Your Ultimate Guide To Creating SMS Marketing Campaigns

by

08 December 2022

Marketing

SMS Marketing

Every marketer would tell you that there are reasons why text marketing continues to become a mainstay in marketing agencies.

In fact, both conventional and modern companies highly rely on their efficacy when it comes to reaching out to their target audience. Because when you think about it, every person checks their text message inbox every time they receive a ping. 

Leveraging communication strategies like an effective SMS marketing campaign allows you to grow your brand more, target more audiences, and even build closer relationships with prospects.

There are a lot of things that SMS marketing can help you with in terms of achieving business goals. But before you partake in this marketing tactic, it’s important to understand the concept behind this marketing practice. Use this guide to make successful SMS marketing campaigns. 

What Is SMS Marketing? 

It’s crucial to understand first the concept behind this old but gold marketing strategy. SMS marketing refers to a short message service you send to your customers to build relationships with them. It’s important for text marketers to communicate with their target audiences in a respectful and compliant manner.

No matter what your business goals are, SMS marketing puts you one step ahead of achieving them. For instance, you can drive more leads, introduce new products, lead them to check your website, and so on. The ideas that you can do with this marketing method are limitless. 

Compared to email or push notification marketing, SMS marketing has several advantages. For instance, every person who receives an incoming message in their phone inbox will surely take the time to check and read them one by one.

While some people might check their emails at least once a day regarding text message inboxes, people often check them as soon as they receive a message. 

Your message can be concise and clear with SMS marketing. There’s no need for lengthy advertising messages. With brief sentences that can take up less than 160 characters of the SMS limit, you can already deliver what you want to say to your prospects.

Choosing The Right SMS Marketing Tool 

Now, it’s time to understand the tool to use for this marketing strategy. With the advent of technology, there is now text marketing software at your disposal. For one, you can take advantage of Drop Cowboy Ringless Voicemail service and some other brands that offer reliable text messaging as marketing services.  

Text message delivery depends on the tools and services you choose. Such software comes with pricing plans that fit your marketing budget and goals. Unlike any other conventional marketing promotions like print ads, TV ads, and billboards, this marketing campaign is priced reasonably better. Also, consider partnering with the best SMS marketing service provider to automate your text messages to your target recipients.   

How To Maximize On SMS Marketing Campaigns

Maximize On SMS Marketing Campaigns

As mentioned, a high percentage of people open text messages every time they receive one. By sending promotional messages via SMS, you ensure your customers will read them because they will arrive directly in their inboxes.

Check out these ideas in which you can maximize your SMS marketing campaigns. 

1. Limited-Time Promotions 

You can use an SMS marketing strategy to encourage your customers to avail of coupons and discounts or even redeem incentives or gifts. Offering these incentives for a limited time makes them even more effective.

Announcing that the campaign only runs on a promo period is an effective call-to-action strategy so your customers won’t miss out on such opportunities. It’s one effective strategy to get your business to high ranks

Considering SMS marketing’s high open rate, it’s the most effective way to communicate time-sensitive offers with customers. As a result, you ensure your customers don’t pass up a good deal. This yield win-win situations for both the customers and your brand. They get discounted rates, and you could convert your sales funnel more effectively.  

2. Reminding Customers 

One good purpose for SMS marketing is when you could send notifications regarding the recent actions of your customers.

For instance, whether they checked your website, changed passwords, or linked different payment modes, an SMS notification will be sent to inform them that the activity is successful. Sending notification messages is essential for many businesses, and they’ve realized how effective it is in retaining customers.  

By relaying notifications about their recent purchase or online activities, the customers will grow their trust in your brand. It could lead to continuous patronage. Also, they will feel at ease by getting reminders of how your brand is already dealing with their orders or purchases. Receiving reminders is valuable, especially for customers who are always busy with other things and obligations.  

Make sure your brand is always at the top of your customer’s minds. It’s a job that SMS is best suited for. With SMS marketing, you can remind your customers about everything from their most recently liked products to the purchased ones that are going to arrive soon. 

3. Order Updates And Confirmation 

An SMS is also useful for customers to receive updates regarding their orders. Once they make a purchase, a message will be sent regarding the successful transaction. It ensures peace of mind for the customer. 

Also, the confirmation messages sent via SMS will allow them to use them as proof or evidence regarding their purchase. If products don’t arrive as planned, they can refer to the SMS notification.  

4. New Product Release And Launches 

SMS advertising is also useful for announcing new product releases. It’s the most cost-effective way for marketers to advertise new product launching. Without paying for the expensive talents of celebrities to promote new products, a large number of users will discover your new product offering through the message they can read in their SMS inbox. 

Using this method will generate buzz and interest, and you could even entice old customers to come back and check out what’s new. You can also use SMS campaigns to drive traffic to your website or storefront. Thus, you can simply include a link they can visit to check your new product or any offers. 

5. Send Welcome Messages 

Send your customer a welcome message once they subscribe to your SMS marketing campaign. Companies must start building relationships with their customers. As a result, you will be able to communicate with them right away, as they will know they have been subscribed.  

It also alerts them to expect a few messages from your end every now and then. There’s no need for lengthy or complex welcome messages. Sometimes short but sweet thank you message about their subscription are already enough for your customers to remember your business.  

6. Customer Service Tool 

SMS is not limited to being a marketing tool; it’s also a customer support tool. In this era where customer service should be at the forefront of any business, SMS strategy can be used to ensure customer satisfaction. 

It’s imperative that your work processes are as transparent as possible, and you can achieve this by constantly sending them SMS in case necessary. After all, a text message is the easiest way to communicate with pre-sale customers and post-sale tech support.

7. Collect Customer Feedback 

It’s essential for businesses to receive customer feedback to determine what they are doing well and what they need to improve. And it’s something that’s being offered with SMS marketing. You can send out surveys through SMS, and customers can answer them timely and convenient.  

There are many ways to create survey forms for them to easily fill out. The key is to attach the link to your SMS. Another option is to ask customers to rate you using a ranking system that’s easy for them to use.  

8. Announce VIP Programs 

By offering a VIP program, you can encourage loyalty among your subscribers and customers. If you want to make your VIP customers feel special, offer them VIP-only discounts. This sense of exclusivity allows your customers to treat your brand with more respect and value.  

Also, use this program for customers to gain early access to sales and other promotions. One way for them to qualify for your VIP list is to encourage them to fill out a signup link. However, since it’s VIP, make it seems more challenging for them to enter this list. The harder it feels to qualify, the more special and valued they would feel. 

Tips To Apply Effective SMS Marketing Strategies

SMS Marketing Strategies

Applying SMS marketing strategies require effective implementations. When done right, they can produce the best outcomes for your business. Here are some tips to apply effective SMS marketing strategies for your brand: 

1. Ensure That Your Customers Opted In 

Your customers probably already provide you with their phone numbers. However, one common courtesy is to get their approval to start receiving SMS from your brand. Mass texting them without their consent is ethically wrong and will only lead to adverse effects on the customer. Ensure to get your customer’s clear opt-in before starting to send out text message campaigns. 

Your website or other online channels can allow customers to opt-in to receive text messages. However, you should get a text confirmation before you send them anything. There are ways to get their opt-in consent. One is to make them reply Yes or No to your single SMS regarding SMS subscription. Another way is through your website.

They can press a CTA button regarding their receiving SMS messages from your brand. When the user clicks the link in the offer, they can fill out the subscription form and enter their number so they can start receiving your SMS campaigns. 

2. Take Time To Introduce Yourself 

A good practice is to take the time to introduce your brand in any of your SMS campaigns. Chances are your customers don’t know where the messages are coming from. Failing to include your company name or brand name on the message will only forfeit its purpose. Hence, it’s important to include your company or brand name in that short message that you’re sending. 

3. Make Messages Fun And Short 

It’s common for people to use SMS messages to communicate with friends and family informally. Texting should remain fun in your SMS campaign in the same way as a fun communication tool between people. Be friendly and personal with customers to build trust.  

Use local trending words that are popular with your target audience for the time being. It ensures to catch their interest and make them read your text message completely. The maximum number of characters in an SMS message is 160. With an opt-out option and the need to identify yourself, that’s not much to work with. Don’t waste any characters, and go straight to the point of what you want to say.  

4. Don’t Forget To Use Target Keywords 

To encourage users to connect with you, you should select contextually relevant keywords alongside simple messages and shortcodes. Using such keywords will allow them to easily remember anything about your brand or company. If they want to research you online, they can use the same keywords found on your SMS.

5. Give An Option For Customers To Opt Out 

All marketing communications should follow these standards and rules. Much like getting their buy-in, you should also give them the option to opt out and unsubscribe from your SMS campaigns. You are more likely to lose customers if you constantly text them when they do not want to hear from you. 

Your messages should come with the unsubscribe option, so your customers can freely opt out anytime they want. There are some viable reasons for them to do this. But it doesn’t entirely mean that they won’t be good prospects for you in the future. It’s just that not everyone prefers to get this kind of information via text. 

SMS open rates tend to be much higher than those for email, so you should also expect a higher unsubscribe rate. After a message is sent, unsubscribes may spike and treat it as a normal occurrence.  

6. Be More Informative Than Promotional 

You should be extremely considerate of your buyers’ inboxes since promotional SMS messages can easily be turned off. Therefore, staying informative and interactive is best, and not focusing too much on sounding sales or promotional.  

A good rule of thumb is to focus most of your communication on order, whether a status update or a request for feedback. Schedule your promotional messages and send them at least only twice a week at a minimum. No one wants to keep receiving promotional messages that are obvious that they want to make money from you.

Conclusion

You can increase engagement with your target audience by using SMS marketing. Keeping your customers’ attention is easier if you market to them where they are most active.

Therefore, if your target audience is always in their phone’s SMS inbox, it’s worth considering SMS marketing as part of your marketing mix. Use this guide and wait for results to reflect your bottom line soon. 

Read Also:

Arnab is a professional blogger, having an enormous interest in writing blogs and other jones of calligraphies. In terms of his professional commitments, He carries out sharing sentient blogs.

View all posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related

Writing

Top 5 Benefits of Writing Term Papers

Writing term papers is considered by many students as the bane of their existence. Apart from requiring hours of writing, term papers also involve a great deal of researching, reading, and thinking. It is no wonder then why many see term papers as a chore than a great learning opportunity. But more than just for completing academic requirements, learning how to write term papers actually offers many benefits that are useful not just in school but in many other settings and situations including the professional environment. Expands Knowledge : One of the more obvious benefits of writing term papers is that it expands knowledge. Researching and reading are two crucial phases of the writing process. Engaging with sources such as books and journals exposes a student to a great deal of information that is eventually absorbed by the student’s mind. This is especially true if the topic of the term paper is of personal interest to the student. When students are made to write on subjects that they are passionate about, the chances of retaining knowledge increases and the writing process becomes an enjoyable learning experience. Each term paper leads to more knowledge being acquired. Teaches Correct Citation and Formatting : Another benefit of writing term papers is that it teaches correct citation and formatting. Term papers are usually required to follow certain citation styles such as MLA, APA, or Chicago among others. Each of these prescribes standard ways of formatting the paper and citing sources. When students write terms papers, they also become familiar with these citation styles. Learning these styles is particularly useful since formatting papers and citing sources are practiced even in the professional environment. Improves Communication and Language Skills : Writing term papers also benefits students by developing their communication and language skills. One characteristic of a successful term paper is clarity, or the ability to convey messages in a way that the reader can easily understand. Through continuous writing, a student gets better at expressing his or herself, such as by expanding vocabulary, choosing the right words, and constructing effective sentences and paragraphs. Of course, better communication and language skills are useful in every setting. Enhances Critical Thinking : Writing term papers prompts students to think hard about the topics they write about. Though writing may be mentally challenging, it benefits students by making them think in more critical ways. Students are advised to approach writing with an open mind and an objective view. They are encouraged to consider different perspectives, evaluate evidence, and be prepared to form or change their opinions. Students are called upon to take a stance and defend their position with strong arguments. By challenging minds, writing helps in making critical thinkers out of students. The ability to think critically, in turn, is a life skill that can be practiced in different environments especially in the workplace. Develops Organizational, Research, and Planning Skills : Finally, the benefits of writing term papers include the development of a whole set of organizational, research, and planning skills. Writing, like many other tasks, is a process that involves activities such as researching, prewriting, writing, revising, and proofreading among others. Through writing, students learn how to plan their activities, evaluate the credibility of sources, collect and organize information, manage their time effectively, and exercise responsibility. These skills along with the discipline that students develop are valuable competencies that help students succeed not only in school but also in life outside of campus.Though writing is no easy job, the benefits of writing term papers should be more than enough to encourage students to embrace this academic requirement. When students find that the knowledge and skills they have learned can be useful in other settings and situations, they will look back and be thankful for how writing has made them better individuals.Read Also :Top 7 Things To Take Into Consideration When Selecting Essay Writing Service Argumentative Writing – The Skills You Need To Develop 7 Ways To Get Better At Writing: Personal Growth

READ MOREDetails

5 Importance of proofreading your website content

It is very important to take time and proofread your work even if you are going to employ proofreading services. Don’t publish or hand in any articles or academic papers that you have written before subjecting them to a thorough scrutiny. You may discover some simple mistakes in your content that you would have simply corrected by proofreading. Don’t think that website content is not as critical as academic assignments and hence avoid proofreading. Some of the mistakes can completely change the meaning of your articles. Here are some 5 importance of proofreading your web content 1. You Will be Able to Correct any Spelling Mistakes in the Content : It is normal to misspell some words as you write the content. The challenge is that the office writing application will not auto-correct for you all the mistakes. You need to go through your content step by step to make sure that you correct all the spelling mistakes. Did you know that some spelling mistakes can completely change the meaning of your article? Yes, you can completely misguide your audience through wrong spellings. The implication is that the content can work against you at the end of the day. Read through each sentence to make sure that there are no spelling mistakes. Some of these mistakes can make the sentence to have no meaning at all. This is one of the objectives that proofreading services seek to achieve. 2. There Will be No Grammar Mistakes in Your Content : Grammar is the other big issue especially when dealing non-native speakers. You may find a problem with some of the sentence structures in your content. It is hard to notice some of these issues as you continue with the writing. Go through your text and make sure that the grammar is flawless. If you want to hire proofreading company, then it’s wise to go for native speakers like ProofreadingService.net proofreading services. Some of your audience may not take you seriously if they find several mistakes in your grammar. In fact, most of them will ignore your content because of grammar issues. Increase your conversion rate by proofreading your web content to correct any grammatical mistakes. 3. The Published Content Will Flow : As you proofread your content, you will be putting yourself in the shoe of the reader. You may discover that some important points are misplaced in the context of the text. As you right your content, each section or paragraph should have a particular point it is supporting. However, you can find yourself mixing some of the points here and there. It’s important to even give a third party to read through your work so that he ca tell whether it is flowing or not. A friend or proofreading services can be able to tell whether the theme of your content is flowing. This will in turn increase readability and make the content more engaging and attractive. 4. Proofreading Fixes any Punctuation Issues : Punctuation is the other common mistake when dealing with web content publication. A missing question mark or wrongly placed comma, colon, or even full stop can change the meaning of the whole phrase or even make it meaningless. Each punctuation mark communicates a specific message and this should be exhibited in your content. As you proofread your work, you will make sure that all punctuation marks are properly placed. 5. Format : Each web content should always have a format to increase its readability. You want to be sure whether the font type, size, and color of your content match what already exists on your website. The content you publish on your website should have some consistency to make it visually appealing. This can be achieved by editing your content so that it complies with the formatting requirements of your site. Multiple formats on the same website can make it to be quite unattractive.Having gone through this article, you will discover that proofreading enhances the value of your content. This is the only way you will make sure that you are communicating the right message to your target audience. It will help you to stand out from the other competing brands and even increase your competitive advantage in the market. Therefore, proofreading alone can go a long way in increasing the productivity of your business.Read More :Would Your E-commerce Website Pass The Cybersecurity Test? Here Are 3 Things You Could Be Doing Wrong Best SEO Tools For Ranking The Website Some Powerful Attributes That A Website Must Have In Its Content

READ MOREDetails
Outsourcing

Should You Consider Outsourcing Your Brand’s Marketing Campaign?

If you’re in higher management, you strive to make sure your marketing team is doing its best to market your brand and bring in leads to the sales team. Lest outsourcing becomes ponders publicity, keeping your organizational processes internally is crucial to you because you want to keep control over operations, and you want to keep costs at a decent minimum.Now you’ve realized that internalizing all of your online marketing efforts might not be working out as well as you’d imagined.Businesses that outsource marketing have specialized marketing services on their side, collaborating with them with every campaign and a new initiative to make sure it’s successful.Online marketing services are often more efficient than an in-house marketing team and, more often than not, more affordable. Systems are even created to make sure your brand still has control over activities and the reputation of the company.Outsourcing your marketing efforts can be a great option if you understand the importance of a powerful marketing campaign but don’t have the resources to do it by yourself. Who Can Benefit from Outsourcing of Brand Marketing Campaign? Many companies and brands decide to outsource their marketing activities to help them create brand awareness and generate leads. But certain businesses tend to use outsourced resources to implement their marketing agendas. Here are some of them. 1. Early-Stage BusinessesUpscaling a new business is a challenging and stressful job. You have many decisions to make while developing new services and products.At the early stage of the business, business owners often concentrate their efforts on creating the product and do not have the financial power or the time to hire full-time marketing people.As the company prepares to launch their service, they need to develop a brand image. An outsourced marketing agency often handles the processes that design the style guides and website and creates the company logo. 2. Growing CompaniesWhen companies launch their service or product without problems, they often enter a high-growth phase to quickly bring supplementary marketing resources.Outsourced marketing services provide the necessary talent and resources to increase revenue growth without adding a lot of overhead.More often than not, businesses in growth stages cannot afford the time it takes to train and hire new staff members.Outsourced marketing firms or Virtual PA services provide expertise and flexibility during these growth stages. Often, venture capital firms invest in companies at this stage and use the influx of cash to accelerate growth through social media platforms, content marketing, SEO, and digital advertising activities. 3. Companies with Large Marketing TeamsGlobal organizations hire hundreds, if not thousands, of marketing professionals to back their brand and sales initiatives.These enterprises will often use outsourced firms and professionals to provide crucial services. For instance, a company will hire outsourced professionals to promote an event, save money or launch a new project.Outsourced resources are often more affordable than in-house professionals. The company may want to skyrocket a specific product line and outsource for a short-term initiative. 4. Niche CompaniesBrands and companies that operate in specialty markets like engineering or biotechnology may find it challenging to hire in-house marketers with the experience and the know-how they need to create and launch content marketing campaigns.Outsourced marketing services often specialize in a specific niche market. They bring not only valuable resources but also experience in these unique markets.Virtual assistants, for example, combine technical expertise with marketing education or experience. These professionals work in leading organizations and have a greater understanding of the market than full-time professionals with little experience. When To Do Outsourcing? If you do not see the results you want from your in-house marketing team, then you should consider outsourcing.Your in-house team is working relentlessly with the goals set before them, but the results continue to be short of optimal. Staying on top of performance and campaign optimization isn’t easy. Often in-house teams have no time to optimize these campaigns for better performance, so they end short of hitting their goals.Evaluating the results of marketing efforts is critical to the success of a team not only in-house but for outsourced professionals as well. If it’s been a few months since your brand launched a great marketing campaign, it might be time to outsource marketing. a. Your Marketing Team Is Burned Out In marketing, there is graphic design, copywriting, SEO, website development, email marketing, lead generation, and so much more. How many professionals do you have in your team?Do you have someone assigned to each task involved in marketing, or do you have one marketing guru filling many hats?A copywriter can’t be a graphic designer and vice versa, but so many entrepreneurs expect so much from one marketing employee. One team member cannot meet the massive marketing demands in today’s market. b. You’re Always Running Out Of Time You’re planning a stellar email campaign this month, but your team ran out of time, so you reschedule it. You’re rushing to get the offer, the Facebook posts, and the blog posts out before Christmas.If you feel like you’re always running but never get anywhere, then it might mean you don’t have the necessary systems or strategies in place to run efficiently. c. You Lack Proper Strategy Getting things done might feel rewarding, but those things are time idlers instead of business generators when they are not part of an overall strategy.Posting on social or sharing a blog post is useless unless you have a purpose of reaching your goal. Sharing for the sake of staying active on social media platforms is not a real strategy. You feel the pressure of staying active online, so you ask your marketing team to ensure the social accounts are active always, but you don’t give them a genuine reason.As a business, you have income goals, but if you lack a proper strategy to meet those goals, then you might want to consider outsourcing digital marketing services.  Summary That’s all about the logic behind considering outsourcing your brand’s marketing campaign. I hope the article was intriguing enough to make you understand why you should outsource the marketing campaign. The rationale is justified above along with specific situations to make your concept clear.Wanna clear any doubts? Drop your queries in the comment area below. Read Also:What You Need to Know When Outsourcing SEO How Legal Services Outsourcing Aids Law Firms and Legal Departments Balancing the Books with Outsourcing – Virtual Receptionists 9 Things Conservatives & Liberals Have in Common How To Reduce The Operating Cost of Your Business?

READ MOREDetails