Oops! What to do When You Send the Wrong Message
Sending a text message to the wrong person can be embarrassing. I’ve done it many times. Thankfully though, they were just simple messages like “be home soon” or “I’ll tell you later”. Innocuous, harmless and easily explained away.
A high profile example of a text message gone wrong is Graeme Smith, the former South African cricket batsman and captain. According to reports, his wife discovered he wanted a divorce because he sent her a text message intended for his attorney. That’s something not easily explained away.
But what if a business sends a message in error? Can they take it back, or will there be damage done? Chances are a wrong message will cause some sort of damage to reputation or lost revenue. So what do you do if your business makes a mistake? Let’s look at three different possibilities:
Message sent to the wrong list – So you sent an offer to a list of people. Then you discovered it was the wrong list of people. Some people will notice, maybe complain, or try to redeem the offer when they aren’t eligible. For example, you sent a special VIP discount code to your standard member list. Should you honour the deal for non-VIP members? Could you send a note saying it was an error? Should you send an alternate offer in order to make things right? Your response will depend on your business and the details of the mistake. But one thing you shouldn’t do is ignore the error.
Wrong content in the message – In your eagerness to send out your SMS campaign, someone mistyped the keyword or the coupon code in the message. As soon as you discover the error, send out a corrected version. But don’t leave it at that. In the corrected text message, acknowledge the error. If you don’t, people may be confused by the multiple, similar messages.
Message was sent at the wrong time – Did your message get sent too late, or even too early? In this case, what you do really depends on the details. Did the message announce a sale before it was actually supposed to start? Or did the message get sent the day after the event it was promoting occurred? Whatever it was, let your list know what happened, and do what you can to fix any problems that arise.
So you’ll see a common theme here: if you make a mistake, make amends. Don’t ignore it, but let your list know what happened and do what you can to make up for it. Doing so will help your reputation, reduce your unsubscriptions due to the error, and might even help your bottom line.
Related Articles
9 Phrases to Add Some Winter Wonder to Your SMS Marketing Campaign
How A/B Testing Works in SMS Messaging
A/B testing in SMS messaging is something that sounds vague and possibly complicated. But with a little knowledge it’s something you can do for your organisation. We make it simple to understand and share some tools to make it easy to do.
Why you want to keep your SMS marketing database clean
How To Know If Your SMS Campaigns Work
If you’re using SMS campaigns as part of your strategy to drive sales, sign ups, fund raise, or any goal, you’ll need to know if it’s working. You may be familiar with email tracking or other forms of marketing metrics but how do you measure the effectiveness of SMS campaigns? Here are five different ideas for you to try.
5 SMS stats to excite any business about SMS
How to Capture the Essence of Autumn in Your SMS Marketing Campaign
How Social Media and SMS Messaging Work Together
Social media platforms pop up so frequently it's hard to keep track. And if you're doing any mobile marketing, it can really create some confusion about what to do and which platform to do it on. This blog isn't about choosing a social platform, but it does address how focusing on social and SMS marketing together - but differently – can lead to greater success in your mobile marketing.
SMS Marketing for Jewellers and Jewellery Makers
How and why you need to provide excellent customer service
How to Avoid Failing at SMS Marketing
For many businesses it's often a knee-jerk reaction to create an app, or to run mobile ads, or to start an SMS list. But without really understanding what it’s all about, you can waste a lot of time and money before realising what you actually need to do.