Did you know that in Quarter One this year, business marketing spend was up for the first time in two and a half years? That’s good news for the economy and even better news for those looking to see whether the time has come to review their ‘recession policy’ and really focus on driving their marketing strategy forward.

In times of recession, as we’ve seen recently, the marketing budget has often been the first casualty. However, we believe that the key is not to reduce your marketing, but to make it work smarter for you. Digital and mobile methods, such as SMS marketing, are the fastest growing areas of marketing for every type of business - and it’s not surprising when you see how read and response rates for bulk SMS campaigns far outstrip anything offered by traditional print advertising or email marketing.

So as business confidence is now matched by decision makers starting to re-evaluate the enhanced value of their marketing budget, what’s the best way forward for a business which needs to decide how best to connect with current and potential customers?

1. Look at your marketing mix with fresh eyes
If you’ve historically used direct mail or e-marketing campaigns, don’t assume that what worked in the past is right for today. A recent study by myb2bonline.com has shown that recession-hit SMEs have continued to send out campaigns based on old data – thereby increasing the ‘junk mail’ element and giving direct mail even less credence in the eyes of the consumer. If you’re passionate about attracting new customers, it’s time to think about how today’s consumer wants to be talked to. That’s where SMS marketing comes into its own, as the leading open rate marketing communication route.

2. Look for new business – but don’t forget those who have stuck by you
When on a new business marketing drive, it can be all too easy as a small business to put all your energies into finding those elusive new income streams, whilst forgetting to look after your bread and butter – your existing customers. Make a rule that your marketing activity should be 50/50 new and old business. Why not use your SMS marketing to send a loyalty voucher to existing customers who have fallen out of touch – and a referral reward to those who are still using you? What way, you’ll keep your customers happy and help drive new, recommended business to your door.

3. Make every marketing communication count
Whilst marketing spend is up and business confidence grows, it’s still wise to look after every single marketing pound in your business. Make sure your marketing is strategized, targeted and includes a definite call to action – every single time. General awareness marketing is hard to measure and even harder to justify in the current climate. Create a forward plan for your strategy and make sure you’re covering a good mix of your product or service portfolio.

Don’t be afraid to use seasonal and topical elements to tie your marketing communications to, but make sure that there really is a genuine and relevant product link. For instance, if you sell football shirts, all your customers should be receiving an SMS marketing message right now as World Cup fever hots up – but if you’re a florist, offering bouquets in all the World Cup teams' colours is unlikely to be seen as smart marketing, more like ‘jumping on the bandwagon’.

With ever increasing awareness of the environment and pressures upon businesses to demonstrate their ‘green credentials’, we take a look at the environmental benefits of using bulk SMS text messaging as a business communication and marketing tool.

 The commercial benefits of utilising SMS marketing to deliver targeted and relevant messages to both customer base and prospects are well documented. It costs far less than print advertising and, according to the Mobile Marketing Association, delivers 5 times the response rate of direct mail.

What’s more, the use of text messages as reminders has been proven to increase customer retention – ‘Your MOT is due on…’ – whilst businesses and service providers from hairdressers to dentists have seen improved attendance rates for appointments as a result of using such reminders.

So, with all these benefits, text messaging and bulk SMS are good for your business. Better still, they are also good for the environment.

How environmentally friendly is SMS marketing?

The obvious answer is that SMS marketing saves on paper and saving paper saves trees. Did you know that to produce 10,000 sheets of standard A4 paper takes 2.5 mature trees? But that’s not the half of it.
Even if the trees are from sustainable sources, the chain of events from felling those trees to a letter or nice glossy leaflet landing on a customer’s doormat leaves a huge carbon footprint. There are chemicals used in paper manufacture and contained in the inks or toners utilised for printing, plus there’s the discharge or wastage associated with these processes. And if the customer simply throws away the communication unread, rather than recycle it, it is most likely destined for landfill.

It is difficult to exactly quantify the benefits, but SMS marketing has the lowest carbon footprint of all types of mass advertising, and, anecdotal evidence suggests it is 50 times more environmentally friendly than printed methods.

Could SMS marketing replace print for all communications?

It is unlikely that all businesses would ever reach a point where they would not use traditional print advertising and communication in some form. But SMS marketing and the use of text messages as reminders reduces the reliance upon such methods and in this ever-more digitally focused world, can’t be beaten for targeting and speed of communication.

Moreover, if someone responds to a mobile marketing message and requests further information, any printed material you send out as a result of this request is a better use of resource, as it’s in direct response to a request and hence will most likely be retained and acted upon.

How can I start using SMS marketing to make my business communication greener?

A Google search for ‘SMS Marketing’ reveals a multitude of products and services available on numerous platforms and at a wide range of costs. It can all be a bit confusing.

TextMagic makes it simple. We have a number of tools that can be implemented quickly and easily, with highly competitive prices that make your marketing budget go further. Examples are Email to SMS, which provides the ease of combining your SMS marketing with your existing email client and TextMagic Online, which provides the simplicity of a highly functional, easy to use web-based texting software product, meaning you can implement your marketing communications from any computer – not just in the office.

TextMagic’s software solutions are designed to be intuitive to use and efficient to conduct your business communications from – meaning that your TextMagic SMS marketing not only gives you a greater opportunity of engaging with your customers, but frees up more time to spend managing the other areas of your business. Why not try it out today? All businesses can benefit from a free trial - so you can experience the power of SMS marketing without spending a penny.

As the new UK coalition government begins to form its policies, we take a look at what’s in store for the SME

In the last couple of weeks, it’s been difficult to forsee how the change of power in British politics would shape the economy as far as small business is concerned. Liberal and Conservative pre-election policies have often looked as if never the twain shall meet. However, news released  by the UK media, including on the BBC website and Telegraph Online seems to mark that the political wrangling to reach agreements on policy seems to have drawn – temporarily – to a close.

It’s been a tough time over the last few years for small businesses, and likewise marketers, in the UK –so what has the new Government got in store to help get Britain back on its feet?

UK Government Sets Out Plans to Reduce Small Business Regulations

Great news for small business – there are plans afoot to reduce regulation and red tape, which means those in business with limited resources can get on with what they do best – selling their services and products into the economy.

Taxation is always a sour note with any small business, in particular the time and effort it takes to produce accounts. The new government has committed to carrying out a review of all small business taxation, including automatic small business rate relief, a reduction in corporate tax and increasing the current threshold of employers’ National Insurance contributions.

The Government is also looking into how to make it easier for people to set up in business, promote small businesses within public sector procurement and help improve the competitiveness of the UK tourism industry. It’s all good news for the thousands of SMEs out there who have ridden out the rough times of recent years.

Marketing Initiatives for Small Business in the UK

So what does it mean in terms of being able to market your business in the new economic climate? We’re hoping that the new streamlined rules for small businesses will mean that entrepreneurs and business owners will have more time to dedicate to building their businesses – as well as a little more in the bank to support marketing initiatives and keep on communicating with their customer base. With mobile and SMS marketing increasingly on the rise and the numbers of smartphones on the streets of countries around the globe rising by the day, this year is definitely the time to engage a new style of marketing and take advantage of the fresh political and economic climate.

We’ll be watching with interest how UK Government policy unfolds over the coming weeks and months, as will, no doubt, every business in the country. Could the next twelve months really spell the end of economic gloom and doom? We certainly hope so.

Is your business in need of a little marketing savvy in order to shape up for the summer season, bulk SMS marketing strategies can give you just the push you need. It’s a whole new way to communicate with your customers, achieving unparalleled response over any other marketing media and creating that ‘personal touch’ which customers love – bringing them back to your door again and again. Take a few tips from the bulk SMS messaging experts, TextMagic, and you'll be on the first step to making your sales figures really shine!

1. Planning a sale but not sure how to get the message out? Why not create a real PR story and send a bulk SMS message to your customer base letting them know that there’s an extra 10% off on the first morning of the sale? Encourage them to pass on the message to anyone who could benefit from the extra savings – and you’ll have a crowd at your shop front when you open for business. It’ll make the local newspapers and get your business some great free publicity – and who can say no to that?

2. Coupons are a great way to make customers sit up and take notice – and to get those slow-moving stock lines out of the door. Don’t waste time printing and distributing your coupons in the local paper or door to door – it’s costly and also unkind to the planet’s resources. Go green and get results by sending bulk SMS messages to your customer base containing a ‘text coupon’, which they can show at the till to get claim that money off.

3. Remember that the best bulk SMS marketing campaigns are two-way rather than one-way. Any campaign that encourages customers to interact with your brand or company brings the customer closer to you, both operationally and emotionally. BBC Radio 1, for example, use text messaging to great effect by encouraging their listeners to text in with ideas, thoughts and feedback – which is vital for any business to learn to understand their customers and perform better. Think about whether you could use interactive bulk SMS marketing to gain valuable feedback about your business performance and help you do things better. Don’t forget – it’s good business practice to include an incentive, such as a discount. If a customer puts them self out for you, make sure you return that favour.

4. Everyone loves competitions! Help your customers feel that they’re gaining extra value from your business by regularly contacting them via bulk SMS with promotions and competitions. Use SMS short codes (five figure SMS text numbers) to help hone the entry process and make entering those competitions easy and fun for everyone.  SMS short codes give your company real identity and are far more memorable for the consumer, meaning you’ll get much better uptake on your promotions.  Before you know it, you’ll have a flurry of customers texting ‘WIN’ - or any chosen word - and as a consequence creating high profile awareness for your product or brand.

5. Keep your customers happy by only texting them with relevant offers. You’ll get a much better response to your bulk SMS marketing campaigns if you spend a little time analysing your database for gender, age and buying habits – so that you’re not texting 16 year old girls with your latest offer on gentleman’s hiking boots.  SMS marketing campaigns are effective because they’ve not been infected with the spam issues which make the public so reluctant to open marketing emails these days – so think clever, target your communications well and your customers will love you for it. Even better, your sales will increase as a result.

Don’t forget that the real beauty of SMS marketing is that because people generally open texts as soon as they receive them, you can choose when your marketing campaigns are read. Think clever and you’ll make your sales soar. Not only can you seasonalise your SMS marketing messages – Easter, Christmas and Halloween for example – but you can pick the right time of day when customers will be most receptive to a particular product.  Send out a bulk SMS marketing message about your new lunchtime menu at 11.00am on a Saturday and bring hungry shoppers direct to your door!