It’s springtime!
Yes, it’s that time of year when hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world assemble in their elegant suits and fascinators to watch Australia’s largest event, the spring racing carnival, while intoxicated. This is the busiest, most profitable, and most crazy time of year for many.
During the Spring Carnival, people are encouraged to spend money in a variety of places. The races are a fantastic time of year with amazing sales for the fashion sector, pubs, clubs, and alcohol suppliers in general. Most importantly, though, are the betting agencies.
The 2015 Spring Carnival brought $374.2 million in gross economic benefits to the Victorian economy, according to Executive Style and an IER research. More than 56,000 people visited Victoria as a result, and about 8,000 of them stayed after the event. $31.4 million was spent on the apparel industry, while $25.6 million was spent on lodging in Victoria. Over 75,000 hats and fascinators, 59,000 pairs of shoes, 61,000 dresses, 30,000 jewelry pieces, 27,000 ties, 30,000 handbags, 18,000 suits, 17,000 underwear items, 14,000 shirts, 11,000 pairs of sunglasses, and 13,000 pairs of socks and pantyhose were all purchased as part of this.
Accepting SMS & Mobile Marketing
The retail industry has some amazing numbers in the spring, but they don’t reflect the amount of effort that companies must put into marketing and advertising in order to secure their fair portion of the carnival-spend pie.
Traditionally, the most popular advertising mediums during times leading up to events like the spring carnival have been paper and email marketing. However, as the most of you who are reading this are aware, these marketing strategies aren’t always the best for quickly spreading your word, whether it be through sales promotions or anything else.
Timeliness is crucial in situations like these. Tossing mud at the fan and hoping anything sticks is insufficient. Customers are constantly exposed to dull, flat, and lifeless marketing campaigns that, at best, go unnoticed and, at worst, actively annoy them.
For instance, sending out bulk emails to your clientele is undoubtedly a good strategy to promote your company. The problem with this approach is that a large number of marketing emails either never get opened (the average email has an open rate of 22%) or end up in the spam folder.
This is the exact reason why marketers are (at last) starting to show greater interest in mobile marketing and, more importantly, are more likely to take action. One of the finest options for reaching your target audience is mobile marketing, and SMS is one method that retailers and other businesses are utilizing the marketing possibilities of mobile platforms.SMS has a 97% open rate, with 90% of messages being opened within three minutes of receipt, compared to 22% for emails. With this type of mobile marketing, your message will not only reach your target audience, but it will do so at the precise moment you desire. Having that instrument in your marketing toolbox will be essential to your company’s capacity to capitalize on the holiday season when time is of the essence.
Having stated that, the following industries are using SMS to profit from the spring carnival.
Shops
With the exception of Christmas, the Spring Carnival is one of the busiest times of year for people working in the retail sector. As previously said, almost $31.4 million is spent on gowns, bow ties, shoes, frocks, and more.
The capacity to communicate with customers instantaneously has been the driving force behind the broad adoption of SMS over the last three years, even if many shops have previously found success with marketing strategies that embrace the digital spectrum or leave a paper trail.
Sending out last-minute sales promos that you’ve set up especially for occasions like the spring carnival is ideal when done via SMS. Additionally, it’s a fantastic opportunity to inform your clients that you will be open an additional couple of hours during peak hours.
Another way SMS can help is by offering your customers a 20% off coupon as a way to encourage them to visit your store. By including the coupon in a WAP link within the SMS, it puts your company in front of your customers’ minds and makes it very simple for them to redeem the coupon.
Agents of Betting
Unlike betting firms, no one has embraced the power of SMS. Through the power of SMS, they have been able to customize discount coupons and betting incentives that can be used in-store or online, all at the touch of a button.
Additionally, they use SMS to notify consumers about scratched horses, give money-back incentives, and even entice them to use their mobile apps to place bets.
Time is of the importance because wagers are sometimes placed at the last minute and fresh details about various races are constantly emerging. Because it enables consumers to place better, more educated bets, this type of information is why customers of betting agents value them providing it via SMS.
Pubs, Clubs, and Bars
Without someone around, happy hours aren’t cheerful. Businesses in the hospitality sector use SMS to make sure that their happy hours are lively with conversations during the Spring Carnival (and any other significant event). The winners celebrate their winnings with a few glasses of champagne, while the losers lift their spirits with a few glasses of champagne (or spirits).
Businesses in the hotel industry utilize SMS, among other things, to notify clients about longer trading hours, specials for food and drink, and spring carnival racing theme days.
SMS is rapidly taking over as the preferred medium for any organization looking to leverage the large expenditures that events like Spring Carnival bring to the table due to its reach, high open rates, immediacy, and ease of use.