SMS anyone?
SMS messaging is big business, and we have recently had the opportunity to work with a customer to setup an SMS competition to win 50cc Scooters. Working with another of our customers as the SMS provider, entrants can text the answer to a question to an SMS short code to try to win the scooter. The 3000th entrant wins the 50cc scooter, tax, registration and delivery!
The cost of the text can be set by the operator, and in this case was chosen to be £1.50 and then there is a revenue share agreement on income generated. The twist with the competition though is that when a contestant enters, they are texted back with their postion (if they give the correct answer). So, it’s made clear on the web site that the 3000th entrant wins, and once each contestant has answered correctly, they are texted back and told where their answer was… so if they are correct entrant number 2654 they will receive a text telling them so, and they can re-enter if they like!
It is a new area for us, so will be an interesting exercise, and it may be something that we offer as a service on a wider basis - there are all sort of possibilities. What about domain name registration by SMS for when you have that great idea for a web site in the pub? Service status messages by SMS? E-mail alerts for sales from your site? Affiliate sales notifications? The possibilites are endless.
With all the recent publicity over “dodgy” competitions, we have been careful to make the contest as fair as possible, and make the terms and conditions clear. And unlike many premium rate SMS competitions, entrants will not be sent multiple text messages at £1.50 a time. The idea is that it is fun, you have a realistic chance of winning (much better than the National Lottery), and it increases sales for the site owner.
If any of you have a great idea (or even a boring one!) for how you could use SMS within your businesses, let me know (duncan@eurofasthost.com) and we’ll see if we can help.
And, for anyone who wants a go at winning a 50cc Scooter, the competition can be found at ScooterSpot.co.uk (and no, the guys from our office can’t enter!)