Three Things You Must Do Right in Your SMS Marketing
SMS messaging can be one of your more effective marketing techniques, but only if you do it right. A poorly executed SMS marketing campaign could have disastrous results for your future budget, and for your organisation.
Here are three things that you must get right in every SMS marketing campaign, that are also very easy to get wrong!
1. Include Your Name In Every Text
I can’t tell you how often I get texts and upon initial reading I have no idea who it’s from. Really. Coupons, discount codes, contests, all from companies that don’t mention who they are. If I’m interested enough, I can scroll back through the history of the text conversation on my mobile and figure it out. For some that send messages frequently, I’m beginning to recognise their shortcode but I’m never certain until I check.
Granted, I signed up for the messages. But I’ve signed up for quite a few offers and I’m on many SMS lists. It’s mad for a company to assume I’ll know who the message is from without their name on it. If a person is interested enough in a topic to sign up for text message marketing, then it’s probably safe to assume that they just might sign up to multiple lists in the same industry. Is the coupon I received for you, or your competitor across the street?
Adding your organisations name is easy to do, but may take some creativity to figure out a short way to write it. If your company already uses an abbreviation, or has a short name, you’re all set. Otherwise try to pick something that “sounds like” your name when said, or uses your initials so the recipients know immediately who the message is from.
Where should you include it in the message? Make it first. A pattern I’ve noticed is placing the company name or abbreviation is all caps followed by a colon as the very first part of the message. This works well for immediate recognition, even when only the first few characters are displayed as a notification on mobile screens.
2. Remember Your Spelling
Text messages are short and if you’re texting between friends a few spelling errors won’t matter as long as the intent is clear. But for a marketing message, correct spelling is as important in a text message campaign as it is in any other marketing activity. Simple mistakes like spelling errors, give the appearance that you don’t care, or are incompetent. Neither will result in a successful campaign.
Proofread every message as diligently as you would your most important documents. And be careful of autocorrect features if you are composing on a mobile device (or other software using such a feature). The website Damnyouautocorrect.com has many humorous, and some not so humorous, results of autocorrect on text messaging. One that sticks with me is about two people discussing what to have for dinner. One person said they were having “bbq children”, quickly followed by another message of “CHICKEN!” Imagine someone’s horror to find they suggested eating children. Again, these may offer a humorous moment between friends (or not!), but never when you’re marketing your products and services to customers.
Beyond just spelling, think carefully about using “common” abbreviations typically seen in instant messaging. If you’re considering it, read my blog on the topic before you decide.
3. Get Right To The Point, But Still Be Complete
You know you have limited characters for each text message, which can make it difficult to convey what you want the recipient to do with the information in the text. Decide beforehand what your call to action is, then craft your message in the clearest and most complete way possible.
Do you have a 50% off coupon for two entrées at your restaurant? Did you remember to include it was only valid for lunch? If you don’t, you’ll have many disappointed diners at evening service. Then you’ll have to decide whether to turn them away or honour the coupon because it was your mistake. Financially, this can be a disaster. It can also be bad for your reputation if you decide not to honour it.
In every message, make sure to include: what your offer is, when it is valid, and how people can claim it. That sounds like a lot, but it doesn’t have to be if you’re really clear in your own mind what it is you want to achieve.
It’s easy to make sure you get these three things right in every SMS marketing message, but it does take focus and effort to make sure you check what you write each and every time. SMS is short and fast, but that’s no excuse for being sloppy.
Related Articles
Boosting Ecommerce with SMS Marketing
Whilst some businesses still offer physical sales, many companies have an online presence as well. Whether they trade solely on the internet or maintain physical stores, it’s vital for businesses to cater for online customers. In order to increase sales and turnover, companies rely on a range of marketing methods, such as offline advertising or digital promotions. Whilst these can be effective, many businesses are overlooking the potential of SMS marketing.
5 Simple Steps to Improve Your SMS Marketing with A/B Testing
Do you ever wonder if your SMS marketing campaigns could be even more successful? Of course, you do! Find out how to put A/B testing to work in your campaigns by following our five simple steps and see your ROI increase
9 Football Phrases to Kick Start Your World Cup SMS Marketing Campaign
3 Best Types of CTA for SMS Marketing
One mistake some marketers make is assuming people will know what to do when they read an SMS message. After all, they’re short and to the point right? How confusing could they be? On the other hand, when writing every other form of marketing they know that calls to action need to be clear. So, just because you don't have much room, it doesn’t mean you get to leave out your call to action! Saving space and being brief is important though, so take a look at three of the best SMS marketing CTAs you can use.
How To Craft The Best Content For Your SMS Messaging
You need concise, memorable and high-impact content with a clear call to action in your SMS messaging. That, in a nutshell, is what's needed to achieve with any marketing or engagement communications in any form. But this is never truer than with an SMS campaign when your business text messaging has to rely on a small window of recipient attention.
What are the Worst SMS Marketing Messages You’ve Received?
Just for fun, I asked people in a marketing focused Facebook group to share the worst SMS marketing messages they’ve ever received. I was expecting a deluge of responses, but actually only a few trickled in. But those horrible SMS marketing messages are out there…the comments on my post proved it even if no one wanted to share (I guess they’re all shy).
What You Can Learn From a Bad SMS Message
In last week’s blog I covered how the Trump campaign sent unsolicited SMS messages to voters. This week I’m stuck on the same topic, but from a totally different angle: what we can learn from that failure. Because honestly, their biggest issue might not be violating the law. It might be the people they have writing their SMS messages. It’s time to dissect the message that spawned the law suit, and learn what we can from it.
6 Psychological Tips for SMS Marketing Success
Getting to grips with the underlying psychology of how audiences react both consciously and subconsciously to your message is key to achieving the maximum effect in any type of marketing. All kinds of things come into play with different media, from colours and shapes to images and videos. Even the way things move can have a powerful effect on a viewer. Unlike many other forms of marketing, however, SMS marketing is unique in that the only tool you have is words - and not many of them. But armed with a basic knowledge of consumer psychology, 456 characters is more than enough to get the desired effect. In this article, we present our six top tips to take advantage of the psychology of SMS messaging.
9 SMS Marketing Power Words
With its 456 character limit, SMS Marketing challenges us to be succinct, ensuring we pack the most into our punch and deliver powerful and effective calls to action in a minimum of words. With some research and planning, it is still possible to craft great messages that get results and still stay well within the limits. In this article, we share 9 power words and phrases to help to you do just that.
