The Case for Mobile Marketing for Charities
Mobile marketing is proving just the tool for progressive Charities looking for new strategies to help engage supporters and raise funds.
(PRWeb UK/PRWEB ) June 11, 2009 -- Mobile marketing is proving just the tool for progressive Charities looking for new strategies to help engage supporters and raise funds.
Like any modern business, charities are exploring innovative new media tactics to target audiences with personalised messages and with virtually the entire UK population owning a mobile handset, it's little wonder that the mobile is proving a popular choice.
Recently there have been a number of high profile campaigns such as Comic Relief and Children in Need, using mobile marketing to raise funds by text donations via a five digit short code (E.g 60777).
The recent Comic Relief Kilimanjaro Climb 2009, relied heavily on the keyword CLIMB to 88808 to raise money for the celebrity Kilimanjaro climb. A massive £1.5 million was raised in support of the climb with the vast majority coming from text donations. Part of the success of the campaign was due to the intense publicity generated by the Radio 1 breakfast team who regularly requested donations to the 88808 text code live on air. The high level of publicity coupled with a worthwhile cause and clear call to action text code clearly sparked public interest and support, as donations flooded in.
Another recent campaign by Save the Children demonstrated excellent response rates from mobile with over 115,000 registering their support by text message for a ceasefire in Gaza. The initiative was heavily publicized on the TV and radio asking the public to Text CEASEFIRE to 81819 to register your support for an end to the violence in Gaza." An auto reply was then sent back to all participants asking them to forward the text on to friends and family, to further raise awareness of the campaign. An overwhelming 115,000 people registered their support by text, making the petition powerful enough to present to Downing Street. This campaign demonstrates very effective use of a short code when promoted effectively and the power of viral marketing in generating further publicity for free.
According to leading mobile marketing firm www.txtlocal.co.uk, mobile marketing is not exclusive to just large charities, a number of smaller local charities are also integrating text into their strategy, in a bid to engage audiences.
Worcester based charity St Richard's Hospice, have been delivering personalised messages to supporters to generate awareness of forthcoming fundraising events.
According to Tricia Cavell St Richard's fundraising manager, SMS generated an excellent response with 22% of text recipients signing up for the walk immediately after receiving text reminders.
Cavell, described results as excellent "We had excellent results, our first campaign exceeded our expectations and we had lots of hits to the website." Cavell continues "Our supporters are like friends, they want to be kept up to date on all that's going on at the charity and sms provides the personal touch. We want to contact supporters directly ensuring no one misses an opportunity."
Txtlocal Director Alastair Shortland is a strong advocate of SMS for charities, having recently conducted a series of seminars on the subject. Shortland was inspired by the positive response by charities attending the seminars. "Text messaging works well for charities keen to keep in touch with supporters with personalised messages."
Shortland continues "It only costs a few pence to send a text, it's also quick, easy and convenient plus gets good response rates."
The success of sms texting for charities should inspire many marketers and promoters to take advantage of new media technology, in particular mobile. It's such a direct and instant way of communicating with a mass audience.
How can Mobile Work for your Charity?
Event Management - Alert members of event times and dates.
Donations - text DONATE to new members
News - Keep members up to date with instant news and sign ups
Appointment Reminders - Perfect for keeping in touch with members
For further editorial information and requests for interviews or high resolution images contact Marketing / PR Kathryn Mann at Txtlocal on 0845 009 3188 or email kathryn.mann(at)txtlocal.com
Notes to editors:
www.txtlocal.co.uk was launched in 2005 and is now the one of the UK's leading business SMS text messaging companies behind many of the short messaging text numbers on television today. www.txtlocal.co.uk has clients from a wide variety of sectors including Subway, Blacks Leisure, Liverpool University, Estee Lauder and Nationwide.
They offer a range of services for a variety of organisations including pubs delivering 2 for 1 offers to local customers, bands making direct contact with fans, holiday parks promoting evening events, theatres growing an opt-in customer list to announce last minute tickets or even GP surgeries and mechanics sending appointment reminders by text.
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See the original story at: http://uk.prweb.com/releases/2009/06/prweb2518834.htm
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