SMS messages are often overlooked as a marketing channel but it’s something of a mystery why.

Research shows that the open rate for SMS messages is in the 90%+ range and most are viewed within an hour of their arrival. How about that for immediacy ?

You can get people to join your SMS list by asking them to text to your short code (as you often see on TV shows). You can even get folks to subscribe to an email list in the same way.

Once you start to build your subscriber base, you can use it for any number of ways, knowing that you will be putting your message in to the hands (quite literally) of people that want to see it and knowing that they will almost certainly read it within minutes of receiving it.

• Slow day in your restaurant ? Send a text to your SMS subscribers to offer “2 for 1″ on Today’s Special !
• Build some loyalty with your customer base by texting a special VIP discount code.
• Send reminders of special promotions.

These are just a few ideas – you can probably come up with others. To discuss them with us, call Italic Marketing on 0117 911 4187.