Which are you more likely to have in your hand at any moment, your smart phone, laptop or tablet? For most, the correct answer would be a smart phone. We live in a world where people are constantly connected to technology and rarely leave home without it and marketers are beginning to catch on. Text message marketing (SMS) has become an essential part of many brands’ marketing strategy. SMS marketing is both a great way to quickly and effectively connect with potential customers and drive consumer loyalty.
According to the Mobile Marketing Association, SMS messages have a 95% open rate and are available to 98% of all mobile customers. These rates are much higher than open rates of direct mail and email marketing. If done properly, SMS marketing can lead to positive ROI and is a powerful method to connect with potential customers. If done incorrectly, your brand can get in some hot water due to the regulations and laws in place for SMS messaging. Make sure you follow these 5 best practices in your SMS strategy.
1. Get permission!
Text marketing is similar to email marketing in that you must have the consumer’s permission prior to signing them up to receive your texts. The FCC is firm on this aspect of text marketing; you can’t buy lists of numbers and send out blasts, recipients must opt-in to your program. Mobile phones are incredibly personal devices that people pay large amounts of money for, they don’t want to receive unwanted marketing.
2. Reward your customers
When a new customer signs up to receive your SMS offers and messages make sure they can immediately see the value in doing so. Whatever industry you may be in, offer a coupon or deal just for signing up, this will instantly create brand affinity with the customer and keep them interested in your brand.
3. Make it valuable
Make sure that your text marketing is something subscribers will actually find value in. Your customers are giving you their permission to text them and make sure they will find it worthwhile to keep receiving and stay subscribed. Don’t send the same texts every week, change things up to keep customers interested.
4. Moderation
If you’re pushing out more than a few texts a month, you’re doing it wrong. Customers don’t want to receive deals every other day or your texts become annoying and more of a nuisance than anything and people are bound to unsubscribe. Moderation also makes your deals and offers more valuable and “rare” to the customer.
5. Provide an exit
Once someone subscribes, inform customers on how to opt out of the texts. Using a “text ‘reply’ to stop” will let them know they can opt out at anytime and that they are not forced to be part of the text program. This is also required by the FCC in any text messaging campaign.
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