Pen redux: Bulk SMS is mightier than the sword

It isn’t tough to see why bulk SMS messages are able to reach a vast amount of people across great distances. What isn’t so obvious though is the ability of this dynamic medium to spread ideologies, mobilise the masses and get people to act.

In this post we’ll be looking at two groups of protesters and what marketers can learn from their bulk SMS campaigns.

Protesters: Xiamen Residents
Date: May, 2007
Location: Xiamen City, China

In the Chinese city of Xiamen, residents rallied in their thousands to protest the opening of a dangerous petrochemical plant. Protesters were energised by widespread bulk SMS messages, urging residents to march and show their condemnation. The bulk SMS messages spread by the protesters are believed to have reached over 1 million people in a matter of days.

1. Cross Mediums
After traditional forms of media were censored, activists took protests into the Blogosphere, where the movement gathered even more momentum. When deploying your bulk SMS campaign, consider ‘cross-pollination’. Having a call to action in your bulk SMS message, that directs prospects to other touch-points in your broader marketing can be very effective. Just ensure your incentives are strong enough and the instructions are clear. You don’t want to lose people mid-stream.

2. Work with Keywords
After a few days, Chinese authorities started blocking mobile phones that received certain keywords in messages. Some of the flagged words were: “benzene”, “demonstration” and “leukaemia”. Although it was a tool used against protesters, marketers should take notice of the importance of keywords. Interactivity is key to engaging with any market, and by using keyword recognition, you can ensure higher response rates to your bulk SMS messages. On receipt of a certain text string, SMS gateways can respond to keywords with a pre-determined response, which opens a world of promotional options.

3. Emote
An elderly lady, from northern Fujian, made the long journey to Xiamen to join the march. She did so “for the sake of Xiamen’s children and grandchildren”, which was a slogan directly out of the Xiamen bulk SMS. When selling to an audience, it is always emotion that makes the sale. Appeal to your audience’s emotions when trying to call them to action.

Protesters: Anti-Republican party protesters
Date: September, 2004
Location: New York

The Republication National Convention was the focus of many activists in 2004. Protesters gathered in large numbers in New York and used bulk SMS messages to intricately co-ordinate their movements. The spread of messages was made possible by Tad Hirsch’s Txtmob software.

1. Get Opt-In
Users first had to enter their mobile phone numbers to sign up to Txtmob and then, crucially, an opt-in registration pin was messaged to the user. When sending bulk SMS messages as a part of a marketing campaign, it may be tempting to distribute them as widely as possible. However, having a smaller target audience, who opt-in, may actually reflect more positively on your cost-per-conversion rate.

2. Speak to the Here and Now
Protesters in New York were regularly arrested during the convention. The bulk SMS community, that Txtmob provided, proved to be so dynamic that users could warn each other on which parts of the city to avoid as and when mass arrests happened. When preparing your bulk SMS be sure that your prospects can act on the call to action right then and there. No delays.

3. Speak with Passion
What all protest messages share in common is that they all speak with passion. You may think that it’s easier to rally people behind a cause, compared to a product or brand, but never give in to the bland – find ways to speak with passion about your brand.

Marketers and protesters are not too dissimilar. As protesters convey their ideals and persuade people to act, marketers spread the word about their brand and convert prospects or retain customers. Use the power of Bulk SMS from those who speak vehemently.

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Tags: bulk SMS, Clickatell, Mobile marketing, mobile messaging, SMS, text marketing, USA