Industry Secrets Revealed: Mobile Originated vs Mobile Terminated

MO and MT are frequent terms that you may come across when dealing with EVERWORKS SMS Delivery Gateway. These two jargon terms sound complicated when they really are not! MO standards for Mobile Originated are messages 'originating' from the user's mobile phone. Where as Mobile Terminated which means messages get terminated on the phone. 

MO and MT are frequent terms used by mobile marketing and sms service providers to identify the different requirements and function of each point of action. Think of it simply as a flow chart where there is a point of inquiry and there is a final response.

Firstly, MO simply means user-initiated response from his/her own mobile phone. They usually send in a text word(s) which form the keyword so that the system can identify and respond to the inquiry. This keyword is only just a command instruction partnered with a short-code to help the server respond with to display the information requested for. 

For example: "mobile" is the keyword sent to the short-code "33886" would query a response from the server to sent information relevant to both the "mobile" keyword and short-code "33886".

Secondly, MT simply means the point where after receiving instruction from the MO will display the relevant information for the inquirer.

The command received from the MO's earlier keyword and short-code would generate a response from the server, which would be terminated on the user's mobile phone (terminated messages does not imply messages that stop an action, but instead it means the final point of destination the message is intended to reach). 

For example: after a user has sent an MO containing both the keyword "mobile" and the short-code "333-888" the server would respond to send "sms delivery gateway services special offer 40% discount for bulk orders over RM xx", representing the MT displayed on the user's mobile phone.

With a 140% mobile phone penetration rate in Malaysia there is ever growing opportunity to reach new customers, existing customers, or respond interactively with field employees and more (Source: eCommerce Milo).

Multiple uses of mobile marketing can be employed to generate a user response and initiate pre-sales and post-sales customer service and provide a response to a potential customer demand. 

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You're Missing Out on This Trick Where Customers Are 82.4% More Likely to Shop

A recent survey done by Technology Advice show results to the power and results of consumer loyalty programs.

Respondents said that they would be 82.4% "more likely" to shop at stores that offered loyalty programs, compared to 17.6% of respondents who are "less likely" to do so.

Businesses that ignore this may in turn forfeit on this consumer demographic. 

Although card-based loyalty programs are the tried-and-true marketing tactic that have been around for years, there has been a sudden shift in industry indicating a transformation to meet the digital age and rise of smartphones.

Malaysia has seen a strong 140% mobile phone penetration rate and this gives opportunity to further distribute a cost-effective multi-channel marketing program through SMS Delivery. 

The survey further adds that based on the responses that were collected and analyzed consumers are not only open to, but welcoming of such efforts. While consumers remain uncertain of fully-digital reward programs (decidedly against social rewards), but there is a widespread desire for both smartphone apps and exclusive incentives.

How to take advantage of SMS Delivery to monetize on this opportunity?

Exclusive incentive as mentioned above is one of many innovative measures that your business could undertake to further provide incentives to consumers to participate actively with a responsive business that makes effort to provide to loyal customers rewards.

Take advantage of exclusive access to VIP Status instant notification feature

Consumers desire VIP status perks more so than social-based-rewards.

This can be very encouraging for businesses which have already installed loyalty programs based around rewards and perks. There is an incentive to save money overall, but they show strong preference for VIP-style incentives, and given the data according to Technology Advice businesses should consider a "tiered" or level-based system.

Are you looking to add an SMS Delivery option for your business? Feel free to visit EVERWORKS SMS Delivery for more options.

For more information about the survey referenced above please visit here.

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Don't Lose Customers With This Secret Method From Uber

Problem

Uber has generated a lot of media attention of late and it seems to be a growing trend to have almost everyone using the Uber mobile app to move around the city. In some cities like Seattle you can order lunch from within the Uber app.

This was all good until the company realized that there was a big problem for its ever popular feature UberEATS as there is a large group of people that ordered food from outside of the app and with every meal that isn't being on the app represents lost opportunity for the company. 

Solution to the problem

The solution... SMS Marketing! Uber sends text messages to users that have opted-in not only to remind them that the app is on their mobile device, but to also let them know what is on the menu for the day. The SMS Marketing campaign started when Uber prompted its users to subscribe via text message.

Character limitation isn't the end of the world

Although it is widely known that an SMS message, which is limited to 160 characters of text (including hyperlinks) gives the sender a limitation to what can be sent. This problem can be solved by sending messages through MMS marketing by including an image as part of the message sent.

Alternative to Uber: Peach Case Study

The likelihood of implementing an application that has steep initial cost requirements can be a major stumbling block for the majority of small and medium firms in Malaysia, but there is a way to overcome this. 

For example: Peach (a restaurant also in Seattle) uses MMS, but unlike UberEATS where you click through to open the app and place your order, Peach allows you to simply reply "YES" (a MO Keyword) via text message to place your oder. Included in the message is a link that shows more information about the dish prompting the user to proceed to the mobile web to find out more.

Conclusion 

It is increasingly common for mobile apps to use text message marketing to increase app downloads, especially when there is a 92% conversion rate, it is rare to see text message marketing used to keep users engaged outside of the app. This could be a "break the status quo" innovation in exploring different communication channels that would best serve your businesses consumer demographic needs. 

Start your Mobile Marketing campaign now with EVERWORKS SMS services.

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The Quick Way to Learn if Your SMS Marketing Campaign Converts

According to the Malaysian Digital Association, Malaysia has 44 million+ mobile subscribers. That's a whopping 1.4x the total population of Malaysia. This is huge for businesses in Malaysia and should be an ideal place to reach and engage with new and existing audiences.

There's an argument though that Facebook is all the hype with 1.28 billion active users every day it seems to be a no brainer for marketers to focus their efforts here.

Hold on right there, that's the total number of active users a day, globally. How does Malaysia fair? According to Facebook themselves as reported by soyacincau.com about 80% of Malaysians that have access to the Internet are on Facebook, that's about 18 million people.

From this perspective SMS Marketing seems to be the more attractive option. However, this article isn't written with the purpose to discuss about the differences between SMS Marketing and Facebook. Rather how to measure whether the campaign you're running through SMS is actually worth it for your business. Let's get right into it.

How do you begin measuring SMS Marketing ROI?

You might be asking, why calculate your SMS ROI?

You need to know which channels are working best for you and how much return you're getting to know where to spend your marketing dollars for your future SMS Campaigns.

Here's an example scenario.

It usually costs your company around RM100 to acquire a customer. You just got to know about SMS Marketing and want to test it out by trying an SMS Marketing campaign to generate new customers with a budget of RM1,000. You run this campaign and notice that it generates you 11 new customers. Was it worth it?

To find out if your campaign is actually worth it or not is pretty simple.

Just follow a simple formula and you're good to go.

Take the amount you spent (cost) and divide it with your returns. From the example scenario above you take the RM1,000 budget that you have as the amount you have spent (cost) and divide it with the number of customers it has brought back in (returns).

11 new customers. That makes for an approximate of RM90 per acquired customer.

Since you know that the typical cost it takes to acquire a customer (RM100) with the new campaign you have decided to run you realise that it only costs you RM90 to acquire a new customer.

Knowing this allows you to understand that you're SMS Marketing Campaign is performing fairly well against the usual customer acquisition cost you have previously been running.


via GIPHY

With this, you should be well on your way to becoming an expert on measuring your customer acquisition costs and using it as a benchmark to tell if your SMS Marketing campaign was actually worth it or not.

If you'd like to discuss more about SMS Marketing and how we can help you with your campaign, do get in touch with us here or if you'd like to learn more about the services we have on offer please visit our website.

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Supercharged Marketing Tool with 99% Open Rate and a 36% Click Through Rate

We'd like to wish all Malaysians Selamat Hari Merdeka! This year's Merdeka is special with the SEA Games being hosted in Kuala Lumpur. Learn more about the SEA Games here.

Find out how you can spice up your holiday with mobile marketing below.

During Merdeka there are major discounts and deals given to consumers and this has been the highlight and trend that majority of Malaysians look forward to.

Redbox turned the opportunity into their benefit when they SMSed text messages to their followers to follow them on their Instagram account. This is a cross-channel approach to encourage users to participate with their different marketing channels.

With the average SMS open rate at 99% and the average click through rate at 36% it is easy for brands to direct their customers to other owned marketing channels. The statistics are also the reason why a lot of brands are attracted to the possibility of SMS.

(Source: https://www.tatango.com/blog/redbox-spices-up-holiday-mobile-marketing-campaign/)

Hey it's the holiday season in Malaysia with a lot of brands taking advantage of the festivities by testing and making returns on alternative marketing methods and channels.

Learn other ways you could use SMS for your business here: How to conduct a SMS giveaway and Here are 10 reasons why your cafe should use SMS marketing.

Give SMS a try.

We believe that Malaysia is a beautiful country with abundant opportunity. Here is to the future :)

#bangkitbersama
#NegaraKuSehatiSejiwa

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4 Ideas to Drive More Repeat Conversions

Everyday your subscribers receive a large number of SMS. With so much competition for attention, it's highly likely that a percentage of your subscriber list will lose interest in and stop engaging with your sms marketing campaigns. This may not seem to be a big problem, but this will slowly crop up to affect a large percentage of your list if not careful. As your list engagement drops you run the risk of damaging your sender reputation and your sms deliverability rates.

We now know the problem, but how should you address this issue? By creating special re-engagement SMSs targeted directly at your "inactive" subscribers.

So what are some re-engagement SMS examples to inspire your next efforts?

1. Improvements on products, while you were away...

"We've made some improvement since you've been away, join over 5 million members who are"

What's good about this re-engagemnet SMS is it draws attention to the improvements you have in your products since your subscriber's last engagement. There is a tactful action to also include a social proof of how more than 5 million members are currently using their services.

2. Do you still want to hear from us?

"It's been awhile, do you still want to hear from us? We want to ensure that you continue to receive content that is relevant to you."

This is a simple question, but the focus is to allow subscribers to update their preferences and keeps them engaged with you. The benefit here is you are aware that your subscribers are still interested in your content.

3. Surprises

"Pick from two special gift sets exclusively for you, follow this link here ____"

We all love surprises. Make use of your subscriber's emotional instinct in their re-engagement SMSs.

4. We hate goodbyes

"We hate goodbyes so we're sending you one last message, Let us know if you want to continue receiving messages from us"

This is an emotional re-engagement SMS that informs a subscriber that it will be your last email to them. This is a good way to keep subscribers that are truly interested in your brand, but beware do not use this too often.

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Is Viral Marketing the New Money Tree? (Lessons to Learn From Kony 2012)

The Internet Joins The Advertising Industry 

Ever since the emergence of the online media, the advertising industry has went through a huge revolution.

What used to be only found in newspapers, television, radio, billboards, etc, also exist in the online media now; which can be stored permanently and accessed anytime.

Majority of the people worldwide spends more of their time on the online media than any other traditional media. The online media is evolving rapidly and turning into the media that most people depend on the most these days. 

In recent years, social networking sites are trending worldwide and have managed to attract millions of users globally.

This phenomenon has caused big organisations and advertisers to target the online media, especially social networking sites to be a great platform to reach out to a large number of individuals or the intended demographics. 

The ‘Viral’ Phenomenon in Online Media 

‘Viral’ is a term constantly used to describe any form of work, production, or information that is being circulated rapidly, mainly in the internet. The term ‘viral’ was derived from the term ‘virus’, describing an effect of spreading rapidly and widely like a virus. 

Among the things that go viral in the internet, videos go viral most frequently. Ever since Youtube, a video-sharing website, was created in 2005, users are able to watch all types of videos from it and are even able to upload their own recordings and productions on Youtube.

With simple and convenient functions such as the search bar and the ‘trending videos’ section, users are able to search for videos they want to watch easily and can even watch what is trending at the moment. Furthermore, the emergence of social networking sites allow users to share these videos easily on popular social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and such.

This is where the ‘viral’ phenomenon kicks in. The videos are shared to all of their friends and connections in social networking sites. Then, the people who see it and also find it interesting might also share the video again to their own circle of friends and community. The cycle goes on and on and this is how the ‘viral’ phenomenon take place and functions. 

To make something go viral, it is essential for the content to be attention grabbing. It could be something interesting, controversial, offensive, shocking, or any other creative elements that can garner attention regardless of it being in the form of images, videos or whatsoever.

The mission here is to create something that will entice users to share it to their group of social circle, with the ultimate goal to make it circulate around the internet. 

KONY 2012 – Most Viral Video in 2012 

On 5th of March 2012, a short film called KONY 2012 was uploaded onto Youtube. It is produced by Invisible Children, Inc., an organization that aims to create awareness among the public globally to stop the Lord’s Resistance Army and its leader, Joseph Kony.

The video introduces Joseph Kony to the viewers, providing details and provoking viewers to support the organization in their actions of appealing to the officials to take the issue more heavily and deploy more troops to arrest Joseph Kony. KONY 2012 achieved more than 32 million views within its first week, and has more than 100 million views currently.

The video has been massively spread and circulated in the internet due to the use of the few major social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

The success of it was mainly due to the excellent videography and scriptwriting techniques that were employed in producing the video, accompanied with a strong emotional touch that touches the viewers. Users were sharing the video with their own input of opinions, expressing how it touches them and convince others to watch it as well. 

Why Viral Marketing? 

As of now, the public is even harder to please than ever. Therefore, companies must constantly come out with creative ideas to get the public’s attention.

Viral marketing does so and the circulation effect it achieves is astonishing. With that being said, viral content is not something that is easily created.

A huge amount of ideas and effort is needed in order to create something that relates to the public; something so good that when an individual sees it, he/she couldn’t resist to share it. 

Viral marketing is so successful because the content is extremely engaging and people are far more open to recommendations and testimonials from their friends compared to that of the media.

They are slightly more skeptical towards advertisements found in the media as they know organisations paid large sum of money to the media to broadcast their advertisements; while they are more likely to believe information provided from a personal source that they trust. 

As the world slowly evolves and improves, it is necessary for us to keep up with its pace and be up to date in recognising the social phenomenon.

It is undeniable that viral marketing is a great marketing and advertising tool for companies to get their message across as well as achieving brand recognition; but what makes it so special is that it also prompts the public to insert their own input into it while sharing it online, encouraging them to speak their mind and inspire them to invoke the creative and innovative potential within them.

Alternative Marketing with a 100% Delivery statistic

Consider mobile advertising done right with SMS. There is no limitation of connectivity or problems with compatibility. Reach every customer within your database to inform, educate, or to advertise your new product or service.

This method very much like social media is competitively cheaper when compared to billboard, and traditional media advertising.

Within the strategy of viral marketing impose reminders to your customers to have exposure to more than just social media channels but also through mobile channels.

Mobile is huge with penetration within Malaysia alone to be over 140%. Take on this new strategy for added growth now.

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5 Tips for Creating The Perfect SMS Marketing Message

Text Message Marketing (SMS Marketing) has only 160-Characters, but can leave a lasting impression on your customers. It is also very personal and care must be taken when crafting a message. This fundamental character limit forces you to make sure that the text message being marketed is clear and simple.

1. Always Deliver Value

This may seem obvious, but with a strong personal attachment to the mobile phone you have to make sure that you have a strong time sensitive offer to give people a strong sense of value. They need to feel that they are getting something that others are not and it was a good decision to give up their mobile phone number. Good SMS content can come from exclusive offers that are different from sending out vague sale alerts resulting in a tendency for the customer to regard it as spam and want to opt-out. This is consistent with the need to be clear and concise. 

2. Speak in Plain Language

Do not type in acronyms. Although it does shorten text messages, but it leaves customers questioning what those acronyms mean. It is better to speak in plain simple language, so that there is clear ability to digest the message with a short glance. This eliminates the need to decipher code and leave an impression that your brand as coming off as "trying to hard".

3. Display Business Name First

Many people neglect this. Often numbers sent out are using automated processes and systems. Put your business name first to remove all doubt. Although, there is a possible way to display a name as a caller ID, but issue arises when the user is actually unable to respond.

4. Add Interactive Call to Action

You can engage a customer by mobile by adding quality call to actions. Discussed here are two primary methods of engaging a user with SMS:

• User reply with a keyword trigger, an auto reply, or forward to an application.
• Add a URL linking to a mobile web page. Google map, mobile video, application download or other rich media. Use a URL Shortener like bit.ly to save on characters and bit.ly has analytics so you can see how many recipients visited the link and with what device.

5. Remind about made opt-in decisions

Customers should be reminded of how they came to be on your list, whether a loyalty program member, previous purchaser or previous competition entrant you shouldn't generate frustration in the user as a perceived spammer.

Find out how you can start your SMS Campaign now here.

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8 Must Know for SMS Marketing

SMS Marketing is the future of marketing. It is simple, 160-Characters, to send out a clear and concise  text message. However, simple as it may seem, there are principles that should be kept in mind when sending out text messages.

SMS marketing is awesome. Great to send out direct marketing, to customers. It is personal and easy to reach customers anywhere, around the clock because of the portability the mobile phone gives to its user. There is also a evidence suggesting that SMS has a much higher engagement rate as compared to email marketing; data shows a 90% read rate within 5 seconds of receipt.

With most marketing tools there are considerations to be put into place. A subtle not explicitly stated rule in most cases that should be followed to ensure that the user's personal privacy has not been violated and the freedom of choice for the user is maintained.

1. Make your SMS Campaign Opt-in

Encourage customers to choose to opt-in rather than blasting them with a surprise message. As highlighted before the mobile phone is an intensely personal device and a message from an unfamiliar number can be intrusive in nature.

2. Offer value

Your message should convey or deliver value and relevance to the target recipient. You can include special offers, coupon codes, an exclusive invitation, or more information regarding the product or assistive information to help buyers make an informed decision.

3. Timing

Do not send out a message in the middle of the night. Consider the obvious rules of courtesy and monitor the behaviors of your target audience. What they might do at a particular time of day. For example: Commuters spend time on the train browsing on their phones, but sports fans might not be too impressed with a message midway through a game. Your message should include, "win __" or "special offer if you show this message to the front desk to get a voucher of 50% on your day's purchase". Alternatively, inform opted-in customers that your company will be sending them a fixed total number of text messages a month and that number so that it is non-invasive manner of approach to their day-to-day use of the mobile phone.

4. Interaction

Always prompt an action (call-to-action). This should be a rule in everything marketing related. Text messaging is very interactive with URLs enjoying a much higher clickthrough compared to links in emails. You can use SMS messages to prompt customers to vote, complete questionnaires or take part in research surveys. These are amongst the few great ways to gain knowledge to help shape future marketing strategies.

5. Correct language.

Regardless of your target audience, your manner of speech should be appropriate. You want to appear professional as well as engaging. Don't fill up your messages with slang-filled conversation "YOLO" or "ROFL" - it just makes customers uncomfortable. Be clear, accurate and polite. That should be more than sufficient.

6. Exploit urgency

Because of the instant nature of text messaging, there is opportunity to make an offer for a "spot" deal to customers. This works as there is no delay like other marketing channels and demands a quick response from customers.

7. Respond quickly

Customers expect quick response, so if interaction has been initiated make sure you confirm their actions immediately. Customer participation can be easily and quickly rewarded if the campaign is tightly integrated across multiple channels.

8. Measure success

Lastly, and most importantly is to check with the performance of your delivered message to the response rate. This helps you to compare and to develop better future campaigns.

Above was the 8 Must Knows for SMS Marketing. You can find out how you can start a campaign now with EVERWORKS' SMS delivery gateway. 

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10 Reasons Why You're Missing Out on Killer Lead Conversions

If you are still unconvinced of how SMS can help enhance your marketing strategy or if you haven't considered integrating SMS into your marketing strategy this blog post is for you. There has been big pull factor especially for Malaysia with a 140% penetration rate in mobile phone usage and with growing uses of SMS in businesses globally SMS might just be the next best thing after PayPal.

Here are 10 advantages of SMS marketing that might just persuade you, that you too should join in on the bandwagon:

1. Quick. Actually Instant.

SMS is lightning fast, sending and receiving messages to your subscribers' hands within a few seconds. The average time for all mobile carriers and SMS services is less than 7 seconds from sending to the receiver. There are other marketing strategies that are fast in their own right, but nothing compares to the swiftness of SMS.

2. Flexible platform

You have flexibility to send a large amount of messages to a targeted group or sends thousands of SMS messages to your entire list. A great SMS marketing service makes it easy to customize your text message campaigns to the needs of your SMS subscribers giving better control and ability to tailor suit messages to individual customers. A short promotional message or a quick industry update, SMS molds itself into whatever needs your business require, easily integrating into your broad or focused marketing strategies.

3. Instant Opt-In and Opt-Out

Short codes allow opting-in and opting-out consistent with the nature of SMS, quick if not instant. Unlike other opt-in or opt-out options, SMS only requires one step, and besides entering a mobile phone number or short code there is rarely any personal information required up front. If speed is what you are looking for subscribers will appreciate the simplicity.

4. High Open Rate

Comparing to email marketing SMS has a high open rate, where almost every SMS sent is opened (and read), whereas only a fraction of emails sent are actually read. There is always a tendency to look when a subscriber gets a vibration or sound signaling a text messages, but subscribers have a choice to not open your email.

5. High conversion rate

with sms there is a high rate of subscriber action. From promotions to contests there is more action compared to any other marketing or promotion strategies.

6. Reliable

Unlike email, SMS doesn't have to battle against spam or other email filters; it is a direct connection to your customer base unlike any other marketing strategy; there isn't any barriers.

7. Short Messages

160-Characters can be a challenge to most businesses, but this limit is good as it forces you to be clear and concise. This allows customers to get to the point immediately without sifting through content that isn't always necessary.

8. Cool factor

A large demographic of consumers have abandoned email and turned to short text messages. This allows small business who are looking for the next innovative solution that is affordable to implement a head start in winning the battle for the next generation of shoppers.

9. Limitless Market Potential

There is a large number of active mobile phones. Since mobile phones are able to receive text messages there is an unlimited potential to tap into this virtually limitless market potential. Mobile phone users represent all demographics - a marketing gold mine.

10. Green

Text messaging doesn't use print material and requires little energy to operate a single message output, suggesting an efficient handling of resources.

The above are the 10 Benefits of SMS Marketing. Looking for ways to implement this start now with EVERWORKS SMS Delivery Service that allows you to send sms to your customers for a competitive price.

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Advantage of SMS Payments

SMS payments are a means of paying for goods, services or products via a text message sent from a mobile phone. This represents a big opportunity for SME businesses in Malaysia to capitalize on a market that is unable to make Internet or credit card related transactions. Opening up a new payment option that could unlock a new market for businesses targeting targeted market segments.

This works just like a standard SMS with the system purchasers sending a text message to pay for a item or service and a clear transaction is created between the purchaser and vendor. The cost of purchase, is added to the monthly phone bill or deducted from a  pre-paid balance by the mobile phone operator allowing for a clear simple method for end-users to monitor their expenses on a single statement. This also mitigates inherent risks of publishing personal credit card or bank details on the Internet.

SMS is quick. In fact it's lightning fast, allowing your messages to be put into your subscribers' pockets or purses in a matter of seconds after you send. This ensures that there isn't any latencies involved. There is also an instant opt-in and opt-out option which is inherent with SMS's quick nature and requires only one step. 

Advantages:

For the customer

1. Quick and easy to use
2. Purchaser does not need to have to enter their credit card or bank details, or even have a bank account.
3. There isn't a need to remember passwords or usernames with payment websites like PayPal.
4. It is more secure, as there isn't a need for the release of personal or account details.

For business

1. Instant access to millions (billions) of mobile phones equipped with SMS facilities worldwide. There is a large penetration rate for mobile phone users in Malaysia, equating to 140%.
2. Access to millions of customers that do not have a bank account or credit card that has prevented them from buying goods and services before.
3. No need to verify customers' identities or worry about chasing payments or cards being denied.
4. All the billing is handled by the mobile phone operator.
5. It is easy and quite often costs little to set up.

Conclusion

Although there is a growth in other forms of payments such as Near Field Communication payment option and payment via web applications, there remains a simple fact that most basic mobile phones are capable of sending and receiving text messages meaning that SMS payments are seen by many in the industry to be a major player in future mobile payments. Start receiving payments through SMS now through EVERWORKS innovative SMS Payment Gateway.

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How to Increase SMS Subscribers at Checkout

One of the best ways to increase SMS Subscribers is through in-store campaigns. Having in-store campaigns are the most logical solution, but there is a big question that remains unsolved; where do we put our in-store campaigns? One suggestion is placing ads on your SMS Marketing campaign at checkout; more specifically on the point of sale system. 

Below is an example of a brand that uses the point-of-sale system to advertise their SMS Campaigns. In general an in-store advertising for SMS campaign generates a 2.3% to 3.2% opt-in rate. This is a fairly good response.

The disadvantage to the example above is the lack of an initial opt-in incentive. Where demonstrated previously can be highly persuasive and customers are willing to give up their handphone numbers for a fixed amount of text advertising per month to benefit from the offered incentive. This is quantifiable when a recent study showed that by offering initial incentives it increased their SMS Subscriber growth at a rate of 520%.

The reason to why customers are not opting-in could be largely due to the lack of incentives you are providing to them. Brands like Julep were able to generate 5,000 new SMS Subscribers within the first 24 hours of launching their SMS campaign, or why Taco Bell gained 15,000 new subscribers in the first five weeks of their campaign were because of incentivized campaigns prompting opt-in.

This can be done by encouraging your customers with a reward, coupon, or deal to join your SMS campaign much like Julep and Taco Bell have done, and you will be able to grow your SMS subscribers at a much faster rate than before.

Ready to start your SMS Marketing Campaign with a proven robust platform that helps to deliver your marketing messages to your customer? Consult an EVERWORKS Expert now.

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Digi Increases Its 4G LTE Network Covering 60% of Malaysians

Digi recently increased its 4G LTE network covering 60% of Malaysians and what this means for most users:

• 99.9% accessibility to Digi's 4G LTE services
• 2x faster web page loading
• 2x faster latency
• 3x more stable connections
• 80% more than 5Mbps speed consistency
• 10x faster LTE relative speed

How is this an opportunity for SME Business in Malaysia?

Digi's response to increased network coverage indicates a potentially strong relation to Malaysian's mobile penetration rate. Indication that there is a strong user usage of mobile phones and increasing more opportunities for SMS Marketing initiatives.

How to build an advantage?

Strong mobile penetration in Malaysia provides a strong argument for a SMS Marketing Channel to be used alongside tried-and-tested marketing methods. There are strong arguments for the profitability of participating actively with target customers through their mobile phones and in return providing additional incentives and exclusive deals to push them to continually engage with your business.

What to avoid?

Misplacing customer trust. Customers expect transparency and honesty when companies approach them. What this means is periodic and limited broadcast of text messages would be more than welcomed as it was a self-initiated request, but over excessive message sending may lead to a strong negative response instead of the desired effects. Simply put; don't spam.

EVERWORKS provides a reliable and robust SMS Delivery Service that caters to your SMS Marketing Campaign needs and more. Contact an EVERWORKS Expert now.

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Case Study: Text Messaging Recruiting Example (Target)

Previous posts addressed the various methods on how SMS Marketing can help to spur increased sales and provide as an important variant to the tried-and-tested marketing channels. Much sales can be obtained with a strong and robust platform to help support your broadcasting needs, a solid marketing strategy and the understanding that customers are more likely to participate with provided incentives build into the offer.

Question. SMS Marketing is an alternative marketing channel, but does it apply to other parts of the value chain too? The answer is yes. A lot of focus has been placed on the end-user or customer indicating a downstream approach to improving the value chain. However, there are places further upstream that can further enhance your competitive product offering as well. 

An example: SMS Marketing used when recruiting new employees, a Target case study. Doubts may be cast on this, but some of the largest brands are already doing it. 

The recruitment poster at Target instructs prospective employees to submit keywords and email address to a short-code to learn more about potential seasonal opportunities. After texting a prospective employee receives a text message in return with a link directing them to target.com/careers and also telling them to look for an email about job opportunities. One day after the potential employee receives an email in their inbox as indicated from the message that they have sent a day prior. 

This example illustrates that text messaging can be used to increase recruitment efforts, especially during seasonal times.

Looking to find a service provider that will help you establish your SMS platform to reach potential new employees please contact experts at EVERWORKS for more information.

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Case Study: Kiehl's Experiences 73% Redemption Rate

SMS Marketing draws a fair bit of competitive pressures with arguments that SMS is a thing of the past and in the growing digital age of apps may prove to be surplus to requirements today. This post won't address the advantages and disadvantages of SMS Marketing compared to having an application on the smart phone but rather, look at providing either a strong alternative marketing channel to consider or a reliable cost effective solution to start with from the get go.

We will look at Kiehl's, an American cosmetics brand retailer that specializes in making premium skin, hair, and body care products.

To raise awareness about the new marketing campaign Kiehl's was involved with, they used in-store signage, email marketing and social media to promote the use of their SMS Campaign; which they called Kiehl's Alerts. The cosmetic company had two opt-in methods, one was signing up online, or through SMS by texting the SMS Keyword "KIEHLS" to the SMS short code 25687. 

Part of their geographic marketing approach to determine the closest store to their customers they were asked to agree to share their location with Kiehl's so that the cosmetic company could send up to three location based text alerts a month; this was triggered when the customer was within a certain radius of one of Kiehl's 45 test stores.

After the 6-month program, Kiehl's found that 73% of customers that had signed up for their SMS Marketing Campaign had made a purchase, and 81% of respondents in a survey sent out remembered the SMS marketing messages from Kiehl's, meaning that 90% of customers made an in-store purchase during the 6-month program!

How does this apply to your SME Business in Malaysia?

Geofencing a fancy term for Geographic location based anonymous tracking, might be something that your business may not require yet, but the core idea was how effective SMS is in providing incentives to your customers and serve as a valuable reminder of the special products and services you can offer to them as a means to provide instant information for them to make a decision.

A clear consistency is how companies' disclaim the number of text messages they will send to the users giving them ample notice and expectation reducing the likelihood of regarding messages sent by the company to be considered as overly excessive; a prevention method for a negative emotional response (spam).

Are you interested in launching your SMS Marketing Campaign, that produces similar results to what Kiehl's has experienced from their campaign? Contact the SMS Marketing Experts at EVERWORKS and let us help you get similar results that Kiehl's experienced through a robust platform for your own SMS Marketing Campaign.

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SMS Delivery Gateway FAQ

Message designed by Luca Trinchero from the Noun Project

EVERWORKS SMS Delivery Solution provides a domestic (Malaysia) and global services. The prices quoted are free from hidden charges, monthly fees, setup costs, and monthly rent. Additionally, EVERWORKS does not disclose or sell any information to any third party provider, unless in the case where information is required by law, or court to help in the jurisdiction and carrying out of justice.

Here are some frequently asked questions that are customers have for us:

1. Is there a minimum purchase requirement? What is the validity for this purchase?

Yes there is a minimum purchase requirement. You are required to purchase a minimum of 3000 credits for the first purchase. This purchase is valid for one year. For validity to be renewed after the one year initial validity you would be required to make additional purchases for renewal to occur.

2. What is your coverage?

EVERWORKS cannot guarantee that all SMS Messages will reach its designated recipient, as the messages can be routed to other gateways, out of the control of EVERWORKS. Additionally, MNP mobile phone numbers may not receive SMS Messages.

3. Is there Unicode Message support? Does this affect the maximum character count?

Yes, there is Unicode Message Support. The maximum character count would be 70.

4. Will my designated SMS recipients receive 2 SMS when I exceed the 160 maximum character count?

No, your SMS recipients would not receive 2 SMS as EVERWORKS supports a long-sms service that ensures that your content is delivered as 1 SMS.

5. When has the SMS been successfully sent to the designated recipient's mobile phone?

When the status has changed to "DELIVERED" it has been successfully sent to the designated recipient's mobile phone.

6. What is your global network coverage?

Currently our coverage includes Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Hong Kong.

7. What does the API do?

API is provided to clients with intention to integrate our SMS Delivery Gateway with their ERP or CRM softwares. 

Here are the quick 7 FAQ's for EVERWORKS SMS Delivery Gateway. For further information you can refer to our SMS Delivery Gateway page.

Are there more questions you would like to ask? Feel free to leave us a comment below, or find us on Facebook.

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Mobile Delivery Gateway: Send SMS Guide

Message designed by Joe Harrison from the Noun Project.

As there has been a great frequency of questions from some of our clients, I thought this guide would prove useful for future reference. EVERWORKS delivers an industry leading Mobile Delivery Gateway solution that provides a quick, instantaneous communication method to deliver advertising or marketing information to targeted users (note: content sent to designated recipients has to be compliant with Malaysia's recently announced PDPA 2010; you can read more about the Principles of the PDPA 2010 here.)

To access the Send SMS dashboard, you would have to login to SMS Works, and you would immediately face the Send SMS dashboard as the first landing page (Login > Send SMS).

The content you wish to send to your designated recipient can be added in the Message Text field. Additionally, in the template column, there are choices of pre-designated templates, that you could use to aid your content development.

Important: After inserting your Message Text,  you have to key in according to sequence below:

For instances where you wish to only send via message leave the corresponding entry for the email address blank.

Instead, you could also send via Contact Group.

Once completed you can either send it immediately or a pre-scheduled date.

For more information on if you could change your content after you have set a date you can refer to MCMC Subscription Control FAQ.

If you still face some problems in regards to your access, or technical issues with EVERWORKS Mobile Delivery Gateway, don't hesitate to contact our ever-ready technical team cvs@everworks.com.

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