It’s no secret that mobile phones help us share news faster than ever. But while you can harness the power of SMS to spread the news about everything from products to news, making the news hard to share or targeting the wrong demographic could make even the most exciting developments dead on arrival. Instead, learn how to spread the news via SMS in a way that is both engaging and widespread if you really want your news spread quickly. You might find that just a few tweaks to your current process could make all the difference in your strategy and your results.
New Products and Services
Need to spread the word about new products and services that your company offers? Start with engaging the right type of audience. If the people you’re pushing the SMS message to have no interest in the news, you might end up with more subscription cancellations than interest. By segmenting your current database by demographics or existing and new customers, you make sure that those who receive your SMS messages about new products are excited about the developments.
Helpful Messages
Whether it’s a weather warning or a smart tip on saving money, customers love the news that they can use. Instead of using SMS as a strictly promotional tool, utilize the medium as a way to share content and drive traffic back to your website or product pages. Doing so makes consumers feel as though they are receiving a valuable service via SMS, rather than just another marketing message like so many others. What’s more, consumers are then likely to share those tips with others, extending your reach. No longer are you limited to your phone list alone, but you have the opportunity to garner new customers and numbers for your database.
Coupons and Offers
Want to engender customer satisfaction and loyalty? Use SMS messages to send coupons and discounts to your loyal customer base. Not only will that increase the chances of your customers spreading the news and sharing those discounts (on new products or services) but it will also increase customer satisfaction. That way, your SMS messages are seen as a “thank you” to your customers instead of simply another way to market. If you are struggling to score phone numbers for your customers try offering a discount or promotion for signing up for messaging services, which can prompt users to interact with your company more frequently.
Sharing Tools and Sites
One of the most common mistakes in marketing via SMS messaging is that many retailers and companies fail to offer easy access to shareable content and websites that work with mobile devices. Consider this case study: a company has a new promotion available on a specific product, and sends out an SMS message to existing customers to let them know about the price drop. Unfortunately, when the customer clicks on a link, they’re taken to a desktop site that takes forever to load – not worth the time or the bandwidth. By creating shareable microsites and mobile optimization for customers visiting a page via SMS links, you’re more likely to catch and keep customers, while increasing the chances that they share the promotion with their friends.
Marketing via SMS makes sense because your customers (and potential customers) probably have their phones in their pockets at all times. Unfortunately, when SMS messages are boring or promotional only, you could end up losing some of your customer SMS marketing base to people canceling the service. By making sure SMS messages are timely, helpful, and beneficial to the customer, you increase your reach and continue offering a valuable service to your entire database.
