Maximise the power of text messaging

Investing in SMS marketing can greatly enhance the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. Gone are the days when the channel was only used for announcements, confirmations and SMS alerts. Today, savvy marketers are using SMS services to maximise conversion rates, gain valuable customer insights and engage their audience, among a myriad of other uses.

According to a Nielsen report, text messaging is the most used data service globally. The channel boasts a whopping 98% read rate and this becomes even more impressive when you consider that 90% of text messages are opened and read within three minutes of being received. This has driven both small business and multinationals to start leveraging the power of email-to-SMS messaging and with great results.

Take the case of Seattle Sun Tan for instance. When the US salon chain launched their text messaging campaign, in just the first 30 days, they generated almost $200,000 in new revenue. The company didn’t even have an existing database of customers’ mobile phone numbers but by the end of the month, they had grown their subscriber database from zero to almost 5000.

Customers view SMS more favourably as it’s not saturated with the spam and junk mail that plague other communication channels like email. Text messaging is a powerful communications channel and integrating it into your marketing campaigns can do wonders for your business.

Innovative ways to use text messaging

In order to be effective and get the most from text messages, you need to be creative with your SMS marketing. Below are ways you can utilize SMS services to great effect.

1. To compliment your other marketing channels

Using SMS campaigns as just one aspect of your wider marketing efforts can greatly amplify the potential of your marketing campaigns. Marketing is all about integration. Alone, each marketing channel can only do so much. Combine them, and you have the potential to transform your business.

Adding text messaging to your other communication strategies will allow you to optimize your success rate. Take email marketing for instance. Only a quarter of all emails send are opened. But once you integrate your email and SMS campaigns, you can increase your email open rate by around 20 to 30 percent. All you have to do is just send a simple “have you read our email?” reminder text to your SMS subscribers.

In addition, with the use of email-to-SMS, marketers are able to convert standard emails into SMS messages allowing them to reach a wider market. Integrating email-to-SMS with different marketing channels will increase your customers’ engagement and over time result in a higher ROI.

2. To identify VIC’s (Very important customers)

Not all customers are the same. Some are valuable and irreplaceable but others, well, not so much. SMS can efficiently help you identify who your key customers are. All you have to do is just send a set of simple queries to your customers and from their feedback, you’ll be able to tell how they value your business and whether they are likely to recommend you to others.

Those customers who would recommend you … they’re your Influencers or VIC’s. When you know who your most valuable customers are, you can focus your existing customer marketing efforts on them.

3. To run competitions

SMS competitions can be a great way to build your subscriber list and increase customer engagements. You can gain new opt-ins by placing ads for a competition on your website and social pages and have people join your SMS list for a chance win.

Contests can help enhance brand awareness and loyalty and increase traffic to your store or website. And running an SMS competition is easier than you might think. A simple ad can read:

Text NEW to 45510 for a chance to win a brand new screwdriver kit.

Once the customer responds, your SMS autoresponder will then send a coupon back to the customer with an opt-in for further promotions.

4. As a conversation starter

SMS isn’t only about promotions and coupons. The channel offers a great way to converse with your customers and rather than use text messaging as a one-way communication channel, you can use it to initiate and sustain conversation with your subscribers. When wording your messages, think of ways to create a discussion. For instance, you can finish with a question to elicit a response.

Text messages are a deeply personal way to reach out to customers. As such, it is important that you write to them in a personalised and thoughtful way. Adding a customer’s name in your messages is a great place to start.

5. To engage customers and gain valuable insights

Want to know what your customers are thinking? Just get your SMS list to complete tailored surveys by sending invites that may link to online surveys or allow completion via a few brief text messages. You can increase the incentive for them to vote by offering rewards and discounts.

SMS surveys can help you to get to know them better and improve the customer experience by enabling you to gauge customer preferences and satisfaction.

The ability of SMS to reach target audiences almost instantly makes it an effective medium for online businesses as well as outlet stores. Not only does it improve customer response rates but also it helps drive traffic giving your business a powerful advantage in today’s competitive marketplace.

Implementing text messaging is simple, quick and very cost effective. At SMSGlobal we can help seamlessly integrate our SMS services with your CRM software using our state of the art APIs. Our MXT web platform comes with advanced tools and enhanced functionality ensuring your marketing campaigns are a breeze.