Using SMS text messages in a business...

With everyone using text messages more than ever and there being billions of the things sent day in day out, how are businesses using text messages, and how many businesses that aren't using them could benefit from doing so?

It strikes me that lots of small businesses don't use them when perhaps they could: either for communicating with their customers or even in some cases there could be a potential revenue stream for them there with a little creative thinking.

For instance if you offer some sort of daily tip on your website then could there be a chance to send those out my SMS at a cost of say something like 15p per day, ok you won't get rich but if enough people subscribe then it could add a little extra income. I suppose the difficulty is getting people to want to pay for information these days, but with ringtone download companies making a fortune there is a market for these sort of small mobile payments if you have something that someone wants.

Re : Using SMS text messages in a business

There are lots of way in which text messages are being used. I have often wondered if there is some sort of business opportunity for a private company / new website to set up and offer a valuable text service, but I've never worked out what that is.

Businesses either offer information for free or on a paid basis. For instance banks may text your bank balance or similar to you: here they pay for the text and get nothing back BUT hopefully will improve your experience of the bank, make it easier for you, and therefore retain your custom long term.

Other services are more straightforward: for instance those that charge you to download ringtones, or perhaps specialist information or a convenience service: texting football results that you can activate when you are out of the country for instance.

And of course perhaps the biggest use is to do with competitions, and having people text in the result and paying something like 50p - £1: if you get enough entries, these I can imagine would be hugely profitable for the companies that run them.

As for a small, run of the mill business offering a text service: the problem would be getting the numbers up to make it viable, how you do that... well if I knew I might be a little better off

Re : Using SMS text messages in a business

You MUST not fall into the trap of spamming you [hopefully] loyal customers.

what’s important to you is seldom of the same interest to the public.

Texts to remind people of appointments are good, texts to promote prize draws aren’t.

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