Text-message marketing taps interested customers

From coupon clippings to sales flyers to Web site promotions, businesses have long recognized the need to reach out to customers, and some are using modern technology for a more direct approach.

Arkansas-based SumoText and its sales agents are helping a growing number of area businesses connect with customers through texting, a technological twist on direct marketing.

Ken Childers, a local SumoText agent since August, said that unlike other passive forms of advertising, such as TV commercials or e-mails, text-message ads are immediate and can create a dialogue between the company and the consumer.

"It's the ultimate in permissions marketing," Childers said text-message marketing, because customers request to hear from the company, and the immediacy of getting a text message feels less like an advertisement to the consumer. "It feels like a special message from a friend."

Customers sign up for the messages, which cost them the standard text messaging rate through their phone service providers, so they can take advantage of contests and discounts. Business owners benefit from direct advertising to those customers who have already expressed interest in the products being sold, Childers added.

After an initial $100 set-up fee, merchant fees start at $79 per month for 1,000 outbound messages - and the more outbound messages a business signs up for, the more the price declines.

If businesses exceed the chosen message limit, they pay a prorated amount for additional messages and have the option of modifying their plan.

"It's kind of a happy predicament because if you've got that many and you're getting those kind of responses and you want to send those out, then you're going to want to increase your pool (of messages)," Childers said.

Direct customer contact

The technology behind mobile mass marketing is being used by national brands such as Coca-Cola and the Bravo TV station, and local businesses are taking note.

Among Childers' local SumoText clients are Pyramid Foods, My 31 TV, Classic Sports and Staxx Apparel in downtown Springfield.

Nicholas Cloyd, Staxx creative and marketing director, said the retailer uses text messages to notify clients of new brand arrivals, and anyone who signs up for the Staxx text messages in June is in the running to win one of two $100 gift cards to be presented at the end of the month.

"I would definitely recommend this service to any business, " Cloyd said, noting that in the two months Staxx has been using SumoText, there has been an increase in customer foot traffic at the store.

The Branson Convention and Visitors Bureau is another entity taking advantage of the text-messaging trend to reach people.

Working with SumoText co-owner John Coleman and Branson SumoText agent Jennifer McCullough of Jennifer McCullough Marketing & PR, the Branson CVB uses text messages to share information on special attraction offers and Branson news, and to garner entries for local promotions.

Lynn Berry, director of public relations for the Branson CVB, said the organization's leadership decided to enlist SumoText because they felt the service was a cutting-edge marketing tool, and she said it helped that the process was easy to learn.

"They didn't laugh at us when we said we didn't know how to text," Berry said. "I'm not kidding - we're old fuddy-duddies!"

Managing a new medium

Once customers sign up for text messages from a specific company, business owners can ask questions and use the results to determine customer interests, which would enable them to customize text messages to specific groups of customers who prefer a specific brand or type of food, Childers said.

Guidelines from the Federal Communications Commission and the Mobile Marketing Association's Code of Conduct protect consumers from getting more than they bargained for via text message.

For example, text-message marketers must notify customers of the terms and conditions for signing up for mobile messages when they subscribe, and each text message must clearly tell consumers how to cancel the messages. The text messages also must include security features and the sending party must be clearly identified in every message.

The FCC also strictly forbids spam messages, which means a user must have subscribed to the text-message service specifically and not provided the business with their phone number for other reasons. Violations can result in fines up to $10,000, Childers said.

In the coming weeks, SumoText will be Web-based and accessible from any computer, but Childers said for now, clients use one in-house computer to send text messages, which can be scheduled weeks in advance.