How did you wonder to have some useful tricks for SMS marketing for better results? It might seem like a simple matter of writing down your number, but opting-in for a mobile service comes with a certain amount of gravitas for the average customer. The rate of texts opened may be high, but what happens next is up to you, and how compelling your marketing message is to the average person.
Mobile marketing is a vital tool that can easily be misused, or simply underused. To create an engaging effect that will have customers fully appreciative of your efforts to get in contact, you might want to try the following SMS marketing tricks to maximize your success.
1. The call to action
Almost the easiest step, but most often forgotten, is that every message must end with some kind of call to action. It’s all well and good sending information on great deals and promotions, but without any motivation, your message will be relegated to an amusing distraction. Make the call clear and easy to follow.
2. Play it straight
Essentially, do everything you can to gain trust, then don’t lose it. Only ever send messages to customers who have opted-in, clearly note your company name in each message and always give them the option to opt-out. This may seem like an option you’d want to hide, but not doing so will create frustration and ruin any sense of loyalty, mobile or otherwise.
3. Offer something useful (and personal)
People have chosen to receive texts because they believe it will benefit them. They’ve handed you their phone number, so make it worth their while. Include deals that are exclusive to mobile users, offer vouchers and generally do you best to make sure subscribers have the edge when it comes to the material they receive.
4. Stay in touch
An SMS service doesn’t always have to be about marketing and promotions. You can communicate with your subscribers in any number of ways, from letting them know the latest news to ask for feedback. Not only will this provide an incentive to read the messages, but it’ll also foster two-way communication.
5. Watch your timing
No one wants to be disturbed by a marketing text at midnight. The timing of your SMS campaign can be just as important as the words themselves, so look to send messages at prime times. This isn’t just vaguely in the middle of the day, either; do some market research and make a note of when significant events will be occurring (such as sales) and give your subscribers an advance heads up.
“The timing of your SMS campaign can be just as important as the words themselves” – Tweet this!
6. Stay mobile-friendly
That is, keep inside the mind of your customers. Don’t send any kind of message that isn’t optimized for mobiles; examples of non-mobile friendly messages include long videos, multiple images or long chunks of text. Also, if you include a link it’s essential to make sure the website you’re sending them to is mobile optimized. This goes double for your business website as well.
7. Use mobile properly
You can’t (or shouldn’t) rely entirely on mobile marketing to get the job done. It’s a small part of your overall marketing strategy and one that is targeted to a select audience. While a powerful tool by itself, it works best as part of a whole, collaborating with all other types of marketing campaigns to ensure that your message gets through.
8. Response time
Once a person has signed up for your service, you should begin to use that number as soon as possible. The same goes for competitions or offers involving a shortcode, where you can receive texts back from subscribers. You have a responsibility to respond in a timely manner; after all, SMS is an almost instantaneous method of communication.
9. Use other facets of mobile
A lot of a person’s life is on their mobile nowadays, this should be kept in mind. Allow them to use social media to login to their account, and never request anything that is outside of the mobile territory (printing, etc).
10. Know the customer
Timing is all good and well when everyone is based in one place, but this won’t always be the case. Make sure the opt-in form covers all of your subscriber’s preferences, such as location, time-zone and any other information you feel will be necessary to get the most out of their personal experience.
