SMS marketing is one of the most successful ways of sending time-sensitive information to your customers. Most users check their phone at least every ten minutes, and text messages have a significantly higher rate of follow-through than other forms of communication like email. Here are 6 tips to help you maximize the potential of this quick and effective form of marketing:
1. Keep Your Clients Interested With High-Value Offers
The majority of text messages are read almost as soon as they’re received. From a business standpoint this is good news, but it also means that the risk of customer burn-out is much higher than with other less-immediate methods of marketing. Be sure that all of your messages are offering real value to your customers. Otherwise they may simply unsubscribe from the service.
2. Let Your Customers Choose How Often You Message Them
It’s a good business practice to offer your customers several choices in the frequency of their SMS messages from your company. Some customers will appreciate hearing from you each time you have a new promotion. Others will prefer to only be notified when a specific item of interest goes on sale. You’ll never have to worry about overstepping your welcome if you let your customers choose the frequency of communication themselves.
3. Be Concise and Get Straight to The Point
Remember that you only have 160 characters per SMS. Your customer should be able to immediately tell what you’re offering with just a quick scan of the message. An effectively written SMS includes the featured product or promotion within the first half of the first sentence. Use simple, short sentences and personalize your messages with the customer’s name whenever possible.
4. Clearly Explain What to Do Next
End each SMS with a clear indicator of the next step that your customers need to take. If you’re sending them a mobile coupon, explain that they’ll need to show it to the cashier at checkout. If you’re promoting a doorbuster sale, be sure to mention what your store’s opening hours are. Finally, if the SMS is intended to promote your website, be sure to end it with a link to a mobile-friendly website that they can click on to find out more.
5. Offer Time-Sensitive Deals Through Your SMS Campaign
SMS is one of the most time-oriented forms of marketing, and you can take advantage of this by encouraging your customers to act on the offer quickly. Each SMS offer should have a clearly stated expiration date, and this should be no more than a few days after message was sent. This creates a sense of urgency and the customer is more likely to remember the deal and cash in on it.
6. Plan When is the Best Time to Send an SMS
The content of your SMS is not the only important factor to consider. Timing can also affect whether the message is read or simply forgotten. For instance, a message sent during the morning rush hour is unlikely to generate much response. However, by Friday afternoon customers start making weekend purchasing plans, and that is a good time to send out big-ticket offers. Think carefully about your target audience and when they are most likely to see your offer prior to sending a message.