SMS Marketing Tips

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It can be easy to get caught up in the excitement of building your business, don't forget to take advantage of these SMS marketing tips to help keep you focused on your goals. Remember that no matter how much information you have already gathered, there is always more you should know about your customers and your company's products or services. You need to look at the market to see what new trends are happening and gaps in the current offerings. This will help you identify areas to improve or update your strategy to stay ahead of the competition. Ready to roll? Read on to learn more:

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Use a Strong Call-to-Action

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After receiving your text, your call-to-action is what you want the customer to do. It can be anything you want: click on a link, buy a product, visit your store, make an appointment, etc. Ensure that you keep your goal in mind when writing your copy and leading with the call-to-action right away.

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Always Use Personalization

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Personalized messages are a great way to make your customers feel special and encourage them to engage with you. Try using the customer's first name in your message. If you have other personal information about them, you can use that too. For example, if they've purchased something in the past, consider mentioning it when sending them a message about a sale on a similar product.

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Create a Sense of Urgency With Time Limits

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You can use scarcity or urgency to encourage customers to take action immediately. For example, announcing that you have limited time left on a sale or that there's only limited stock remaining is enough for many people to act quickly. Feel free to be creative here! You don't need to limit yourself to sales promotions; for example, if you're promoting an event like a concert, try telling people how many tickets are still available instead.

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Don't Misspell Words

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It's easy to make mistakes when composing a quick text message. Even if you have to autocorrect enabled, it doesn't always catch every mistake. Before you send an SMS message, proofread it for spelling and grammar errors. If possible, have someone else look at the message as well.

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Check Your Links

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A big part of SMS marketing is learning to include links in text messages that drive people towards your website or landing page. But with every link comes the responsibility to make sure they are working correctly and redirecting users properly. Before sending out an SMS campaign that includes links, be sure they all work and send users to the correct pages on your website.

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Avoid Abbreviations

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SMS marketing messages are already short, so there isn't any need to add additional characters by using abbreviations for words. Not only can it make your message more difficult to read, but it can also come across as unprofessional and careless if you use the wrong abbreviation.

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Avoid Caps

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Even though messages are short when using SMS marketing, it doesn't mean you should use all caps for every single word. Not only does it take up more characters, but it makes the message look unprofessional, as if you're yelling at the person reading the message.

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Give Your Subscribers a Clear Way to Sign Up

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By definition, SMS marketing is permission-based. You can't just send text messages to people who never asked to receive them. It's essential to make it straightforward for customers to opt into your text campaigns. You can even use physical signs or QR codes to prompt customers to sign up for your texts if you've got an in-person business. Make sure that when they text in, they get an automated response confirming their subscription.

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Use Short Codes

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A shortcode is a 5 or 6 digit number that businesses can send SMS messages at scale. Shortcodes look more like phone numbers, so they're more likely to be trusted by customers than a more extended alphanumeric code (which could easily look like spam). In addition, shortcodes are more accessible for customers to type out, which means they're less likely to abandon the sign-up process before it's complete.

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Include an Opt-Out Option

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You should also include an option for people to opt-out of receiving future messages from your business. This feature is required by law and shows that you're serious about respecting the privacy of your customers. The opt-out option should be as easy as opting in. Typically, customers will text "STOP" to end any future correspondence with you. This will prevent further texts from being sent and prevent higher charges on their cell phone bill.

Any text message marketing campaign aims to reach your target audience and ensure that your message is well received. For this reason, you should have a clear objective in mind before starting a text marketing campaign. If you seek new customers, then the text message should be compelling enough to make them want to visit your store or website.