uConnect featured in Focusme magazine
Big thanks to Kehlan Kirwan for the recent article published in Focusme magazine. Focusme magazines mission is to promote local industry and commerce in the mid-west by focussing on small to medium enterprises. Check out a full transcript of the article here:
Founded in August 2009, uMobilize Promotions are the providers of uConnect, an internet based text message
marketing solution that enables small businesses run flexible, low cost text message marketing promotions.
And according to Philip Culbert and Conor Heaney, uMobilize co-founders, launching the business in
the midst of the recession had its challenges, but also presented significant opportunities.
They devised the concept for uConnect in 2009 when they were working for a Promotions Fulfilment
company in Tipperary. The company provided promotional and marketing solutions for a range of
European customers including Canon, Nikon and Sony.
"When the recession hit we could see that customers were looking for creative, low cost ways to
promote their products and services. This was replicated across the economy as companies tightened
their belts. We felt that businesses were getting more creative with how they advertised their services
and we thought that if we could provide a flexible, low-cost way for businesses to connect with their
customer base we could really build a successful product." said Philip Culbert.
We are both advocates of mobile technology solutions, and looking at this space we felt that a
text message marketing service that allowed businesses to launch and run their own SMS Marketing
campaigns could be a valuable addition to all SMEs sales and marketing portfolios.” According to
Culbert, what makes text message marketing such an attractive option during the recession is that it
is a low cost option with a potential for a strong return on investment. “We felt strongly that if we
could provide businesses with a scalable, way to launch and run their own text message marketing
campaigns we would have a service with a real chance of success. The product we came up with is
www.uconnect.ie.”
uConnect is an internet based service that allows clients create and run their own text message
marketing campaigns. It has a low cost of entry, with clients able to run a campaign for as little
as €30. "We are confident that once our customers see the return on investment text message marketing
can bring, they will become regular users of the service.” Launching the business at this time had its
advantages, but also some significant disadvantages. “The advantage of starting a business at this time
is that things like rent and office space are much more affordable than 3 or 4 years ago. Similarly,
we have found the majority of the service providers we have approached much more willing to be flexible
in terms of pricing and service terms. As a result, we have been able to keep tight control of our
overheads, and pass those cost savings on to our customers.”
“The biggest challenge we have had since we launched the service is the misconception people have about
text message marketing. Some of our clients worry that their customers may find SMS marketing intrusive
or look on it as SPAM. The reality could not be further from the truth.” Text message marketing
is permission-based marketing i.e. consumers need to opt-in to your mobile program. The result of this
is that you are always marketing to consumers who have expressed an interest in your business and marketing
promotions. (Note: In a recent survey by Harris Interactive, 42% of 18- to 34-year-olds, and 33% of 35 -to
44-year-olds, say they are interested in receiving alerts about sales on their mobile phones from their
favourite establishments. (Source: Harris Interactive – July 2009)
uConnect provides a range of tools that help customers build up their optin database, including keywords
where consumers can text a word to the uConnect mobile phone number and be automatically added to their
database, and a plug-in that customers can place on their website where consumers can enter their mobile
phone details and again, be automatically added to your mobile club.
Another challenge was asking hard pressed business owners and marketing managers to try a new approach
to promoting their products. As Culbert explained, “Text message marketing is something that many businesses
have heard of. But most business owners do not really know how to get started with a mobile marketing
campaign. For us, the challenge was making uConnect as informative and easy to use as possible. Also, we
try to ensure that customers are aware of the low cost of entry and high ROI from text message marketing.
After researching the market, we made uConnect a pay as you go service i.e. our customer’s buy SMS credit
on uConnect as they need it. There are no monthly minimums, no long term commitment etc. As a result our
clients can dip their toes into the world of SMS Marketing with no risk”
As both founders of uMobilize are from a technical background, the sale element of the business was daunting.
“Neither of us had experience of direct sales, and that side of things was particularly challenging. But we
worked hard at it and are now much more comfortable with that side of things. We found the various business
networks, such as the Chamber of Commerce and BNI, a great help in this regard, opening up sales channels and
helping us get the message out there with regards to our product. And with the economy hopefully taking turn
for the better, we are confident we are well placed to grow uMobilize Promotions and uConnect in 2011.”
