Got a smartphone? Sure you do in fact so do more than 80% of people on the planet, makes you wonder what the other 20% are doing.
Google has gone mobile-first and more and more big businesses have moved most of their focus onto mobile but the ones that are being left behind are small businesses, they have been slower to move and it is understandable given the perceived complexity in reaching customers on their mobiles.
While there are plenty of ways to reach mobile users the fastest, most affordable and simple method to reach these people is through using an SMS marketing to send plain old text messages says Peter from 160.com.au.
There are plenty of reasons why businesses (especially small businesses) should be using an SMS Marketing. One of the main ones being that big companies have much deeper pockets and so are able to spend more on ads to acquire new customers and so I’ll cover the main reasons inside this article.
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1. Personalize: Segment your customers
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Never bundle your existing customers together into one group and this goes for the customers who haven’t purchased yet.
Even if you have a single product or service chances are people will be buying it for different reasons.
These different reasons mean that your messaging will likely need to change and so to any offers that you decide to use.
The first step is to think about the different types of customers you have and think about the commonalities some of them share – it could be that they’re trying to solve a specific problem, it could be gender, it could be goal, etc. whatever the commonalities are get them into groups.
2. Increase Conversions: Send Relevant Offers
The best and simplest way to create value is to give people what they want.
Now that you have everyone grouped together it is easier to add value in terms of content and offers.
Once you have people segmented into groups writing coy and coming up with offers is a lot easier because you know there’s going to be a much higher chance of converting those offers into sales.
Think about the challenges that your subscriber groups are experiencing and then think of ways that you can solve that issue using your products and services.
3. Stay Out Of Legal Hot Water: Get Permission
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People are incredibly protective of their mobile phones so will get very active against SPAM SMS marketing campaigns.
Each country or state has their own rules regarding SPAM laws so do yourself a favour and read up on it – understanding what you can and cannot do will keep you safe from legal headaches.
The first rule is to never buy mobile numbers. This can be tempting but it is a sure-fire way to get sued. Always collect mobile numbers via text in codes: Text 1234 to (012) 3456789 get 50% off storewide for example, this will not only avoid legal problems but will only collect mobile numbers of people who are actually interested in what you have.
Secondly, always include an opt-out or unsubscribe option. Even if this is not required where you are it is a good idea to have it because it gives your SMS subscribers a lot of peace of mind and makes you look more professional.
4. Grow Sales: Keep Sending Offers
While getting new customers is exciting customer acquisition is generally quite expensive so you need to make sure that you’re always building value with your subscribers so you can continue to generate revenue over time.
SMS marketing is a powerful tool here because it means that you can come up with an offer, send it out and within a very short time orders will start coming in this is especially great during uncertain times.
5. Don’t Waste Money: Track Your Progress
Source: revenue-hub.com
When it comes to SMS marketing (or any marketing) you need to ensure that you know what is an isn’t working in terms of collecting new sales leads as well as what offers are working.
A good way to do this is to sign up for a link tracking provider so that when you add a link to your SMS messages it tracks that click and whether or not it led to a sale.
Over time you’ll be able to know with certainty how much a given campaign will bring in making your business a lot more predictable.
6. Protect your revenue: Reduce Unsubscribes
Obviously, the more people on your list the more money you can make so it is important that you reduce the number of people who unsubscribe from your SMS marketing list.
One of the best ways to avoid unsubscribes is to use FOMO (fear of missing out).
You can do this by making SMS only offers, those are special information to promotions that can not be got anywhere else.
Limiting the number of people who can be on your list. This is a good way to create scarcity but it is also a good way to reduce your SMS expenses since you are charged for each SMS.
Conclusion
While SMS marketing is incredibly simple there are still ways that you can massively improve the results you get from it. While this does add a little more complexity the return on time and money is well worth the effort in learning.
Just to recap:
- Segmenting SMS marketing subscriber lists makes it easier to come up with promotional ideas and also adapt your messaging so it resonates.
- Send relevant offers to increases sales conversions.
- Stay away from legal problems by collecting mobile numbers ethically using text in codes.
- Grow your business by continuing to send valuable information and offers.
- Track what is and isn’t working to reduce costs and maximize sales profit.
- Protect your revenue by reducing unsubscribes.
