In hopes to also collect mobile phone numbers, they launched a keyword campaign.They placed an ad in magazines featuring their distinguished keyword with a promotion to win tickets. Wine Train advertised another keyword inside the train as a welcoming to its boarders and gave them a chance to win a wine tasting for two.

Why SMS text marketing continues to work:

• Promotions to win a prize are exciting for customers and it brings more subscribers by word of mouth or by forwarding of texts
• It is very affordable
• Quick and relevant
• Customer relationships develop

As a result of people entering the raffle, Napa Valley Wine Train now has over 9,000 SMS text subscribers who receive SMS coupons, discounts, and special offers.

Via http://trumpia.com/common/pdf/casestudy_NapaValleyWineTrain.pdf

The establishment placed an advertisement in a perfectly busy location, prompting people to shoot a text to the theater’s short code with a keyword. It was easy and it was relevant.

Instead of going straight for the attack, to advertise via text messages, and overwhelming the people that had opt-in for messages, they chose to be considerate. They created a grace period to collect numbers which they later used to inform about showings.

Why use SMS marketing as a consumer tool?

• Inexpensive
• Fast and easy
• Ubiquity of mobile phones
• Sticky codes
• Ensure brand loyalty
• Build customer relationships

Read more @ http://www.smilessms.com/case_studies2.php

Through SMS text messaging, companies can send reminders to their clients within seconds and for pennies per dial. Not only does SMS put your company into the palm of our clients’ hands, it can open the door to immediate satisfaction should you create an option for the client to settle their account on the spot.

It’s been proven through in-depth research that communication via text messaging, is far more effective than sending mail notifications or even email. For example, text messaging has more than a 90% open rate, so you can be sure your messages are being read.

There are many uses for SMS such as:

• Payment collection reminders

• Payment acknowledgement

• Account status

• Appointment confirmations

• Discount offers and other incentives

• Additional marketing

The simplicity of these applications makes the task user-friendly and easy. Thousands of messages can be sent out from a computer with an internet connection.

In order to increase their number of mobile subscribers, Hooters used a Super Bowl related promotion to attract customers during Super Bowl season. Hooters encouraged customers to text the keyword “POOL” to a short code so that customers could enter to win a spot at an exclusive Hooters party in Miami–the same city the Super Bowl was being held that year.

By entering their phone number into the sweepstakes, the customers were automatically subscribed to Hooters’ text updates and coupons through text.

Why SMS Marketing Is Primary Choice For Hooters:

• It eliminated coupon costs by “going green”
• Customers were able to instantly text the short code that they saw while inside the restaurant
• Effective way to promote the brand and conduct contests
• Automatic collection of subscribers through one time opt-in

Hooters originally had about 50,000 text subscribers in their Hooters Mobile Club in 2010. After the Super Pool Party promotion, Hooters had a more than 8,000 customer boost in subscribers.

Via http://www.pocket-promo.com/hooters-sweepstakes-aims-to-beef-up-mobile-database/

What were the issues with this strategy?

• Most often, members had to physically show up to the clubs to make a reservation for a squash court.
• Club members who tried to call in to make a reservation were sometimes connected to an employee who was busy.
• A similar lengthy process came with the cancellation of a reservation.

All of these flaws resulted in time-consuming steps, inefficiency, unhappy members, and empty squash courts. This was all very inconvenient for both the members and the club as people are busy throughout the day. The club decided to turn to SMS marketing to eliminate manual reservations.

What were the changes with SMS?

• Members are now able to send out requests to reserve a squash court by texting the club’s short code with a dedicated keyword/format.
• Members are recognized by their member ID number.
• Members are instantly notified if their reservation has been made or rejected.
• Members can cancel through text.
• Members are satisfied with the improved service.

Benefits from using SMS for advertising:

• High open rate, about 95%
• Low-cost
• Easily accessible to the company and the clients
• Distinguished short codes and keywords that build up brand image
• Ability to send out mass text blasts at once
• Development of client relationships and loyalty
• Possibility of becoming viral

Mobile marketing is especially helpful for smaller companies who do not have a marketing or an advertising team. SMS allows the company to do direct marketing in a fast, basic, and efficient manner. On the other hand, top dogs of businesses can dabble into SMS to strengthen their client relationships with personalized text messages.

SMS is and will continue to be a useful, cost-effective strategy for advertising as the percentage of cellphone owners skyrockets throughout the world.

Unfortunately, that structure came with its setbacks. Whenever sellers weren’t able to confirm the tickets, StubHub had to call up the sellers to see if they could seal the deal on the tickets. As you can imagine, it wasn’t an ideal process.

StubHub decided to use a Voice Broadcasting service to clean up the unnecessary time-consuming steps. Instead of playing the waiting game from the sellers and having to resort to calling manually, StubHub was now able to send out notifications via automated phone calls. They were also able to create an IVR solution so that sellers would be able to press a key to confirm that the tickets were still in their hands.

The sellers and buyers are now able to complete their transactions without having to be in front of their computer and without worrying when the confirmation may arrive. As it is important for StubHub to be timely, they could benefit from incorporating a Virtual or Cloud Call Center to improve the flow of their sales transactions.

Three Advantages of using SMS Marketing for voting:

1. Fast and easy: Fans were permitted to vote more than once time (ten max) per day through SMS. The other methods only allowed one vote per day. Texting can be done from any location as long as there is reception. It is quick with just the input of a few keys or with the press of “resend” option. Also, texting is an instant process that can be done at any time without derailing a user from whatever it is they are doing.

2. Organized and efficient: Although the NBA allowed fans to vote through other quick alternatives such as Twitter and Facebook, it is messy. With these social media outlets, the votes have to be separated and organized but with SMS, the votes are filed away by keyword. This weeds out a step or two which saves time.

3. Catchy: Sending out a keyword (NBA player’s last name) to a memorable short code (MYNBA) doesn’t allow for much error which can create a buzz. If one user doesn’t find it complicated they are more likely to spread the word to their friends who may in turn use the service on the spot. Using a short code that relates to the name of the organization or project will be most effective in making the service popular.

Their plan was to send out a phone blast to inform people about their promotional drink and offer a discount to over 14,000 participating stores. Their goal was to not only have people try their new item but to also bring in-store sales.

Ways to advertise like Starbucks via SMS Marketing:

1. Purchase/rent a short code and keyword.
2. Post the short code accompanied with your keyword on to your business’ website or on an online advertisement.
3. Once you have received opt-ins, upload all your contacts onto a platform.
4. Create a campaign with your personal message.
5. Send out your text broadcast.
6. Witness the results.

As a result of this text marketing strategy, Starbucks received over tens of thousands of opt-ins.

They were able to foster brand loyalty through building a customer relationship while they increased their sales.

(via Sixteen30)

• Tim Cook at the D Conference: Between the Lines – When a Google employee asked Cook about Apple’s advertising business, Tim Cook joked that it would be very small next to Google’s. “I don’t see it at the same level by any means” as Apple’s core products, he said. “It’s not nearly to us what it is to you, obviously.”
• Check Out The Apps That Are Re-Imagining How We Interact With The World – Mary Meeker just gave a huge presentation about the current trends on the Internet at AllThingsD’s D10 conference. Halfway through the presentation she showed attendees a gigantic list of the way people used to interact with the world — ranging from business meetings to diaries — and how technology has changed them.
• SMS Text Messaging Up Another 12% to 2.3 Trillion Texts In 2011: Since 1985, CTIA has conducted an in-depth analysis of industry wide data drawn from member and non-member wireless service providers. This data reflects the results for companies serving 95% of wireless subscribers as of December 31, 2011.
• 24pc of MMS views come from iPhone devices: Mogreet’s semi-annual mobile marketing analytics report looked at trends that the company has seen on its platform over the past six months. Although iPhones do consume the most MMS content, Samsung devices are close on its tail.