Demographically Targeted Promotions Ideas for Music Stores

Demographic targeting is one of the key success factors in any SME marketing plan. It means that you identify a subset of your customers, create a promotion especially for them, and then let them know about it! Music is one of the things that appeals to humans on a very basic level, and music stores get an enormous range of customers. Today we are looking at several individual demographically targeted promotions ideas that music stores owners can send out via scheduled SMS message tools.

Building your database

Music stores, like most retailers, do business with customers in person and therefore do not maintain a database of contact details. This means that the first step in your SME marketing plan, before you can send out an offer, is to gather contact details. There are several ways you can do this:

• Set up a store membership where those who have your details on file get automatic discounts and are eligible for monthly draws
• Set up several competitions where a condition of going into the prize draw is providing permission to remarket to the customer at a later date. Note that by law people must be able to opt out of these … but if you send good offers, most won’t!
• Set up a website to complement your physical store, and use the delivery contact details from that as your database.

What to Offer?

Here are some ideas for offers you can send out in your scheduled SMS messages to start building up your balance sheet:

• Buy a top 40 album, get a CD single of your choice for free: Young people don’t have much money, and they listen to plenty of top 40 music! Send this out to everybody in your database who is 18 or younger
• In-store CD signing with local musician: This will be popular with the people that make up the musician's demographic. The easiest way to figure that out is to ask them! You'll get an enormous cross-section of people that come to signings; it all depends on the artist.
• Buy any album, get 70% off kids' music: Kids usually can’t buy their own music -- you'll have to make parenting status part of your initial survey to enter the competition or get a store membership.
• 10% off gift cards: More time-targeted than demographically targeted, this type of promotion always goes well if you send out yourscheduled SMS messages around Christmas, Mother's Day and Father's Day.

How to Prevent No-Shows: Doctor's Offices

No-shows really cut into your business bottom line -- there's nothing that hurts small business more. In a doctor's office, there are usually plenty of patients available to fill the gaps -- if only you knew the gap was coming! Today we are looking at how to prevent no-shows in your doctor's surgery, tactfully and inexpensively.

The gold standard: Scheduling SMS reminders

A call may help cement the appointment better in people's minds -- yet they can be seen as intrusive, take time and labor hours and cost money to execute. A scheduled SMS message is:

• Less intrusive
• Takes less time to check
• Can be automated
• Doesn’t cost phone call rates (which can be high if a large percentage of patients use cells as their primary phones)

However, this is but one part of a successful anti-no-show plan!

General communication

Let patients know that you depend on them to let you know when they can’t make an appointment. Set up a dedicated SMS line for this purpose -- try to link the mobile number to your phone number to make it easy for patients to remember. This way people don’t have to wait on hold to tell you that they can’t make it. You may be able to link this to your scheduled SMS messages for reminders.

Consider setting a cancellation fee

Cancellation fees are becoming more popular among doctor's offices. While it is often not practical to take an appointment deposit (due to the high number of appointments in a day), cancellation fees have proven to discourage people from not showing up. You will need to consider various factors, however:

• There can be a collections cost associated if people choose not to pay
• Cancellation fees can create patient ill-will
• If your practice is one where patients frequently encounter long waits, cancellation fees can be seen as unfair; ie, the doctor or practice must be compensated for their lost time, but the patients waiting for their appointments do not.

One unique idea is to add a cancellation surcharge to the patient's next appointment. This removes the cost of collections, and minimizes ill-will. Consider waiving the fee for patients that actually call and let you know in advance, even on the same day/ Also, make sure your cancellation policy is clearly published and communicated to all patients if you plan to charge for missed appointments.

Organization: Job stockpiling

If the percentage of no-shows at your practice is relatively low, it can help to simply keep a stockpile of jobs that can be performed at any time, with little notice. Administrative tasks, cleaning unused areas etc can help fill up staff time and while it isn’t quite as good as making money, at least it is not wasted.

Demographically Targeted Promotion Ideas for the Car Service Industry

If you haven’t already heard the virtues of demographic targeting in advertising, especially SME promotions, you are about to! Demographic profiling is used by the most successful businesses worldwide, and gives you the most reliable way of reading a customer's mind. The car service industry is one that is typically rich in demographic information, related to both the owner, and the car itself. Here we give you four neat ideas for targeting your scheduled text message promotions to certain segments of your customer base … and boosting your profits as a result!

For mechanics

1. Half-hour, half-price vital checkups: This will be targeted at women; this section of the population is much more likely to either forget to do basic maintenance or not know how. Build your reputation and create great branding for your business by offering 50% off half-hour vital checkups, where the tire pressures are reset, coolant, washer fluid and oil topped up, basic safety checks made and quick tune-ups done. These scheduled text messages should get a great response.
2. Half-price on window tinting: There are a couple of demographic segments among your customers that can benefit from this promotion. Mothers with young children will be looking to keep their car cool and shaded, for the kids. Men with hot cars, who spend a decent number of dollars on modifications for their rides, will also be interested. Use text message scheduling to send out the promotion to just the hot car owners if you don’t have family info for your customers. Partner up with a window tinting place to have this done if you don’t have the capability.

For car wash services

3. Free wax with a full service detail: Customers who are getting their cars detailed are those whose time is more valuable to them than yours is … in other words, big earners who have little leisure time. You can deduce this by the model of car your customers drive, or else specifically collect household income demographics and utilize them in your text message scheduling of promotions.
4. Buy four automated car washes, get your fifth free: This utilizes loyalty marketing principles as well as the convenience and excellent response rate of text message scheduling in an SME promotion. Issue a loyalty card to customers which they can either swipe at the point of entry to the car wash, or have stamped by a clerk to receive their fifth wash free. Simply target this to people that you know have used the service before.

Marketing Your Business With Text-to-Win Competitions

Running a creative-minded competition, or one with minimum product purchase requirements, can be one of the most effective PR events around. One of the easiest ways of administering competitions is with small business tools like text message services. Today we take an overview of the positives and negatives of marketing with competitions for small business.

The pros and cons of competitions for SME promotions

Competitions are as prone to ups and downs as any other SME marketing tool. However, when you carefully structure them, most of the weight is on the positive side. Competitions can:

• Get heartfelt, positive reviews and recommendations for your product from the people announcing or advertising the competition.
• Create media interest, especially if the prize is large. Press releases could get coverage in local media when the competition is announced, when the winner is drawn, and when the winner has received their prize.
• There are quite a few industries where prizes will not cost the business anything extra -- for example, free nights in a hotel and free flights (if the seats or rooms would be empty anyway) cost nothing but gain great exposure. For many businesses in service industries, SME promotions with free services cost very little to fulfill.
• There is the opportunity to gather marketing data about your audience, by requiring demographic information to be considered in the competition.

Some things to watch out for when SME marketing with competitions:

• There is an entire subset of professional competitors who will enter thousands of competitions every year. Little thought goes into these entries. For best effect, make your competition related to something that forces people to think about the brand.
• Depending on the format (for example, quiz shows), your product may get limited exposure. Run your own competitions rather than sponsoring part of a game show, for better SME marketing effect.

Text message scheduling services are invaluable in administering competitions. They allow you to digitally collect names, addresses and phone numbers, as well as easily validate entry criteria (for example, when people must text in a barcode to win). They also give you a guaranteed method for contacting the winner -- a large proportion of competition prizes actually go unclaimed!

Technology on Demand

Having worked in the cellular phone industry for many years, I saw a lot of the newest technology the industry had to offer. Just a few short years ago, the solution to instant contact was the pager. Today, everybody from executives to high school athletes utilize text message scheduling. Businesses everywhere have begun using text messaging to remind associates of meetings, to remind patrons of dinner reservations, to remind members of a team what time practice is, and to remind kids what time their curfew is. There is a huge market in scheduling text messages which is proven to save not only time but considerable amount of money.

When I began working in the cellular phone business it was a very young industry. Twenty years later, business is booming and technology continues to meet the demands of a fast-paced world. The office is no longer a cubicle; the office is anywhere a person needs to be. Associates can meet with twice as many clients as new appointments are sent directly through text message scheduling. Everything from doctors appointments to dinner reservations are being sent through the air straight to your phone; instant communication.

Restaurants are sending reminders to their patrons to help cut down on no-shows. The restaurant sends out the reminder to the patron and if the patron is unable to keep the reservation they simply call the call back number to cancel. This allows the restaurant to book somebody else into that slot, earning them money they might have lost had the patron not received the reminder by text message scheduling.

This method of instant notification is quickly becoming one of the basic small business tools used around the world. Thousands of people are receiving scheduled text messages every minute of the day making business and life more efficient and less stressful. Doctors' offices are adding this method of appointment scheduling to their businesses as well. When a patient schedules their next appointment, the receptionist offers the patient the option of text message scheduling. On the day of or before the appointment the preprogrammed appointment is sent to the patient’s phone reminding them of the appointment. This type of technology has saved millions of dollars in lost time that can now be filled with a patient that can make the appointment.

Technology is ever-changing and innovated new ideas are flooding the market to help lessen the time crunch and to help people live a more stress free life. Scheduled text messages are just the tip of the iceberg in this ever changing industry of small business tools.

9 Cool Demographically Targeted Promotion Ideas for the Beauty Industry

If you've read our post about making sure that your text message scheduling is demographically targeted, then your brain is probably ticking away, wondering how you can apply it to your own business! Today we are starting a series of posts looking at promotional ideas that you can send out via scheduling SMS messages, and target to different groups relatively easily. This post is specifically about the beauty industry, where much demographic data can be easily assumed. Give that ticking brain a rest, and read on!

For hairdressers

1. Free touchup with a haircut: This one can be targeted towards any customers that have come to have touchups previously. Beware of assuming that people will need gray touchups based on an assessment of their age, though. Yes, it is a fairly easy thing to guess -- but at worst you may offend a customer away from your salon completely!
2. Three free foils with a whole-head color: Target this to any customers that have had their entire head colored before. You can also target this to female customers in the younger age brackets.
3. 10 minute head massage with cut and treatment purchased: Male customers tend to be most comfortable with females doing this sort of task -- if you have a mostly female staff, do some scheduling SMS messages with this promo to male customers.

For estheticians

4. Free bikini wax with full leg wax: This one is obviously for the ladies! You could further demographically target your text message scheduling to women that have already had bikini waxes with you.
5. Half price back waxes this month: This one would be a male-oriented promotion. It is safest to target to men that have had a back wax with you before, but there is relatively low risk of offense even with males who haven't.
6. Take home free fruit peel with any laser wrinkle reduction treatment: Target this to customers in the older age brackets. Just don’t go too low -- when you’re dealing with the females who are getting to this stage of life, you could cause offense by suggesting they need it.

For nail technicians

7. Free decals with any pedicure/manicure combo this month: Younger customers are more likely to be into decals, but you could target this to all females and broaden your rang considerably.
8. 60% off manicures for men this month: At least one of the demographics you'll use for scheduling SMS messages about this promotion is obvious! Think a bit further though, and you can safely narrow your audience even more. Men in the trades, who work with their hands, are unlikely to want manicures -- they'll be wrecked in no time.

For make-up artists

9. Get your wedding makeup done, have a bridesmaid's basic package done for free: Wedding makeup is often a big procedure planned well in advance. If you have a large enough customer base you could target this to anyone who has rung for information or called in for prices. Alternatively, target it to all women in the 20-50 age ranges.

Ten Businesses That Can Profit from Text Message Scheduling

Text message scheduling is one of the newest and most powerful marketing tools. People are moving away from landline usage (especially with capped mobile phone plans that are cheaper than traditional line rental). In some cases, people are reluctant to provide landline phone numbers to businesses to reduce the number of telemarketing and research calls they get, so provide mobile numbers instead. The fact is that they are an untapped resource for many businesses -- we look at ten businesses that can use text message scheduling and bulk messages to communicate with their customers for increased profit.

• Dentists: Dentist appointments are often booked weeks in advance, and you probably find a high no-show rate, simply due to forgetfulness! Text message scheduling can help reduce the number of no-shows in your dentistry practice.
• Mechanics: Car services and inspections are two regular activities that all cars need. You can send out six-monthly reminders for your customers that their service is due, or let them know when they are required to have the car checked out.
• Tattooists: Another business where appointments are often booked quite a while in advance, tattooists can help decrease the number of no-shows with text message reminders.
• Insurance companies: Your customers' policies will expire at regular intervals throughout the year. While most companies send a paper bill for renewal, why not combine that renewal date with a special offer to increase your business? Offer a package deal on home-contents and car insurance, or a discount for people insuring a bike at the same time they renew their car insurance.
• Hairdressers: The shorter delay between making an appointment and fulfilling it for hairdressers means that no-shows aren't as frequent. However, you typically know how much of your week is taken up on a Monday. If it is looking a little quiet, send out a special promotion to your regulars, offering free foils with a cut, or product discounts. You can also use text message scheduling to remind people to get a trim or have their roots done.
• Pizza shops: You will probably have a rich and full database of mobile phone numbers, with the new standard practice of taking a phone number for an order. Why not use these to tell people about a daily discount or special offer?
• Veterinarians: Immunization scheduling offers a great reason to get in touch with your customers and remind them when treatments are due.
• Cinemas: Online bookings have become more and more common, as people prefer not to stand in line at cinemas. Use text message scheduling to confirm bookings -- provide your customers with a confirmation number in the email.
• Restaurants: You can use text message scheduling to tell people who have made a booking what to expect at your restaurant. You may want to let them know to take a seat and they'll be with you, or come to the counter and order, as well as for any special offers you have going.
• Doctors: Just as with veterinarians, there are a wealth of medical procedures that need to be made at regular intervals. Child immunizations, pap smears and mammograms are good examples of opportunities for text message scheduling.

The Numbers Don't Lie

You’ve heard us talk about the benefits of social networking, but have you ever wondered what the facts really say? What do the experts say about social networking and its many benefits? We’ve done some research and thought you might find this information to be pertinent to your needs.

Ofcom research shows that just over one-fifth (22%) of adult internet users aged 16+ and almost half (49%) of children aged 8-17 who use the internet have set up their own profile on a social networking site. For adults, the likelihood of setting up a profile is highest among 16-24 year olds (54%) and decreases with age.

Adult social networkers use a variety of sites, with the main ones being Bebo, Facebook and MySpace. It is common for adults to have a profile on more than one site -- on average, each adult with a social networking page or profile has profiles on 1.6 sites, and 39% of adults have profiles on two or more sites. Half of all current adult social networkers say that they access their profiles at least every other day.

The site people choose to use varies depending on the user. Children are more likely to use Bebo (63% of those who have a social networking site profile), and the most popular site for adults is Facebook (62% of those who have a social networking profile). There is also a difference between socio-economic groups: ABC1s with a social networking profile were more likely to use Facebook than C2DEs, who were more likely to have a profile on MySpace.

It’s easy to see from the numbers that social networking has incredible benefits both on the personal and business levels. If you’ve never considered social networking as a way to promote yourself or your company, today is the day to start!

We have also researched PelicanTxt.com and feel confident that this network is the next big thing. What an exciting prospect for small business and people who are seeking to promote themselves to get in on the ground level of a growing and promising social network!