Category Archives: SMS Text Messaging

5 SMS Text Message Marketing Mistakes

Mobile Marketing is by far the newest addition to interactive advertising.  From the term “Mobile” itself, it obviously refers to the utilization mobile devices as a way to reach to people in marketing communications. This marketing strategy benefits many businesses by allowing them to capitalize on the different ways billions of people are using cell phones today.

However, many businesses are not using mobile marketing to its full capabilities to really increase profits and ROI.

If you are looking to build a massive list of customers who will buy from you over and over again, here are a few SMS Text Message Marketing mistakes you should avoid:

Mistake # 1:

No Call to Action

  • No matter how great your business is, you are still missing out on opportunities to get new customers if your mobile promotions do not include a call to action. Make people aware of your mobile presence on all of your marketing materials. Most importantly, tell people to join your mobile list to receive cool free gifts and future promotional offers. If you don’t tell them to join, most won’t.

Mistake # 2:

No Customer Reward for Registering

  • Another effective marketing strategy is to offer sign-up bonuses. Customers will be encouraged to join your mobile list if they receive an immediate reward. For instance, if you are fast food chain, you may offer “FREE MEAL worth $ 5” as a sign-up bonus. The customer would have to present your text message offer on their next visit in order to redeem it.

Mistake # 3:

Sending Out Too Many Offers

  • Though sending offers frequently can be exciting and may get your customers’ attention, it is annoying which may lead to some customers unsubscribing from your list. Also, sending offers frequently can have a negative impact as it does not give customers thrills on what they miss. Text offers sent weekly or twice a month is more effective because customers are given time to see the advantages of the offers and will look forward to future ones.

Mistake # 4:

No Customer-Retention Incentives

  • Customers are likely stay on a mobile list if they are given “freebies” and nice discounts every once in a while. Don’t make all of your messages an attempt to sell something. Instead, make your list some nice offers that will make them happy as well as keep a steady flow of income coming into your business. Some examples of effective customer rewards programs would be “FREE STUFF,” “50% OFF,” and “BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE.”

Mistake # 5

No Referral System in Place

  • Of course, people tend to share and talk with their friends and family members about any nice offers they’ve received. When your customers are satisfied by your products or services, they will likely recommend it to a friend or family member. So, you can make this process very easy for them by implementing a mobile “Refer a friend” program. Give your “referring” customers a nice reward for referring others and watch your list and ROI quickly grow.

5 SMS Text Message Marketing Etiquette Tips

Millions of people use mobile phones for communication ever day. In fact, more people are using text messaging than phone calls via their mobile devices.

Mobile phones are one of the most essential gadgets and a necessity to most people – especially in line of business. Because of that, marketing strategies involving mobile promotion have been utilized by many businesses to reach out to potential customers – including SMS text message marketing.

However, in order for SMS text marketing to be effective, you have to be careful about how you use it.   Similar to other marketing strategies, mobile marketing also needs to be thoroughly planned out in order to get the best return on your investment. The way you use SMS text marketing in your business greatly impacts the outcome of your goals.   

Your etiquette and creativity in mobile promotion of your business affects the amount of attention you will get from people. The response you get from people depends on how well you present your products and services to them.

The following are a few SMS Text Message Marketing etiquette tips that will help:

  1. Be straightforward

  • Beating around the bush of what you are trying to say will confuse people, which means they won’t comprehend your message. Be clear about your message. If you want them to take some type of action, tell them exactly what you want them to do and there’s a better chance of them actually doing it.

  1. Use proper language

  • Language is one most important aspects of effective communication. Do not use offensive and foul words in relaying SMS promotion. Choose your words carefully.

  1. Be honest

  • Don’t use exaggerated claims or out-right “untruths” when using SMS text message marketing. The last thing you want is a bad reputation for your business so keep your text messages 100% honest.

  1. Be polite and courteous

  • One way of getting customers is through courtesy and politeness. When people are pleased with the way you interact with them via text messaging, they will stay on your list a lot longer. If they sense one bit of rudeness, they won’t hesitate to opt-out of your list.

  1. Provide free information

  • Don’t constantly send text messages about promotional offers. Every now and then, send your list some free tips that they would find useful. You’d be surprised at the level of customer-loyalty that is created just by giving out free information regarding your industry.

3 Things Your SMS Text Messages MUST Have

Mobile marketing has been increasing profits and income for many businesses. Using mobile phones has been one of the most effective strategies in product promotion as well as product and services introduction.

However, just like other marketing strategies, text message marketing also needs to be properly planned and place basic things so that possible consumers can easily grasp what you are trying to sell.

From the word “Short” in short message service or SMS, it means that message should be concise and straightforward. Ideally, it only needs 160 characters as this is the limit for most text messages.

The trick is to get all of the important components of a profitable text message into this small space.

Here are a few things all of your text messages should include:

  1. The Name of Your Business

Obviously, displaying the name of your business lets people know who you are as a company. People like to know who they are receiving text messages from, so be sure to give them that information every single time. This will put them at ease as they know exactly why they are receiving the message.

There are two ways to do this:

 

  1. Put your company’s name as the sender. However, the drawback of this type is that customers are given an option to reply with questions since there’s no phone number present.

 

  1. Provide your business number as the sender. However, don’t forget to put the name of your business in the body of the message.

 

  1. Give Them the Option to Opt-Out

 

  • The good thing about SMS Text Message marketing is that people opt-in to your list, which means they WANT to receive your promotional offers and messages. However, there should be an easy way to opt-out of the list if someone wants to do so. Knowing that they have an easy option to opt-out makes a lot of people feel more at ease when it comes to opting-in to your list. At the end of each text message, make sure there is an option available for members of your list to opt-out if they choose to do so.

 

 

  1. Incorporate a Call-to-Action

 

  • In your SMS, be sure to tell people what you want them to do. If you don’t tell them to do it, most won’t. For instance, if you want them to bring the coupon into your business to redeem it, tell them that in the text message so there’s no misunderstanding about how they can redeem it.

The Benefits of SMS Text Message Marketing

Technology has been a life-changing experience for all of us – especially in recent years.  New inventions are created every single day that are meant to make our lives easier. As new technologies continue to develop, businesses are forced to keep up if they want to sustain in today’s tough economic conditions.

Today, the latest and by far the most widely used communication device are is the mobile phone. Just like technology, mobile communications continue to improve with more features and functionalities. Some smart phones are more equipped than desktop computers!

Due to these reasons, businesses have to start “mobilizing” if they want to really stay in front of their target market.

One of the most popular forms of mobile marketing is SMS Text Message Marketing.

SMS text message marketing allows you to communicate directly to your target market by sending a simple, quick text message. This permission-based program is perfect because your recipients have opted-in to receive your messages. It’s effective because they WANT to receive your promotions.

Another great thing about SMS text message marketing is the deliverability of the message. Almost all text messages are read within minutes of receiving them.  In fact, recent studies show that 97% of text messages are read within minutes of receiving them. So this is the perfect way to get your promotions across to your target market.

SMS text message marketing is also more time-efficient compared to traditional advertising methods.  Text messages have to be short due to character limitations, so putting together your marketing message takes just a few minutes instead of days and weeks to prepare.

SMS text message marketing is also highly trackable. You have the advantage of monitoring and finding out what happens with each message you send out.  In other words, you can track down your campaigns to evaluate many metrics such as how many people viewed your message.

Can you do that with any newspaper, TV, or radio ad? Nope.

SMS text message marketing is also a great way to retain your customers at a very low cost. It’s the  perfect recipe for customer retention because you can reach out to them very easily. These are customers who have already spent money with you, so chances are, they will come back to spend more and more money with you as long as you keep in touch with them.

Business owners have many different marketing strategies available to them today. However, not all of them are as effective and profitable as a SMS text message marketing campaign. As long as everything is set-up well and you are taking good care of your list, your business can bring in a lot more money with the use of this amazingly effective technology.