Lexington, KY - It began with a series of phone calls from a dentist's office. The dentist's staff had tried to reach Conrad Carney at his home, his office and on his cell phone. Carney joked to his dentist that he wouldn't have much trouble remembering his appointment with that kind of communication.
"But look at the amount of calls it took," his dentist remarked.
That got Carney to thinking: Wouldn't texting to one source be smarter? The idea for CMSText was hatched. Launched in February 2009, CMSText is a text messaging advertising and marketing company that helps businesses to market directly to the palms of their customers, and willing customers at that.
The average phone user is now texting more than talking. Carney said it is an unobtrusive way for a retailer, restaurant, doctor, dentist or real estate agent to reach out and touch customers or patients to let them know what they're doing.
Text messaging, also known as SMS or short message service, has skyrocketed in the United States. About 3.5 billion text messages are sent and received daily, according to CTIA, the international association for the wireless industry. It turns out that texting, first popularized by fast-fingered teens, is an almost guaranteed read by those on the receiving end.
Carney, a former University of Kentucky football center who earned a letter in 1986, believes Europe and Asia are four or five years ahead of the United States in mobile marketing and mobile communications, but the gap is shrinking.
"Many people have opted out of using a land line and just use their cell phone as their personal communicator," said Carney. "The way we view cell phones today will be greatly different 10 years from now. It's going to be about the 'Mobilenet,' not the Internet."
CMSText, based in Lexington, has 11 local employees including customer care (or what the company calls "partner care), an accounting staff and a couple of direct sales representatives. But CMSText also operates in 44 other states with a force of 190 direct sales reps.
Restaurants are a big market for CMSText. Local clients include El Chico, Merrick Inn, Murrays', Chili's, Furlongs, Buddy's and Wingers, among others.
"They're looking for ways to increase visits," said Carney. "We help them build a database by encouraging people to opt into mobile marketing. Texting is a permission-based marketing tool. Unlike e-mail where you can buy a list of addresses, with text messaging you must give permission to that company, restaurant, car wash or retail outlet to send a message to someone's cell phone. You also have the ability to opt out."
Carney emphasizes that the beauty of this plan is that a business isn't sending a message to someone who doesn't want it. For example, a restaurant may do a "Text to Win" promotion, with point-of-sale material on tables, urging people to text to a number. They might win a free meal or a certain dollar amount off their purchase. If they don't win, they may get a discount coupon to come back again.
"You have now entered yourself into that restaurant's database," said Carney.
The restaurant is advised not to send more than two coupon messages per month. Research shows a business can wear out its welcome when customers become desensitized to messages that appear too often.
"If a business can get between 10 and 30 percent of their customers to come back just once more per month, it's going to help their bottom line tremendously. That's the value of our service," Carney said.
Merrick Inn in Lexington uses CMSText during its busy seasons, said General Manager Geof Casey.
"We offer specials to generate business, mostly during ball games or patio season or during holidays. We send out a massive text. We have an e-mail address list that we started five years ago, and all people have to do is respond with our zip code to receive a free appetizer or drink. Then we automatically get their information back," he stated.
Does it help spawn new business for an already well-established restaurant? "We're a 32-year-old business and we already have a solid clientele, but with the opening of so many other new restaurants in our area, it has helped generate both the younger and older populations," Casey said.
Small-business operators or those over the age of 45 may feel intimidated by the technology, Carney admits, or they can't afford time away from daily operations to handle a marketing campaign.
"We developed our business to eliminate that barrier. It allows even small businesses to do mobile marketing, because it isn't expensive and it delivers a high return on the investment," he said.
CMSText recently signed an agreement with the Kentucky Dental Association to be its exclusively endorsed text messaging company for important reminders for its members. It also signed a deal with Cincinnati Children's Research Hospital for medication reminders for adolescents with chronic illnesses. Carney would love to sign agreements with major health care companies in Kentucky, as well as private practices.
"There's a lot of growth potential for using mobile marketing to touch clients or customers," he said.