Business update from Steve at iTAGG

I got this note in from Steve, one of the co-founders at UK mobile services firm, iTAGG. He wrote with a business update and I wrote back and asked if it was ok to publish. iTagg are also an advertiser here at Mobile Industry Review.

Here we go:

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Hi Ewan

Happy new year. Hope everyone at MIR is ready for what is likely to be an exhilarating ride over the next year with the economy as it is. I thought I’d let you know how iTAGG is seeing in 2009 and hopes to help businesses wanting to reduce their mobile messaging costs.

Throughout the last year we’ve cemented our position with our “£50 all-in package” as the leading 2-way sms and mms aggregator for the UK’s small businesses. This has proven to be a runaway success with 5,000+ small businesses having used us. The useful and sometimes wacky ideas that the UK’s small entrepreneurial players come up with for using inbound/outbound SMS or MMS constantly surprises me. We have people sending in MMS photos of holes in the road to show when work has been started/completed on leaky pipes. And a client who uses both inbound and outbound SMS as a control mechanism in a ship to shore system to let technicians signal to manholes whether they should open up data flow in cables coming ashore – no not sure I get it either 😉 And then there is the day to day stuff of simply texting special deals to club-goers or info on new properties on the market. I have to hand it to British businesses, we are good at smart-thinking and if anyone can work through the iffy economy then it will be UK business.

Probably the biggest growth area we have seen in 2008 is using outbound MMS for ticketing; I think this one is going to be a sure fire winner. In fact it is this general area of reducing costs that puts iTAGG in a good position during this economic downturn. Since October we have seen on a daily basis an increase in new leads from people already using SMS and MMS but wishing to cut their costs, whether they are using it for marketing, customer communication or internal systems. Many looked at iTAGG’s £50 per year package a year ago and thought “can it really be that cheap when competitors charge £100 per month!”. Well it is now paying off as the world realises that those in the strongest position are those offering a good quality service at low cost. When airlines are going to the wall in their droves, why is it that Easyjet made a profit last year!? Similarly, iTAGG stands for “low-cost quality”.

So what will iTAGG do in 2009? Well apart from continue to mop up the SME market for all manner of SMS and MMS services, we are now looking to push ourselves even harder into larger businesses and agencies. To kick start this we have hit January running with our massive sale…..

…..Pre-buy up to £10k of SMS/MMS in January (to be used any time in the future!!) and we will give you an extra 10% for free. Or pre-buy over £10k and we are offering SMS to all UK networks on our high grade route for as little as 2p. The most important part of iTAGG’s offering is that any messages bought do not expire. We believe this is a massive failing on the part of some of our friendly competitors. Esso don’t sell you a tank of petrol and then take it back off you if you haven’t used it by the end of the month! We have many clients now, both small and large buying 12 months worth of sms; and being able to do this at 2p per message gives them a much better return over the coming year than sticking the money in a savings account!

Take care and keep smiling, after all it probably isn’t as bad as the BBC continually likes to tell us it is 😉

regards
Steve

Steve Procter, Director

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I knew we were in a recession when I watched part of the BBC’s “Panorama Live: RECESSION” a few months ago, Steve.

I’m pleased to hear business is good. The 10% extra offer is a pretty good one — and high-grade for as little as 2p a go? Nice. That will get attention of some of the bigger agencies I’m sure.

iTAGG’s “£50 all-in package” is a useful one to look at if you’re wanting to get started with two-way texting in the UK. This is from the chap who was instrumental in cutting the cost of domain names back in the day. You can read more about Steve in our interview with him.

If you’ve got a business update for me, echo Steve’s style above and knock it through to me by email.