SMS Campaign Management - What to charge??

I know this thread was resurrected for a different resson but I wanted to comment on pricing strategy.

We stick to basing everything off of gross margins for the total number of messages for a month. This way we can cover operating costs, along with some added padding before we determine commission splits for our reps and resellers then we know ahead of time that the entire split we get is all profit.

Nothing new but is a much more stable approach to pricing packages. The costs simply do not scale exactly the same for each monthly package because you want to discount larger monthly meesage packages.

Just curious is that 10% rate walking in cold or do you make an appointment before hand. Any tips for meeting with business owners?

Thanks for all the information thus far iAmNameLess, I've gone around town walking into local businesses handing out information packets that includes the benefits and the pricing sheet, no bites yet.


Would you mind sharing what you say during a cold call?

No need to have experience with this. As with anything, do your research, learn about it and learn what results can be made. You don't need case studies, and you don't need prior clients in order to charge a nice amount for this. I understand the mindset behind this though, and if you are to go a few months for a lower rate, I suggest going after clients that you don't want to have. Sounds strange doesn't it?

Really, offline marketing isn't complicated. SMS campaigns are just one additional way of getting money. This is the beauty of technology, we will ALWAYS have something to offer, and it always changes.

Well, this is what separates me from others, and stops them from doing it by themselves. I get the setup fee, if I decide to do table tents, no later than a week later they approve what we have designed... 3 days later I have table tents ready. The second the table tents are placed on the tables, we start a 30 day process to really build a list. We don't send ANY promotions out during that time, only an offer for them subscribing.

After the 30 days, we end up with a decent amount of subscribers. I always express the importance of offering specials on certain days for the restaurants and bars, or else they won't have great results.

Many of the bars, I make extra money off of because I am a partner in a DJ company, our DJ's promote this list, and sometimes we will offer free pucker shooters for anyone who subscribes. Waitresses go around the tables, get guys to subscribe, and boom, free shots. Sounds like a lot of money being drank right? Well, its low alcohol, there is actually 1/4th of a shot of 10% alcohol in the shot, a 10 dollar bottle makes 164ish shots... That works great...

We build up a list of subscribers, and pick a night to offer specials, sometimes two nights. We stick with it for a month, then move onto a new night, new special, while keeping the old specials as well since it has built up a following.

A local bar with an average week night ring of 300 bucks... weekend night rings of 500-600, has used this strategy to build up their following. After 4 months of building up a list, we decided to do a beer pong tournament, $20 per team entry, we had 45 teams, 1 week of promotion. That night did 6 grand at the bar. Mobile marketing works.

I can't give you a set template for every business.

This is what works for me:
1. Get the money
2. Decide whether they need table tents, or how to actually promote this list so it works. Table tents will offer higher value, which means higher set up fee. I worked out a deal with a print company in Nashville Tennessee and they give me only a small marked up price.
3. Monitor the list, find out how many guests, patrons, they have had the first week... see how many subscribers you have. If you don't have 25% of their total tickets, then you have a problem. Either they didn't put out table tents, or you decided not to use table tents and the other method of getting subscribers to the list isn't working.
4. Set up specials.
5. After 30 days of promoting the list, start sending out "coupon codes" or other offers.
6. After the 30 days of running the actual campaign, pull their records and compare the numbers. You might have to present them an NDA since you will have access to their numbers, and this will also prevent them from "Sharing your secrets". You should notice a large increase on targeted nights.
7. Move on to another special, and another night... keep building. At this point, they will be happy to continue spending money for you, with no questions asked.
8. Once their list starts to increase greatly, you should already know the numbers, how much money they spend for you and how much money they are making because of you. You will know what to charge as an increase for maintaining their campaigns and to expand the amount of subscribers they can have.


You can buy a reseller plan, start with a lower plan and move your way up... you have many options as far as keywords and texts. Once you get big enough, call them and get a custom plan.

Online and offline is completely different. Mobile marketing and SMS campaigns are an entirely different game between the online and offline world. If you want a big profit, go offline. It doesn't matter what people are charging online. I do web design and quote 6 thousand dollar sites all the time, and LAND THEM, while others are quoting the same thing for $400. The difference? I offer quality, and value... they offer cheap, low budget, web design. People do a little more searching online than they do when you approach them.

If one of my clients decided to do this themselves, I'm not worried about it. It will be a greater loss for them, than it is for me. They will have to start over with their list. They will have to do everything, with no consultation, with no hands on experience and they will have less results.

I don't care if someone is offering FREE services, I will still make plenty of money! You have to remove the concept of money, money isn't an issue. If someone passes on you because of money, it makes them want you more. If you go down on your price, you seem desperate, and unprofessional.

If someone doesn't want to pay a set up fee, and they balk at the idea... then balk at the idea that they don't want to pay it. Whenever I have had someone not wanting to pay a certain amount, I act appalled, and confused that they wouldn't want to take part in such a beneficial strategy. I then walk away, knowing it is a client that isn't worth having and go onto the next.

$100 is cheap.. you could easily charge more. There is not point in just reselling the service and letting them manage it. They won't end up being as happy, and they won't use you long term. If you manage the campaigns yourself, there is more value, you have longer contracts, and referrals will be huge. This can be used for numerous businesses, not just bars and restaurants.. I just target those because it is easy, and it makes sense. If you do some research, you can find out which restaurants are part of certain bar and restaurant associations in your state. Join their association, might be 300 bucks for a year, but you will make a minimum of 10-20 grand from referrals once you join. Kind of like BNI.

How many people do you know that start a small business, who are afraid of putting themselves out there? People are viewing small businesses in a different light. Small businesses are people that are tired with the system, that have their own dreams, and will do what is necessary to increase their business. What would you like? A business that is paying you 1,000-2,000 setup, and 500 a month... or no set up and less than 500 a month? If the business can't afford it, and they are interested, they will call you back in a couple months, or you can give them a call back.

This isn't just another thing you can use to upsell, or make additional money. This is something I truly believe in, and I truly believe everyone that uses this service from me, is going to benefit greatly. I'm not going to sell myself short, to help a business bring in more clients/customers than they have ever had.

This is something you can use to bring in some serious cash... but you have to believe in it yourself. If you knew for a fact you were going to make a business 4K a month, would you charge 200 bucks? This area of marketing, is so huge that I am considering opening an office in another city, just offering this.

You want the key to success? It isn't just in mobile marketing, it isn't SEO, or adsense, or google places... The key to success is doing something or offering something that you truly believe in, and can actually help your clients. Its rewarding. I have a couple that own a family restaurant and were close to shutting down. I didn't know this at the time, but they took out investments from a ROTH IRA, in order to pay me to do this. The woman, started crying when we met last, because they have finally made a profit for more than 3 months. They lost money 8 consecutive months before that, about to close down. That made me feel pretty damn good... and you will have a lot of clients feel the same way once you do this and you do a good job. You do this, and offer such value, you can charge however much you want and you will receive lifetime referrals.