Once you’ve got a basic understanding of our software, your focus will most likely turn to getting the most out of each message you send. If you’ve been a client with us for awhile now, or if you are just getting started with Opt It, you will definitely want to read about this cool new feature offered in Opt It 3.0.

We’ve been in the text messaging business since 2004 and know from experience that one of the key ways to grab your clients’ attention via text is to customize the message to make it time sensitive. This is where the Dynamic Expiration Date comes in- it’s a simple and easy way to catch seize your client’s attention and motivate them to act immediately upon an offer.

Here’s how it works: The Dynamic Expiration Date allows Opt It users to set their coupons or offer to expire an “X” amount of days after a message is sent out. For example, if your customer signs up for your list on 06/01/2010, your Welcome Message might include a coupon that expires in 3 days. For your customers that receive this message, the text would say “please redeem by 06/04/2010”. But if this person joined on 06/02/2010, the message would read to them “please redeem by 06/05/2010”. Pretty cool, huh?

The benefits of this feature are huge- not only are you sending a customized message to your members to make them feel special, you’re setting a timeline for redemption, forcing those who want to take advantage of the deal to act quickly.

So, how do you use it? It’s easy:

All you have to do is include into your message to have your offer expire an X number of days after the member joins the list (Just change XX to the number of days you want the offer to be valid). Remember- the number needs to be at least 2 digits, so if you want people to redeem your offer 1-9 days in the future, just include a “0” before the number of choice.

An example message would look like this:

(This is how the message looks typed in the software)

(This is how the message appears on the members phone)

The Dynamic Expiration Date feature can be included in your Welcome Message, Response Message, Already Subscribed Message, Web Form Verification Message, and Subscription Forward Response Message.

And the best part of the feature? - Iit’s FREE!

July’s issue of Nightclub & Bar Magazine creates a spotlight for one of Opt It’s loyal partners, Wicker Park Tavern. The article talks about how the partnership with Opt It and the establishment’s text message marketing campaigns have increased traffic for the hoppin’ Chicago bar. Wicker Park Tavern’s General Manager, Daryl Havrish, describes his reasons behind the choice to use mobile marketing. He talks in detail about the behavior of the bar’s clientele, whose fingers constantly switch from beer mug to cell phone. “One of the easiest ways to pull these technologically savvy bar-goers into your venue is reaching them by text” says Havrish, whose experience has taught him that mobile marketing is the most powerful way to reach his customer base.

Havrish talks about the beginning stages of the campaign, a point at which it was necessary to invest a bit more time into the marketing initiative. “I think it’s important for management to start these campaigns,” Havrish says. “But when it takes off, it’s OK to empower your staff to run them.” Delegating the responsibility to send out text messages to employees is simplified by Opt It’s software -you can edit security settings and assign only certain capabilities to employees. Also, the software allows you to pre-schedule messages, turning the task of creating a text message into one that can be done at any time during an employee’s shift, and it only takes a few seconds.

Not sure which member of your staff is best fit to take on your mobile campaign? Havrish recommends a seasoned and young member of your staff, who is fresh and focused, and your team here at Opt It agrees. Creating messages for your cientele that are original and animated is one of the most successful ways to keep them coming in the door. A young mind with an understanding of the preferences of your customers is ideal for the undertaking.

After months of development and testing, sleepless nights and overdosing on Starbucks double shots, Opt It Mobile 3.0, or in human terms, our text message marketing software, has finally been released.

If you ask Team Opt It, what’s the best part about Opt It Mobile 3.0? In a world of complicated software and endless workarounds used to get business done, Opt It Mobile’s new release puts “simple” back into “solution”. The entirely revamped system is the most user-friendly text messaging application for businesses on the market today.

Here at Opt It, we take customer recommendations seriously. Suggestions from our customers, combined with a pretty impressive design and development team, has resulted in a great application. Throughout the process of building 3.0, our top priority was to create an intuitive system with ease-of-use that is second-to-none. We’re sure we’ve succeeded in reaching that goal and are proud to pass it along to you.

We understand that customers don’t need to spend endless work hours trying to figure out a complicated system. With Opt It, that won’t happen. You’ll be focused on what’s most important to you– reaching your customers and building revenue.

There’s a new feel to the Opt It software. As one novice user put it, “When I’m working with it, I know all the old functionality I love is still there, there’s just a more intuitive way of using it to my advantage.” The bottom line is – it’s easy to use. And with fresh features like our filters and Inbox functionality, it’s more effective than ever at helping you to launch and maintain a thriving text message marketing campaign.

We are more than excited to share with you all of the new capabilities and features you are now receiving by being a part of the Opt It family:

• Increased Speed- Our newly updated platform to send out your messages is now even faster when sending, receiving and delivering your content.
• Advanced Filters- We have introduced a new concept called Filters. In all parts of the software, it is now much easier to find specific information using filters, and you can save a filter that you use regularly to search data within your account with great speed and accuracy.
• Message Clone- If you want to send the same message again to another keyword or group, just hit Clone by the recently sent message and it will automatically generate the message again so you do not have to re-type.
• Send to Multiple Keywords- You can now send a message to multiple keywords, so if you have multiple locations that are offering the same special you can save some time and send the same message to all of your keywords.
• Advanced Help Section- You now have 40 new pages of Support documents, all made to address specific questions and topics. Use these and save yourself time in getting your questions answered.
• Assigning Members to Keywords- It just got easier to assign a member to a keyword- if you want to add a member manually, it is now a much easier procedure to do so.
• Sign Up Form Widget- you can now set any of the optional fields you want to obtain from your customers as required, increasing the amount of information you can acquire through this process.
• Phone Status- Now you can see the status of a members phone number so that you can monitor whether all of your members have good, working numbers. Delete the phone numbers that are no longer working to save money.
• Message a Single Person- Now you are able to send a message to a single person, which comes in handy when someone responds to your message with a specific question. This really allows you to carry on a direct one-to-one conversation.

Stay tuned for more exciting details about Opt It Mobile 3.0.

Enjoy - Team Opt It

Opt It’s new age gate feature allows customers to add a message or gate into their message flow that requires the end user to text back their date of birth in order to proceed. This feature is ideal for liquor or beer companies that must verify a user’s age in order to send special offers and promotions or to permit contest participation. Controlling entrance to specific groups allows businesses to meet all laws and requirements for age verification.

Here’s how the Opt It Mobile age gate feature works:

• In an attempt to join your specific group, the user texts in any keyword, for example: LIQOUR.
• The user will then receive a message stating, “You must be 21 to join this program – reply with your date of birth in the format DDMMYYYY to join.”
• The user responds via text “01181974″.
• The user receives a message back stating that they have successfully joined the LIQOUR group.

Many Opt It clients have had great success with this age gate feature, such as Corona, who has launched campaigns such as contests, targeted event reminders and discounted offers around Cinco de Mayo, as well as the Kenny Chesney summer concert tour. Budweiser currently uses the age gate feature to ensure valid entry into many summer contests and promotions.

Contact your account manager regarding how you can apply the age gate feature to your business needs. Keep in mind that this feature is not available in your account by default, so talk with your account manager for more information.

With Opt It Mobile’s expanded contest features, users can create and manage their own contests. Opt It Mobile users are able to establish a contest by simply entering start and end dates and times for their upcoming event. They may fine tune contests by controlling the number of times a customer joins; allowing for unlimited contest entries per customer, or a specific number of entries per contest, hour, day, week or month.

The Opt It Mobile contest feature also allows for manual or automated winner selection – for example, winners can be chosen to be the “xth” entry, first “x” people or every “xth” person. The number of winners may also be capped to lower your risk.

All contest entries are integrated into Opt It Mobile’s upgraded reporting system, so business owners can see real-time results of their ongoing contests.

Consider how our upgraded contest features can work for you to drive business through your door.

According to some recent reports, the economy may be showing the beginning signs of an upturn. For folks in the retail industry, this is great news. Adding mobile marketing to your retail business plan now is a powerful way to set your business apart as the economy moves forward. This low cost and extremely effective use of text messaging can drive business through the door during slow times and raise business to new levels as things turn around. Consider how adding Opt It Mobile can bring big advantages to you and your customers with ease.

As a retailer, it can be difficult to connect with your customers during tough economic times. With mobile marketing via Opt It Mobile, you’ll have the ability to communicate directly with customers that have given you permission to do so. With immediate release of information regarding limited time offers, specials on expiring inventory or new product and sales alerts, you’ll boost sales no matter what the economy is doing. Opt It Mobile offers features that allow business owners to track redemption on special offers and promotions. This instant customer connection allows you to increase incremental revenue, while reducing promotional costs and earning a higher return on investment.

We know this all sounds great, but how will it work? How can you put Opt It Mobile and mobile marketing to work for you? Our customers in the retail industry utilize Opt It features in a myriad of ways, such as contests, coupons for limited time offers and announcements and reminders for promotions and events. Targeted messages or value added alerts with lifestyle type content, based on the individual interests of your customers, can be sent directly and instantly. For instance, a running store might send alerts regarding stretching before and after runs, a hair salon could text information on managing hair in humid weather or a grocery store might send the latest news on healthy food choices. What’s more, retailers can use the Opt It Mobile platform to obtain customer feedback through text messaging.

In addition to the business advantages of mobile marketing, there are many benefits for your customers as well. Always privy to the latest promotions and special offers, your customers are ‘in the know’ when it comes to your business. Belonging to your VIP club gives them a sense of membership in your business’ community and ensures that they are getting special deals not offered to the general public. They’re also able to receive your information on the channel they prefer – their mobile device – eliminating the need to search for deals or clip coupons. They have everything they need to know about your business right at their fingertips.

Harness the power of mobile marketing with Opt It Mobile and add it to your retail business’ action plan. Your customers with thank you again and again.

If it’s your goal to reach customers faster and more effectively, mobile marketing is the most powerful tool available for the restaurant industry. With the better part of the world carrying mobile devices and sending and receiving text messages, mobile marketing deserves the top spot on your restaurant’s action plan and is a prime opportunity for you to connect with your customers like never before. Read on to discover why a text message marketing plan will work for you and how both you and your customers can reap the benefits of using the Opt It Mobile platform.

There’s no denying it, mobile marketing allows restaurant owners to reach customers with an immediacy never seen before in the marketing space. Your message is sent instantly to all customers in your loyalty program, giving them real-time knowledge of your latest promotions, events and contests. What’s more, you’re reaching out to targeted customers with their permission - they have requested your information to be sent, allowing you to speak directly to customers who are anticipating information about your business, wherever they are, via their mobile device. Getting the latest information about your restaurant to your customers in this way drives traffic through the door, boosting business before your eyes.

Consider the various applications for mobile marketing in the restaurant world allowing you to reach your audience at home or on the go, instantaneously. Utilize Opt It Mobile to provide the access into your restaurant’s loyalty program and send time-sensitive information or last minute offers for specific meals. Get real-time feedback from customers via surveys or comments. Coupons, contests and RSVP’s are easily managed with Opt It Mobile and allow this ideal two-way means of communication between owner/operators and customers to become the main method of communication. Uses of mobile marketing in the restaurant industry are limited only by your imagination.

So now you know why and how the Opt It Mobile platform can launch your restaurant’s mobile marketing campaign. But how do your customers benefit from your text message marketing efforts? Receiving text messages is a low cost and simple way for customers to stay informed about what’s going on at their favorite eateries. Not only will customers be up-to-date on the latest events and best deals, but they’ll be notified of and able to find ways to save money while continuing to eat at and enjoy the places they love – a big draw in tough economic times. With the permission-based technology that Opt It offers, your customers control what, when and how often they receive and send information about your promotions through their cell phones.

Becoming part of your restaurant’s loyalty program is very meaningful to many customers and provides a sense of belonging and membership to an elite group of patrons. This is an advantage to both the restaurant owner and customer, establishing a lasting relationship made possible by the reach of the instant and versatile mobile channel.

A new unsubscribe sequence was launched for Opt It subscription programs. We have penetrated various geographical markets and mobile phone users are starting to appear in more than one group on the same short code. In the past, when a user would try to unsubscribe by texting “STOP” to one of our short codes, they were being removed from all their subscribed groups. This was not the desired interaction by the user when they belonged to more than one group. Typically, the user only wanted to be removed from the group that they communicated with last.

To overcome this undesirable behavior, we have put the end user in more control over their experience. Now, if a user appears on more than one list we give them the option of which group they would like to unsubscribe from or to respond ALL for all groups. Again, this is only if a user is subscribed to more than one program on a shared short code.

This added feature was a result of feedback from our users. If you have any comments or feedback, please let us know - info at optit dot com.

Metro is THE music venue to see the best local, regional, national and international emerging artists in Chicago. Since 1982, Metro has accomplished this goal repeatedly and established itself as one of the country’s premier, cutting-edge new music venues.

Recently, Metro has deployed text messaging to send out special offers and promotions to its’ loyal fan base. Because of the wide variety of talent that performs at Metro, they needed an easy way to segment their text messaging user base to allow them to send targeted messages to their customers.

To solve this problem, Metro used the new sign up form and added a number of interests to the form to allow their customers to select the type of music that they are interested in. This allows Metro to send out very targeted and relevant text messages to get the most out of their text campaigns. View the Metro sign up form.

Opt It has released a new tool for generating sign up forms.

This important feature release allows you to create customized sign up forms by selecting different options including colors, fonts, form size and data/interest fields. After you have selected all your choices, we will generate the HTML for you.  All you have left to do is plug it into your web site, blog, MySpace page, etc.  We have worked to make this as easy as possible.

You are free to create as many forms or configurations as you need.  One thing to remember is that we do not store your selections.  Instead, you can email all your selections to yourself along with the the code you generated.  This way, you can store a copy of your code in a safe place in case you need to re-use it at a later date. 

 
Another unique feature of this tool is the ability to add and insert interests into a form.  Interests are sub-groupings that allow you to segment your list into things that people are interested in - get it “interested in” -> interests.  By placing these interests into your sign up form, you are segmenting your list as soon as a new customers registers for your text list.  You can send that customer targeted promotions right from the beginning.  SMS is becoming more and more personalized and we will be sharing additional information about that in future posts.

So, give the new sign up form generator a try and let us know what you think.