In July 2005, our client (an independent cinema) was sending 2 for 1 offers as part of an SMS marketing strategy from a database of opt-in subjects which they had acquired from a previous SMS marketing campaign.

The client was testing the response rates of text messages against their email and direct mail database. The redemptions from text messages were 6 times greater than email, while redemptions from direct mail were almost non-existent.

However we were not satisfied. We believed that the absolute number of redemptions was lower than it should have been for this type of promotion.

Solution

We conducted an interactive survey with the text recipients to collect the following information regarding the SMS marketing campaign:

• How many of them had taken advantage of the offer
• In the case of a non response why they did not respond
• The offers they would most like to get from the Cinema
• The category of films they most liked to watch

Results

Within minutes of initiating the survey it was clear why we had a lower than expected response rate occurring in this particular campaign:

1) Wrong film – coincidentally, all offers were for horror films (70% preferred comedy)

2) Wrong time – the offers were only good on a Wednesday night

The impact of this brief and discreet exercise was profound. The independent cinema immediately changed the offer to a 2 for 1 discount on any movie Monday through Thursday. As a result, redemption rates increased dramatically.

Maintaining a good level of testing and control with an SMS marketing strategy is important to insure that the SMS gateway is being utilized to its full potential.
 

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