Textlocal

How mobile marketing is helping the travel industry explore new territory

As anyone working in travel services knows, this is an industry that never stands still. In the modern business arena, the marketing channels we use to tell people about our products need to be just as flexible and dynamic as the services themselves.

With consumers continuing to feel the economic pinch, finding and developing new channels for promoting value going forward is crucial too. Experts say mobile messaging can provide many of the answers, helping firms of all shapes and sizes boost sales, engage travellers and enhance their marketing activity.

With customers happy to switch between online and offline channels when they make bookings, talking straight to their mobiles is a canny move – especially when it’s to alert them to best prices.

A recent Thomas Cook survey revealed that a fifth of UK families now plan to reduce their holiday budget this year, with 5% admitting they will be choosing trips much more carefully.

Interest around this summer’s Olympics could herald a new influx of visitors too – all of whom are keen to bag the best London deals. It means travel agents need to be more competitive than ever, with mobile marketing offering endless opportunities to help them stand out from the crowd.

And as our phones become ever more central to all our lives – backed by more reliable and technologically-advanced handsets – communicating with clients via their mobiles can bring immediate, tangible benefits.

A staggering 97.5% of text messages are now read within five seconds, and research company Portico estimates eight trillion text messages were sent last year alone. While email promotions can languish in an inbox, one in three consumers now say they respond positively to SMS promotions.

For an industry that prides itself in putting its customers first, this type of marketing is ideal, providing a range of offerings to suit all sizes and types of clients and businesses. Bulk-buying means texts are available from as little as 2.4 pence a time making them affordable for even the smallest retailer.

Using a trusted company like Textlocal.com makes the process a smooth, simple one. It only takes ten minutes to register your details and the in-house technical team are always on hand to guide you through the process. Bundles can be tailored to suit businesses’ needs but there are some other key areas of opportunity that are worth considering.

Jason Palgrave-Jones, business development director at Textlocal, is sitting on the Question Time Panel at the Travel Technology Event. He says, “Discounts, introductory offers and targeted discount deals all offer clients new reasons to engage and help agents maximise opportunity, while payment and check-in reminders can boost efficiency without costing a fortune.”

Mobile activity can also be tailored to dovetail with existing social media and QR code campaigns. And as phones continue to be central to managing our personal and professional lives, for the travel industry especially the possibilities really are endless.

Greenpeace Uses Textlocal QR Codes for Ship Launch

Greenpeace has worked with mobile marketing company Textlocal to promote the launch of the Rainbow Warrior III ship using QR Codes. Greenpeace sent 90,000 supporters in UK an invitation to the event containing a QR code, which was scanned on arrival to track attendees.

Molly Brooks, digital marketing coordinator at Greenpeace, says: “Using QR Codes meant that Greenpeace staff could easily use mobile phones to track who attended. Being able to track everyone electronically through the Textlocal reporting system worked perfectly for us, as we were able to follow up with our supporters accordingly to say thank you for coming, or reach out quickly those that couldn’t make it with a separate message. Mobile made the whole process fast and accurate, and without doubt this method reduces the need for paper forms at the event and is therefore kinder to the environment which is what we’re all about.”

New look for Textlocal after winning an Effective Mobile Marketing Award

Hilary Devey from Dragons’ Den crowns Textlocal owners best Digital and Media Entrepreneurs for 2011

It’s been an exciting year for Chester based mobile marketing company Textlocal. After being listed in Media Momentum’s European top 20 fastest growing agencies list, winning awards for developing the best messaging platform on the market, and creating the best telecommunications website, the Textlocal owners Alastair Shortland and Darren Daws (pictured) have now been crowned as leading digital and media entrepreneurs across the North West.

The inspirational duo decided to go into business together back in 2005 with a passionate goal to bring simple to use text marketing systems and mobile web to UK businesses. Unlike their competitors, they enable any size business to communicate with customers or staff quickly, easily and cost-effectively with no set-up fees, monthly fees or contractual commitment. Textlocal’s business ethos has always been to provide clients with a tailor made Do-It-Yourself automated system, putting the power completely in their hands.

It’s no wonder then, that 2011 has been a rollercoaster of achievements for this ever growing business, which the North West EN Magazine judges including millionaire Hilary Devey, commended for being the most innovative and profitable business in the media sector over the past year.

Managing Director Darren Daws said “Alastair and I are extremely proud to have received this award, which clearly highlights how successful our business model is, not only for us, but for the 75,000 business we work with. We have dedicated our business to achieving the objectives of other businesses, understanding customer requirements, and putting their needs at the heart of everything we do, and being recognised in this way makes it all the more satisfying. Mobile marketing is transforming the way businesses communicate, and Textlocal is leading the way. ”

Today, Textlocal work with businesses from all sectors and of all sizes, from councils and universities, to big clients like Google, Manchester United, MySpace, Shell, Domino’s Pizza and Greenpeace.

Supporting QR code campaigns with SMS

Textlocal founder Alastair Shortland talks to Fourth Source.

Mobile marketing is rapidly transforming the way businesses communicate. Smartphones are everywhere, and across the globe people are becoming more dependent on using their phones while they’re out and about for things like payments and location-based services. It’s vital that businesses harness the growing influence of mobile marketing, and connect to customers quickly, directly and instantly.

QR codes are another way businesses can connect to customers through their smartphones. You have probably seen these barcodes that look like mazes – perhaps on bus-stop posters, or on magazine ads, or in shop windows.

When you scan or read a QR code with your iPhone, Android or other camera-enabled Smartphone, you can link to digital content on the web; activate a number of phone functions including email, Instant Messaging and SMS; and connect the mobile device to a web browser. Mobile technology has become so sophisticated, that not only do consumers want to browse and purchase on the go, they want to do it fast. QR codes allow this to happen.

The ability of QR codes to connect people with each other and to multimedia digital content is very useful for businesses and consumers alike. However, we at Textlocal feel that businesses are missing out on a huge opportunity to form relationships long term through QR Codes.

Most businesses only use them to drive people to a website, a specific URL, which doesn’t capture any data. Then there is the issue where marketing agencies think “oh, I’ll add a QR code to some marketing material”… and then all it does is take the user to their normal desktop website which may not even optimised for mobile.  Most QR codes that you see in the wild have no discernible call to action at all….they offer no reason for the end user to scan the code, other than novelty value.

Therefore, we believe the potential for QR codes has not yet been fully explored.

If you connect a QR code to an SMS text message, then a conversation can be automatically opened, and an exchange of data becomes possible. This is MUCH more powerful and effective, and means that when a user scans a QR Code, they can also send an automatic text message, giving businesses the opportunity to capture their mobile numbers for future marketing. This speeds up ‘opt-in’ mobile marketing, something that can also be done long hand via texting a word into a short code. QR codes linking with SMS can even go a stage further. After the QR Code has been scanned, and the SMS message has been automatically opened on the phone, businesses can also request that users enter an email address in the SMS message, and automatically reply with digital marketing collateral, for example, say a PDF brochure direct to the palms of their hands. We believe that QR Codes, working in harmony with SMS, opens up a whole world of opportunity for data capture that is being under-utilised.

There is so much more that can be done, and much of it is directly relevant to brands and retailers. Once you have used a QR code to excite your customer and make the sale, you can then use them to enhance the experience for them. Businesses can use QR codes on brochures, direct mail pieces, press ads, and so on. It is a slimline way of delivering rich, engaging content to customers in a way that encourages them to interact.

In this current economic climate, marketing budgets are being slashed. Local businesses and SME’s face competition from large high street chains and multinational organisations, and are without the resources to execute large marketing plans. The larger organisations are competing with each other to shout the loudest in an extremely busy market. Everytime businesses communicate with their customers, they come under scrutiny as to how it impacts not only society, but also the environment. QR Codes via SMS dramatically reduce the need to print mass amount of marketing materials, allowing companies to brag about their efforts on decreasing the global CO² footprint.

All users require is a QR Code reader which is a FREE app to download onto their Smartphone, which is usually free. We have expanded our extensive portfolio of services with a QR code facility that allows the 75,000 businesses we work with to set up their own QR codes at the touch of a button. There is huge potential for businesses to send information directly into the palm of people’s hands, in response to QR Codes, and the likelihood of the message being read is a whopping 97.5% according to Ofcom. QR Codes are generally free of charge, and you don’t necessarily need to be a ‘techie’ to make them work.

Our services, which marry SMS with QR Codes, deliver to ALL brands the power to communicate with customers through highly cost-effective, rapid, and convenient mobile marketing methods.