Who would have thought text messaging, which was generally the land of the pre-teens, would transform into something as handy and powerful as SMS marketing? In a very short time, SMS (simple message service) has proven to be a proven alternative option to email marketing. Gaining increasingly more popularity, it’s difficult to find anyone who is not using text messages in one way or another.
Why you should give SMS marketing a long look
Without question, the main reason marketers are giving SMS a try is due to how people are responding to texts. According to CallFire SMS text messages boast a 98 percent open rate and additionally an eye-popping 83 percent are opened in the first three minutes of receiving them!
What’s more, marketing promotions utilizing text messages are being redeemed at 20 percent or higher, in contrast to traditional media such as vouchers, newspaper ads, radio, or direct mail, which average redemption rates of a paltry two percent. CallFire also says that your ROI (return on investment) can be far greater than in traditional media.
For example, a campaign with a monthly cost of less than £20 to send 1000 text messages, and redemption rates of 20 percent or more, works out to be less than 20 pence per customer acquisition. Not bad.
4 Tips for successful SMS marketing campaigns
- Be certain to deliver value – Be sure that you’re not wasting their time! Give great value, whether you’re providing a palpable offer or just directing them to some place where they can consume more great content. Deliver Value!
- Keep messages short and personal – This medium is dependant on trust and familiarity, so do your very best to further improve that by personalising your texts and keeping them short and to the point. Even marketing messages can have a friendly tone. A text like, “Hi Mark, Thank you for your business! We look forward to serving you again soon. Show this msg to receive 20% off your next purchase at [STORE NAME & PHONE NUMBER].”
- Include a call to action – Be sure you ask for the action you want them to take. Saying something similar to “Text SaveNow to 123456 to get a 10% off voucher today” will set their mind to action mode.
- Track your results – SMS rocks! on the subject of measuring metrics. There are a number of factors you can monitor on your campaigns, from click tracking to who opened what. So be sure to track and measure your results, to properly plan the next campaign!