SMS/Text Marketing - recommedations of suppliers needed!?

Question

We are looking into text message (SMS) marketing. Can anyone recommend a company that provides a good service at reasonable rates?

Many thanks! Nike

We plan to use this more for relationship marketing where existing contacts opt-in, rather than spam.

Answer 1

We used this company to send a Christmas thanks to a client's customers and inform them of their opening hours over the period.
Service was very good, easy to use interface for uploading your own data. Facility to delay or stagger message sending, set up campaigns etc.

http://www.textmarketer.co.uk/

Feelings run very high about the use of such services - much higher than with Direct Mail.

We only sent the message to about 700 customers for whom we had Mobile numbers. We too had opt ins and it went down well with customers. However there was one customer who was mistakenly sent the message, they weren't best pleased and didn't mix their words in telling the company - so be prepared!

Best of luck.

Answer 2

I don't know a company, I'm afraid, but I did want to express a concern (from a consumer's point of view!).

When choosing a company, I hope that you pay good attention to their policy as regards unsolicited texting. There is nothing that would turn me against a product quicker than to receive a marketing text from a source that I hadn't specifically supplied my number to for information.

In general, I regard marketing through SMS to be one of the biggest nuisances of the age. I can cope with email spam - I can control what I read and what I don't and when I read it - but SMS/texts, by virtue of the fact that they are on a device which demands immediate attention, are just a damned nuisance and an irritation if they are not relevant or expected.

I realise that this is my own humble opinion and not a direct answer to your question but it is a point which, as I say, I hope you will take into consideration when planning your marketing strategy and selecting a company's services.

Edit: I note your additional information. I would have preferred that you had said 'solely for opt-in contacts'. Your wording 'more for ... rather than ...' suggests that you had considered and are likely to consider spam. Don't, if you value your company's credibility!

Answer 3

Think about all the current text lines available (like the text voting on Big Brother UK) then go to http://www.icstis.org.uk and type that number into the box at the top. It'll provide details of the supplier and you can then contact that supplier of the service.

One I would stay away from is the supplier of the DotTK text line. Go to http://www.dot.tk and register yourself a new domain quickly then look for the 'Linker promo' option in the menu and find that shortcode number.

If you give me permission to and provide me with some details, I'm willing to contact the various suppliers for you to find out more information and get quotes for you..but I'll need to know what you're going to use the service for and how much you're going to be using it on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis.

I'll help you for free of course, unless you wanted to reward me slightly or anything.

Good luck anyway,

Regards,
The Techie

Answer 4

That type of marketing is why I dumped my cell phone when the contract expired. I was paying, PER MESSAGE for spam. And cell phone providers won't block them, cause they want to sell you the "unlimited text message" plan. I began my own personal boycott of any company that I paid to for their spam.

Want a better idea, put an ad on a bench.

Answer 5

My friend works at a company that does that - however, as I find it possibly more repulsive and repugnant than email spam I'm not telling you who it is. It's also proven that your sales will probably dip if you start using that method.

Answer 6

www.puca.ie - have done jobs for McDonalds, Budweiser, Meteor etc. Not sure how reasonable but will do you up a quotation for free....

Answer 7

Sorry I dunno.