Since the dawn of the internet age, savvy advertisers have leveraged digital marketing to reach new customers. Search engines emerged in the early 90s, and in 1993, the first clickable ad banner went live. Social media sites began to dominate the scene in the early 2000s, coinciding with the bursting of the dot com bubble. But that didn’t stop digital marketing from booming. Instead, ecommerce, social media advertising, and other forms of digital marketing flourished, with no signs of stopping anytime soon.
With this wave of digital advertising a new frontier arose: SMS marketing. Also known as text message marketing, SMS marketing plays an increasingly pivotal role in audience engagement, serving as a personalized line of communication directly from a business to its audience. In this blog, we’ll explore the advantages of SMS, how to set up your own SMS marketing campaign, and highlight a few success stories from real life businesses.
Beyond the Inbox: The Impact of SMS Marketing
While it has its advantages, email marketing must overcome a serious hurdle to be effective: clutter. Let’s face it, most of us have hopelessly overcrowded inboxes overflowing with emails, a large chunk of which are never even opened! To cut through the clutter, email marketing campaigns must be eye-catching, relevant, and succinct—and then successfully compete against dozens of other emails to boot.
Instead of competing in vain for customers’ attention, SMS marketing provides a line of communication directly to customers’ smartphones. This brand of marketing allows businesses to foster a personal connection with customers, similar to how they might communicate with a friend. Unlike publicly posted content like social media advertising, SMS marketing asks customers to opt in and subscribe to receive messages. This sets up the relationship between customer and business as one built on trust and mutual interest from the outset.
As SMS marketing becomes more prevalent, consumers are becoming more comfortable interacting with businesses from their mobile devices—and marketers are catching on. As of June 2020, upwards of 56% of U.S. retailers planned to increase their digital marketing investment in messaging and SMS, surpassing all other areas for investment.
Building an Engaged Audience: The SMS Advantage
When it comes to SMS vs email marketing, the open rates speak for themselves. Most of us are constantly looking at our phones. In fact, Research shows that people check their phones an average of 150 times a day. Let’s unveil some other statistics that prove the SMS advantage:
- 98% of text messages are read, while only 20% of emails are opened.
- Mobile phone users typically have their phones within reach for 14 hours a day.
- Users opt out of SMS marketing campaigns less than 5% of the time.
- 70% of Americans said they would like to receive mobile coupons from their favorite businesses.
While these numbers speak volumes, they don’t address how businesses should craft messages for maximum impact. In our experience, the two factors that have proven themselves most important are conciseness and clarity. Consumers respond to messages that are short, straightforward, and to the point. Longwinded messages tend to get skimmed or ignored altogether, since we’re people just aren’t accustomed to reading long format content in text messages. Ambiguous or imprecise messages are also likely to get ignored and may even annoy a customer and cause them to unsubscribe! When sending SMS messages, it’s best to keep it brief and precise.
Getting Started: Setting up Your SMS Marketing Campaign
For a successful SMS marketing campaign, choosing the right platform is critical. Before deciding on a platform, there are a few key things you should consider. These include automation capabilities, CRM connectivity, analytics, personalization options, and incorporation of images or gifs. You should also take into account the size of your organization and customer base. There are a variety of SMS platforms on the market, all catering to different needs. Finding the one that aligns best with your objectives can help you connect with many customers as possible.
Once you’ve chosen the right platform, it’s time to craft a successful campaign. With SMS marketing, an essential piece of that is remaining compliant with U.S. law. To ensure compliance and remain on the right side of the law, follow this list:
- Never send SMS messages without written permission
- Provide customers with several ways to opt in
- Include relevant information in your confirmation message, including your business name, nature of your messages, terms and conditions, standard and data rates disclaimer, message frequency, and opt-out instructions
- Provide customers with an ongoing option to opt out
- Honor and stick to agreed upon terms
To streamline your efforts, consider using automation and personalization capabilities. Text message automation is the automatic sending or triggering of text messages to individuals or groups of people. There are several ways to send automated text messages, each of which is easy to set up and customize.
SMS drip messages are texts that are sent automatically at different intervals—days, weeks, months, or even years after a user subscribes. Once initiated, drip messages keep customers informed about your business on a regular basis, and can be incredibly effective for driving loyalty and engagement.
Autoresponders are the simplest and most common form of SMS automation. An autoresponder is an automated text message that is sent back to a person in response to a keyword or phrase. Fully customizable and sent immediately after a keyword is texted, autoresponders are typically used to confirm a subscription to or thank a user for joining an SMS campaign. Other ways to leverage SMS automation include scheduling text messages, texting surveys to receive feedback, and automated birthday messages and rewards.
Personalization is another great way to connect with your customers. Personalizing text messages involves tailoring the content of your messages to the specific recipient by using their name or other relevant information. When done correctly, personalization should make your customers feel like they’re texting a friend. Texting is already a more personal line of communication than email and other channels, and most people only want to engage this way with brands they really like and trust. Here are a few specific ways you can personalize your SMS messages to customers:
- Include personal details like names, birthdays, and locations
- Reference relevant events like past purchases, an abandoned cart, or the next delivery date for a subscription service
- Share content that aligns with the recipient’s interests or preferences
Case Studies: SMS Success Stories
SMS marketing is a fantastic tool for companies of all sizes to get directly in touch with their customers. For small businesses especially, SMS services add a personal touch, helping to further trust and customer loyalty. The best tactics for connecting with your audience will depend on whether you operate B2B (business-to-business) or B2C (business-to-customer). Keep reading for some examples of how each type can best leverage SMS marketing.
B2B SMS Marketing:
- Appointment Reminders: A B2B service provider, such as a small consulting firm or software startup, can use SMS services to send appointment reminders to clients for meetings, demos, or consultations.
- Event Invitations: B2B businesses can use SMS to invite clients to industry events, webinars, or conferences. This direct, personalized approach can also help in boosting event attendance.
- Product Updates for Subscribers: A B2B software company, for example, could use SMS to inform subscribers about new product features, updates, or enhancements, ensuring that clients stay up to date on the latest improvements.
- Renewal Reminders: Subscription-based B2B services can use SMS to send renewal reminders to clients as their subscription or contract expiration date approaches.
- Survey and Feedback Requests: SMS can be a great tool for gathering feedback from clients about their experiences with your product or service. Short surveys sent via SMS can be an effective way to collect valuable insights. Hint: participation is usually higher if you offer a small reward!
B2C SMS Marketing:
- Order Confirmations and Updates: SMS messages are a great way to send order confirmations, shipping updates, and delivery notifications to keep customers informed about their purchases.
- Loyalty Program Offers: B2C businesses can use SMS to send exclusive offers and rewards to members of their loyalty programs, encouraging repeat purchases and customer retention.
- Product Launch Announcements: SMS can also be used to build excitement around new product launches, send sneak peeks, early access information, and special offers to subscribers.
- Appointment Reminders for Services: Service-based businesses (e.g., salons, spas) can use SMS to send appointment reminders and confirmations to customers, reducing no-shows and enhancing the customer experience.
- Contests and Giveaways: B2C businesses can use SMS to run contests and giveaways, encouraging customer participation and engagement with the brand.
Next Steps: Implementing SMS Marketing in Your Strategy
Now that you know all the ins and outs, it’s time to implement SMS marketing into your strategy! Here are a few actionable tips for a seamless transition:
- Define your goals: Though SMS has a number of different applications, the specific goals of your campaign will dictate which aspects of your chosen platform you’ll take advantage of. For example, if one of your goals is to increase click through rate, you’ll need to ensure you have a way of tracking user engagement metrics.
- Create a clear call to action: As a rule, each message you send should contain a call to action or next steps for your customers. This leads to higher engagement and approval ratings. Remember that the best SMS messages are both clear and concise—and so should be your call to action.
- Limit your number of messages: Customers can quickly become annoyed by a barrage of text messages in rapid succession. A good number to shoot for is between 6-8 a month. Focus on quality over quantity and craft messages that provide real value to your customer.
- Don’t forget to personalize! Everyone loves a personal touch, so don’t be shy in using your customers’ name or other personal details, referencing past purchases, or sending customized deals and promotions just for them.
We hope you’ve found this article helpful. For further reading, please consult the list of tools and resources below. Happy texting!
https://gleantap.com/sms-opt-best-practices-increased-customer-engagement/