Five Ways To Use SMS Marketing
The majority of people have a smartphone or a cell phone, and they spend a bit of time on their phones. This high usage can be a powerful tool for customer support and marketing.
It can be difficult to do it right. Although SMS marketing can be effective, it can also feel intrusive and may end up irritating customers more than it helps. Make sure you understand how it works if you are going to do it.
Here are some tips to make SMS marketing more effective and encourage engagement, not irritation.
Do your research before you commit to SMS marketing. This will ensure that you are fully aware of the risks and potential benefits. You can make use of SMS efficiently if you have a plan.
1. Set up a dedicated SMS marketing team
It takes a lot of effort and work to create large SMS marketing campaigns. A team of professionals will be needed to help you create the best strategy for text message marketing.
These roles will require different people who can handle a variety of areas. Someone who can be a mobile marketing program expert, an expert in retail, a coordinator for on-location signage, digital designer, an ROI analyst, and a social media expert are all needed.
To keep your team small, it is a good idea to find people who are skilled in several of these areas. SMS campaigns are time-sensitive. Your team is required to work together effectively and communicate clearly about their plans. These plans can be made easier with tools like Drop Cowboy.
2. Get to know your customer
To track the success of your messages to customers, use a CRM (Customer Relations Management) app.
Analyze their purchases and examine location-based demographics to ensure that the right customers receive messages that are relevant.
If you are a beauty business, it is not a good idea to send a text to 19-year old customers who live in New York with an offer for anti wrinkle cream.
You can target your messages and promotions by dividing your clients in well-defined segments. You can send bulk messages for promotions and sales that are accessible to everyone, but you should target your messages highly.
3. Clear messages
Your message can only be 160 characters. However, if you can communicate it in less characters this will make it even more effective. Your messages should be clear, concise, easy-to-understand, and understandable.
Avoid abbreviations, Emojis, and all caps.
Use closed-ended messages. A message advertising a sale but not telling the reader when it will end is an example of an unstructured message.
To make it more appealing to your customers, you can give them a date when the offer ends. You’ll give them enough information to make sure they act quickly.
4. In your text messages, use call-to-action buttons
Calls-to action increase customer engagement with your messages. Your customer should be engaged with you. They should value the SMS messages that you send, interact with them and then take action.
Strong calls to action could include messages such as ‘show this message’, “click here”, “text to win”, or “buy now”.
These messages will encourage customers to take actions. For example, they can come in to the store and show a message to receive a discount or click through to access a sale. They can also enter a competition to win or buy before a limited number of products sell out.
5. Make sure you get the timing right for your messages
Immediacy should be the main focus of SMS. People open SMS messages within minutes of receiving them. This makes it more likely that they will respond to sales and promotions via text messages.
Send the reminders and invites via SMS on Friday afternoon if you are hosting an in-store event, such as a shopping night or exclusive event. You should send a text to your customers at the end the day to promote your restaurant’s evening meal promotions.
It is important not to send promotional messages too early or late in the evening. This can make it seem intrusive and irritating. Your messages should be sent between 8am-9pm. This will catch people during the time they are most likely to check their phones, but it won’t bother them when they get ready to go to work or getting the kids to bed.
By analyzing past interactions with your messages and using ultra-targeting, you can determine the best times to communicate to a customer.
Conclusion
SMS marketing can be very powerful. SMS marketing is a popular tool that many businesses avoid. Text messages can be confusing and people may not respond. If you have a solid strategy for SMS, your business will be the only one that communicates with customers in this manner.
SMS can help to create an intimacy and connection with businesses and can also be used as a powerful tool to generate urgency.
Advertising deals or offers that are urgently required by customers is the best use of SMS marketing.
This strategy can be developed over time. Your new SMS use could drive more traffic to your website, generate more sales and encourage a higher average customer spend.
