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.

Unhappy with the response rate on your email marketing campaigns? Now’s the time to change to SMS marketing, the clever alternative to email

 
 

Any company using emails to communicate with its customers will be all too familiar with the issues and frustrations which this style of communication can create. Email marketing has been part of business strategy for many years and due to misuse via selling of data lists, has gone from a convenient and effective method of communicating with a customer base to a strategy which is now largely mistrusted by customers and suffers from poor penetration rates.

So what’s the right alternative to email that will get through to your customers? The answer is SMS.

88% of emails are spam – business SMS gets the message through

It was recently estimated that a huge 88% of emails sent are spam. Unsurprisingly, this means that many of your email messages to your customer base will remain unopened or be sent directly to the junk email folder – not great news for building relationships with your clients. Furthermore, if you have vital information to share with your customers, such as delays on delivery times or the re-arrangement of appointments, how do you get past the problem that your email may never even be opened by your customer?

That’s where the real beauty of business SMS messaging as email alternatives shines through, acting as a lifesaver to your marketing and customer communications.

Four mobile phones sold for every computer – that’s why SMS marketing wins

According to the GSM Association, there are now four mobile phones sold for every one personal computer. Mobile phones invariably stay with their owner 24/7 – which compared to the relatively short time people spend in front of their computers checking their email, just can’t be beaten. Additionally, business SMS messaging services haven’t been affected by the spam issues which the email marketing landscape struggles with, meaning that consumers have a far higher level of trust in SMS messages than they do in email. That’s why an SMS marketing campaign sent to customers as an email alternative will invariably be opened and read – and is most likely to be read at the time of delivery. The latest statistics from market research experts Frost & Sullivan state that the open rate for SMS messages is over 98% - that’s impressive, particularly when you consider you’re likely to get less than a 30% open rate from marketing emails. Business SMS has another benefit over email – you can choose when you want the customer to read your message.

SMS marketing is effective from any computer in the world

There's a vast choice of different ways in which a business can take advantage of SMS technology as part of its marketing strategy. The TextMagic Messenger is a simple and cost-effective way of sending business SMS messages from a Mac or PC and the interface is available in 11 different languages – ideal for today’s businesses operating over many different territories. You don’t even need to be tied to an office computer, as TextMagic Online offers great two-way SMS functionality from a web-based application – meaning that your business communications are truly mobile and you can connect and communicate with your customers wherever you are.

But don’t just take our word for how invaluable SMS messaging is to business – Mrs Rimmer of land and property specialists Rostons Ltd agrees. ‘Our clients have commented on how useful it is to receive a text and it has put us at the forefront of our industry by using a service like this.’

Business SMS messaging delivers an unparalleled penetration rate over email marketing, enabling your business to communicate more effectively with your customer base and build that all-important confidence factor. If you’re serious about getting your marketing messages in front of your customers, then look for an alternative to email - SMS marketing is the only logical option.