Text Message Marketing Portals
                                                            by Tom Elliott

Do you know anybody with a cell phone?  How about anyone who likes to send and receive text messages?  Most of us use cell phones today, and the trend of text messaging is on the rise.  "Text" has even become a verb in people's daily vocabulary (i.e. "Have him text you a reminder before today's meeting.") 

Text messaging is everywhere.  If you dial 411 (information) on your cell phone to obtain a phone number to a local restaurant or store, cell phone service providers offer to text the number to your cell phone in addition to connecting your call.  People vote for their favorite contenders on popular reality TV shows.  Billboard, radio, and TV commercials are now subtitled with "For more information, text (some word) to (some phone number)."  Text messaging instructions are even on cereal boxes, utility statements, and the sides of busses.  In short, it's everywhere.

It can cost tens of thousands of dollars to get started with the text message marketing infrastructure that multi-million dollar companies are using to attract new business.  Why do they spend that kind of money for the technology?  Because consumers respond to it.  That's what you want, right?  You want people to respond to your marketing efforts.  But how do you know that they are?

In Text Message Marketing (TMM), the advertising process is interactive.  That makes it different than phone book ads or ads placed in newspapers (unless, of course, you place a TMM ad within your traditional ad.)  By making it interactive, customers send a request for information by texting your business, and your business is able to send specific, relevant information to a specifically-interested audience.  Better yet, TMM allows you to measure your return on investment by monitoring the response to your text message campaigns.  Here's how:

Suppose you own a gift shop and decide to place three ads: one in the phone book, one on a billboard, and one in a magazine.  By using different "text" words in each ad, you can measure the response from each source.  For example, in your phone book ad, you could print "Text 'gifts' for more information."  On your billboard, you could print "Text 'collectibles' for more information."  And in your magazine ad, you could use "Text 'keepsakes' for more information."  Based on how many responses that each text keyword receives, you can determine where you are getting the best return on your advertising dollar.  That, in turn, will help you focus your future marketing efforts.

Meanwhile, every cell phone response to a TMM campaign is saved in your marketing database.  That allows you to send relevant information to your customers when you have a sale, offer a new product, or simply want to remind your customer that you value their business.  Who will your customers think of first?  YOU!

"That's great," you may be thinking, "but I don't have tens of thousands of dollars to spend on the technology."  No problem.  Here's the best part: For a one-time setup cost of $199, and for just $10 per month, you can own a TMM portal which gives you the technology to send unlimited text messages with no per-message costs!