by Today’s consumers are subjected to a never-ending barrage of marketing and advertising messages. That’s why you must actively find ways to capture your audience’s attention. Among many marketing channels, SMS marketing is a powerful tool that cuts through the noise and delivers messages directly to your customers’ fingertips.
Unlike other platforms where messages can easily get lost or ignored, SMS marketing offers a unique advantage by leveraging the ubiquity of mobile phones. With SMS, you have a direct line of communication with your customers, ensuring that your messages are seen and read.
However, like any marketing strategy, there are certain best practices that you must follow to ensure success and avoid potential pitfalls. So, here are our seven SMS marketing best practices.
What Is SMS Marketing?
SMS marketing is the promotional strategy of using text messages to reach and engage customers. This form of marketing involves sending targeted and personalized messages to individuals’ mobile phones and delivering updates, offers, and promotions directly to their fingertips.
What Are the Benefits of SMS Marketing?
SMS marketing offers many benefits that can significantly impact a business’s success. Some of these benefits include:
Increased Brand Awareness
According to EZTexting, a text marketing firm, text messages have a 98% open rate, and 90% of recipients respond within 30 minutes. Therefore, companies can create brand recognition and familiarity by reaching a wide audience through text messages. Regular updates, promotions, and personalized content sent via SMS contribute to raising awareness about the brand among potential customers.
Increased Customer Engagement
Businesses can engage customers more intimately by sending personalized messages, encouraging them to respond, participate, and take action. This two-way communication fosters a sense of involvement and strengthens the relationship between the business and its customers.
Increased Sales
According to Statista, there could be nearly 7.5 billion mobile users worldwide by 2024. That makes SMS marketing an effective strategy for boosting sales. Businesses can generate a sense of urgency by directly sending targeted offers, promotions, and exclusive discounts to customers’ phones and encouraging immediate purchasing decisions. The immediacy and convenience of SMS make it easier for customers to act upon the sales incentives, resulting in increased conversion rates and revenue.
Improved Customer Loyalty
Regularly keeping in touch with customers through personalized messages helps businesses maintain a strong connection. By offering loyal customers exclusive perks, early access to sales, or personalized recommendations, SMS marketing makes customers feel valued and appreciated. This, in turn, fosters loyalty and encourages repeat purchases.
7 Best Practices For SMS Marketing
SMS marketing can be a highly effective tool for engaging customers and driving sales. Here are seven best practices that maximize the impact of your SMS campaigns.
1. Get Permission Before Sending Messages
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) governs SMS marketing in the US. This act requires consent before sending marketing messages to a recipient’s mobile number. So, ensure you get recipients’ consent before sending them marketing messages.
Build a permission-based list to ensure you are targeting individuals who have expressed interest in receiving your communications. Implement opt-in strategies such as website forms or keywords for customers to subscribe. Respecting privacy and adhering to regulations will build trust with your audience and prevent potential legal issues.
2. Keep Messages Short and to the Point
Depending on the encoding, SMS messages have character limitations, typically 160 to 1600 characters. Therefore, it is essential to convey your message concisely and effectively. Craft clear and compelling messages that immediately capture recipients’ attention.
Stick to the key information, such as offers, promotions, or important updates. Use concise language and avoid unnecessary details or jargon to maximize readability and engagement.
3. Personalize Your Messages
Personalization is a powerful way to connect with customers and make them feel valued. Include the recipient’s name in the message or use other relevant personalization variables, such as their previous purchase history or location.
Tailoring messages to specific customer segments or interests can significantly improve engagement and response rates. Personalization demonstrates that you understand your customers’ preferences and helps create a more meaningful connection.
4. Use Clear and Concise Language
Use simple, easy-to-understand language that conveys your message effectively. Avoid complex or ambiguous phrases that may confuse recipients. Be direct and explicit about your offers, promotions, or calls to action. Use action-oriented language to encourage recipients to take the desired action, such as “Get 20% off today” or “Limited stock available. Shop now!”
5. Send Messages at the Right Time
Timing plays a crucial role in the success of SMS marketing campaigns. Consider your target audience and their daily routines. Avoid sending messages during late-night or early morning hours, as it may disrupt their sleep or cause annoyance.
Instead, aim for optimal times when they are more likely to engage, such as during lunch breaks or early evenings. Test different timings and analyze response patterns to identify your specific audience’s most effective sending times.
6. Offer Exclusive Content and Discounts
One of the key advantages of SMS marketing is the ability to provide exclusive content and discounts to recipients. Use SMS as a platform to reward your loyal customers with special offers, early access to sales, or exclusive promotions.
This makes recipients feel valued and incentivizes them to engage and make purchases. Ensure the offers are compelling and time-sensitive, creating a sense of urgency and exclusivity.
7. Track Your Results
It is crucial to track and analyze the results to measure the effectiveness of your SMS marketing campaigns. Monitor metrics such as:
- Delivery rates
- Open rates
- Click-through rates
- Conversion rates
- Unsubscribe rates
These metrics provide insights into the performance of your campaigns, enabling you to optimize your strategies and improve future campaigns. Use SMS marketing platforms with robust analytics and reporting features to gain valuable insights and make data-driven decisions.
Master SMS Marketing through RankPay
SMS marketing is a powerful tool to help you reach your target audience and grow your business. Following the best practices outlined in this blog, you can create effective SMS marketing campaigns to help you achieve your business goals.
At Rank Pay, we aim to create new, low-cost digital marketing options for small and medium-sized businesses. We have a dedicated team of specialists focused on content creation & optimization. Contact us today, and let us help you master SMS marketing.
References
https://www.twilio.com/en-us/learn/call-and-text-marketing/guide-to-us-sms-compliance
https://www.eztexting.com/blog/introducing-2019-mobile-usage-report-how-consumers-are-really-texting
https://www.statista.com/statistics/218984/number-of-global-mobile-users-since-2010/
https://www.openmarket.com/resources/millennials-text-with-businesses-infographic/
