Smaller Businesses Embracing Mobile Marketing and Reaping Rewards - Survey

Some 36% of small and medium businesses say they intend using SMS to reach their customers in the next 12 months.

And of those that are already using SMS, a staggering 72% report an increase in turnover of 10% or more which they attribute to the use of SMS in their marketing mix.

These are some of the results of a survey commissioned by leading online SMS provider Textalert.com to mark their launch of a free guide to SMS marketing. (www.textalert.com)

Textalert’s Tim Hatton said that the smaller businesses were fast becoming aware of the benefits of utilizing bulk SMS to communicate with their customers. He said the survey results confirm that “businesses are finding that SMS can give them a significant competitive advantage, for very little outlay.”

“Compared to other forms of direct marketing, text messaging is cheap, very effective, and enjoys the highest recall rate of any advertising channel,” he added.

79% of businesses already using SMS said that it was ‘more effective’ than other marketing channels or loyalty tools.

The survey conducted in the United States and UK, of marketing-active businesses with fewer than fifty employees, showed there remained some differences in attitude between the two, particularly on the age front. Most business owners in the US felt that texting was the preserve of the young, which backs up recent figures suggesting that 63% of 18-27 year olds use texting compared with 27% across all age groups. (Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project).

The survey also noted that businesses using SMS said that customer’s biggest resistance to signing up for a ‘text alert’ service was fear of mobile ‘spam.’

Mr. Hatton stressed the need for SMS providers to act responsibly or risk damaging the impact of their own service. But he added “At Textalert.com our system is specifically for marketing to an existing customer base, for CRM or as a means of driving loyalty, and not for advertising. So spam isn’t a problem.”

Textalert’s new Marketing Guide includes information about responsible use of texting, and is available at www.textalert.com/marketingguide

The guide features advice to businesses and other organizations that want to take advantage of this exciting medium, widely regarded as enjoying the highest recall rate of any advertising/marketing medium.

TEXTALERT 2005 SURVEY
More details of the survey are available upon request.

CASE STUDIES
We have brief case studies available showing a variety of applications of text messaging, available upon request.

TEXTALERT.COM
Textalert was specifically designed with the needs of smaller businesses in mind. Though there are advanced features available, our goal is to make Bulk SMS marketing available to those that want to concentrate on marketing their business, not learning complicated software packages.

Users send messages online, with no additional software required.

Launched in 2003, the company has offices in London and Boston. The service enables users to over 500 mobile networks in 170 countries.

More than 12,000 businesses now use Textalert. The company also operates industry specific sites for restaurants, bars and clubs (www.sugarvine.textalert.com), and for hair and beauty salons (www.salon.textalert.com); and produce ‘white label’ sites for those with expertise in certain industry sectors or territories.

Prices are pay-per-use and there are no additional or hidden fees. Per message prices start at around 8 cents US / 4.5p UK / 6.5 Euro cents for higher volumes, though packages as low as ten are available.