Mobile marketing — phone and text, broadcasts and surveys

Outbound marketing via phone and text, broadcasts and surveys generates inbound leads

Over coffee with Kashi Seghal from Gigabark Broadcast Solutions, I learned about how non-profits, retailers, SMBs, schools, clubs and associations, political orgs and legislators and others are successfully using broadcasted phone (recorded audio messages) and text messaging, to generate donations, survey feedback, inbound leads and ultimately revenue.

95% open rate!

Did you know that the average open rate of text messages is a whopping 95% or more? That is huge! This tells us that if someone receives a text, it will be read — furthering a sense of connectivity between a consumer and a brand.

With a service like Gigabark’s, you can broadcast a text message or audio message to your opt-in list. This message could even be a list of survey/poll questions that collects answers. Broadcasts can also be scheduled to be sent out at a specific day and time. To learn more about specific features visit www.gigabark.com.

How might this be a viable marketing tool for you?

Let’s say you are running a promotion and want people to register for something, or buy something or donate to something. You craft your message and send it via SMS text to your opt-in list with a link that takes the user to a landing page where they can register or donate, or buy, or whatever it is you want them to do. Or maybe a school uses it to send an important message to all students or parents. While email still tops the list of most popular online activities, mobile marketing is not to be overlooked. Compare the 95% txt open rate to stats for email:

• Average Open Rate: 23.3%
• Average Click-Through Rate: 5.9%
• Average Delivery Rate: 96.0%

(Epsilon Q1 2011 Email Trends and Benchmark (June 2011)

Fresh Mozzarella Now!

Here’s a great example (I love this story!):

A Gigabark customer owns a deli and about once a week (with no regular day/time) they make fresh mozzarella. They broadcast via text when it is ready and people flock to the store and line up to get it before they run out. This is fantastic on so many levels: 1) the product is remarkable and people love it. 2) the scarcity of the product makes people respond quickly so they don’t miss out 3) the frenzy creates buzz which is sure to spread word of mouth.. which leads to more people learning about the deli and the fresh mozzarella which ultimately leads to more people opt-ing in to the deli’s marketing list. 4) it is very inexpensive to use text and audio message broadcasting and with an open rate over 95% — a well crafted offer should bring a return on investment and in the case of this deli, you can see how they have created a craze similar to Krispy Creme with their famous Hot Now sign.