Txtlocal News - Txtlocal

As the tragedy from last week’s earthquake in Haiti continues to unfold, the Red Cross and other relief organizations have now raised more than $20 million via text message donations. The text donations have been accelerating at a rapid rate, from $5 million last week to more than $20 million today. A huge number of people are picking up their phones to text “HAITI” to 90999, with many making mobile SMS payments for the first time.

Txtlocal.co.uk the UK’s leading supplier of mobile marketing services, have worked with numerous charities across the UK to raise thousands for good causes. SMS can work in a variety of ways for charitable organisations, whether it’s to receive text donations, obtain bids for auctions or just keep fundraisers informed of the latest information; text represents the easiest way to fulfil these for both the charity and the fundraisers.

Alastair Shortland (Txtlocal, technical director) comments “For charities it’s all about reducing the barrier to donating, making it as easy as possible for people to give and then reducing the administration once the money is collected. Text is by far the easiest, fastest and most convenient way to raise multiple small donations. It can be done from wherever donors are, whenever they wish and requires no cash handling/counting and banking, plus donors do not need to input their bank details, write a cheque or visit a bank. It’s all so simple and straightforward”

Alastair continues “It also represents an extremely safe and secure way for fundraisers to raise money. There are none of the associated security risks of collecting cash, no money handling/counting plus the donor can be sure the donation goes directly to their intended charity.”

The recent Comic Relief Kilimanjaro Climb 2009, relied heavily on donors texting CLIMB to 88808 to raise money for the celebrity Kilimanjaro climb. A massive £1.5 million was raised in support of the cause with the vast majority coming from text donations.

Worcester based charity St Richard’s Hospice, recently used Txtlocals SMS Short Code service to raise over £1000 for a charity event. The fundraising event involved a St Richards employee having her hair shaved off in front of a rugby crowd. Spectators were encouraged to make a text donation of £3.00 directly from their mobile phones to contribute to the cause.

Tricia Cavell, fundraising manager at St Richards described the results from their SMS campaigns as excellent “The text service provides the best option for collecting funds on the day. The service makes it easy for people to make an instant donation by simply sending a text message.”

Cavell continues “We have had excellent results from our SMS campaigns.”

How can SMS help your Charity?

Donations – Supporters can text donations directly from their mobile, paid via their phone bill or credit stored on the phone.

Raise Money Interactively – text can be used for potential donors to bid on auctions/reverse auctions or register their interest for forthcoming events

News and Notifications – SMS is easily used to thank attendees for coming to charity events and let them know how much was raised. It can also be used to remind fundraisers of collection dates for pledged/outstanding donations and remind them of entry dates for forthcoming events.

If you’re a charity and wish to get started with an SMS campaign you can do so instantly. Simply sign up at www.txtlocal.co.uk now. Our simple, user-friendly dashboard guides you through the whole process and we’ll even give you 10 FREE credits.

Online SMS text services have provided a vital communication tool for thousands of Schools and Businesses forced to close with little warning during the treacherous snow conditions this week. SMS services such as www.txtlocal.co.uk proved crucial in keeping parents and workers notified of closures in advance.

Morpeth Newminster School in Northumbria was forced to close due to the bad weather.  Head Teacher Paul Lawrence, needed to contact over 600 parents to notify them that the School was closed and text proved vital in helping reach parents quickly.

‘Txtlocal provide a vital service for sending emergency messages. I’m about to send another 600 texts to staff and parents to let them know that we are closed for the rest of the week!’

Jo Kavakeb, of Squirrel Day Nurseries, also found text useful in notifying parents and staff about nursery opening and closing times.

‘We have used Txtlocal’s SMS service this week with great success.  Text is the ideal way to quickly and efficiently inform parents and staff about opening and closing times during this period of adverse weather conditions.’

Recent findings from an independent survey conducted by Populus (2008) found that more than two thirds (68%) of parents wanted their Childs school to use SMS text communication more frequently to inform them about important issues relating to the School.

Txtlocal provide a FREE inbound text system, which enables parents to opt-in to receive text alerts from their Child’s School about matters such as parent’s evening dates, dinner money reminders and even personal texts about good or bad behaviour. Parents can also use the inbound text service to inform the School about their Child’s absence.

The snowy conditions also lead to an influx of small businesses, clubs and community centres signing up to use their service to notify staff about closures and meeting cancellations.

Slimming World, Stockport, use text to contact members and tell them about class cancellations. Consultant Steve Mosby says ‘Sending a text is very personal and this is important. Most of our members have now opted in for text communication about news, events and class cancellations; it’s perfect for instant communication.’

SMS messaging has been used for many years by organisations to send instant SMS marketing promotions and alerts. However, recently it has been used more frequently in emergency situations, as businesses recognise its value in reaching large audiences quickly and efficiently.

Txtlocal MD Darren Daws, describes SMS as the perfect tool for emergency alerts stating “We have had great feedback from customers who use our service for emergency alerts.”

Daws continues ‘We work with golf clubs notifying members that the course is closed due to rain, Schools notifying parents about snow and swine flu closures as well as travel companies notifying passengers about flight cancellations. Text is simply the ideal instant messaging tool, it’s so easy to reach thousands of people instantly with a quick text.’

The Legal Deed Poll Service, are using Txtlocal to generate lots of interest in ‘Santa’ this Christmas.

The London based deed poll company are charging only £10 for people to change their name to ‘Santa’ in time for Christmas. All profits go directly to Great Ormond Street. The Legal Deed Pool Service are raising interest in the fundraising initiative by asking people to Text LEGALLY SANTA to 60777 + their email address.

In a bid to raise their target of £20k not only are they using text but they are also offering one lucky Santa the chance to win £1000. In order to qualify for the £1000 cash prize, entrants must legally change their name to ‘Santa’ by before 3pm on Christmas Eve. The £1000 prize winner will then be announced at 3.30pm on Christmas eve by Christine Hamilton, who famously changed her name to Mrs. British Battleaxe, earlier this year.

Great Ormond Street are delighted with the campaign, ‘We are delighted that the Legal Deed Poll Service will be donating the fee for anyone changing their name to Santa.’

According to Txtlocal, more and more charities are signing up for their low cost text service in a bid to raise funds and support. Well known charities such as Comic Relief and Children in Need often use text communication to encourage donations and this trend is growing amongst smaller charities.

Txtlocal Director Alastair Shortland said ‘Text is so effective for charities; it makes it really easy and convenient for supporters to either make a donation or simply register their interest and support from their mobile handset.’

Alastair continues ‘Text, with Txtlocal is such as affordable way of reaching people instantly. Our credits cost from just 2.6p, which is a fraction of the cost of direct mail, with postage costing from 30p.’

SMS marketing is widely acknowledged for its merits in achieving good response rates. Independent research suggests texts get a response rate of up to 28% compared to a typical direct mail response of 2%. (Source NOP)

If you’re a charity and wish to get started with an SMS campaign you can do so in minutes. Simply sign up at www.txtlocal.co.uk now. Our simple, user-friendly dashboard guides you through the whole process and we’ll even give you 10 FREE credits.

Txtlocal are delighted to be working with Le Cafe Anglais, Porchester Gardens, London.

The critically acclaimed restaurant recently launched their first Txtlocal SMS campaign to promote their second birthday party and achieved outstanding results.

Le Cafe Anglais, have traditionally used email marketing to communicate with customers, however, with thousands of mobile numbers at their disposal, they decided to text their customers instead.

The campaign started with Le Cafe Anglais, sending over 14,000 text messages to customers inviting them to their 2nd birthday party. The text advised recipients to reply for a formal invitation to be sent out to them. All replies were automatically received into ‘Le Cafe Anglais’ Txtlocal inbox for future use.

The text initiative generated an excellent 30% response rate. This is slightly above the average 5% to 28%* industry standards, whilst the average response rate for email marketing is just 4%**.

One of the reasons for the high response rates could be that all text messages were sent from one of Txtlocal’s dedicated inbound numbers, otherwise known as 2-way numbers. By sending texts from the dedicated inbound number, message recipients could simply reply to the message in the same way they would to a text sent off a mobile phone, making the reply process so easy for respondents.

Marina Guirey, who organized the text campaign on behalf of Le Café Anglais said the response rates to the text campaigns far exceeded their expectations ‘We achieved amazing results from our text campaigns. The service was easy to set up and very user-friendly.’

Txtlocals simple, user-friendly messaging service is used by over 30,000 customers to send millions of instant messages and promotions.

Our dedicated inbound number (2 Way SMS) is ideal if you need immediate replies to your text campaigns, or if you wish to practice 2 way SMS. A dedicated inbound number can be rented for £35 per month.

Open a Free Txtlocal Account!
Sign up for a free account at www.txtlocal.com and send texts instantly. Our simple, user-friendly dashboard guides you through the process in minutes and we’ll even give you 10 FREE credits.

*Source NOP

**Business Link.

The whole of the country has been affected by the Postal strike, independent predictions that the postal service could be affected beyond Christmas.

More and more organisations are turning to text messaging as a result; there is no quicker, easier or direct route than by SMS text message. Txtlocal can help you reach your audience in seconds for as little as 2.9p per text.

Text is a superior way to reach your customers

RESPONSE: Texts get a better response than other forms of marketing, including direct mail

Everybody enjoys receiving a text message, SMS marketing gets response rates of up to 28%* compared to an average of just 2% for direct mail.

LOWER COSTS: Reach a customer for under 3p!

Texting is significantly cheaper than direct mail. The last direct mail campaign we assessed cost around 48p for an A5 flyer (including design, printing and postage), compared with costs from just 2.9p for a text.

INSTANT: Texts are instant

Texts are sent instantly, you can even schedule them for a specific time of day to maximise your response (i.e. pizza outlets target customers on their way home from work)

Delivery Receipts

Our user-friendly system allows you to track when a message has been delivered, this tracking is FREE you don’t have to pay extra for recorded delivery.