How Bulk SMS can benefit restaurants

by | Jan 10, 2014 |

As a restaurant owner your top priority is to fill empty tables. Bulk SMS can help you to entice diners to walk past the competition and into your establishment. Want to know how? Attracting and keeping customers can be a pain in the neck in any industry. The restaurant business is especially rough because people are spoilt for choice when it comes to eating out. On top of that, your business has to be open at odd SMS comes in handy! It just so happens… Use text messages to alert customers to specials and promotions. People can’t resist a good deal, and if the timing is spot on, you are bound to hit your mark. For example: if it is a hot summer’s day, tell your customers that it just so happens you serve the best ice cream dessert in town. If you can time the messages a few hours before chow time, your customers will have the opportunity to convince themselves that they really are in dire need of your ice cream. Show and receive Send coupon messages. It doesn’t really matter what the text is about (a promotion, trading hours etc.) but add to the message that the receiver can show it to their waiter for a discount on a particular dish or drinks. The more the merrier, right? So, why not make offers exclusive to parties of more than two people. It’s a celebration! If you really want to score brownie points with your customers, use SMS to send them freebies on their birthdays. It could look something like this: “Hey Jason, we at ABC restaurant...

The picturesque magic of MMS for mobile users

by | Jan 8, 2014 |

A picture says a thousand words. Luckily for mobile users, MMS does just that, maybe even more. That is why the ordinary Joe as well as the corporate world is getting in on the action. As we all know, a multimedia message (MMS) is the combination of ordinary text with pictures and sound to create a piece of communication that goes beyond a few meagre sentences. Photographs have traditionally been used to captures memories and precious moments in time. But used as a MMS, it takes on a whole new meaning and ascends into a communication tool that can help to convey thoughts and feelings to others. For example: instead of telling a friend to meet you at restaurant X for lunch, you can send them a picture of the restaurant. Or instead of giving your significant other a detailed description of the perfume you want him to buy, simply snap a picture of the bottle and forward it to his phone. Businesses are also taking advantage of MMS to spread the word about their promotions. It is probably the closest thing we currently have to a television ad for mobile. A company can easily construct a very short video message or picture show to introduce their customers to new products or alert them about special offers. It is simple, yet very effective. Some companies are reluctant to send of traditional channels like television and radio. Picture and video messaging is a creative and smart way to communicate – whether you send a love note to a special someone or try to entice a customer into buying your products....

Is Bulk SMS still a viable marketing medium?

by | Jan 1, 2014 |

With BBM, WhatsApp, iMessages and other new mobile applications, it is only natural to wonder if Bulk SMS still has a place as a marketing medium. It most certainly does – and this is why! Text messages are the only universal form of wireless communication currently guaranteed to open the message within the first few minutes after receiving it. It is such a cheap form of marketing even the smallest business can afford it Consumers are comfortable with the medium itself. It can be used to compliment or drive any marketing campaign Even as new mobile apps and nifty ways of communicating emerge, you will never go wrong with a simple text...

How you can use USSD Push in your business

by | Oct 30, 2013 |

You get two types of USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) messages: Push and Pull. Pull messages are used more often for customer services than Pull, but the latter can be used to great effect within a business. So, what exactly is USSD Push? It is when you use Unstructured Supplementary Service Data...

Is USSD the new SMS?

by | Oct 28, 2013 |

Have you ever typed a code starting with an asterisk and ending with a hash on your mobile? Or have you ever received a flash message on your phone containing a pin you requested or promotional material? Then you have made use of USSD Push and Pull services. USSD is a communication protocol used to send text messages between a mobile phone and an application via a network. The network is called the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network. It is similar to an SMS, however it provides session-based connections only – you can’t store or forward the message. USSD Push and Pull messaging are increasing in popularity and some people have asked the question whether USSD is the new SMS. But why is that? What makes Unstructured Supplementary Service Data a viable competitor in the world of business communication? USSD is real-time and instant. In fact, it can be anything up to seven times faster and much cheaper than SMS for two-way transactions. It is similar to speaking to someone, because it allows faster communication between users and network applications – messages are sent directly to the receiver allowing an instant response. An SMS can be compared to sending a letter. You have to wait for the message to be delivered and then wait some more for a reply – not the best method for attracting customers who are pressed for time. USSD could allow for more creativity on the side of the business owner. Because it supports menu-based applications, a business can offer a wider range and more complex services. It is flexible and cost effective...