SMS marketing provides multiple solutions and benefits for online businesses. Yet the majority of marketers are underutilizing the power of text message marketing services.
If you have already researched text message marketing, you will probably be aware of the extraordinary statistics. SMS has a read rate of around 98%. There is no other marketing tool in the digital sphere that can raise product and brand awareness like that!
You are probably already aware of some of the key benefits bulk SMS services provide. But in order for you to get more from this powerful technology, we thought we would give you a list of alternative methods so you can maximize your SMS marketing service.
Influencers are like unpaid sales assistants. These are your customers that tell their family and friends about your business and drive revenue without it costing you a dime. Use SMS to run a quick survey and identify customers that are referring you to others. And once you find your influencers, reward them with a generous offer or gift.
You should also be using SMS channels to encourage your customers to tell their friends and family about you. One of the most powerful marketing campaigns is to offer existing customers a great deal or something for free whenever they refer a friend. You can do this via the mobile channel by using designated codes and by encouraging people to share offers you post through social media channels.
Communicating on a personal level with your customers is central to building up lasting relationships. By using SMS as a channel for your customer service, you have a cost-effective solution that customers prefer as well. In a poll conducting by Open Market, 75% of millennials said they prefer to receive a text message from brands rather than a phone call.
Competition for customers is fierce, and modern consumers want to feel as though brands care about them as people rather than their money. SMS is a powerful tool for personalized marketing and communicating to customers on an emotional level. So use SMS to your advantage by making customers feel they are part of a club – which essentially they are – and strengthen the bond by letting them into little secrets. Let your members be the first to know when you are starting an offer and holding an event via SMS before the news is officially announced through other advertising channels.
Customer surveys can be something of a catch22 for online businesses. You need consumer data, but customers don’t often have the time or the inclination to complete customer surveys. SMS helps to resolve this issue because there is not enough space to create long surveys. A simple Yes, or No question is enough. Alternatively, by asking customers to rate your product on a scale of 1-10 raises intrigue around a new product launch. Some surveys may need to include an incentive to increase the response rate.
Occasionally, businesses need to refresh their customer data and opt-in lists for SMS, otherwise you are wasting money and effort with customers that no longer engage with your brand. Why not drop a quick message to SMS customers with a generous offer to determine whether they are still interested in your products and services. At best you can improve response rate and increase revenue. The worst that can happen is you limit customers to other marketing channels such as social media and email.
SMS only has a limited number of characters and distribution can be automatically scheduled. Marketers save a lot of time preparing text ads and processing is quick and easy. As a result, you have more time to concentrate on other areas of your business or focus on marketing campaigns that require more time investment.
Your core customers are the building blocks on which you can grow your business. Because of the directness and intimacy of SMS, text messaging services provide brands with a power tool that can engage customers and help to build customer loyalty. By offering special deals, information about your business and a kind word of thanks after each transaction, you strengthen the emotional bonds with your customers. Subsequently, they feel as though they are being treated with respect and subsequently keep coming back.
SMS marketing services have a lot to offer brands, and when you utilize text messaging tools to their full potential, you can expect to increase revenue and grow your business.
