There’s still time to create an SMS campaign for Black Friday
Tomorrow is Black Friday. This day of shopping frenzy was imported from the US just a few years ago, but experts predict UK consumers will eagerly spend £200m on Black Friday. That’s twice what was spent last year.
In an article in The Guardian, Johnathan Reynolds, director of the Oxford Institute of Retail Management, commented that Black Friday is a “buyer’s market” and retailers need to do everything they can to be competitive. A great way to get out ahead of the competition is with an SMS campaign.
But what if you have never used SMS or created a campaign before? Don’t worry. True, it’s last minute, but retailers can still get their SMS campaign rolling for tomorrow.
Fastsms accounts can be set up in just a few minutes. The account is free with no setup charges. And once your account is created you receive 10 credits you can use for testing. Testing is as simple as sending a message or two to your staff to see how easy it is to do. The system works much like an email application so the learning curve is fast. You can be up, running and tested in under 15 minutes. It’ll take a little longer to learn all the features, but you’ll have the basics down in that time.
If you’ve got a customer list that includes name and mobile number you can import it directly into our web based SMS service called NetMessenger. You can also automatically assign customers to groups to make segmenting your messages easier. But you don’t have to do that if you don’t want or need to. Or if you use Outlook for managing your contacts, you can get started without having to import your contacts by using our Outlook Mobile Service.
After testing, you’ll be convinced you can actually create and send messages easily. Next, you’ll want to purchase the credits you’ll need to send messages to your customers. You’ll find SMS is one of the most affordable, effective direct marketing methods. For 1,000 fastsms credits the cost is just £35. And the more credits you buy, the less it costs per credit. And yes, in the UK, one credit equals one 160 character message.
Now that you know the amazing value of our SMS messaging service, you need to send out messages to get your sale noticed on Black Friday. Here are some ideas on what to send: A coupon code redeemable in store, special sale details (“20% off everything!”), or a door buster sale during certain hours early Friday morning to let them know you’ll be opening early. You can send the messages out on Thursday afternoon or evening when people are planning their shopping, or even early on Friday (but not too early) so people get the message while they are out shopping.
You’ve got the rest of the day today to (1) get your account setup, (2) your list imported, (3) purchase your credits, (4) to write and (5) send your message. Just five steps to better sales to kick off the holiday shopping season. What are you waiting for? Get your account setup now.
Related Articles
How Wayne Dyer Inspired SMS Messaging
If you’re tuned into the self-help industry at all, you know who Wayne Dyer was. He spent decades writing transformational books to help people improve their lives and find happiness. He died summer 2015 at his home in Maui at the age of 75. It’s probably an understatement to say he inspired millions of people. So when I came across an article about a publisher using SMS messaging to let people know about a new book discussing his legacy I wasn’t too surprised. Not at first anyway.
What to do When Your SMS Campaign is Failing
Here's some ideas on what you can do to help your SMS campaigns to do better. Use the following checklist to see if you’re using all your possible channels.
Why SMS Marketing is Like Facebook Marketing, But Better
Facebook is a popular place. According to Statista, they had 1.44 billion active users in the first quarter of 2015. It’s no wonder then that businesses are flocking to advertise there. But big isn’t always better. SMS marketing is similar in many respects to Facebook advertising, and for some uses it is actually better. Let me explain and see if you agree.
B2B Needs to Get Mobile and Digital
Businesses that sell to other businesses (B2B) are having trouble keeping up in the digital and mobile age. That’s according to a couple of eMarketer articles. The reasons for it are varied, but it may be mostly because they’ve been slow to acknowledge a change in culture.
The Role of SMS in Building Consumer Loyalty Programmes
The drive to earn and retain consumer loyalty is big business in the UK. Increasingly, companies are grasping the important role SMS text messaging can play in this. Customers’ mobile phone numbers are gold dust. The most forward-looking companies are developing systems to encourage customers to opt-in. Then, they are structuring SMS campaigns to build loyalty and reap maximum commercial advantage from it.
5 Creative Ways to Use SMS Messaging to Boost Your Marketing
SMS messaging can be a hugely productive way of developing your marketing strategy. Text messages are read - on average - in less than 5 seconds. That means you only have a short period of time in which you can impress your potential customer. People are starved of concentration thanks to hundreds of digital and offline distractions, along with the many other companies all reaching out to them through SMS. In order to be effective and get the most from SMS text messages, you need to be creative with your SMS marketing. So here's how...
How to Increase Website Traffic with SMS Messaging
Read some practical advice on how you can use SMS messaging to drive more traffic to your website. Include a shortened url in your SMS marketing message that sends the recipient to a special offers page or a how-to video or even a top-up page for consumables. But make sure the page is mobile friendly.
The Ultimate Guide to SMS Marketing for Small Businesses
SMS marketing or short messaging service marketing is swiftly gaining popularity all over the world. Using text messages for business purposes is convenient and quick. It's also extremely cost-effective when compared to other methods of communication. When used correctly, an SMS marketing campaign can do wonders for your business reputation, not to mention your profits.
Insights Into The Best SMS Marketing
It’s been said that to be successful at something, you need to find someone that’s already done what you want to do, then emulate them. You don’t need to create or rewrite the rulebook every time. This is true of marketing too. While it’s a creative field, there are tried and true examples of what works. This is why case studies are so important to helping you understand how something like SMS marketing can work for you.
mCommerce Summit 2016. Wine, Red Noses, and Mobile Marketing?
Imagine this: Someone wears a red nose, wine glasses filled before noon, and everyone’s talking about mobile marketing. That was the Mobile Marketing’s 6th mCommerce Summit in NYC last week. I’ll get to the red nose and wine a bit later. First I’ll share some takeaways about mobile marketing from the presenters by sharing it with you the way I saw it.