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If you’re seeking new ways to bring life to a tired marketing plan, SMS marketing may be just the solution you’re after. SMS marketing is better than ever and growing in popularity every year, with countless businesses using it to spread the word about promotions directly to their customers’ text inboxes.
Continue reading to learn more about this effective marketing tool, how text message marketing works, why it’s effective, and SMS marketing tips to help you implement your own campaign.
How Does Text Message Marketing Work?
Text message marketing is quite simple, which is one of the reasons for its effectiveness. Permission-based text messaging usually begins by a company signing up for an automated SMS software service. The company gets a unique 5-digit code that customers can text to opt into the automated texting system.
Once a customer texts the code, they’ll get a confirmation response text, and their phone number will be stored in the SMS marketing software so they can receive future texts. Customers can opt out of the automated text using an unsubscribe code that is usually included at the bottom of every SMS marketing message.
Businesses can increase the number of customers who opt into the SMS campaign by advertising the opt-in code throughout a retail space, sending emails about the code, or by offering one-time incentives for those who sign up.
Is SMS Marketing Effective?
Most businesses that use SMS marketing seek to increase customer loyalty by informing customers about sales, events, and special deals, or by polling customers. This is an extremely effective method for reaching customers because it’s easy to manage and easy to communicate with customers directly.
SMS marketing campaigns are so effective, they have a response rate of 45%-37% higher than email, which has just an 8% response rate. SMS also has higher click-through rates than email—19% versus 2.43%.
Is Text Message Marketing Legal?
Yes, text message marketing is legal as long as businesses stick to the guidelines of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Businesses can stay compliant by mentioning the company name, disclosing possible carrier costs, and giving the option to opt out of future texts. Other compliance guidelines can be found online.
SMS Marketing Tips
Ready to kick off your own SMS marketing campaign? Before you begin, make sure you understand how to optimize your results. Here are some effective SMS marketing tips to get you started:
1. Clear CTAs
SMS messages should be clear, short, and simple, but don’t forget to complete the message with a call to action (CTA). A call to action will remind the customer what they should do when they’re done reading the message. Not sure which CTA to include? Try these:
- Click here to visit our website.
- Start shopping now.
- Reply with “_____” to give your response.
- Show this text at checkout.
- Subscribe now.
- Earn rewards today.
- Act now — this offer ends soon.
2. Audience Segmentation
SMS marketing has even more power when you segment your audience. Audience segmentation allows you to personalize the customer experience depending on a range of factors, such as age demographics, shopping frequency, type of device the customer owns, etc. It’s easy to segment your SMS marketing campaign into categories and then send out messages tailored to each audience to improve results.
3. Simple Messaging
The best SMS marketing campaigns are always simple. But simple doesn’t mean thoughtless. In fact, it can often take more work to come up with a simple SMS campaign than to come up with a detailed message. Don’t waste any of your words, and make sure to run the message through several editors before sending it out.
4. Send at an Ideal Time
Because you’re sending a text directly to a customer’s phone, it’s important to send your SMS marketing message at the ideal time. This will be different for every business, depending on your audience and the purpose of your message. Try testing different times of day, and compare the results to figure out the right time for you.
Want customers to shop a sale? Send a message as soon as the sale goes live, and a few hours before it’s ending. Are you inviting customers to an event? Give them at least a week of notice, then remind them the day before.
5. Track and Optimize
Once you’ve hit the send button, your work with SMS marketing has only just begun. Now, you can take the opportunity to optimize future campaigns by tracking results and making tweaks for future messages. Choose metrics that matter to your business and stay consistent in the data you’re measuring from one campaign to the next.
Conclusion
Now that you understand the potential SMS marketing has to improve your business, it’s time to get started. Be sure to follow the above text message marketing tips and tricks, then adapt as you see fit. You’ll love having an effective way to reach your customers directly and without the distractions and competition of other types of marketing.
