As SMS marketing continues to gather momentum among small business owners, marketers are looking for effective new ways of using SMS messaging services to increase leads, boost sales and earn customer loyalty.
There is no doubt that SMS messaging services are one of the most powerful marketing tools right now. With a 98% open rate, the ability to reach customers is phenomenal. No other marketing platform can find targets as effectively as SMS messaging services.
But finding your targets is not the issue with SMS marketing. The challenge for small business owners is finding ways of engaging your audience and getting them to take action. You also have to keep subscribers interested in your marketing messages otherwise they will remove themselves from your hit list.
In theory, an SMS messaging services is an essential tool to have as part of your marketing strategy, but unless you know how to get the most from these powerful tools, you are wasting your time and your money running marketing campaigns.
The SMS marketing suggestions below are ideas designed to engage your customers, increase brand awareness and nurture customer loyalty. All of which build into an increase in sales.
It’s easy to send out a generic SMS marketing message offering discounts to everybody. Consumers love a bargain and discounts are a great strategy to encourage consumers to opt in to your SMS campaign so you can grow your list of subscribers and strengthen future SMS marketing campaigns. But what do you do when you have plenty of customers?
The answer to that is to personalize messages and offer special discounts that are exclusive to your mobile customers. Consumers are more inclined to accept offers when they feel privileged. You will need to keep good records of past purchases so that the discount deals you offer are relevant. But personal discounts perform much better than general discount offers.
According to statistics, 80% of shoppers actively look for special offers and can spend an average of 2 hours a week looking for discounts. Most businesses organise sales at certain times of the year and around special events. But just because its sales season, you are still competing with your rivals just like any other time of year.
Sending out offers at random times of the year however, gives you an advantage. Consumers cannot resist great offers and they love receiving text messages. So imagine how they will react when they are offered an attractive discount out of the blue. Not only will they be more inclined to take you up on your offer, but they are more likely to remain a subscriber to your SMS marketing list.
In order to make SMS marketing campaigns effective, you need subscribers. Holding a competition and offering a prize is an incentive to consumers to opt-in to your SMS list and gives your campaign extra impetus.
However, text message sweepstakes are only effective if the prize is worthwhile. Offering an iPhone for example will receive a lot of attention, whereas a 10% discount on your next purchase will probably not garner a lot of interest.
The general rule of SMS marketing is don’t send too many messages to your subscribers. An overload of marketing messages can be irritating and more likely to lose customers than gain sales.
However, there is an exception to the rule. If you send weekly text messages that have tips or information that people find useful and engaging, regular text messages can work in your favour.
Alternatively, throw in some relevant trivia that people will find interesting to support your offers and products. SMS marketing is not expensive and these quick-fire texts keep your brand in the minds of customers.
Consumers prefer to receive text messages over a phone call. Therefore, use your SMS messaging service to conduct customer service such as asking for feedback on your products and services or reminding your client they have an upcoming appointment.
You can also use SMS messaging to confirm a purchase, and if you are delivering goods to an address, give your customers an estimated time of arrival and a code they can use to track their order.
SMS works a lot better for routine customer service actions than email. People carry their phones with them every day and are three times more likely to read a text message than they are to open an email.
If you’re holding an event, why not tap into your SMS customers to get their thoughts and comments. You can then post comments on social media or flash them up on a screen during the event. This is a great way to nurture customer loyalty and increase sales through word of mouth.
Coupons are a popular marketing device to encourage customers into your store and redeem discounts. But you don’t always have to set up a system to manage discount coupons.
A simple text message instructing customers to show this text to sales staff is sufficient. This is an effective device for small businesses such as shops, restaurants and garages and is more cost-effective than investing in technology to manage coupons.
Using this marketing strategy is also a good way of measuring how many of your mobile marketing customers are engaging with your brand through SMS. If only a small percentage of customers accept your offer, you know you need to up your SMS marketing game. And any of the above suggestions may well provide the solution.
If you do feel as though you need to give your SMS marketing campaign an injection of pace, try some or all of the suggestions above. And for small businesses that haven’t tapped into the power of SMS marketing yet, give JookSMS a call and ask us how our SMS messaging service can help you increase brand awareness, customer loyalty and revenue.
