Examples of SMS for Business Promotion
Billions of people around the world use mobile phones everyday, most of us as a complete life line that we’d feel lost without. As such mobile marketing should be a no-brainer for marketers and once you do embrace it you’ll wonder what took you so long! It’s easy, cost effective and most importantly profitable and can help you gain the attention of new and existing customers anywhere, anytime.
We’ve taken a quick look at just a few of the thousands of mobile marketing success stories out there to illustrate that mobile marketing does really work.
Starbucks
First up we’ve all heard of Starbucks, there’s one on nearly every city centre street and they’re a hugely successful brand. With such a broad target audience you might think they struggle to get their marketing right every time when different people want different things. Well actually they don’t, and what’s more they heavily rely on SMS marketing to help build personal relationships with their customers. They even won the title of “Mobile Marketer of the Year” in 2012. How’d they do it? By asking customers to join their loyalty program and texting them incentives, offers and discounts in return. They’ve even been known to give away drinks completely free to customers to reward them and ultimately strengthening their brand loyalty.
Dunkin’ Donuts
The American donut chain that have achieved phenomenal success not to mention pretty irresistible donuts and are a must for any visitor or resident to the US. Thanks to SMS marketing Dunkin’ Donuts enjoyed a 21% increase in their in-store traffic. In a bid to attract Boston high school and college students to try their 99cent hot lattes, they sent out thousands of targeted opt-in SMS messages to customers alongside radio and mobile internet adverts. The campaign was a resounding success as sales increased, 17% of those who received the text showed or forwarded it to a friend, so basically doing Dunkin Donuts marketing for them, and 35% said they were more likely to buy from the brand now.
Wiley publishers ‘Dummies’ series
Whether on the high street or online book retailers like Amazon you’ll surely have come across Wiley publishers ‘Dummies’ series. The reference books cover a whole range of topics from computers to puppies. Wiley’s SMS campaign involved sending out a $5 off For Dummies offer if the recipient replied with the word ‘dummies’ to instantly receive another text message which included the coupon. This coupon could be used online or in store or even kept for the future. This not only increased sales but helped the publishers dramatically grow its database of opt-in subscribers who could then continue to be marketed to in the future.
These are just 3 examples of how major brands and retailers have used SMS mobile marketing to not only increase and promote brand loyalty but to see a direct positive effect on sales and ultimately their bottom line. It’s not just the big guns that SMS marketing works great for, businesses of any size can benefit from the cost effective and increasingly popular marketing medium. But the main point is, the proof is in the pudding, or the donuts for some!
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