Howarth Timber offer much more than just timber. They have over 175 years worth of trading experience, knowledge and expertise. They are the UK’s largest privately-owned timber company; once a sole trader, they have grown into one of the leading lights in their industry.
But not only do they lead the way in their timber and building supplies, they lead the way in the way they talk to their customers.
They market themselves through SMS, which is the exact sort of forward thinking that has led them to become one of the UK’s biggest and best timber specialists. So we decided to grab a coffee with them and discuss their SMS ventures…
What do you use mobile marketing for?
“We use mobile marketing to push our monthly promotions which are both in our branches and online. We also use it to make customers aware of any quick fire promotions, trade days and breakfast mornings. We have found it particularly helpful to make customers aware of any branch issues; e.g. if their phone lines are down or if there are roadworks outside a branch but the branch is open as usual.”
Would you recommend it to other businesses?
“Definitely. We’ve had a brilliant response from mobile marketing and have found that people are more likely to react quickly when they receive an SMS.”
How does it compare against other marketing channels you use?
“We tend to use mobile marketing as an extension to our newsletters. Both mediums have their own benefits and we’ll often link through from an SMS to one of the newsletters.”
What were your results? Did it go well? Have you got any stats you could share with us?
“For example, we have garnered a good response from sending out SMS messages to make customers aware of training courses within our branches. People are able to react quickly and call the branch via the phone number included in the SMS and so we’ve found the list of attendees for these courses fill up quickly. Also the click through rates for URLs included in SMS messages are always high.”
Have you got any tips for businesses who are new to SMS?
“Don’t overload recipients with too many SMS messages. It’s easily done but it’s more likely to force people to opt out than engage them.”
And how have you found Text Marketer in service and our platform?
“Text Marketer has been incredibly easy to use and we’ve had a lot of support from our contact at TM as well which has been appreciated. Being able to have a unique ID and being able to schedule SMS in are functionalities that we were particularly interested in. The platform is user friendly and clean looking, I can’t sing its praises enough to be honest.”
So if you want to follow in the footsteps of Howarth Timber and see your business grow into an industry leader that lasts the test of time, why not sign up for your free mobile marketing account… And maybe in 175 years we could be doing a case study on your business!