The Challenge

The Army’s latest advertising campaign sets out to raise awareness of the diversity of careers within the armed forces. However, despite attracting large volumes of interest from applicants, on average just over eight percent fit the bill, making selection a rigorous task. In addition, with key targets in the notoriously difficult-to-reach 16 to 25 age group, the choice of advertising response channel is crucial for capturing their interest.

Major Stuart Glenn, desk officer for response and fulfilment explained: “It's a long journey. You might get a hundred people expressing an interest, of which twenty then come in, of which ten end up applying and of those only one or two make it. That means we not only have to ensure we’re talking to as many people as we can, but be clever about how we do it: who we reach and who we invite in to listen to their needs.”

Alongside these tactical issues, accountability was a fundamental requirement as inevitably any expenditure not directly related to those in action comes under intense scrutiny from both the public and parliament.

The TXT4 Solution

SMS response was featured across the campaign inviting candidates to text “ARMY” to 61110 to request more information and be sent a DVD and brochure. With proven success in providing a quick and easy way for people to respond to advertising, integrating SMS manages enquiries 24/7 ensuring that interest is captured even outside of traditional contact centre hours. And because we carry our mobiles with us a majority of the time, it allows people to respond at the exact point they consume the advertising, from anywhere and at any time.

Each text received is automatically logged so the Army is provided with the respondent’s telephone number. An automated SMS conversation is then initiated, asking the candidate to state whether they are interested in the regular or territorial army and if they would like a DVD. Those who elect are then asked to text back with their name, house number and postcode and TXT4 validates the address in real time, sending the full details back to the respondent for confirmation. The candidate is also requested to supply their date of birth, allowing the Army to verify at the outset whether the person is over the minimum entry age of 18 before proceeding further. Details of anyone who doesn’t supply these details within 24 hours is then passed on to the Army so a representative can call them back.

The Results

Managing responses using SMS has enabled the Army to successfully capture large volumes of data without putting extra pressure on their resources, while providing candidates with an efficient way to register without having to wait to speak to a representative.

Over 40% of responses were received outside of traditional contact centre hours revealing these crucial contacts might have been lost without the tactic of texting. Close to 8000 responses were received in the first two months with over 60% supplying full details to request a DVD.

Furthermore, integrating SMS technology to manage responses has provided significant additional insights into the performance of the campaign and the types of candidates it is attracting. Collecting address details shows which parts of the country large volumes of interest is coming from and by mapping peak response times, the Army can see when people notice the campaign most and if this highlights any particularly successful bursts in press or broadcast advertising.

Major Glenn said: “Texting is proving extremely effective and it's spot on for the target age group. We are always on the look out to find the most effective medium – we really want to know not just where people first saw us, but also precisely at which point they were spurred to make contact.”

TXT4 stores response data in an easily integrated format, so details of all candidates can be fed into the Army’s CRM database to ensure dialogue can continue and those who are interested can be carefully targeted with future campaigns.

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