Develop a winning SMS marketing strategy

SMS marketing is extremely effective, if it’s done right. You can use SMS marketing for a variety of great reasons such as: coupons, vouchers, appointments, reminders, events, invitations, feedback, votes, contests, information, store locators and more. In 2018, SMS still remains one of the most effective marketing tools. It’s inexpensive in comparison to print, radio and web ads and gives you the ability to engage and track customer relationships on a different platform. We want your campaign to be just as successful as you do, so we've put together some top tips to ensure you’re getting the most out of marketing via SMS.

Reach your goal from the get-go

Firstly, distinguish what kind of campaign is relevant to your audience – do you want to remind clients to send back a form? Maybe you want customer service feedback? Perhaps your business wants to send reminders to customers regarding upcoming appointments? Do you want to advertise in store offers? Make sure what you send out is interesting and helpful.

Keep it snappy

Twitter has mastered the art of being concise and you can too. With a 120 character limit on tweets, Twitter quickly evolved as one of the leading social networking websites in the world. With a 160 limit on text messages, there’s no excuse why you can’t be just as successful. Highlight the important stuff quickly and at the beginning. Make sure your message is snappy, to the point and avoid telling your life story.

Be appropriate

Avoid using slang or text speak and always proof-read. Good sentence structure is still important even in a text, action verbs are effective and time sensitive wording is essential. Standard abbreviations are great, but taking it too far could isolate certain audiences. A report from the Lafayette Journal and Courier stated that between 2008 and 2010, text messaging doubled among 18 to 24-year-olds, increased by more than 100% among 25 to 34-year-olds, tripled among 35 to 54-year-olds and even quadrupled by those 65 and older. Remember, you want to reach all ages/audiences!

Go that step further

Making the message personal by including customer names and details of previous activity will give you the edge. Include links to products on your webpage, promotional videos, pictures and your Instagram/Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn page to make sure they’re wired up. Using incentives will encourage a call to action e.g. ‘’Text SALE10 to receive 10% off your next offer and to keep updated with future offers.” This will enhance engagement and give you an idea of what messages your customers like to receive and what they don’t.

Traffic jams suck

Make sure you’re always driving traffic towards your company instead of away from it by: including mobile friendly links to your website and social networking pages to integrate them all, giving the option of sharing the message amongst friends and family to boost opt in rates and sharing other platforms which you can be contacted on (email address, customer service, dedicated number etc.). Turn a quiet day around by sending out a promotional offer to get customers in the door.

Tie up loose ends

Remember, no one likes to be hassled. Sign up to your own SMS campaign to assess what it is like to be on the receiving end and make necessary amendments. Make sure you don’t bombard customers with messages and scare them away. Be time conscious about when you hit that ‘‘send’’ button and always include an option to opt-out.

Good luck!