck

themobileexpert

SME Guides to Mobile Marketing

SMS Marketing for Tattoo Parlours

As a business owner you have many priorities and attracting and retaining customers is key. SMS marketing can help you to:

  • Create a simple campaign to acquire new customers
  • Target offers to retain your existing client base and grow sales during quiet periods in the business
  • Provide better service by text messaging bookings for new work, or existing colouring’s
  • Provide a substantial return on investment compared to traditional forms of marketing – email, newspaper ads or radio.

SMS marketing is great for busy business owners to target their busy customers. A short and ‘to the point’  message takes seconds to read and can generate a response just as quickly, whereas traditional means of marketing communications; emails and newspaper advertising, even a telephone campaign, take a great deal of time to organise and can be costly too.

From around 4p per message, texting is also by far the cheapest means of communicating with your new or old members. Take email for example. It will take someone time to create a great email marketing campaign. Unfortunately, only up to 25% of acquisition emails are read compared 95% of text messages.

As well as generating more people into your club, you can also use the 2ergo messaging manager system to manage your bookings if you have a booking system for appointments or non – complete works of art that need colour adding etc. The benefits of this are that it looks very professional, and you can reduce the number of costly no-shows to your business.

Is texting right for my business?

The simple answer is that SMS/text marketing can be beneficial to any company. The real advantage of SMS marketing is that it’s cheap and scalable; anyone can do it and to any number of contacts so it really doesn’t matter how big or small your club is, texting can benefit you.

Acquire more business

  • SMS your old customers, offering20% off new work this month
  • Offer extra incentives for referrals – SMS new members offering a gift when a friend comes in and has work done.
  • 10% off all artwork on quiet days
  • Send birthday messages to lost clients offering a discount on their birthday as a present from your business

Improve your customer service

  • SMS appointment reminders
  • Generate feedback and measure service – give your members the opportunity to send a feedback message to a short code.  This will help you measure service and you could then offer 10% off the next visit for customers who may have had a bad experience.
  • Tell your customers about new tattoos or events happening in the shop

Knowing what to write
Text messages can only be 160 characters (including spaces) long, so there’s no room for waffling.
It’s important that you get to the point quickly and that the client understands exactly what you’re
offering them. As a rule, you should make sure that once you have created your message, it answers
these three key questions;

  • Why you are contacting them – e.g. what offer are you making?
  • When should they act? – e.g. is there a closing date for your offer or promotion?
  • What do they need to do next? e.g. call or visit your club

It’s important to keep the style of your messages friendly and chatty but at the same time, your
message is clear and concise. Here are a few examples;

Example booking reminder message;
Hi Dave, you have your next colouring session
booked with us on Friday at 8pm with Alan
Looking forward to seeing you then!
Resident Needle 01234 567891

Example birthday message;
Happy Birthday Jane! Get 10% off any tattoos this week
Call 01234 567 890 to book your appointment

Example lost clients promotion;
Hi Laura, we miss you!  Get a free art working session
if you visit before 11th Jan. Call 01234 456 789 to book

Once you have decided on how you want to use texting in your club, and the content of your texts, you can determine how often you will need to contact members and what your average usage of text messaging will be.

How much is too much?
Your members may not be so pleased to hear from you if your messages start to become too regular. We recommend contacting them not more than once per month with offers or promotions in addition to your everyday reminder texts and booking confirmations. For the majority of shops, one promotion or special offer per month is enough to satisfy the sales targets set within the business.

Protecting your client data
Because texting is very personal, it’s important to gain permission before running a campaign. As a guide, if you keep your members personal details on file you should ask them to sign the file and you could insert a small paragraph asking for permission to send SMS messages there.

The final thing to consider before you embark on an SMS marketing campaign is: who should manage your SMS marketing? Who in your business should be given the responsibility of maintaining your client database and ensuring the right messages are sent to the right people?
In truth, there is only really one answer to this question. Your member contact database, in particular the mobile numbers it contains should be highly protected.

For a free consultation and trial of how mobile marketing can build your business, please visit our website http://www.crowd-connect.co.uk and contact us to arrange an appointment.

SME Guides to Mobile Marketing

SMS Marketing for Jewellery Businesses

SMS/text messaging is one of the most effective ways of communicating with busy people. A short and ‘to the point’ message takes seconds to read and can generate a response just as quickly, whereas traditional means of marketing communications; emails and newspaper advertising, even a telephone campaign, take a great deal of time to organise and can be costly too.
From around 4p per message, texting is also by far the cheapest means of communicating with your customers,which  means a much greater proportion of the money you’ll make from an SMS campaign comes back into your business. Take email for example. It will take someone time to create a great email marketing campaign. Unfortunately, only 25% of emails are read compared to 95% of text messages.
As well as generating more people into your shop, you can also use the 2ergo mobile solutions to promote your jewellery line for traditional gift-giving occasions, interact with your clients via text messaging and even create a mobile presence on the web.
The benefits of this are that it looks very professional, you create customer loyalty through regular offerings and updates, and you can reach consumers immediately via the most effective means of communication…the mobile phone.

Is texting right for my business?
The simple answer is that SMS/text marketing can be beneficial to any jewellery business. The real advantage of SMS marketing is that it’s cheap and scalable; anyone can do it and to any number of contacts so it really doesn’t matter how big or small your business is, texting can benefit you. We recommend sending birthday messages, reminders about upcoming gift-giving occasions, anniversary messages and lost client promotions; offers sent to consumers who haven’t been into the shop for a long period of time.
Once these essential areas are covered, you can consider sending more specific promotions, such as seasonal holiday offers, although we recommend introducing the basics first before creating a more complex ongoing schedule of SMS marketing communications. We will be happy to discuss with you which method of SMS marketing would be best to start with.

Choosing when to use SMS
We have already mentioned the everyday marketing communications which can be made using text messages; occasions, birthdays and lost clients. As well as these essential areas, texting can also be used for more specific communications, such as;

  • Seasonal promotions; Christmas, Mother’s day,
  • Valentine’s day
  • Offering rates for consumers to sell you gold and precious gems
  • New product lines
  • Recommend a friend

It’s best to start small and then gradually expand your use of SMS marketing according to your marketing plan and feedback you gain from clients as they get used to receiving your text messages.

Knowing what to write
Text messages can only be 160 characters (including spaces) long, so there’s no room for waffling. It’s important that you get to the point quickly and that the client understands exactly what you’re offering them. As a rule, you should make sure that once you have created your message, it answers these three key questions;

  • Why you are contacting them – e.g. what offer are you making to the customer?
  • When should they act? – e.g. is there a closing date for your offer or promotion?
  • What do they need to do next? e.g. Should they call or visit your shop!

It’s important to keep the style of your messages friendly and chatty but at the same time, your message is clear and concise.
How do I use mobile to interact with my customers?
Interactive text messaging enables you to engage with your customers by encouraging them to text in a short-code to receive a variety of offerings. Imagine growing loyalty by asking customers to take part in valuable feedback on their recent jewellery purchases, or enhancing your current advertising by prompting customers to text in a keyword for a special limited time offer. These are just a few of the ways that businesses are taking advantage of the shift in consumer behaviour regarding the use of mobile phones as a way of life. It’s also a great way to build your mobile database, and allows consumers to opt-in to your mobile marketing campaigns.

Why should I have a mobile website?
80% of Smartphone owners regularly access the internet via their phone. Chances are, before long your customers will try and access a traditional website via their mobile. If your website is not optimised for mobile, your customers will receive a clumsy, unformatted experience. Research shows when consumers are faced with this, they simply click away to one that is formatted for mobile.
With 2ergo, we can create an m-site for your business in a matter of hours. It can include your branded logo, the location of your business, information on your jewellery lines and contact information. We’ll even reserve a mobile URL that will be recognised as an m-site on smartphones, which will give you a higher relevance listing on search engines! If you do not have a web presence yet, we will guide you through the process to develop an m-site from start to finish. All businesses today need to adapt to how consumers are using the web to make buying decisions, so now is the time to get your shop found by customers who are looking for your products.
How much is too much?
People these days expect to receive offers on their mobile devices, but they may not be so pleased to hear from you if your messages start to become too regular. We recommend contacting clients not more than once per month with offers or promotions in addition to your everyday reminder texts and an annual birthday message. For the majority of jewelers, one product promotion or special offer per month is enough to satisfy the sales targets set within the business.

Thanks

themobileexpert

SME Guides to Mobile Marketing

SMS Marketing for Health & Beauty Salons

The beauty industry is fast paced and highly competitive. As a business owner you have many priorities and attracting and retaining customers is key. SMS marketing can help you to:

  1. Create a simple campaign to acquire new customers
  2. Target offers to retain your existing client base and grow sales during quiet periods in the business
  3. Provide better service by text messaging appointments to your customers
  4. Provide a substantial return on investment compared to traditional forms of marketing – email, newspaper ads or radio.

SMS marketing is great for busy business owners to target their busy customers. A short and ‘to the point’  message takes seconds to read and can generate a response just as quickly, whereas traditional means of marketing communications; emails and newspaper advertising, even a telephone campaign, take a great deal of time to organise and can be costly too.

From around 4p per message, texting is also by far the cheapest means of communicating with your customers. Take email for example. It will take someone time to create a great email marketing campaign. Unfortunately, only 25% of emails are read compared 95% of text messages.

As well as generating more people into your salon, you can also use the 2Ergo Broadcast system to manage your appointments. The benefits of this are that it looks very professional, and you can reduce the number of costly no-shows to your business.

Is texting right for my business?

The simple answer is that SMS/text marketing can be beneficial to any salon business. The real advantage of SMS marketing is that it’s cheap and scalable; anyone can do it and to any number of contacts so it really doesn’t matter how big or small your salon business is, texting can benefit you.

Acquire more business

 

  • SMS your current database, offering  discounts  for any treatment
  • Offer extra incentives to fill up your appointments, such as a free manicure with every facial
  • 10% off all treatments for Mother’s day
  • Send birthday messages to lost clients offering a discount on any treatment
  • Take advantage of cancelled appointments by texting your database offering a 20% reduction of any treatment if booked within 24 hours
  • Run a competition asking clients for referrals. Send out a discount text message and tell your clients they can pass it on to friends and family

Improve your customer service

  • SMS appointment reminders to give that extra service and reduce no-shows
  • Generate feedback and measure service – give your customer the opportunity to fill out a feedback card and leave their mobile number. This will help you measure service and you could then offer 10% off the next visit for customers who may have experienced poor service.

Knowing what to write

Text messages can only be 160 characters (including spaces) long, so there’s no room for waffling. It’s important that you get to the point quickly and that the client understands exactly what you’re offering them. As a rule, you should make sure that once you have created your message, it answers these three key questions;

 

1) Why you are contacting them – e.g. what offer are you making?

2) When should they act? – e.g. is there a closing date for your offer or promotion?

3) What do they need to do next? e.g. call or visit your salon!

It’s important to keep the style of your messages friendly and chatty but at the same time, your message is clear and concise. Here are a few examples;

 

Example booking reminder message;

Hi Sue, looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at 12:00 for cut & finish with Lisa. Hairplace Salon: 01234 567891

 Example birthday message;

Happy Birthday Jane! Get £10 off any service this week at Hairplace Salon. Call 01234 567891

 Example lost clients promotion;

Hi Laura, we miss you! Get 50% off your cut & finish until 31st March at Hairplace Beauty. Call 01234 567891 to book

 Example one-off promotions;

50% off conditioning treatments when you buy any shampoo until September 30th at Hairplace Salon. Call 01234 567891

Once you have decided on how you want to use texting in your salon, and the content of your texts, you can determine how often you will need to contact clients and what your average usage of text messaging will be.

 How much is too much?

People these days expect to receive booking reminders prior to their appointments, but they may not be so pleased to hear from you if your messages start to become too regular. We recommend contacting clients not more than once per month with offers or promotions in addition to your everyday reminder texts and an annual birthday message. For the majority of salons, one product promotion or special offer per month is enough to satisfy the sales targets set within the business.

For a free trial of how SMS messaging can build your business call the team at Crowd Connect or visit the website for more details on how we can help you today!

SME Guides to Mobile Marketing

SMS Marketing for Schools

Any school, whether primary or secondary, needs to have a system in place so they can contact parents in an emergency. Using the mobile phone to send a text is quicker than calling each parent individually and most are read within the hour.

From around 4p per message, texting is also by far the cheapest means of communicating with parents and is a much quicker method when contacting lots of parents at once. Take email for example. It will take someone time to create an email and get it sent out to all of the parents you have email addresses for. Unfortunately, on average only 25% of emails are read compared 95% of text messages. 92% of texts are also read within ten mins of being recieved – so you can immediately get hold of parents to advise them of any urgent messages.

Is texting right for my school?

Consider a situation where your school has to close due to the snow. Having to email and wait for a response could mean that pupils are left at school as not every parent checks their email.

You could try to phone parents – again there is no guarantee that they will answer and this will involve phone call costs and your time! Sending an SMS to parents takes minutes and you have more of a guarantee that they will read the message quicker than any other method.

Choosing when to use SMS

  • During school closures (snow/extreme weather)
  • Alerting parents to pupil absence
  • Alerting parents to flu outbreaks etc
  • Promoting a school event such as Christmas fair
  • Reminding parents to send monies such as dinner money
  • Confirming a parent appointment such as parents evening

 

Knowing what to write

Text messages can only be 160 characters (including spaces) long, so there’s no room for waffling!

It’s important that you get to the point quickly and that parents understand exactly what you’re

trying to say. As a rule, you should make sure that once you have created your message, it answers

these three key questions;

1) Why you are contacting them – i.e. school closure

2) When should they act? – i.e. closure time

3) What do they need to do next? Come to school to collect child or not send children in today

Here are a few examples;

 

Example school closure;

School closed again today due to snow. Do not

Send your child to school. We will update you at

5pm if we will be closed tomorrow

St David’s Primary School 01234 567 890

 

Example pupil absence

Urgent message, David has not arrived in school today

Please call us urgently on 01234 567 890

Broad Oak High School

 

Example head lice outbreak;

School Message: We have had several instances of head

lice in school this week.  Please check our website for advice.

www.stmonicasprimary.sch.uk

 

Example of event promotion

School message -Don’t forget the Christmas Fair. Tuesday

11th December from 3pm.

See our website for more info

www.fairfaxroad.sch.uk

Obtaining Parent permission to SMS

It is unlikely that parents will not want to receive SMS messages from their child’s school, however it is good practice to inform them you will be using SMS to contact them. If parents have already provided their mobile number to you then you don’t need to request permission to send SMS messages, although for future reference it may be worth indicating to parents that when they give you their contact number that you will from time to time send them SMS messages. You could even add a small paragraph in the school newsletter that you will begin to use SMS for more urgent contact.

SME Guides to Mobile Marketing

SMS Marketing for Garages

The automotive industry is fast paced and highly competitive. As a business owner you have many priorities and attracting and retaining customers is key. As well as this, it’s crucial to offer a great service and have a process to measure this with.

SMS marketing can help you to:

  1. Create a simple campaign to acquire new customers
  2. Target offers to retain your existing client base and grow sales during quiet periods in the business
  3. Provide better service by text messaging hints and tips on car care and maintenance, aswell as reminders for MOT tests and services.
  4. Provide a substantial return on investment compared to traditional forms of marketing – email, newspaper ads or radio.

SMS marketing is great for busy business owners to target their busy customers. A short and ‘to the point’  message takes seconds to read and can generate a response just as quickly, whereas traditional means of marketing communications; emails and newspaper advertising, even a telephone campaign, take a great deal of time to organise and can be costly too.

From around 4p per message, texting is also by far the cheapest means of communicating with your new or old customers. Take email for example. It will take someone time to create a great email marketing campaign. Unfortunately acquistion emails have an average open rate of less than 11%.

As well as generating more customers, you can also use the 2Ergo Broadcast system to manage your appointments, such as services, MOTs etc. The benefits of this are that it looks very professional, and you can reduce the number of costly no-shows to your business. You can also remind customers of when their next service or MOT is due, ensuring you retain business from your customers.

Is texting right for my business?

The simple answer is that SMS/text marketing can be beneficial to any garage. The real advantage of SMS marketing is that it’s cheap and scalable; anyone can do it and to any number of contacts so it really doesn’t matter how big or small your business is, texting can benefit you.

Acquire more business

  • SMS your old customers, offering a free tyre check when they pass by
  • Offer extra incentives for referrals – 10% off your next service when you refer a friend
  • 10% off all new tyres when you book a tyre check
  • Remind your lost customers to return for an MOT and get £10 off the cost of a service

Improve your customer service

  • SMS reminders for appointments to reduce no-shows
  • Generate feedback and measure service – give your members the opportunity to fill out a feedback card and leave their mobile number. This will help you measure service and you could then offer 10% off the next visit for those who participate via text
  • send occasional messages to warn of weather conditions that may affect vehicle performance

 

Knowing what to write

Text messages can only be 160 characters (including spaces) long, so there’s no room for waffling. It’s important that you get to the point quickly and that the client understands exactly what you’re offering them. As a rule, you should make sure that once you have created your message, it answers these three key questions;

1) Why you are contacting them – e.g. what offer are you making?

2) When should they act? – e.g. is there a closing date for your offer or promotion?

3) What do they need to do next? e.g. call or visit your garage

It’s important to keep the style of your messages friendly and chatty but at the same time, your message is clear and concise. Here are a few examples;

Example booking reminder/up-sell message;

Hi Dave, you have a service booked with us

Tuesday 11 Dec 11am. If you require a courtesy car

For only £20, call us on 01234 567 890

Smith Road Garage

 

Example hints/tips message

Prepare your car this winter! Ensure you add

Anti-freeze to your windscreen wash. To book

Your car for a free winter check, call us on

01234 567 890. BlueBell Service Centre

Once you have decided on how you want to use texting in your garage, and the content of your texts, you can determine how often you will need to contact customers and what your average usage of text messaging will be.

To learn more about how mobile marketing can help your business, visit our website http://www.crowd-connect.co.uk and lets talk!

SME Guides to Mobile Marketing

SMS Marketing for Restaurants

The restaurant industry is fast paced and highly competitive. As a business owner you have many priorities and attracting and retaining customers is key.

SMS marketing can help you to:

  1. Create a simple campaign to acquire new customers
  2. Target offers to retain your existing client base and grow sales during quiet periods in the business
  3. Provide better service by text messaging reservations to your customers
  4. Provide a substantial return on investment compared to traditional forms of marketing – email, newspaper ads or radio.

SMS marketing is great for busy business owners to target their busy customers. A short and ‘to the point’  message takes seconds to read and can generate a response just as quickly, whereas traditional means of marketing communications; emails and newspaper advertising, even a telephone campaign, take a great deal of time to organise and can be costly too.

From around 4p per message, texting is also by far the cheapest means of communicating with your customers. Take email for example. It will take someone time to create a great email marketing campaign. Unfortunately, only 25% of emails are read compared 95% of text messages.

As well as generating more people into your restaurant, you can also use the 2Ergo Broadcast system to manage your reservations. The benefits of this are that it looks very professional, and you can reduce the number of costly no-shows to your business.

Is texting right for my business?

The simple answer is that SMS/text marketing can be beneficial to any restaurant. The real advantage of SMS marketing is that it’s cheap and scalable; anyone can do it and to any number of contacts so it really doesn’t matter how big or small your restaurant is, texting can benefit you.

Acquire more business

  •  SMS your current database, offering 10% discount this weekend only of the bill
  •  Offer extra incentives to fill up your covers, such as free bottle of house wine on Tuesday
  •  10% off all bookings for Mondays
  •  Send birthday messages to lost clients offering a free birthday drink with any meal
  • Take advantage of cancelled reservations by texting your database offering a 20% reduction off the bill if booked within 24 hours
  • Run a competition asking clients for referrals. Send out a discount text message and tell your clients they can pass it on to friends and family

Improve your customer service

  •  SMS reservation  reminders to give that extra service and reduce no-shows
  •  Generate feedback and measure service – give your customer the opportunity to fill out a feedback card and leave their mobile number. This will help you measure service and you could then offer 10% off the next visit for customers who may have experienced poor service.

Knowing what to write

Text messages can only be 160 characters (including spaces) long, so there’s no room for waffling.

It’s important that you get to the point quickly and that the client understands exactly what you’re

offering them. As a rule, you should make sure that once you have created your message, it answers

these three key questions;

1) Why you are contacting them – e.g. what offer are you making?

2) When should they act? – e.g. is there a closing date for your offer or promotion?

3) What do they need to do next? e.g. call or visit your restaurant

It’s important to keep the style of your messages friendly and chatty but at the same time, your message is clear and concise. Here are a few examples;

Example booking reminder message;

Hi Dave, you have a table booked with us on Friday at 8pm

Looking forward to seeing you then!

Giovanni’s Restaurant 01234 567891

Once you have decided on how you want to use texting in your restaurant, and the content of your texts, you can determine how often you will need to contact clients and what your average usage of text messaging will be.

Something else to consider before you embark on an SMS marketing campaign is: who should manage your SMS marketing? Who in your salon should be given the responsibility of maintaining your client database and ensuring the right messages are sent to the right people?

In truth, there is only really one answer to this question. Your client contact database, in particular the mobile numbers it contains should be be highly protected. Only the restaurant manager should be able to access this and they should have the final say on the content of messages and when and who will receive them.

Find out more by contacting us via the website http://www.crowd-connect.co.uk and lets talk! 

SME Guides to Mobile Marketing

SMS Marketing for Hotels

The hotel industry is fast paced and highly competitive. As a business owner you have many priorities and attracting and retaining customers is key. SMS marketing can help you to:

  • Create a simple campaign to acquire new guests
  • Target offers to retain your existing client base and grow sales during quiet periods in the business
  • Provide better service by text messaging reservations to your customers
  • Provide a substantial return on investment compared to traditional forms of marketing – email, newspaper ads or radio.

SMS marketing is great for busy business owners to target their busy customers. A short and ‘to the point’  message takes seconds to read and can generate a response just as quickly, whereas traditional means of marketing communications; emails and newspaper advertising, even a telephone campaign, take a great deal of time to organise and can be costly too.

From around 4p per message, texting is also by far the cheapest means of communicating with your new or old guests. Take email for example. It will take someone time to create a great email marketing campaign. Unfortunately, less than 10% of acquisition emails are read compared 97% of text messages.

As well as generating more people into your hotel, you can also use some mobile messaging systems to manage your reservations. The benefits of this are that it looks very professional, and you can reduce the number of costly no-shows to your business.

Is texting right for my business?

The simple answer is that SMS/text marketing can be beneficial to any hotel. The real advantage of SMS marketing is that it’s cheap and scalable; anyone can do it and to any number of contacts so it really doesn’t matter how big or small your hotel is, texting can benefit you.

Acquire more business

  • SMS your current database, offering 10% discount this weekend only off the price of a room
  • Offer extra incentives to fill up your rooms, such as free bottle of house wine in the room
  • 10% off all bookings for Mondays
  • Send birthday messages to lost clients offering a free spa treatment with their stay
  • Take advantage of cancelled reservations by texting your database offering a 20% reduction off room bill if booked within 24 hours
  • Run a competition asking clients for referrals. Send out a discount text message and tell your clients they can pass it on to friends and family

Improve your customer service

  • SMS reservation  reminders to give that extra service and reduce no-shows
  • Generate feedback and measure service – give your customer the opportunity to fill out a feedback card and leave their mobile number. This will help you measure service and you could then offer 10% off the next visit for customers who may have experienced poor service.
  • Partner up with local attractions and offer your guests a discount with them when they book

It’s important to keep the style of your messages friendly and chatty but at the same time, your message is clear and concise. Here are a few examples;

Example reservation reminder:
Hi Jenny, you have a reservation with us for a double room for
tomorrow 9th Dec.  If you wish to dine in our Restaurant book today and get 10% off your bill
Call 01234 567 890 to make a booking
Old Cottage Hotel

Example attraction promotion:
We look forward to welcoming you at the Swan Hotel. Why not visit the Old Castle during
your stay. Get 50% off entry by showing this text. For more info visit http://www.oldcastle.org.uk

Example lost clients promotion:
Hi Laura, we miss you!  Book 1 night with us and get the 2nd free! Call 01234 567 890 to book
Offer ends 11th Dec. Mansion Hotel

Once you have decided on how you want to use texting in your hotel marketing strategy and the content of your texts, you can determine how often you will need to contact clients and what your average usage of text messaging will be.

Protecting your client data

Because texting is very personal, it’s important to gain permission before running a campaign. As a guide, if you keep your clients personal details on file you should ask them to sign the file and  you could insert a small paragraph asking for permission to send SMS messages there.

The final thing to consider before you embark on an SMS marketing campaign is: who should manage your SMS marketing? Who in your hotel should be given the responsibility of maintaining your client database and ensuring the right messages are sent to the right people?

In truth, there is only really one answer to this question. Your client contact database, in particular the mobile numbers it contains should be be highly protected. Only the hotel manager should be able to access this and they should have the final say on the content of messages and when and who will receive them.

For more information on how to get started using Mobile visit our website http://www.crowd-connect.co.uk and lets talk!

Thanks

themobileexpert

SME Guides to Mobile Marketing

SMS Marketing for Estate Agents

In real estate and property management, a very important aim is to offer effective communications with your potential buyers, sellers, renters and tenants without being intrusive. In this fast paced industry, it is essential to communicate as much information as possible about the properties you manage.

Mobile solutions help enhance your current marketing and communications strategies by making it possible to communicate directly to the mobile devices of those you need to reach;

  •          Create a simple campaign to communicate with property buyers,
  •          Sellers and Renters
  •          Real-time and cost efficient
  •          Provide a substantial reduction in cost as compared to traditional
  •          forms of communication – email, letters and certified mail.

SMS marketing can help you to:
For a few pence per message, texting is also by far the most affordable means of communicating with potential buyers, sellers and renters as well as current tenants, suppliers and maintenance employees. You may currently rely on email; unfortunately less than 10% of acquisition emails % are read, compared to 97% of text messages.

You can use the mobile solutions to improve communications of all kinds. Types of messages that should be sent:
Estate Agents can….

  • Instant contact with prospective buyers or renters about properties that may be of interest to them
  • Schedule, confirmation and reminders of property viewing
  • Current mortgage rate
  • Mortgage programs with bank partners
  • Refer a friend scheme

Property Management Consultants can ……..

  • Reach large numbers of tenants simultaneously
  • Allows targeted messaging to individuals as well
  • Schedule, confirmation, or reschedule property repair dates
  • Late rent reminders
  • Report emergency situations at the properties you manage
  • Refer a friend scheme
  • General property guidelines that are not being followed
  • Lease renewal reminders
  • Recycling Guideline

Is texting right for my business?
The simple answer is that mobile marketing can be beneficial to any business. The real advantage of SMS marketing is that it’s affordable and scalable; anyone can do it and to any number of contacts so it really doesn’t matter how big or small your business is, texting can benefit you.

How do I use mobile to interact with my tenants or buyers?

Interactive text messaging enables you to engage with an audience by encouraging them to text in a short-code to receive a variety of information. Imagine growing loyalty by asking customers to take part in valuable feedback on their recent home purchase or rental, or enhancing your current advertising by prompting prospective buyers and renters to text in a keyword for a free property estimate or a month’s free rent. These are just a few of the ways that businesses are taking advantage of the shift in consumer behavior regarding the use of mobile phones as a way of life. It’s also a great way to build your mobile database, and allows consumers to opt-in to your mobile marketing campaigns.
How much is too much?
People these days expect to receive information on their mobile devices, but they may not be so pleased to hear from you if your messages start to become too regular. We recommend contacting buyers and renters not more than once per month with information (unless there is an urgent matter that needs immediate attention). For the majority of property companies, one message per month is enough to keep tenants up to date with information. However, for property buyers, you may want to ask if they wish to receive alerts to homes that fit their requirements and budget.

Protecting your client data
The final thing to consider before you embark on an SMS campaign is: who should manage your mobile marketing? Who in your business should be given the responsibility of maintaining your client database and ensuring the right messages are sent to the right people? In truth, there is only really one answer to this question. Your client contact database, in particular the mobile numbers it contains should be highly protected. Only the company management and authorized personnel should be able to access this and they should have the final say on the content of messages and when and who will receive them.

SME Guides to Mobile Marketing

SMS Marketing for Health & Leisure Clubs…

The health club industry is fast paced and highly competitive. As a business owner you have many priorities and attracting and retaining customers is key. SMS marketing can help you to:

  • Create a simple campaign to acquire new members
  • Target offers to retain your existing client base and grow sales during quiet periods in the business
  • Provide better service by text messaging bookings for personal training/facilities bookings etc. to your members
  • Provide a substantial return on investment compared to traditional forms of marketing – email, newspaper ads or radio.

SMS marketing is great for busy business owners to target their busy customers. A short and ‘to the point’  message takes seconds to read and can generate a response just as quickly, whereas traditional means of marketing communications; emails and newspaper advertising, even a telephone campaign, take a great deal of time to organise and can be costly too.

From around 4p per message, texting is also by far the cheapest means of communicating with your new or old members. Take email for example. It will take someone time to create a great email marketing campaign. Unfortunately, only 25% of aquisition emails are read compared 95% of text messages.

As well as driving more people into your club, you can also use your SMS system to manage your bookings if you have personal trainers or a booking system for courts or certain equipment. The benefits of this are that it looks very professional, and you can reduce the number of costly no-shows to your business.

Is texting right for my business?

The simple answer is that SMS/text marketing can be beneficial to any club. The real advantage of SMS marketing is that it’s cheap and scalable; anyone can do it and to any number of contacts so it really doesn’t matter how big or small your club is, texting can benefit you.

Acquire more business

  • SMS your old members, offering no joining fee if they sign up this month
  • Offer extra incentives for referrals – SMS new members offering a gift when a friend joins
  • 10% off all treatments in the spa on quiet days
  • Send birthday messages to lost clients offering a free spa treatment when they re-join

Improve your customer service

  • SMS personal training/equipment/tennis court bookings to reduce no-shows
  • Generate feedback and measure service – give your members the opportunity to fill out a feedback card and leave their mobile number. This will help you measure service and you could then offer 10% off the next visit for members who may have had a bad experience in the club.
  • Tell your customers about new equipment or events happening in the club

Knowing what to write

Text messages can only be 160 characters (including spaces) long, so there’s no room for waffling.

It’s important that you get to the point quickly and that the client understands exactly what you’re

offering them. As a rule, you should make sure that once you have created your message, it answers

these three key questions;

  • Why you are contacting them – e.g. what offer are you making?
  • When should they act? – e.g. is there a closing date for your offer or promotion?
  • What do they need to do next? e.g. call or visit your club

It’s important to keep the style of your messages friendly and chatty but at the same time, your message is clear and concise. Here is an example;

Example booking reminder message

“Hi Dave, you have a personal trainer session

booked with us on Friday at 8pm with Alan

Looking forward to seeing you then!

Fitness Plus Club 01234 567891″

Once you have decided on how you want to use texting in your club, and the content of your texts, you can determine how often you will need to contact members and what your average usage of text messaging will be.

How much is too much?

Your members may not be so pleased to hear from you if your messages start to become too regular. We recommend contacting them not more than once per month with offers or promotions in addition to your

everyday reminder texts and booking confirmations. For the majority of clubs, one promotion or special offer per month is enough to satisfy the sales targets set within the business.

Protecting your client data

Because texting is very personal, it’s important to gain permission before running a campaign. As a guide, if you keep your members personal details on file you should ask them to sign the file and you could insert a small paragraph asking for permission to send SMS messages there.

The final thing to consider before you embark on an SMS marketing campaign is: who should manage your SMS marketing? Who in your club should be given the responsibility of maintaining your client database and ensuring the right messages are sent to the right people?

In truth, there is only really one answer to this question. Your member contact database, in particular the mobile numbers it contains should be be highly protected. Only the club manager should be able to access this and they should have the final say on the content of messages and when and who will receive them.