SMS Marketing 101

What Makes An Amazing Text Campaign?

In the realm of SMS marketing, simply sending out generic, one-way mass texts is no longer effective. To truly engage your customers, your text campaigns should be highly personalized, conversational, and offer value that encourages recipients to respond.

So, what elements contribute to a compelling text campaign? Based on our research, customers are most interested in receiving interactive texts that are sent at appropriate times, containing content that is specifically tailored to their individual history with your business.

Among the various types of promotional messaging content you can send, consumers have expressed a strong preference for messages that include incentives, loyalty offers, and updates regarding inventory availability.

When it comes to messaging media, consumers have made their preferences clear. Did you know that more than half of your customers are more likely to engage with multimedia messages? To boost engagement, it's essential to make your messages interactive by incorporating links, GIFs, pictures, and even emojis! πŸ˜ŽπŸ™Œβ€πŸ˜˜

Research shows that 41% of consumers are more likely to engage with text messages that include images, GIFs, or videos.

Additionally, 52% of consumers are more likely to engage with messages that provide links for additional online information.

To ensure successful SMS marketing while adhering to applicable laws and regulations and maintaining positive customer relationships, it's important to focus on creating the feel and value of personalized interactions.

Best Practices for Effective Text Campaigns

Let’s get down to brass tacks. As a local business, you want to use SMS marketing to engage new customers, increase customer lifetime value, and drive more revenue. You don’t want to run afoul of applicable laws and regulations and damage relationships.

The real goal is to give your texts the feel and value of one-to-one interactions.

There are a few specific practices you can keep in mind to achieve this.

DO

  1. Address customers by name: Even though it's not a one-on-one conversation, using each customer's name in your messaging system adds a human touch and enhances the personalization.

  1. Identify yourself and your business: Introducing the sender of your promotions establishes authenticity and a human connection. In fact, 50% of consumers are more likely to respond to a text message from a business if they know who it is.

  1. Use conversational language: Avoid sounding like a pushy marketer. Keep your messages light-hearted, concise, and conversational, as if you're talking to a friend.

  1. Include a call to action (CTA): A clear CTA is crucial for SMS marketing success. Encourage customers to take specific actions like replying for a discount, exploring new inventory, scheduling appointments, or visiting your store.

  1. Create a sense of urgency: Driving urgency can significantly boost conversions. Communicate limited-time offers or scarcity to make customers feel they might miss out on a great opportunity.

DON'T

  1. Use slang: While slang may add a casual feel, it can also come across as unprofessional and lead to misunderstandings. Avoid wordplay, superfluous words, and anything that could be misleading.

  1. Forget to identify yourself: Maintain creativity in how you identify yourself in successive messages to prevent repetition. Find unique ways to remind customers of your business identity and establish a personal connection.

  1. Send long messages: Whenever possible, keep your messages within 160 characters. Messages exceeding 240 characters may be split by carriers, leading to confusion and an unclear promotional message.

  1. Create friction: Aim to minimize friction in your messages and make it easy for recipients to take action. Include direct links to product information pages, appointment schedulers, or any desired actions to streamline the customer journey.

  1. Use long links: Don't let links consume valuable message space. Utilize third-party link shorteners or an SMS marketing system with a built-in link shortener for convenient customer engagement.

By following these best practices, you can enhance the effectiveness of your text campaigns, engage customers, and drive better results.

Common Use Cases

SMS marketing offers numerous use cases that can transform your customer engagement and drive revenue.

Below are some popular use cases along with examples of how to utilize them effectively for conversion:

Direct Incentives: This use case revolves around providing coupons, deals, and offers to promote specific products or services. It stands as the most popular type of SMS marketing campaign.

Product Launch: This use case aims to generate excitement and interest around new products and services. It involves sending out messages to inform and engage customers regarding the launch.

Event Reminders: This use case helps in ensuring attendance and participation in events. SMS messages are sent to remind customers about upcoming events, including details such as date, time, and location.

Appointment Reminders: This use case is particularly useful for service-based businesses. SMS messages are sent to remind customers of their scheduled appointments and reduce no-shows.

Surveys and Feedback: This use case involves sending SMS messages to collect valuable customer feedback and conduct surveys. It helps businesses gather insights and improve their products or services.

Loyalty Programs: SMS marketing can be used to enhance customer loyalty by sending exclusive offers, rewards, and personalized messages to loyal customers, thereby fostering long-term relationships.

Abandoned Cart Recovery: This use case targets customers who have abandoned their shopping carts on an e-commerce website. SMS messages are sent to remind them about their pending purchase and incentivize them to complete it.

Order Status Updates: SMS messages can be sent to provide customers with real-time updates on their orders, including shipping notifications, delivery estimates, and tracking information.

Birthday or Anniversary Offers: This use case involves sending personalized SMS messages to customers on their birthdays or anniversaries, offering them special discounts or incentives as a way of celebrating with them.

Re-Engagement Campaigns: SMS marketing can be used to re-engage inactive or dormant customers. Messages are sent to entice them back with exclusive promotions, reminders of past purchases, or personalized recommendations.

This variety of use cases demonstrate the versatility of SMS marketing in driving customer engagement, boosting conversions, and nurturing customer relationships.