There has never been a marketing medium so effective and efficient yet so under-utilized. Texting when used in conjunction with other marketing campaigns returns the highest yield at the lowest cost. It is after all a personalized message landing directly in the hands of your customer. A customer that likely purchased from you in the past. It really is as easy as sending a text but, there are nuances and best practices that advertisers should apply. The following are a few tips on additional strategies to bring your campaign to its fullest potential. These are strategies that have been shown to bring majority of SMS campaigns to the next level.
Exclusivity
Customers that decide to opt into your SMS campaign grants you the privilege of a direct line of contact with them. In return for this privilege consumers expect exclusive perks that you can’t get access to anywhere else. This should be content such as special subscriber discounts or being the first to receive brand news. It should not be information that can be received elsewhere.
Consistency
Just like campaigns on any other platform, consumer response is highest when there is consistent outreach. This by no means should be interpreted as a daily send. But make sure to cadence your campaigns to weekly or even safter to start out bi-monthly.
Personalization
To highlight that intimate communication with each consumer, customize fields in your messages. The more personally connected the consumer feels to the brand, the higher their response rate will be! Chuckatext offers personalization fields to add customer name or company.
Responsiveness
In line with the prompt nature of texting, you will want to able to respond to consumers in a timely manner if you choose to utilize two-way messaging. Automated messages can help ease the burden of large waves response and responses sent by consumers after hours.
Gaining Subscribers
Yes, guidelines and tips are important, but there’s still one major element needed to make sure your SMS campaign is effective: gaining subscribers! Depending on whether you are using our services for commerce versus nonprofit services you will need to use different processes due to differences in privacy guidelines.
With that in mind, here are some basic tips on how to gain your subscribers that can be applied regardless of the type of campaign.
1. Be visible. The more familiar the consumer is to your brand and the advantages of subscribing, the more willing they will likely be to opting in to receive text messages. Making use of Webforms is a great way to get your customers to opt in and added your SMS contact list.
2. Be memorable. Allow people to opt in by using a simple and memorable keyword. You want to make the process of opting in as easy as possible. For example, if you own a restaurant called Harry’s and your signature dish is say Haggis then have your customer text “HARRYSHAGGIS” to your assigned phone number. Be sure to follow up the consumer’s opt-in with a brief, enthusiastic welcome message. Show them how excited you are that they joined!
3. Incentivize them. Give the consumers an immediate gift of appreciation for giving you the privilege of their subscription. This will show them they made the right decision for subscribing to your brand.
Marketing is evolution. The more you employ the use of this technology the better the results. SMS marketing is just as much about building your contact list as it is cultivating and growing that list. The ultimate result is of course more revenue in your pocket derived at the lowest cost possible. That’s the magic that a well grown SMS marketing campaign will bring to your business!