New business.Your opinion please.

textman

Hello,

I am going to start a bulk SMS / SMS marketing company with in couple of weeks.I can provide this service at a lower rate than other market leaders.

What you think about this business? does your company use similar type of service? mainly targeting schools,hospitals and retailers.

Your valuable suggestions welcome.

background: Dublin based guy having years of experience in telecom/software in US/UK and Ireland

Axwell

Without any real information its hard to give you any feedback. There are similar businesses out there, you say you can provide it lower than the market leader and thats about it. Have you rates that can be compared, what makes you different, whats your usp?

RedXIV

Also there's a difference in providing a bulk SMS and an SMS marketing service. For example, i appreciate a clinic texting me 7 days before every appointment.

I wouldn't appreciate being told they can save me money by logging online.....blah blah blah. Text marketing is not a very easy place to get good sales as most people delete or ignore them the second they come in

textman

Axwell wrote: »

Without any real information its hard to give you any feedback. There are similar businesses out there, you say you can provide it lower than the market leader and thats about it. Have you rates that can be compared, what makes you different, whats your usp?

Main usp is price.

Price per sms for large quantities(say 250000) is less than 1 cent. and I don't think any other provider offer this in Ireland at the moment. Average price for similar bundle in the market is 3 cent/sms

Other selling points...

No setup cost, monthly cost etc.
No minimum purchase
No expiration time for purchased SMS
Al commonly used protocols supported
Max coverage and high quality
Easy to use well documented developer API
Excellent after sales Support
Free SMS for testing
and its Irish

RedXIV wrote: »

Text marketing is not a very easy place to get good sales as most people delete or ignore them the second they come in

People have a tendency to read virtually every text they get - unlike junk mail, spam or adverts which can be ignored and it delivers an effective and immediate call to action (from various surveys)

and this service can be used in many sectors on various occasions eg. Event Details,Product launches,Viral Campaigns,Collection notification,Appointment notification and reminders,Keep a customer informed during the order process etc.

iMax

Is it opt in for the recipient ? Where does the list of numbers come from & are they categorised for target marketing ? E.G. I only want to reach women in Dublin age 18-25 - can you give me that or is some 47 year old dad of four in Mayo going to get the message too ?

SouperComputer

at best you are entering a shrinking market. JMHO.

RATM

SouperComputer wrote: »

at best you are entering a shrinking market. JMHO.

Would agree with this- 10 years ago I'd say it was a great idea but the market has been sewn up. Apps are where it is at now IMO. Maybe consider developing them for SME's, code an app that you can then adjust for individual businesses with push notifications as a feature. That could be something quite valuable to a business- a rich source of targeted information for the consumer with the added ability to inform them of upcoming sales, events, etc.

CrowdingUp

I agree with RATM. Maybe include targeting colleges (students unions) as well.

I know it is a little different but what about moving towards premium texts instead? There will be a big demand for this down the line as companies move into social media and they are looking for a quick way to sell low cost items through Facebook and similar sites. Texts are fast and effective, especiall when more and more people (around 50% by my calculations) access social media throught their mobiles.

Just a thought...

textman

iMax wrote: »

Is it opt in for the recipient ? Where does the list of numbers come from & are they categorised for target marketing ? E.G. I only want to reach women in Dublin age 18-25 - can you give me that or is some 47 year old dad of four in Mayo going to get the message too ?

We offer SMS at low rate and fully featured interface to send bulk SMS. Not the target customer numbers.

SouperComputer wrote: »

at best you are entering a shrinking market. JMHO. ?

More and more businesses are start using this service for notifications, reminders, Viral Campaigns etc. 40% increase in here since 2009 and from our survey its continue to rise. Many financial institutions, Service sectors, Beauty Clinics, Educational institutions, Retailers are using this and their numbers are growing.

RATM wrote: »

Apps are where it is at now IMO. Maybe consider developing them for SME's, code an app that you can then adjust for individual businesses with push notifications as a feature.

We have smart phone app as well for this purpose,which is under development.

CrowdingUp wrote: »

I know it is a little different but what about moving towards premium texts instead

We have premium text service and two way messaging system as well.

kennedmc

Sounds like your're using new IP messaging platforms in a cloud / SaaS environment? All existing players of which there are a fair few in Ireland & UK will move over also albeit at different speeds.

You would need to move quickly but most of all a business will need to have confidence in you to buy and use your service. Don't just compete and (marketing) message on a price only basis.

Lucky Dub

Fair play OP hope it goes well, you seem to have done your research!