SMS Marketing Ideas To Celebrate Wimbledon

Sadly there was no Murray on the player list when Wimbledon officially opened earlier this week, but nonetheless the tournament of all tennis tournaments is still guaranteed to impress as we get ready for our annual dose of tennis fever – and those who are not the biggest fans of football can finally enjoy a welcome distraction from the World Cup.

With a little creativity, national and international sports events such as Wimbledon can offer fantastic SMS marketing opportunities. There are many ways that businesses in all kinds of sectors can craft clever campaigns to appeal to different demographics and give sales and conversions a welcome boost.

In this article, we explore how to make the most of Wimbledon in your SMS marketing.

Choosing the right type of campaign

The type of campaign you choose to run will depend primarily on the nature of your business and the type of customers you are aiming to engage. It will also be influenced by the channels that you wish to use for your marketing. For example, an SMS only campaign will be quite different to one that is run across all major media channels such as press and television. Let’s take a closer look at some of the popular types of campaigns that businesses are using for this kind of occasion.

SMS only promotions

“Game, Set & Match! We’ve got your camping trip completely covered with our incredible special offers across the entire range of tents and equipment during Wimbledon! Pop into your nearest Camping World store today to get in on the action…”

Simple, straightforward and highly effective, this kind of campaign requires a minimum amount of effort to set up and with a good quality SMS marketing mailing list can generate excellent results. Using the groups feature on our platform, all you need to do is craft one message, hit send once and let it reach everybody on your list. Few other marketing channels are capable of offering such incredible simplicity.

So why does SMS marketing work? There are several reasons why this form of marketing is so powerful. Firstly, because people must opt-in prior to receiving SMS communications from you, they have effectively pre-selected you as an approved contact. As a result, they are unlikely to treat a message from your company as spam. Secondly, almost 100% of SMS text message are read within 3 minutes – meaning that they are almost guaranteed to be read, and are great for triggering an impulsive response. Finally, SMS marketing messages support clickable urls, so customers can click directly through to the relevant landing page without ever leaving the device, maximising the potential for conversion.

SMS Shortcodes and keywords

SMS shortcodes and keywords are a great way to add an extra dimension to your SMS marketing campaign by encouraging customers to interact. Whilst few customers would be likely to directly engage with an email by choosing to reply, because we are accustomed to SMS as a toll for personal conversations, it feels completely natural to do so. Shortcodes and keywords make it even easier for the recipient to respond in the desired manner, helping to increase conversion rates.

For example, you might send a message such as:

“Take advantage of our ‘ace’ offers on holiday and travel insurance only available during Wimbledon 2018. Text INSURE to 87007 now to get a quote within 5 minutes…”

As well as making it as simple as possible to engage, the style of the message creates both a sense of curiosity and urgency that is sure to provoke a positive response.

Real time sms messaging

One feature SMS marketing offers that few other channels offer – social media aside – is the possibility to engage with customers in real time. This means that you can actually base a campaign on a live match or even a live scoreline. Such an approach will require more effort from the marketing team, however it is a great way to add a real human touch to your marketing that is really tied into the action.

If, for example, a particularly long game is being played out, why not take advantage of the opportunity to suggest some refreshments –

“Feeling the thirst? Pop over to your local Prime Shop before the match finishes and get your hands on a bottle of Ribena for half price. T&C’s apply…”

Text to win competitions

For companies who have a bigger budget and are looking to build brand awareness, an SMS text-to-win competition can be a great addition to a wider media campaign involving print, television, radio or billboards. A big-impact brand message can be followed with a CTA such as:

“Ready to get control of your finances? Text CASH to 87007 now to find out how much we could lend you…”

Such an approach can be highly effective for a wide variety of sectors including personal finance, recruitment, internet and telephony and even charity fundraising. Although this kind of campaign requires more planning and requires greater initial outlay, it can be a highly effective solution for campaigns that support high ticket value transactions or where a huge response rate is expected.

Choosing the right marketing keywords

Deciding which type of campaign to use is half the battle. Once you’ve decided what kind of approach will get the best results, you then need to come up with the creative. Whilst for most forms of marketing and advertising this will be where the graphic designers get to work, SMS is unique in that it relies solely on text, and cannot even be formatted to alter its appearance. Although this is a challenge, it is also where the true beauty of SMS marketing lies. With the right copy, the generous limit of 459 characters is more than enough to craft something that is fun, powerful and gets the right reaction. To add some flare to your Wimbledon campaign, why not play with some of these tennis inspired keywords:

Ace

We’ve seen this great little phrase already in the example of offers on holiday and travel insurance. Everything about it shouts ‘the best’, making it perfect to match up with your special offers.

Game, Set & Match

This is probably the single most repeated phrase when it comes to tennis enthusiasts and creates a real sense of completeness. This makes it ideal for offers spanning a range of complimentary products, such as the example of camping equipment and tents in the previous section.

Serve

The double-entendre of this particular phrase makes it too good to miss if you are in the business of food and drink. Pubs, bars and restaurants alike can use the phrase to promote their offers with a message such as:

“We’re serving it up during Wimbledon! Drop in to Harry’s Diner this week to take advantage of our lunchtime 2-for-1 offers on a range of menus…”

Smash!

A word that simply shouts ‘power’, this little gem is great for products and services that have an edge to them. Try using it for your gym, for example.

“Smash your summer fitness goals with half price membership if you sign up before June 15th…”

Champion

If there is one single word that epitomises the spirit of Wimbledon, then champion is it. And who doesn’t want to feel like a champion? Great for companies selling products or services that are connected to image or lifestyle. If you are promoting a hotel chain, for example, try something like:

“Want to sleep and dine like a champion? Book your stay at the Park Lodge now…”

So start your Wimbledon themed mobile marketing campaigns now – get a free account today and get 100 free credits thrown in too! Call the experts at Fastsms today on 0800 954 5305 and we’ll have you up and running within minutes.

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