SME marketing

5 More Inspiring SMS Campaigns

2010-06-21T19:15:00.001-07:00

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

2010-06-08T17:41:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-14T17:54:00.001-07:00

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

2010-04-26T11:56:00.001-07:00

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

2010-04-15T18:45:00.001-07:00

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

2010-03-20T18:46:00.001-07:00

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

2010-03-10T12:05:00.001-08:00

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

2010-02-18T13:36:00.001-08:00

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

2010-02-10T09:36:00.001-08:00

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

2010-01-17T15:54:00.001-08:00

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

2010-01-17T15:10:00.000-08:00

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.

Demographically Targeted Promotions Ideas for Music Stores

2009-12-10T09:34:00.001-08:00

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

2009-12-03T09:43:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-02T20:42:00.001-08:00

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

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.
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

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.
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

2009-11-02T20:30:00.001-08:00

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

2009-10-21T16:47:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-12T20:09:00.001-07:00

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

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!
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.
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

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.
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.
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

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.
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

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

2009-10-08T20:34:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-28T20:04:00.001-07:00

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!