The concept of SMS or text-based marketing is relatively new to most small business owners, even though it’s been around for years. At first, there may seem like a lot of limitations when sending customers a text. It can grab your customers’ attention as quickly as it can be pulled away. But, it has the potential for engaging with your customers like never before.
Best Practices for a Successful Campaign
Your SMS marketing needs to be strategic and follow a plan. This will make implementation easier and increase engagement. The hard part is knowing what works and what doesn’t. Here are six SMS marketing best practices that will maximize your success.
1. Offer Incentives
One of the best ways to tempt your customers is to offer them incentives, such as coupons, special promotions, and giveaways. Other incentives may include in-store exclusive deals and limited time offers. These open the door for recommendations on special products and services that only they can get.
2. Short and Sweet
Over 90% of all SMS messages are read within 3 minutes. One of the reasons is that they are short and get right to the point. Your message needs to be said within 160 characters. That’s shorter than the 280 characters for a tweet! So, you’ll need to create a sense of urgency in order to grab their attention. Provide a call to action, but make sure it’s something that’s easy to do. Anything beyond a click or two and you’ll lose their interest.
3. Contests
Want to increase interactivity? Create a contest where your customers can simply opt-in with a single click. These are also a great way to send a follow up text or email with a confirmation and any promotions you may have. Contests also drive more interest during seasonal down times. Plus, posting the winners with their prizes is fun publicity.
4. Surveys
The only way to know how well your business is meeting your customers’ expectations is to ask. Short surveys will help you understand which of your products and services need improvement. They can also let you know what they love about your business, so you can accentuate the positive while eliminating the negative.
5. Exclusivity
People like to have exclusive access to the products and services they love. SMS marketing can do this through VIP offers and promotions. It’s also a great way to get people to sign up for your loyalty program.
6. Social Media
Social media holds the key to recommendations from happy customers and positive word of mouth advertising. Yet, getting people to follow your business on social media can be a struggle and a major obstacle for many small businesses. Texts can promote your social media presence and increase interactivity. This leads to a larger network and more visibility for potential customers to see you.
Interactivity and Personalization
Text-based marketing is not just for millennials. It engages with everyone, regardless of their age. People love it for its convenience and simplicity. Offers sent via text are easy to redeem and, because these are sent directly to their phone, it feels like it’s exclusive—only for them—which makes it feel personal.
Interactivity and personalization are key to any successful marketing campaign. Increased engagement leads to customer loyalty and that’s what every small business needs to be more successful.