SMS marketing campaigns are one of the most powerful direct marketing tools out there. It’s also one of the most under-utilized tools out there. According to Gartner, it’s “one of the top four most-adopted mobile marketing tactics. Yet 61% of mobile marketers surveyed don’t use it, and one-third of these companies have no plans to invest in it in the coming 12 months.” What that means is this type of marketing hasn’t been over-used yet. It’s an incredible opportunity for you to reach more users right now.
When you create a successful SMS campaign, open rates are as high as 98% compared to just 20% for email. How do you create a successful SMS marketing campaign? Make offers people are interested in, and follow a few important best practices.
Approach with respect
No one likes messages they don’t expect or feeling like there’s no escape from those messages. When you start an SMS campaign, make sure you’ve asked everyone who’s going to receive messages for permission to contact them via SMS. Don’t write them too many times, and offer them a way to opt out if they don’t like what’s being offered. Also, don’t write them at weird hours. Schedule your messages so they arrive at hours they’re likely to be awake. If you can use multiple channels for contact, make sure you don’t bombard people with messages on all platforms – choose where you will reach them carefully.
Define your call to action
Make sure you know what you want the customer to do. Your campaign needs to tell them what they get if they take action right now. Do you want them to review something? Provide feedback? Buy an item? Sign up for something? Decide ahead of time. And remember, the more work the customer has to do, the more attractive your offer needs to be in exchange for their work.
Offer a popular deal
If you want to sell people items, some types of deals do much better than others. One of the most popular types of deals is the BOGO (buy-one-get-one free). In fact, customers love price-based deals most and “a whopping 93% of all shoppers have used a BOGO – and 66% of them say it’s their favorite type of discount.” If you are doing e-commerce, this type of deal can also be a great way to get rid of products that weren’t as popular as you expected.
Personalize your message
When you start your SMS campaign, try to personalize your message as much as possible. Do you have customers that buy more often than others? Put them into SMS campaigns where they receive special deals no one else gets. Did you collect the names of customers? Use their name in the SMS you send. Are there certain products you noticed they have a preference for? Try to offer them great deals on products that are similar to that.
Track your messages
Track whether messages are delivered. Track whether people open the messages or not. If people respond, create a system that allows you to follow up with their requests and comments.
Try a Product Like Mitto Conversations or Campaign Manager
If you want to get the most out of your SMS campaigns, you need a way to manage your messages. You can use a tool like Mitto’s Campaign Manager to create personalized SMS, then track whether those messages are delivered. Messages can be scheduled at set times so people receive them during waking hours. You can also reach more users and take the campaign further with Mitto Conversation. Mitto Conversations lets you consolidate all your communication platforms into one tool. If you’re running an SMS campaign where you’re sending standard SMS, Viber, and WhatsApp messages, you can track everything across all these platforms and enable two-way communication. This allows you to track the success of your campaign as well as the needs of individual customers.
