TheLocalProject: Readying for the New Year 2019

To All Our Friends,

As we enter the Holiday Season, two thoughts seem common among most of us. First, is the special time spent with family & friends making memories. Second, is a natural self-reflection of where we’ve been and what we’ve done in this journey called life; combined with fresh ideas and rekindled hopes to better our lives in the new year that lies ahead.

At TheLocalProject we’ve come a long way since our launch 30 months ago; the CONNECTLocal platform which started as an idea is now a reality.

What sets CONNECTLocal aside from all of today’s popular platforms is our approach to the User, their privacy, their personal data, and the delivery of advertisements. It’s front page news that platforms like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Yelp all collect the User’s data in order to sell it to advertisers, so advertisers can then target “us the consumer”.

If you use these platforms “you are the product” and “access to you” is what’s being sold to generate revenue for these platforms. Recent reporting shows there’s little discretion in what information is sold or what access is given. Nearly everything we enter into these platforms including our private messages is offered to 3rd parties so they can market to us. Even the microphones in our cellphone, Alexa, and Echo are used to listen for when we say keywords like Bahamas, Chevy, eye-liner; so digital ads can be “targeted to us” whenever we touch a digital device.

As an alternative, CONNECTLocal utilizes the concept of MyChoice Advertising which puts the User in full control of what advertising they see. In our model, we never compromise the User, their data, or their privacy to an advertiser. Our revenue model calls for businesses to pay a flat-fee to have their business represented in the network and allows Users to select which advertising and businesses they want to access.

Much could be shared about TheLocalProject’s Mission, credo and CONNECTLocal. We are a grass-roots initiative of people working together to build a network for their community that they would like to have. The modern term is “crowdsourcing”, however the principal is the same. We believe people can do a better job building their town’s network than those in the Ivory Towers of Silicon Valley.

That’s where you come in! You can play a role in expanding the platform nationally, statewide, regionally, or simply where you live. Get involved as little or as much as you like. When you support the “Project”, your contributions combine with the contributions of others to create a local network built by Users for Users.

We’re looking for people at all levels to join the effort. Opportunities include equity ownership of the national parent organization, State Sponsorships, Regional Management, and more. If you have interest, we’d like to talk with you.

I find the last 2 weeks of December the most special time of the year, a loving, peaceful time to reflect on the past year and prepare for the year upcoming. If you would like to discuss the role you can play in expanding our operations I both welcome and encourage you to reach out during this holiday season. Other than the important times such as Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve…I’m available to visit with everyone who shares in the passion of our mission.

All of us at TheLocalProject would like to wish you and your family a joyous Christmas and a prosperous New Year!

George W. Bogle Jr.
Founder & Executive Partner
TheLocalProject
Building a Better Internet
724-725-8000 – 281-500-1450
Text Us 844-307-1500
bogle@localproject.net
www.thelocalproject.net

Tips for SMS Marketing Campaign Success

Mobile messaging capability is a feature on almost every mobile device out there. In fact, SMS messaging is usually included in mobile packages for free, or at a very cheap rate, because so many people are more likely to use their phones to text than anything else. Statistics show that the majority of people check their phones immediately after receiving a text message, usually within just minutes.  All of this means significant ROI potential for savvy marketers who take advantage of mobile marketing.

A recent report claims that Coca-Cola is investing a whopping 70% of their mobile marketing budget in SMS marketing.  Tom Daily, the Director of Mobile, Search, and Global Connections said, “It is important to invest your energy into things you know work, and we know that SMS works and is a thing to focus on.”

If your interest is piqued and you’re ready to plan an SMS marketing campaign, consider these tips before you launch.

  1. Integrate mobile messaging into all your marketing: Approaching mobile marketing as a completely separate initiative may not be the best plan. Though your SMS campaign will have its own, individual goals, don’t forget that it is also meant to impact your business goals overall. Review your complete marketing strategy and consider how your new SMS capabilities can integrate with your other marketing to improve conversion and response rates.
  1. A Clear Call to Action – one cause for SMS campaigns not succeeding is the call-to-action is confusing and does not give the consumer a clear understanding of what to do.Look at this example from Express. They ask you to text “START” to 397737Although the offer was clear, a good number of people texted “START” with the quotations (“”) around the word which did not get them added to Express’s program.There are two primary elements that drive the signup, the offer and the call-to-action.Best practices are to: 1) Make the offer compelling and 2) make the call-to-action as simple as possible.Express did a good job of making the offer stand out.  Far too often we see companies making the mistake of giving an offer that is not motivating or compelling to the consumer.  The consumer has to know why they are joining the list, it’s the old “What’s in it for me” scenario.

    Second, make sure your call-to-action and keyword are: 1) clear, 2) easy, and 3) get the real-estate needed to convey your message.

  1. Offer rewards and other incentives.: You will need more than ads to drive consumers to you. People need something significant in return for allowing you access to their private devices and phone numbers. Offer these loyal customers something extra. This could mean discounts in the form of percentages or coupons, or a particularly low introductory offer. Asking consumers to spend a minimum amount in order to receive something in return is also a classic option.Once your consumers have accepted and opted-in, continue these efforts to ensure their loyalty. If financial incentives don’t suit you, there are a number of things you can do to attract and retain consumers – deliver meaningful news, useful reminders, interactive customer support, early access, or VIP privileges.
  1. Take advantage of speed and urgency: Most texts are read immediately, or within just a few minutes. Mobile messaging is one of the fastest ways to reach your audiences. Understanding this gives you another avenue to success with your marketing campaign. You have the ability to perfectly time your messages, knowing that the chances are high they’ll be seen almost immediately. Combine that with a clear, concise, 160-character call-to-action message, and you have a fast, powerful communication tool.
  1. Be consistent, but be relevant, too: Create a messaging calendar and send your SMS messages on a consistent basis. Not doing so regularly is a mistake many businesses make. However, you don’t want to go overboard, either. If you send a message once per week, make certain that it’s relevant to your consumer. You want to find the right balance between frequency of messages and significance of content.
  1. Integrate all other forms of media that you already use: All forms of marketing have their purpose and value, and they’re at their strongest when you effectively combine them. Mobile marketing is one of the best avenues available today and you could significantly boost your other media programs by promoting them this way. The first step is to look at your current media campaigns and consider which would be better suited to your plans and to your team for mobile marketing. The goal, of course, isn’t to flip a switch to automatically merge SMS and media; you want to create something that increases your marketing potential. You will also need to make sure that all language is clear and legal when you integrate the two marketing forms.
  1. Always measure your results: Simply put, there is no verifiable way to know if your campaign is working without measured results. There are a few things you can do when gathering information on the success of mobile marketing. You can monitor how much subscriber growth you experience within a time frame, such as each week. You can compare the number of people who opt-in versus those who opt out. With the use of keywords, you can measure which media outlets are performing best in your cross-channel engagement. The amount of people who redeem various offers is also a good indicator of success and allows you to see just how much communication with consumers costs you.
  1. Don’t forget that you need permission: You cannot simply pull phone numbers for your clients from your CMS. You need clear permission from consumers and they need to opt-in before you can include them in your SMS marketing channel. There are a couple of ways to do this: you can give them a code to text, or they can submit their number into a form online. No matter what, make sure what consumers are getting is clear to them.
  1. Your campaign must be legally in compliance: Because you’re entering mobile territory, you’ll have to contend with the FCC, the Mobile Marketing Association, and the CTIA. These three groups oversee the industry. The FCC, as you may know, handles the Telephone Consumer Protections Act (TCPA). If you’re using SMS, you’ll have to be compliant with their regulations. These regulations include having an established business relationship before gaining written consent, not making written consent a condition of any purchase, and more. These requirements, and all things relating to consent and purchase conditions must be made clear to customers.Fortunately, the TLP mobile marketing system is already compliant with the TCPA. You just need to make sure you inform your subscribers of the rules when opting in.A good example would be:VIP Connect: By participating, you consent to receive up to 4 text messages per month. Consent to these terms is not a condition of purchase. You may opt-out anytime by texting REMOVE YOURKEYWORD to 844-307-3500. TC’s/Privacy: www.mydomain.com/mobiletc

As you prepare to launch your mobile marketing campaign, consider all of these tips. They are keys to your success.

 

 

 

 

Dashboard

The Dashboard is a secure location for managing all your CONNECTLocal applications from your desktop or favorite tablet. This includes:

  1. Your Company Profile
  2. You VIP Subscribers
  3. Offers & Specials Builder
  4. MobileCONNECT Message Creator
  5. MobileCONNECT Inbox
  6. Mobile Connect Sent Messages
  7. MobileCONNECT SMS Setting
  8. Access Help Videos
  9. Access How-to Information for building and using your VIP List
  10. Access print collateral to promote SMS Subscriber signups.
  11. And Much more…


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Desktop Inbox

Your MobileCONNECT Inbox is the place to view, manage, and reply to, inbound messages.

When a User sends a text message to your business it appears in the Dashboard Inbox. This allows you to respond to messages from any desktop PC.

Simply open your Dashboard to the Inbox and let it run in the background. Your computer will audibly ring every 7 seconds whenever a new message arrives.


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VIP Subscriber List

The VIP Subscriber List is where you can view and manage your Subscribers.

There are 3 ways Users can join your list:

  1. Clicking the Connect Icon on your company profile.
  2. SMS Keyword Signup
  3. Direct Entry

Clicking the message icon next to a particular Subscriber allows you to send a 1to1 message to that Subscriber.


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Free In-App Messaging

MobileCONNECT allows you to send unlimited In-App messages absolutely free.

In-App messages can be sent with Push Notification so that Users are notified of the new message regardless if they have the CONNECTLocal App open or closed.

Be sure to encourage your new Subscribers to download the CONNECTLocal app so they can access all the features in their community.


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Broadcast Messaging

Regardless if your list has 10 Subscribers or thousands, you can broadcast a message to the entire list at once.

You choose if you want to send to the list In-App only which is 100% free or if you would like to send via text message. (SMS message rates apply)

In-App messages have the option to send with a Push Notification so users are notified in a similar manner they would when sent via text message.


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1to1 Messaging

MobileCONNECT allows you to send 1to1 messages to any Subscriber on your list.

This is perfect for service industries such as:

Mechanics – send a message letting your customer know their car is ready to be picked up.

HVAC or Plumber – Let your customer know the service tech is on their way.

Lawyer – Let your client know their papers are ready to be picked up or a court date has been set.

Or maybe just wish your best customer a Happy Birthday.


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Connect Icon

The Connect icon is show in the CONNECTLocal app on your business profile.

Clicking the Connect Icon allows users to join your VIP list without having to SMS text your keyword.

Once connected, your business is immediately added to the User’s Connections List inside the CONNECTLocal App.


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Keyword Signup

The keyword signup allows Users to join your VIP List by texting your Keyword to either 844-307-3500 or 866-866-7109.

For example, if you were a pizza shop your keyword might be “PIZZA”. Whenever a User texts the word PIZZA to 844-307-3500 or 866-866-7109 they are automatically added to your VIP list.

New Subscribers are auto-sent your custom “Welcome Message” and are also invited to download the CONNECTLocal app. When Subscribers download the app they receive better access to their community and you are able to send them in-app messages for FREE!


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Direct Signup

The Direct Entry function of the VIP Connect List allows you to manually add a new member to your list.

Are you a mechanic? Why not ask your customer if they would like to receive a text message when their car is ready?

Retail Shop – Ask your customers at checkout if they would like to receive your specials and discounts.

Service Tech – Ask your customers if they would like to get a text message when the repairman is on the way.


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After-Hours Message

As much as we would like to service our customers 24 hours a day, we all need to sleep.

The After-Hours Autoresponder automatically sends your custom “after-hours” message whenever a customer tries to reach you outside your business hours.

The After-Hours Message provides an immediate response letting customers know you will be getting back to them on the next business day.


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Message Pause

There will be times during the course of the work day that you will be unable to immediately respond to new customer messages.

In those cases, you can set the “Pause” feature to manage your incoming messages and automatically send Users a custom “Unavailable” message. Your custom message let’s users know you have received their message and you intend to reply back soon.


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Number Cloaking

Reasons we can’t text most businesses include business owners do not want to give out their personal phone number or carry two different phones.

MobileCONNECT keeps your personal phone number private. When you send customers a text message it is processed through our system and delivered from a phone number in our pool. When the User responds, our system keeps track and relays the message back to you.

This allows you to receive and send messages without revealing your personal number


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In-App Text Icon

CONNECTLocal Users simply browse the directory to find businesses they can message in their area.

Businesses that accept inbound messages are identified by the “Text US” icon notifying Users they can receive a text.

Users simply click the Text Icon to open the message window.


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Individual Addressing

When sending out broadcast messages, each message can be personalized to each Subscriber.

This personalization lets the Subscriber know you are communicating directly with them.


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No Cross-Talk

No Cross-talk prevents Subscribers from seeing replies from other Subscribers.

When sending out broadcast messages, each message is individually sent to each Subscriber.

Unlike standard group messaging, this insures when recipients reply only you will receive a copy of their response.


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CONNECTLocal Placement

As a MobileCONNECT business your company will be listed in the category of your choice inside the business directory of the CONNECTLocal App.

Your FREE listing allows you to create a business profile with your logo, images, hours of business, social media accounts, company descriptions, Google map results and promotion of 2 special offers.


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SMS Messaging

In addition to being able to send free in-app messages, you can send either 1to1 or broadcast SMS Text messages as well. Per message rates do apply.


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30-Day 100% Satisfaction Guarantee

You’ll like our system or you’ll get your money back


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Dedicated Text Line

A Dedicated Text Line allows your business to receive inbound text messages from any text capable phone, from anywhere in the nation.

Include your Dedicated Text Number on your website, social media or any other digital or print advertising platforms so customers know your company can receive inbound text messages.

Inbound messages are displayed inside your Dashboard’s Inbox and can be forwarded to your or your staff’s cell phone.


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Sms Relay

The SMS relay feature allows you to have incoming messages forwarded to the cell phone of your choice.

You can update the forwarding numbers any time to have messages relayed to your or any staff member’s cell phone.

See SMS Cloaking for how your phone number is protected and kept private at all times.


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Staff Scheduling

The Staff Scheduling feature allows you to direct the SMS Relay to deliver incoming messages to a variety of different staff’s cell phones, throughout the day.

You can enter different individuals with assigned time blocks for when they are responsible for managing incoming messages.


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Featured CONNECTLOCAL Top Placement

MobileCONNECT Platinum Users receive Tier One featured placement at the TOP of their category inside the CONNECTLocal business directory.

Featured placement is first-come, first-serve and ordered by date of enrollment with position ranking locked for life. This means the earlier you upgrade, the closer to the top your listing will appear.


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Unlimited Subscribers

MobileCONNECT’s Plans allow for varying numbers of VIP Subscribers. For those with large Subscriber lists we can offer an Unlimited Subscriber count.

Mobile messaging is regulated by the Telephone Communication Protection Act (TCPA). We require review of large Subscriber lists for compliance before entering them into our system. Simply contact us for more details.


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Web2Text Icon

Web2Text allows website visitors to send a text message to your business while live on your website.

Web2Text messages appear in your Dashboard Inbox and can be relayed to one of your staff’s cell phones.

SMS Relaying allows you to respond to website visitors even when you’re away from your computer.

Your Dashboard contains the HTML code your Webmaster needs to add this feature to your website.


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