
Show HN: Locent – Mailchimp for SMS - mattjoseph
https://locent.com
======
wanda
Cool product, bookmarked for future use. There are some weird bugs in your
landing page though.

Firstly, since you're using a responsive front-end framework (Bootstrap), you
should configure the viewport meta tag:

    
    
        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
    

should work nicely. Add 'minimum-scale=1' to the meta tag's content to enable
rasterization (better FPS when scrolling etc.)

You also have a bug in your markup which causes content to overflow outside of
the viewport, resulting horizontal scrolling being possible at 1x scale when
it shouldn't be.

This is because the #benefits row should be wrapped by a containing element
with 15px left and right padding to balance out the Bootstrap row element's
negative margins.

This issue is actually present on other pages as well. You'll want to add 15px
left/right padding to the #support element, the #login element, and the
.register element on their respective pages.

Typically, rows in Bootstrap are intended to be wrapped by a div with either
the 'container' or 'container-fluid' class, which add the aforementioned
padding.

The beauty of the Bootstrap grid is that the rows' negative margins allow
grids to be nested without squashing columns with ever increasing gutters.
This negative margin comes at a price: it adds to the containing element's
width, meaning that padding must be added to eat this inflation.

Finally, the mixpanel link is clickable just beneath the clients image, when
the button is actually at the bottom of the page. This is because the image is
positioned relatively and offset by 250px, yet the containing anchor is not,
and appears in its normal place.

To fix this last issue, replace this:

    
    
        #home #mix {
            position: relative;
            top: 240px;
        }
    

and with this:

    
    
        .featured a {
            position: relative;
            top: 240px;
        }

~~~
mattjoseph
Excellent feedback, we'll get these fixed. Thank you!

~~~
wanda
No problemo.

I noticed that the Features page is a bit broken, probably not finished yet.
The markup is a bit odd-looking to me. Not because Angular's involved, but
because it looks like it tries to re-invent some wheels Bootstrap already has
covered.

I'm not an Angular developer per se, as I've largely avoided frameworks by
rolling my own over the years, but I did mock-up what might be a simple but
effective way of structuring the page using Bootstrap's grid system.

The trick would be to use whatever the Angular equivalent of Bootstrap's
jQuery-based tabs is.

Hopefully it's of some use as well:

[https://output.jsbin.com/sekato](https://output.jsbin.com/sekato)

[https://jsbin.com/sekato/edit?html,css,js,output](https://jsbin.com/sekato/edit?html,css,js,output)

~~~
mattjoseph
This is truly awesome, thanks for your help

------
qopp
Is this service ethical?

I hope users who would like to see bulk messages on their phone chose to opt-
in (manually, not auto-opt-in). Your terms of use do not demand this.

In the US: "FCC rules ban text messages sent to a mobile phone using an
autodialer unless you previously gave consent to receive the message"

I would wonder deeply about opt-in rates as well. How are you keeping track of
how much users enjoy receiving these messages? (Not just click rates because
people might click something they hate to receive)

Also, confusingly, your terms of use state:

> You agree that You will not use the Service to send.. "promotional
> materials"...

But that's what's shown as an example on the front page?

~~~
mattjoseph
Thanks for the feedback - SMS is a highly regulated industry and we follow all
rules and regulations as specified by the TCPA and relevant case law. Our
terms reflect these regulations. You should take a look at the _full_ clause
you identified "...That contains spam, non-permitted, unsolicited or
unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, chain letters, pyramid
schemes, gambling or any other form of solicitation". The key modifiers are
'non-permitted, unsolicited or unauthorized'. When a subscriber opts-in, they
authorize the messages. We require explicit opt-ins for all subscribers in our
service, regardless of whether they opted-in using another service.

Our business model is built around keeping subscribers opted in. When
subscribers decide they no longer want to receive messages, we lose money. We
track satisfaction by examining - among other variables - opt-out rates,
click-through rates and response rates. The crux of our business is subscriber
satisfaction and we take it very seriously.

~~~
michaelmior
How do subscribers opt out?

~~~
robbiet480
Not related to the company and remembering off the top of my head, but I
believe the rules state that two commands must be implemented by all SMS short
code users: HELP and STOP. HELP returns information about the service whereas
STOP must remove someone from the system instantly, after a final text (may
be) sent.

------
nikolay
I started to write something like this for my non-profit projects using
Twilio, but it's crazy feeling to have to reinvent the wheel and do something
so rudimentary. Will definitely try to use your service, Matt, but here are my
suggestions:

\- having a single opt-in code is not enough;

\- it would be nice to offer lower prices for non-profits;

\- any plans for an API?

~~~
mattjoseph
Thanks for the feedback and for creating an account! We do plan to release an
API in the coming months. We'll also take into account your thoughts on opt-in
codes and non-profit discounts, smart thinking.

------
okbake
This may have been mentioned somewhere but I don't see it on the pricing page:
is there limit on how many campaigns or total messages I'm able to send in a
month, or do I just pay per subscriber? For example, if I have 100 subscribers
and run a single campaign at the end of every month, that's a lot less volume
than having 100 subscribers and running a campaign every day. Are both options
still costing me only $10?

~~~
mattjoseph
Good question. We have restrictions on campaigns. Our Starter Plan
contemplates 36 campaigns - each additional campaign incurs additional
expenses.

------
mattjoseph
Hey guys,

Thanks for reviewing our product! We built Locent to help you reach customers
more effectively using SMS (text messaging). Think of us as Mailchimp for SMS.
We help you build a full text marketing program in minutes. All the ordinary
email use cases apply with text messaging, we just have higher read rates and
conversion rates particularly on smartphones. Really appreciate your feedback!

------
ianamartin
Slightly off topic, but I wish there were a mailgun for SMS service. 10,000
(or whatever number) free messages per month, a simple API, key, and secret,
and boom. You're ready for sending out monitoring alerts for your side project
that won't cost you anything until you're big enough to need to pay for it.

~~~
mattjoseph
Twilio, Nexmo and Plivo aspire to be that - no free messages from them though!

------
tedmiston
"Smart Messaging" kind of alluded to this for me, but do you plan to offer
demographic targeting?

Also, what about templating based on user profile data? For example "We will
be launching product Foo in {{ user.city }} soon. Stay tuned!"

The service looks cool and I'll give it a shot for my next side project.

~~~
mattjoseph
Thanks for checking us out! We do plan to expand user profile data to include
further demographic information. Combined with forthcoming grouping
functionality, you'll be able to target users for messaging based on a range
of different variables as well as A/B test messaging across a subgroup.

------
chipperyman573
Until the phone image loads (which took 6.1 seconds according to chrome
timeline on fast internet), the page looks not so great:
[http://i.imgur.com/8aIDB4Y.png](http://i.imgur.com/8aIDB4Y.png)

~~~
mattjoseph
Thanks for the comment, we'll look into it!

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victorology
Is this available for use in South Korea? We're an on demand cleaning service
in Korea ([http://getmiso.com](http://getmiso.com)) and use SMS for a lot of
purposes but would love something like this.

~~~
mattjoseph
That sounds like a great use case, thanks for sharing. We're not in South
Korea yet but please create an account and we'll update you as we expand.

PS your site looks great!

~~~
victorology
Signed up! :)

------
ck2
Out of curiosity, is it possible to DIY your own SMS notification system?

Are there volume limits that would get you blocked from carriers (ie. AT&T,
Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile) even if you have two way consent?

~~~
mattjoseph
Yes, you can use developer APIs like Twilio, Nexmo or Plivo to create your own
SMS application. Carriers have different ways of identifying behavior they
dislike in their network - if you're transparent about what you're doing,
follow the rules, and get opt-ins from your subscribers you shouldn't have
issues.

The specific limits vary based on a number of factors like volume per period,
inbound/outbound ratio and so on, but carriers empowered the short code
industry (5 or 6 digit phone numbers) to allow mass messaging to happen on
terms they're comfortable with. When you create a short code, you specify what
they should expect from you and if they approve you get to send 30+ messages
per second.

That said, DIY gets complicated very quickly in this space (hence why we built
Locent).

------
Can_Not
Are you planning to release a "Mandrill for SMS" sister service?

~~~
mattjoseph
Stay tuned ;)

------
cavisne
a similar product I've used [https://textit.in/](https://textit.in/)

not as turnkey though and not really marketing based

------
leadgen
Can you please advice how its different from CallLoop.com?

~~~
mattjoseph
On the surface we operate on different business models. CallLoop charges a
flat rate per month with overages charged on a per message basis. That means
they charge you a flat rate whether or not you succeed with your target
subscribers.

We charge you per active subscriber per month, meaning that you only pay for
people who have agreed to receive your messages. We have skin in the game to
make sure you do well. If you don't, we don't get paid.

------
cishida
Is this entirely automated?

~~~
mattjoseph
Yes! All the messages run programmatically. We let you set the message content
and timing, then we deliver texts on your behalf.

------
mlee277
This is amazing!

~~~
mattjoseph
Thanks! Glad that you like it :)

