How to Get Started with SMS Marketing: A Strategic Approach

SMS marketing is considered one of the underrated tools of marketing. Despite the fact that it can bombard customers’ phones with useless messages, it no longer sucks when used strategically. 

Mobile phones are handy and people use them very often to check information. The open rate for SMS is 98% which is much higher than the open rate for emails which is 20-30%. This indicates that marketers have to revisit their marketing approach through a well-planned SMS program for enhancing customer retention rates. 

What is SMS Marketing

SMS marketing or text marketing is a simple and convenient way for promoting a product or service through text messages. The business can use SMS marketing for promotional offers, reminders, and discounts that are sent in a personalized manner to create engagement with customers. 

Is SMS Marketing the Right Tool for Business?

Businesses need to revamp marketing strategies to cultivate engagement with their customers. But the question is “Is SMS marketing the right fit for your brand?”. The answer is probably yes if you want to make convenient customer interactions with greater speed. This can have many advantages for your business.

Advantage #1 Best Engagement Rate

The higher open rate for text messages makes it an appropriate medium for creating engagement with customers. We all see that we don't read emails frequently but we read text messages immediately when they are sent. With limited 160 characters, you can send the entire message for catching the quick attention of customers. Extensive use of mobile phones by people makes them more inclined towards reading the message sent by businesses. 

Advantage #2 Permission Based

SMS marketing comes with opt-in and opt-out options in which subscribers can easily receive the intended information. When customers permit to send a message then customers not only accept but also show interest in them. This will not make the message ineffective and unwanted. 

Advantage #3 Immediate Delivery 

Text-message marketing is instant as you just have to make a click to send a particular message to thousands of people. You can design your choice of flexible messages specific to advertising campaigns by segmenting the customers based on demographics and markets. It offers a sophisticated way to deliver messages to the right customers at the right time. 

Advantage #4 Cost-Effective

Cost-effectiveness is one of the great advantages of SMS marketing as it is very cheap to implement. Plus, you can have a higher return on investment due to higher conversion rates because of more open rates. Hence, a very attractive option compared to other marketing mediums.

Advantage #5 Adds Personal Touch

SMS marketing is an effective way to create personalized interactions with customers. Adding subscriber names increases their chances to open and act upon the message. Besides, the use of “you” and “I” are impactful ways to drive engagement.

Getting Started with Marketing Strategies

Mobile text marketing is a diverse tactic for your business to gain immediate results. Here are 5 tips that you can use in your next marketing campaign to make it successful. 

Tip #1 Understand What You Hope 

When getting started with SMS marketing, you need to determine your end goal. Decide your objectives before you start so that they can align with the future steps you are going to take.

Tip #2 Segmenting Audience

Sending the same message to the entire list of subscribers can leave you nothing in hand. It would be better if you break your target audience and target them individually to create immediate results. Customers receiving messages with a personal touch are more likely to be convinced.

Tip #3 Include a Call to Action

Integrating a call to action within the message can bring out chances of converting leads for your business. It can help you to convince customers that you are inviting them to your journey.

Tip #4 Creating Clear Value

The message that is being sent to customers is required to facilitate value to customers. This means the message in terms of reminders for offers or order updates is needed to be highly relevant to the issue. Apart from this, promotional messages are needed to have an irresistible value that increases the possibility of action.

Tip #5 Tracking Metrics

Tracking and monitoring your text marketing strategy is a pro tip that can give you a chance to enhance your SMS marketing effectiveness. You can use metrics such as list growth, churn rate, subscribers responding to your message, and the cost of redeeming subscribers for measuring the effectiveness. Thereafter, you can take action to improve them.

Summary

SMS marketing is unappreciated regardless of the free and instant benefits that it provides to your business. You must try this technique as it is a reliable option to reach a mass audience at once. High conversion and open rate make it an ideal option for all small businesses to get started at a budget-friendly cost.