KEY POINTS:
Ads inviting viewers to text for more information are common, but the developers of a new web-based service are hoping to encourage more businesses to use mobile phones as a marketing tool.
Start-up company TXT2GET, founded by entrepreneurs Marty Verry and Peter Barrett, has had four developers working for more than a year to create an online service which allows advertisers to set up their own text-in campaigns.
Through TXT2GET's website advertisers can choose a unique word for consumers to text in, and set up the information to be sent back to texters' mobiles or email addresses.
The returned text or email could be a web address, a shopping discount voucher, or confirmation that they have been entered into a competition.
Verry said while several agencies already offered text marketing services, TXT2GET was the first that allowed companies to set up a text-in campaign entirely over the internet.
Verry has a background in website and magazine publishing and said he conceived the TXT2GET concept after realising advertisers were demanding more measurable results from their ad spend and better ways to connect with consumers.
"A lot of advertising and marketing points consumers to websites but people don't usually have their computer in front of them when they're exposed to ads in traditional media," he said.
"When you're reading a magazine or newspaper, watching TV or listening to the radio you very rarely have your computer in front of you, but you do have your mobile phone.
"If advertisers want to engage immediately with people who are consuming traditional media, mobile marketing is the logical progression."
Barrett, who co-founded vehicle rental firm Escape Rentals in 2003 and sold out of the business last year, said the aim of TXT2GET was to make keyword mobile marketing campaigns accessible to smaller organisations.
Much of the development work the company had done over the past year had involved making the technology simple to use and effective, he said.
Frank van der Velden, chief executive of interactive marketing company Touchpoint, said his business had been offering a keyword-based text response service through its Txt4Info product since 2004.
He said Touchpoint's focus was on offering text services as part of a wider marketing strategy for clients.
Van der Velden said given the ubiquity of the mobile phone, it would only become more important as a marketing tool.
Verry said he and Barrett planned to expand TXT2GET into the United States and Asia over the next year.
MOBILE MARKETING
Adding text-in keywords to advertising and signage can be the starting point for a number of marketing initiatives.Website promotion: Texting back a web address overcomes the problem of consumers forgetting the address.
* Building a marketing database: Inviting consumers to email in contact details.
* Phone call follow-ups: Calling consumers who have texted back their details, including a preferred time to receive a call.
* Surveys and competitions: An effective way to engage with customers.
* Ad measurement: Adding a text-in element can gauge the effectiveness of a particular ad.
* Vouchers: Texting back a discount voucher consumers can present on their phone when they next visit a store.
* Text-to-sample: A simple way for consumers to request a product sample.
