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Archive for 2010
Could SMS Service, Txtlocal be the Most Entrepreneurial Company of Year?
Text service Txtlocal promotes business of all sizes
JUNK mail has been made a thing of the past by a business operating from Chester Business Park.
Txtlocal send out text messages to mobile phones up and down the country, on behalf of businesses ranging from Manchester United to Carden Park Hotel.
Managing director, Darren Daws, 40, of Arradon Court, Upton, joined forces with Alastair Shortland to form the business in 2006.
Last year, they opened only their second office nationally in Chester, to tap into the burgeoning interest from businesses in the North West.
Mr Daws moved to Chester after deciding to expand the business from its original site in Malvern.
He said: “We are committed to delivering exceptional customer service and strive to help all businesses achieve their marketing and communication goals.”
Txtlocal now works with more than 40,000 UK businesses and locally they work with Chester Health and Fitness gym at Chester West Employment Park, Carden Park Hotel and Oliver & Co solicitors.
CES UK Ltd, Prodo, Belvoire Lettings, Crest Plus Operations and Spectrum Financial Services are among the others the company promotes.
Nationally, Txtlocal send text messages for heavyweights such as Google, Manchester United, Myspace, Confused.com, Shell, Domino’s and Ladbrokes.
The bosses at Txtlocal are keen to bring their service to businesses, clubs and individuals large and small and enable them to send text messages to groups of people within minutes.
They make it possible for any size of business to do this quickly, easily and cheaply with no set-up fees, monthly fees or commitment.
Source: Laurie Stocks-Moore, Chester Chronicle
Is this the world’s smallest mobile marketing campaign? How £5 can yield massive returns
Five pounds does not buy a lot these days: a pint and two packs of crisps, six songs on iTunes, or even a paperback book. It can also buy an SMS-based mobile marketing campaign that can yield astonishing returns in a matter of hours.
In the grand scheme of things £5 is an inconsequential sum of money to the majority of businesses around the world. Yet it is sufficient to create a marketing campaign using SMS to an opted-in audience of 100 providing details of an immediate promotion.
For example, with only a handful of bookings, a beauty salon in the north of England, realized it would have to do something to ensure that its team of hairdressers would not be idle for the majority of the day. So the company sent out a quick promotion costing £4.90 to deliver 100 texts to their database saying something along the lines of ‘get your haircut today and receive a discount’, and the salon generated a significant number of appointments.
Then there was the instance of a Dominos Pizza franchisee spending around £350 on an SMS campaign and generated approximately £10,000 of revenues from two minutes work. Or the three Subway outlets used txtlocal to collect data on its customers based on a customer receiving a free cookie by texting a shortcode, the company generated about 5,000 names and significantly increased the lunch traffic.
These campaigns were delivered by txtlocal, a five-year old company with claims of being the leading provider of text message delivery solutions in the UK. Its list of clients reads something of a Who’s Who, ranging from the powerhouse brands of Google, Pizza Hut, Shell, Manchester United, Barclays, Renault and L’Oreal. But perhaps more importantly, it has smaller clients, ranging from universities to local businesses, such as University of Liverpool, City of Stoke on Trent, Brighton & Hove Green Party, and Floors-2-Go. Then there are the local restaurants, fish and chip shops, pubs, bars, garden centres, local financial institutions to name but a few of the sectors active on mobile.
Txtlocal it appears, is bridging the divide between the perception of mobile and the smaller brands and businesses. It is a world away from much of the mobile advertising activity that steals the headlines. Indeed, many of the average mobile advertising campaign figures shared with mobileSQUARED range from US$10,000 to in well in excess of US$200,000, depending on the company and the country. In many ways, it’s refreshing to hear a company publicly discussing single digit campaigns.
“For us it’s all about customer perception,” Darren Daws, managing director of txtlocal, told mobileSQUARED. “Some customers perceive mobile marketing as costly and time consuming. There’s also the issue that some associate SMS marketing as SPAM. Our process is about educating the market to change these perceptions, and show how effective mobile is as a marketing medium.”
Daws explains that garages are now sending our MOT reminders, and local plumbers are using txtlocal to remind their customers of upcoming appointments. “By sending a quick reminder using SMS, the plumbers are making sure that they are not sitting around waiting to get in the house,” says Daws. “They can do as many jobs as possible.” He adds, that mobile is not just about marketing, with companies notifying staff, or schools disseminating information on a one-to-many basis.
mobileSQUARED research has revealed that less than 2% of brands actively using mobile. And that figure does not even take into account businesses – in the traditional sense – which is estimated to be less than 0.3%.
“Our service is easy, simple, cheap, and with no long term commitment,” Daws says. “More businesses are getting involved in mobile and as such most of the obstacles are becoming less of an issue. Businesses are realizing more and more that mobile is an integral part of the overall marketing plan.”
Txtlocal says it communicates its mobile proposition to clients and potential clients in an open and honest manner, free from technical jargon. Part of the education process is showing case studies which give evidence to how different industries can benefit. The fact mobile is a measurable medium ensures the customers can access and analyse results almost immediately.
“Bigger brands are more early adopters, and quicker to catch on,” says Daws. “Businesses are seeing other businesses using mobile and are noticing the opportunity for themselves to capitalize. In our experience more businesses are using mobile, evident in our level of growth which has been more than doubled in the last 3 years. Almost 100% of our customers are repeat spenders. Once customers see it works, they want to repeat and target different groups.”
The target for txtlocal now is to appeal to every SME throughout the UK, by delivering a service that is cost effective and compelling. “The fact of the matter is that this isn’t going to cost your company thousands and thousands of pounds, and it doesn’t need an IT person dedicating months of their time to set it up,” says Daws. “This is all about talking to people that are interested in your company and product.”
Txtlocal’s goal is straightforward, though incredibly ambitious. “What hotmail has done for email, we wanted to do for mobile. “
Source: Nick Lane @ http://www.mobilesquared.co.uk/news/2520
Txtlocal identify need for better communication in anticipation of BAA strike
In light of scheduled talks being held today about the threat of BAA strikes by airport workers, it poses the question – is enough being done to keep holidaymakers fully informed as to exactly how they will be effected? It is quite obvious that in order to reduce chaos, airlines need to communicate effectively with their customers regarding any changes to their travel arrangements. The most obvious method would be to use the fastest, cheapest and most reactive communication tool able to reach out the masses in seconds – the SMS text.
Some airlines may already be capitalising on the advantages of SMS marketing and communications, however there will be some holidaymakers who are left in the dark as to whether they can still get away on their pre-booked trip.
Darren Daws Managing Director at the UK’s leading SMS provider Txtlocal said “This is a perfect example of how bulk SMS can be used quickly and effectively to communicate with a large group of people. BAA, and the associated airlines wouldn’t be expected to call all of their customers, but an appropriate text guaranteed to notify people in minutes could be the answer to limiting the panic and confusion around the strike, if it goes ahead. Airlines could use flight booking data to text customers to inform them if their flights have been cancelled, re-scheduled or simply text the number to call or include a website address to find out the latest information. Clearly, the beneficiaries from such a fast approach are BAA, who can concentrate more on dealing with correcting the issue at hand. The holidaymakers who may be affected, could easily receive information updates directly to their mobile phones, and know that they are being kept in the picture”.
SMS text can be used as a solution in all crisis management situations. If the strike goes ahead, there is no instant communication substitute that can reach people on a global scale in a matter of minutes, and businesses can rectify, or certainly reduce the damage by reaching out to people when things like this occur.
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