SMS Gateway Marketing

Now think about a large corporation where you have never purchased anything before, and every Saturday AM they send you an unasked for (basically spam) SMS. I get 5 – 10 such spam messages every week in Thailand, and they are quite bothersome, and quite unremarkable, except that I am now holding a grievance against the company that sent me to spam text message.

They also give me no way to unsubscribe. It’s rather troublesome to unsubscribe to something I never subscribed to in the first place. It is a complete waste of both my time, that company’s time, and also a complete waste of their marketing budget. Text message commerce is therefore getting a bad rap thanks to shifty and uneducated marketing techniques.

Most smaller companies (and quite a few of the larger ones) are quite uneager to even think about finding an SMS Gateway and use it as a marketing tool for their brand due to the above mentioned, popular opinion that one must be an unscrupulous spammer to even try it.

The good news is that there are well-founded ways to use this marketing avenue that can be wholesome to both company and client. It starts with when the clientele opts-in (subscribes) of his or her own free will, and the business makes it just as easy for the consumer to opt-out (unsubscribe). This works well for both parties.

The consumer gets coupons, promotions and special deals when they opt-in. The business concern rewards (and makes continued sales) to the customer in return. If the client no longer wishes to receive news, they can opt-out just as easily as they joined up.

Here is an exemplification of how it can work. Let’s say you own a sushi restaurant. You put flyers or “table tents” (those small triangular cardboard things) on all your tables. It says “Text ‘SUSHI’ to 12345 for a 10% discount on your meal”. At the bottom of the notice, put some smaller print that says “send keyword ‘STOP SUSHI’ to unsubscribe at anytime. This is how a customer can opt-out.

The customer sends the initial text and they automatically get a reply that says “Your SUSHI 10% discount code is 56789. Please show this when paying your bill to redeem”.

Before long this restaurant has collected hundreds of customers’ mobile phone numbers. The next time the entrepreneur or owner is having a slow day, they can send out a text to all these numbers at once, and offer free drinks or deserts, or any other type of promotion, and in a jiffy start to see clientele walking through the door.

The customers get notified of good deals, promotions and coupons. The business owner just turned a slow day into a busy day. Text message (sms) marketing can be beneficial to all, but only if it is conducted in a professional manner so it is a win-win for all.