5 More Inspiring SMS Campaigns

One of the most effective ways to learn anything is by example (as you'll know if you've ever had children or dogs!). If you've been struggling to see how you can utilise the power of scheduled SMS messages in your SME promotions, today we check out 5 inspiring examples of cool campaigns from the corporate world.

WKD Peel Off and Win

This youth oriented drink SME marketing campaign was such a success partially because of its target market (precisely the people that are most comfortable with text messaging and most likely to text and win), but also because of its dual purpose.

The 'text to win' competitions that we explored in our last post (like this WKD promotion) are actually of immense value to the retailer … because in the fine print of the competition you can state that the respondents need to agree to having their number added to a database for future promotions. So, you use the text to win campaign to get the numbers, then devise a new campaign once you have a database of interested buyers.

Wrigley's Extra

The execution of this campaign was pretty standard 'text to win' formula - but the details really made it a hit! There were 130 million packs of Extra with codes printed, and the pries were unusual - access to MTV parties and music CDs.

Muller

This was an unusual one, and really needed proprietary scheduled SMS technology to make it happen - it allowed users to send a Valentine's message along with a Muller love heart symbol with a purchase. Mainly aimed at branding - but neat and unusual, and a great success!

Clinique

An excellent example of a company really putting the power of simplicity to work in their scheduled text messages! Consumers had to text in their responses from a full-page advertorial survey (giving the company plenty of business intelligence). The respondents received a coded text voucher that could be redeemed at a Clinique retail outlet for a sample pack matching their skin type.

Hasbro

When the customised version of Monopoly came out, users of Sony Ericsson T68s received a three-slide colour clip designed to push the new game. Not a big campaign, and pretty standard advertising, but considering it is probably the first multimedia campaign they must get props!

Inspiring SMS Campaigns

SME marketing is a very multi-faceted exercise nowadays, consisting of far more than the newspaper/radio/television golden trio of the 90s! Now web-based campaigns, blogs, search engine optimisation and scheduling text messages for marketing have all become viable and cost effective means of branding and drawing customers to your business. It can be difficult to see the way forward with scheduled SMS message promotions, though, so today we aim to lead by example. We're checking out 4 of the biggest and best SMS advertising campaign ideas!

McDonalds and Monsters Inc Text to Win campaign

McDonalds has the big budget to make sure they don't have to do anything by halves, so it's not surprising that their very first scheduled SMS campaign went exceptionally well. Consumers had to text in a code on their box of French fries to see if they had won a prize, either small instant style prizes or major ones.

Guinness and the World Cup

When you are able to capitalisee on the buzz surrounding a big event and tie it inextricably to your scheduled SMS campaign, the results can be massive! A Nightfly-led campaign involved Guinness, St Patricks Day, World Cup soccer and an Asda beer promotion. It was a crazy sort of campaign - some of the main items on offer included wigs of David Beckham's Mohawk and Bobby Charlton's sweep-over - but around 49% of the 10,000 people that received an offer redeemed it!

UIP

This SME promotion campaign is one to think about for when your budget is much bigger, and you're far more used to scheduled SMS message marketing … but is so inspiring we couldn’t leave it out! The teen spook film Long Time Dead was promoted with a text-message intelligent Ouija board that responded to questions like 'What is the meaning of life'!! The average respondent sent 20 messages about the campaign and contacted the board 3 times.

Cadbury's Text to Win

This scheduled SMS message campaign ran during the 2002 Commonwealth Games on 78 million packets of selected Cadbury chocolate bars, with each pack containing a special code to text in and check if you’d won a prize.

Reminders Sent Via Text

There is no better tool for organization than technology. It has become the basis for everything. Why not embrace it? The way business is held is becoming more and more modern every day. Some people may fight it off, but others are choosing to improve right along with it. There are all sorts of companies that are coming up with new and innovative ideas for small businesses to communicate. When a company is growing in production it will also grow in size. One way to keep in touch with all of your employees is by scheduling text messages. Have you looked into this important business tool?

When it comes to scheduled text messages, the process couldn't be simpler. The program is easy to install and use. There is no reason to miss out on this amazing company upgrade. It's great for meeting reminders. All you do is set up different groups on the program and schedule certain text messages to go out to your designated group. It is as easy as that! There is no need to be a computer wizard! Scheduling text messages has never been so easy. The program is not only meant for businesses though. Individual or family use is also an option. Sending out personal and family meeting reminders is a great way to stay in touch. No more missed dentist appointments or dinner reservations.

Are you in charge of any small club socials or sports teams? SMS makes it so much easier to keep in touch with all of the families in your circle. Send out text messages to your soccer moms with practice and game times. With a modern SMS company, you pay per message. How easy and affordable is that? You will not be disappointed when you try this new and modern take on communication. It can only provide benefits for your family or small business so you you never forget an appointment. So whenever you are looking for an upgrade, look into scheduled text messaging. It can help your small business -- and even your family -- flourish.

Scheduled Text Messaging

The need to stay organized is prevalent in today’s small business. There are no missed appointments or late arrivals. In order for a small business to run efficiently everyone must be on top of their game. One way to get ahead of the curve is by staying organized. At Pelicantxt we make that grueling task quite fun and easy. No technology has been developed quite like ours. Pelicantxt has come up with a way for you to send and schedule text messages from your computer!

You see, our entire goal is to keep your business running smoothly and on time. With our new method of spreading the word no appointments will go unattended. No more late show ups for meetings. All you have to do is schedule personal reminder text from your PC and it will be sent out at whatever time of the day you prefer. We even allow you to set up a method to where the same text message can be sent at the same time every day, week, or month. Whatever is best for you!

Our technology is in high demand in the small business industry. It is the most inexpensive, yet quality technology on the market. Our program is not meant for the computer genius either. Anyone with any computer background can pick these few easy steps up quickly. You can even send reminders to your own personal cell phone while you are on the go. You will never forget anything with these simple reminders coming to you all throughout the day. With our program you have the capabilities of scheduling meetings, reminders, text messages, and promotions. We have the best small business tools that anyone could ask for.

The set up is not hard whatsoever. All you do is sign up, create groups, and start sending. With our group tab just select the people you want a certain message to go to and then set the time. You can make them as repetitious as you feel necessary. Signing up is free and so is the software. Also, if you sign up now you will receive one hundred message credits for free. Think of it as our gift to you! As a member of Pelicantxt you can use our network all over the world. We would really love to be a part of your business’ success. So please check us out when looking to upgrade and take advantage of scheduling text messaging!

Networking with Scheduled Text Messaging

Conventional small business tools are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Gone are the days of sending flyers in the mail or using the old method of calling clients on the phone to inform them of new products that are available. One of the hottest and most effective small business tools that is now available is using Scheduled Text Messaging to keep your client base or customers informed.

Several small businesses benefit from using this innovative type of networking. By connecting clients, business associates, potential clients and partners using Scheduled Text Messages helps to make business networking easy for a minimal fee. With many of us now using our cell phones for keeping connected to our business, it only makes sense to use a text messaging service.

One way to use Text Message Scheduling is to send them out to keep employees informed when an upcoming meeting is scheduled. Since many of us are already constantly sending and receiving text messages on a daily basis, this can be a great way to keep employees informed on what is going on inside your small business. It also helps to schedule personal reminders for ones self in order to stay organized not only in your business, but in your personal life as well. This type of service can be used in many facets of ones daily life.

Small business tools that make your business a success should not only be easy to use, they should also be cost effective. Many that own a small business cannot afford to spend large amounts of money on advertising such a radio and television adds. Scheduling SMS Messages to all of your customers cell phones is a more cost effective way to target certain groups. A text messaging service allows the user to send out text messages at certain times and dates. Unlike more traditional advertising like television and radio adds the text messages can be sent out right at break times during the day for instance when customers have time to use their cell phones and check their text messages.

Trying to grow a small business without proper advertising can sometimes set the business up for failure. Using a SME marketing service can help to turn any small business into a success without the large costs of traditional advertising.

Using Reservation Reminders Increases Business

Owning your own restaurant can be quite satisfying. It takes lost of hard work and determination to be a success in the restaurant business. With the down turn of the economy, many restaurants in my area are no longer taking reservation. The reason behind this is because they do not want to hold a table when they already have customers at their restaurant waiting for a table. An empty table means lost profit at the end of the night if the party that reserved the table does not show up.

I did not want to get rid of taking reservations for many of my customers, especially if it was for a large group of people. So, in order to keep this service for my customers, I decided to start using Schedule Text Messaging as a reminder to my customers when they have made a reservation earlier in the week.

Since I have been using Scheduling Text Messages for my customers, I no longer have tables sitting empty. When this reminder goes out it reduces the number of no shows. This service has helped increase my business. During the holiday season and with the upcoming summer tourist season, my customers will never forget about their dinner reservations. Many of my customers enjoy this service since many of us lead such a busy lifestyle and keep track of everything with our cell phones.

I have also started using this service for my employees when I need to Schedule meetings. My employees never forget to show up now to staff meetings and there is no confusion on when and where the meeting will be held. It keeps my staff and I organized during our busy times of the year.

Good and efficient Small business tools are hard to find. The PelicanTxt.com has helped to increase my business in a slow economy where many of my competitors are slowly going out of business. I even use this service to schedule personal reminders for my family and friends when upcoming events are going on at the restaurant. Without this service, I have no idea where my business would be.

Stay on Schedule

Are you looking for a way to stay organized? If you are like me, then organization is the only way to get things done. That is exactly the same idea that pelicantxt supports. They have created an innovative way to send mass text messages without having to write each and every single one of them over and over again. We all have pretty busy and chaotic lives. Who has time to send 20+ text messages every day at a specific time? Pelicantxt not only realizes this problem, they have created a way to fix it. Their goal is to aid your small business in this small yet efficient way. They have created a way for you to schedule certain text messages to be sent out as often or as little as you want at any given time that you select. You can schedule personal reminders to be sent out for meetings, appointments, and socials. This product is guaranteed to save you money and relieve the stress of no-shows. You can organize multiple groups and have specific notifications sent out to each.

We are having a discount going on right now. If you sign up today then you will receive 100 text message credits for free. This system is also a great way to market your company. You can schedule text messages to be sent about certain promotional deals your company is having to your biggest clients. Signing up is completely free for our innovative way of communicating. All you have to do to get started is purchase a certain amount of bulk credits. The rest is up to you. We keep up with your account so that you do not have to. This is scheduling made easy. No longer will your employees have excuses for missed appointments. There is proof that the notification is sent to your employees. It also frees up your hands to do something else with your much consumed extra time. Our customer testimonials tell all about our product satisfaction. We do not disappoint. Pelicantxt delivers results.

Our website provides step-by-step directions on how to use this program so no one will be left in the dark. You are not required to be technologically savvy to use our program. The computer and cell phone use are both extremely easy and fool proof. The next time you are scheduling a big meeting for all of your employees then look us up.

No More No-Shows

Put an end to cancellations or missed appointments and ensure you are remembering all appointments whether business or personal. Life moves quickly and keeping track of every detail when it comes to your schedule or your family’s schedule can become overwhelming. Perhaps you have teenagers who are on the go constantly and continue to miss appointments you have scheduled for them. With a system that will send a text to you to remind you of upcoming appointments or meetings you can rest assured the days of missing those important moments will be behind you and your teenager. No longer will you find yourself trying to struggle to remember all you have to accomplish and places you have to be as well as your child. You can have a quick text confirm the appointments or meetings you and your family have each time you schedule something. From doctor appointments to practices to family gatherings, you can be sure you will never forget one again.

The perfect reminder system for sports club organizers, restaurant reservations reminders, and dentist and doctor appointments even social club organizers. On line you can become a part of a large group of business owners, housewives, teenagers and professionals who take advantage of a service that will text you reminders of important dates and times as they approach. You can cut the cost of no shows in your office or restaurant and put an end to your business costing you money when people do not show. In the blink of an eye and with the push of a few buttons you can ensure that your client, friend or family member remembers their promise. You can say goodbye to sitting around waiting on someone to show when you take advantage of a service that has been saving business owners money and families confusion with a simple text reminder sent to the phones you request.

You can make sure your clients are all notified all at once when an important event or business opportunity becomes available instead of having to send text one by one. You can be sure your friends are reminded of your night out plans or important gathers, even be take comfort in the fact that your son or daughter will arrive at their appointments without you having to constantly remind them. Start to simplify your life today with the service that has been reducing cost for small business by reducing missed appointments and the service that has simplified individuals lives rather business or personal.

Metrics for SMS Marketing: An Overview

Without metrics, you are trapped by that famous conundrum. "Half of the money is spend on advertising is completely wasted. I just have no idea which half," John Wanamaker said. Well, in the age of technology that doesn’t have to be the case. Metrics measurement and monitoring is easiest to enact with web-based advertising, but just as possible with text message SME marketing. We look at how!

Reply mechanisms for metrics

If you want to measure the success of your campaign, it is essential that you design it so that you have a trackable method of knowing which people take action after they read your ad. In text message SME marketing, this usually means that a reply mechanism is included.

You'll need to find a program that allows people to send texts, while the network charge for them goes to you, however. This is especially true in some instances. Will your audience be willing to spend 20 cents simply to learn more about something? Will they be willing to spend 20 cents to have a chance at winning an iPod? Will they be willing to spend 20 cents to give their opinion on something? Put yourself in their shoes (try to be as unbiased as possible).

Different reply numbers for different campaigns

You can also get a sense of how your promotions are working across different demographics by having different reply numbers for different advertisements. For example:

• Have people reply-text to 11100 in the ad you place in Cleo magazine, and reply-text to 11104 to the ad you place in the New York Times.
• When you send out your messages, group them by demographics. When you know a customer's sex, age, location and so on, send a grouped text message asking them to reply to a specific number.

This way you get a feel for how different groups respond to certain promotions.

How to Prevent No-Shows: Restaurants

No-shows are a killer in any business, but can be particularly insidious in the hospitality industry. When somebody makes a booking, you have that table reserved for at least an hour in advance … and every 15 minute block that nobody is sitting there, is money going down the drain! Reservation systems are an essential part of owning a restaurant, but if you find no-shows are stifling your business, we look at some tools and tactics to help, ranging from scheduling text messages, to taking deposits and other purely process-based methods.

Push for online bookings

Start advertising online bookings over phone-based bookings, and put a system in place for senior staff or the restaurant itself to be alerted when a new booking is made. There are plenty of these systems available - they take a bit of development, but are wonderful once in place. When you have your online booking system, you can take a deposit via Paypal or credit card, which would of course come of the cost of the meal.

Give people the opportunity to cancel easily if required

This is a two-part process that is extraordinarily effective at preventing no-shows. You can set up a text-message scheduling system, where your computer will automatically send a text message to confirmed bookings at a certain period before their arrival time - perhaps an hour. If someone has simply forgotten about their booking, this will remind them! If you incorporate a reply feature into your system, you can also catch people who no longer want to come, but relieve them of the perceived burden of telling you themselves. Have them text 'Yes' to keep their booking, and 'No' to cancel it, when you schedule the text message.

Keep a 'waiting list'

When you are booked out, ask people that ring for a booking if they would like to be notified of cancellations. This isn’t so much a preventive measure, as damage-control - but still a vital part of managing no-shows in your business.

Personal Reminders for Busy Lifestyles

Running a doctors office can be a lot of work. When I first took overseeing the day-to-day operations of my husband’s busy office, I had no idea how hard everyone worked to keep it running smoothly. I wanted to find ways to make his employees' jobs easier. After all, they were the backbone of the practice -- without them, my husband’s practice would not be as successful as it is.

The first thing I did was to find computer programs that worked better for the receptionists and the nurses. I knew by doing this would help with relaying information from the front of the office to where the patients were being examined without the nurses having to run back and forth. This seemed to really help with efficiency in the office so the patient was not left waiting on the nurses and the doctor.

The best new office tool that we have now incorporated into the office is using the Scheduling Text Messages as reminder to patients on when their appointment. This has helped to cut the cost of no-shows. It has also helped keeping the receptionist more organized and allows her to efficiently reschedule or schedule appointments for patients.

We have now started using Scheduling SMS Messages in other areas of our business. To keep up with the many demands of the medical practice, we send out text messages to inform our staff when there are upcoming meetings or when there are conferences that we all need to attend regarding the medical practice.

The Text Message Scheduling has been a hit with our patients. They like being reminded when check up is approaching or if someone has cancelled and they can get in to see the doctor sooner. This helps a lot during the cold and flu season when the office is really busy.

Parents enjoy our medical practice having this service when it is time for their children to receive their immunization shots and check up at the beginning of the school year. This is a great reminder tool for them since many of us lead such busy lifestyles and are always on the go.

No matter if our patients need a check up or are having serious health issues, Scheduled Text Messages can be a great small business tool. Using this type of messaging service has helped our office run like a well oiled machine.

Organizing a Pool League with Schedule Text Messaging

For most of my childhood, my great uncle owned the local pool hall. Growing up around the pool hall and working with my great uncle every summer when I was home from college, I learned to play pool. My brothers and I were always in and out helping out our great uncle whenever he needed extra help during pool tournaments. Not only was this where we worked all those summers in college it was a family business.

When our great uncle passed away he left my brothers and I the pool hall in his will. We were saddened by his passing but excited to be able to run the family business. My brothers and I updated some of the pool tables and added a few more modern touches to the business. One of the first things that we did was started using SME marketing to promote our business. The response was great and we have been seeing an increase in business and acquiring many new customers. This has amazed my brothers and I since many of the other pool halls in the area have been struggling.

With all the new business that we have been getting by using this service, we have started forming more and more pool leagues. We have in-house leagues now seven days a week playing in our hall. With the influx of teams we have started using Scheduling Text Messages in order to keep each team informed on league news and updates. Our players really like this service and it has helped keep each team captain very organized an up to date on events.

Since we have started using Scheduling Text Messaging in our family business, our competition cannot figure out our secret for success with the struggling economy, when so many other business in the area have closed. Not only does the text messaging service keep our customers organized and informed, it also helps with keeping our employees up to date with the daily goings on at the pool hall. This service has been one of the best business tools when there are schedule changes or upcoming work meetings that our employees need to know about. This also keeps our employees organized and informed on what is going on the daily operations of our business. This is one new addition to the family business that we are all grateful that we have added.