Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Redbox Price Changes

After 12 years and for the first time, Redbox has announced that it will increase the price of its Blu-ray movie rentals.

Effective December 1st, 2014 purchases of Blu-ray gift codes via txtMovies will be $2.49 per delivered gift code.

Hurry, Lock in the Old Price!

You still have time to purchase gift codes at the old price of $1.99 per delivered gift code as long as the purchase is completed via the txtMovies website by midnight November 30th.

Don't wait! Once the Redbox increase takes place the old pricing is gone...forever.

Click here to create your account.

Monday, November 24, 2014

Thanking Your Blog Audience & Social Media Fans

The holiday season is the perfect time for bloggers and marketers to reflect on their online audience engagement strategy.

It's generally accepted that thanking your blog visitors and social media fans is the key to building an active online community which can add valuable content and credibility to your marketing efforts.

In her blog post When Should You Thank Your Social Media Fans? Julie Neidlinger of Todaymade writes:
"Without letting your fans know you’re thankful for their participation and for even being an audience, it’s easy for you to be forgotten without another thought." 
Julie further points out the importance of not being a "robot".
"Telling your fans thank-you should be automatic, but it shouldn’t be automatic. That is, you should have an automatic reaction of being thankful, but not use automation to carry it out. If you’re going to thank your fans for a retweet, don’t turn into a robot. Take the time to do it personally. Make sure you come up with a way that is a personal thank-you when possible."
So while there is no argument from most bloggers and marketers that their online audience is vitally important. The challenge is how to thank blog readers and social media fans in a personal AND cost effective manner.

That's where txtMovies can be a great resource. Bloggers and marketers use txtMovies to send a personal, custom message with an Amazon or Redbox digital gift codes by text message, email or tweet.  Here are a few examples:
  • You want to increase the number of comments on your posts. Offer a $5 Amazon gift card for the best comment. 
  • You want to encourage email newsletter signups. Offer a free Redbox Movie to the next 50 people who sign up. 
  • You want to increase comments on a Facebook timeline. Offer a $5 Amazon gift card to the person who made the comment with the most "LIKES".
By engaging visitors and fans with personal outreach and a valued gift, you stand a greater chance of creating "word of mouth" and an enduring positive association with your blog and brand.

As Julie Neidlinger points out:
"Genuine thanks directed to specific people rather than a generic audience is not the trend; it’s expected right now."

Happy Thanksgiving!  Please share with us the most creative ways you engage and thank your blog readers and social media fans. We'll send Redbox movies to each person that knocks our socks off!

About txtMovies
txtMovies is a leader in delivering Redbox and Amazon digital codes as a form of appreciation. Current clients include major universities (Ohio State, University of Michigan, University of Iowa), nonprofits (Livestrong Foundation, Code for America, Lifewater), healthcare organizations/professionals (Children's Hospital of Orange County, Kaiser Permanente, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, family physicians), religious institutions, restaurants and market research companies.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Client Spotlight: City of San Antonio Animal Care Services

When the City of San Antonio Animal Care Services wanted to increase volunteer engagement, they knew they had to find a way to connect with their volunteers on a personal level.

With limited resources both financially and from a staffing perspective, they decided to use txtMovies' free Volunteer "Get To Know You" survey tool to quickly collect data from all of their volunteers. 

Here's an snippet of our conversation with Jeanne R. Saadi, Volunteer Coordinator for City of San Antonio Animal Care Services.

+txtMoviesPlease tell us about San Antonio Animal Care Services.

Jeanne: Animal Care Services is the municipal animal shelter in the San Antonio, Texas.  We encourage responsible pet ownership by promoting and protecting the health, safety and welfare of the residents and animals of San Antonio through education, enforcement and community partnership.

+txtMoviesHow will you use the information you collect from your volunteer surveys?

Jeanne: I sent the GTKY survey out to our active volunteers (almost 400 people) and am really enjoying getting to know a little more about them through their responses. 

I plan to use their responses to help bridge the staff-volunteer gap that often happens. I want the staff to understand better why our volunteers choose to spend their free time here and why the experience is so important to them. 

It’s also nice be able to personalize the volunteers more so, for example, if a staff member likes the same kinds of movies – they now have a reason to talk to that volunteer and get to know them better!

+txtMoviesYou've set up an account on txtMovies. How does txtMovies fit into your volunteer engagement/appreciation strategy?

Jeanne: We are excited about the opportunity to use the txtMovies to reward our Volunteers of the Month and stand-out individuals with a little something extra. We have some of the most generous, dedicated volunteers and they ask for nothing in return – but they deserve so much more! 

It will be nice to surprise them with a free movie for going above and beyond our expectations – which they do every day – and this reward program definitely fits our budget!

Update from Jeanne Saadi via Linkedin:



About txtMovies

txtMovies is a leader in delivering Redbox and Amazon digital codes as a form of appreciation. Current clients include major universities (Ohio State, University of Michigan, University of Iowa), nonprofits (Livestrong Foundation, Code for America, Lifewater), healthcare organizations/professionals (Children's Hospital of Orange County, Kaiser Permanente, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, family physicians), religious institutions, restaurants and market research companies.