5 Creative Ways to Use SMS Messaging to Boost Your Marketing
SMS messaging can be a hugely productive way of developing your marketing strategy. It was found by Statistic Brain that the number of text messages sent each month has grown by over 7,700% during the last decade, while more than 560 billion texts get sent every month throughout the globe.
Just on a daily basis alone, there are 18.7 billion text messages flying around worldwide – and WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger combined add to this with over 60 billion messages sent each day according to The Verge. These numbers are high for a reason – over 4.2 billion people in the world use text messages to communicate, according to MBA Online, and Nielsen reports that text messaging is the most used data service globally.
There are some key reasons why text messaging is so popular when it comes to marketing strategies. According to Text Request, it is 10 times quicker than phone calls. This helps businesses save time, money and productivity when reaching customers.
Additionally, according to SinglePoint, text messages have a 99% open rate, ensuring your marketing or sales message will have a high chance of being seen. Additionally, Forbes reports that, within three minutes of being sent, 95% of text messages will have been read. The average response time for a text message is 90 seconds according to CTIA, while texting takes up to 33% of mobile usage time for millennial users. 96% of smartphone owners text, as reported by the Pew Research Center, with the average adult spending 23 hours per week texting, according to USA Today.
However, that all being said, as SlickText has found, 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…
Use SMS messaging to establish engagement
SMS messages are a deeply personal way to reach out to customers. You are quite literally sending your message into their pocket or handbag. As such, it is important that you write to them in a personalised and thoughtful way.
Once you have done so (for example, “Hi Kate, you’ve qualified for a discounted hair cut. Call now to book your appointment. Offer expires by Friday”), you can then use these messages to establish which customers are most engaged and build on this. Through offering an incentive that they need to call or visit you to enjoy, you’ll be able to see which customers are most interested in your text messages.
You can then use this data to send them more targeted or sales-driven communications in the future. If you are honest and friendly, without being overbearing, you’ll build engagement.
Integrate your SMS campaigns with other channels
Your SMS text messages shouldn’t work in isolation when being sent out. Unite them with your other communications strategies in order to optimise your success rate. Your text message doesn’t need to do all the work by itself. Adding links to your text messages can drive customers towards your site. Sending out a newsletter shortly afterwards can remind them of your text offer if they missed it. You can also drive people towards subscribing to your newsletter through your text messages, which can in turn increase their engagement over time from numerous marketing channels. You can also request they call you for a special offer.
Add unique links
Through putting unique links into your SMS campaigns, you will be able to track who has clicked on them and what they are most interested in. You can then use this data to direct your marketing to this audience in a more targeted, considered way.
Run customer surveys
You have a very limited time in which you can capture the attention of your audience. However, through customer surveys you can often learn more about them, which can be valuable for targeting your marketing towards them. In order to get them to actually complete the survey, it is always best to offer some kind of sales incentive – such as a discount or free gift that can be claimed once you have completed the survey. Through sending these surveys out at different times, you will be able to see from your customer’s response times what sort of time of day is best to contact them in order to get a response or interaction.
Establish who your influencers are
Not all your customers will have the same impact on your business – some will have far more influence, and these are the ones you need to identify. Through social media, you can establish this with those who are posting images about your company, who are hashtagging or marking their visit at your business, or who have large followings and have the potential to spread the word far and wide. The best-personalised marketing tool available to you is word of mouth, so establishing who can offer this through SMS messaging is incredibly valuable.
By sending out a set of simple questions to your customers, you can quickly learn more about their behaviours. For example, through asking them to rate how likely they would be to tell their friends or family about you on a scale of 1 to 10, you’ll be able to establish from those who text back with a high response what type of value they have. This can then be passed on to your sales department. Of course, it’s not an absolute given but these are certainly the people you should be looking to target and focus on most specifically.
Encourage conversation
Often people think of their SMS messages as being a one-way communication stream with customers, but the best way of boosting your marketing efforts is through engaging in a dialogue with them. When phrasing your text messages, think of ways to create a discussion with them. Add their name, personalise the communications, and finish on a question. Think of the way that you would engage with a friend when you want a response – this is something you need to consider, albeit in a professional sense when it comes to reaching out to customers. This type of relationship will be much stronger and more effective than anything else.
Related Articles
5 Reasons You Want to Use SMS Messaging in Your Business
Are you looking to grow your business? Get more customers? Have larger profits? Of course you are. Isn't every business looking to improve, grow and generate more sales? More and more businesses are realising how SMS messaging can help them do all those things. But it's nice to have some facts to back up what most people seem to assume is true.
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.
Enhancing Two-Way SMS Messaging with Autoresponders
SMS messaging can be a one-way, or a two-way affair. Sending coupons, sale notifications, or event announcements are all one-way messaging. The recipient doesn’t need to reply in order to use the information sent. In two-way messaging though, recipients can reply to your messages. And that makes it much more interesting, engaging, and potentially a lot more work to manage.
5 SMS or Mobile Facts You Need to Know
So many of us are used to having our mobiles around nearly 24 hours a day that it’s easy to forget it’s still a growing industry. And though SMS has been around for over two decades, the ways we use it and people’s willingness to use it continues to grow. So for this blog I picked out five facts about mobile and SMS that really make the case that SMS for business has come of age. Let’s see if you agree.
SMS Marketing: Don’t Forget About Print!
The focus for advertising campaigns today is often mobile, web, or digital. It’s certainly true that more and more people are using technology for just about everything. But with all that technology, it’s easy to overlook another, more traditional form: Print!
Top Three Things Retailers Should Do to Keep Customers on Their SMS Opt-In List
You've run a successful SMS opt-in campaign for your retail store. Now that you have your list, do you have a plan to keep them from opting out? Wait, you mean there's more to this than just sending out coupon codes? There is if you want to keep your customers from opting out.
Two Companies Using SMS in Surprising Ways
In many ways, SMS messaging is so commonplace people don’t think about it. They just do it. For example, using SMS for mobile marketing in retail is a fairly standard use case whether you’re a company or the consumer. But there are always exceptions – those who innovate when it seems there’s nothing new to be had. Here are two examples of companies from the US using SMS in ways no one else is – yet.
5 Rеаѕоnѕ Customers Lоvе SMS Mаrkеtіng
With a ratio оf fоur mоbіlе devices tо еvеrу computer, іt’ѕ сlеаr where your сuѕtоmеrѕ аrе to be found. Mоbіlе mаrkеtіng is nо longer ѕоmеthіng уоu саn аffоrd to put оn the tо-dо-lіѕt fоr thе futurе; you need tо make sure your message is reaching people on mоbіlе dеvісеs nоw. SMS Mаrkеtіng is the perfect solution - it hаѕ proven to іnсrеаѕе сuѕtоmеr engagement tо unрrесеdеntеd levels and is incredibly low priced. Read on to discover 5 rеаѕоnѕ whу сuѕtоmеrѕ love SMS Mаrkеtіng.
When the Internet Goes Down, SMS Messaging Can Save the Day
At the end of February, Amazon’s S3 servers went down. And so did much of the Internet. What can we learn from the experience about communicating with customers during an online disaster? According to experts, having a plan that includes SMS messaging is key.
