The Pitfalls and Potential of Bulk SMS – Part 2
Welcome to our second post in a series on bulk SMS messages and the U.S. small business. Before we head into the many ways that bulk SMS messages can be used to enhance U.S. small businesses, let’s look quickly at the legalities of conducting business via a mobile platform. As with any industry, there are ground rules and it is better to have a clear understanding of these before embarking on your profitable journey into the world of mobile commerce through bulk SMS.
Beware of copyright infringement, which can be applied to pictures, text, software code or the organization of such information. Copyright exists from the date of creation of a work and can last for more than 100 years. If you are using bulk SMS messages to sell pictures or music, check that you have the rights to distribute and make a profit from these original works.
It is vital for any venture using bulk SMS to have the permission of the recipient to send them messages. Without this permission, your message can be regarded as spam and this will damage your brand in the long run. Consumers need to opt-in to your services; they also need to be able to easily opt-out of receiving bulk SMS messages from you. When launching a mobile commercial enterprise using bulk SMS messages, it is advisable to speak to a lawyer to ensure compliance with the laws surrounding mobile commerce – this will save you time and money in the long run.
There are many ways in which to generate revenue using bulk SMS. The most common is through the use of premium-rated numbers. Mobile products, such as wallpapers, logo’s and ringtones, are sold through the use of mobile originated numbers in which consumers send a text message to the premium-rated number and, in return, receive the item on their phones through bulk text messages. Other examples of mobile originated sales would include love poems, celebrity photographs and horoscopes. The scope here is unlimited – ranging from gardening tips to tourism information – any data comprising text, images or sound can be transmitted using bulk text messages.
It is also possible to sell content such as news, weather alerts, sports updates and business news through mobile terminated subscription services using bulk SMS messages. In all of these cases, billing would be undertaken by the mobile network operator, and the profit would be split (on a pre-arranged basis) between the business and the operator. Again, if you have original content that would be of interest to a wide enough community, start building your mobile database, work out your mobile marketing campaign, choose a reputable SMS Gateway provider to deliver your bulk SMS messages and then get texting.
Bulk SMS can also be used for ‘text-to-win’ competitions, where entrants text their answer to a premium-rated number. This is the same principle used in mobile voting for shows like American Idols. Bulk SMS messages have two-way SMS capability, allowing for interactivity between the business and the consumer, and it is simple to set-up automated responses to keywords for competition or voting entries with bulk SMS messages.
Bulk SMS can also be used to drive consumers to make real-world purchases by asking consumers to text back if they wish to purchase, and then by following up via telephone or email for payment details. Alternatively, you can use bulk SMS messages to encourage consumers to go into a physical store and make a purchase by offering them discount vouchers or pre-alerting them to specials and upcoming sales.
Your imagination is really the only limit to what you can do with bulk SMS. Catch up with us next week, when we look at real-life examples of U.S. businesses using bulk SMS messages to their advantage.
Related posts:
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- Bulk SMS in Action in the U.S. – Part 3 If you have been following our series on bulk SMS...
- Bulk Text Messages Empower U.S. Businesses Mobile marketing through bulk text messages is now a cornerstone...
- How To Improve Your Bulk SMS Opt-In Benefits of using bulk SMS as a solution to communicate...
- Real World Bulk SMS Successes Bulk SMS provides a powerful communications platform that enables you...
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