Make Your Message Matter: 8 Tips For Effective Text Message Marketing
Did you know that 95% of texts are read within three minutes? And that 75% of people would prefer to have offers sent to them via text?
Clearly, if you haven’t been taking advantage of text message marketing, you’re missing out.
But, effective text message marketing is about more than just sending a text with an offer inside.
The average millennial receives 67 texts per day. This means that if you use text message marketing, you’re competing against all of these other texts to get the attention of your customers.
Luckily, there are strategies you can implement to make your text message marketing more effective.
Check out this guide to learn the top tips for SMS marketing.
1. Keep it Short and Sweet
If you send a text that’s paragraphs long, it’s most likely going to be ignored.
The whole point of text message marketing is to keep your offer short and succinct. There’s absolutely no room for fluff, and you should speak directly to your target audience.
All your text should compose of is your offer, its benefits, and how to take advantage of it. Any other details can be mentioned later.
2. Get Permission
Sending a text message to someone without their permission is an invasion of privacy. If a customer receives a text from you without first giving permission to receive them, they’re going to be extremely put off.
That’s why you should always ask permission beforehand, even if they’ve already offered up their mobile number.
To entice your customers to receive special offers and discounts via text message, you can have them opt-in through an online form. Also, if a customer would like to stop receiving text messages, you should make it incredibly easy to do so. You can offer a code word such as “STOP” that they can type to end communication via text.
3. Use a CTA
A CTA, or call-to-action, is important in every form of marketing, and it’s no different with text message marketing.
To get your customers to act on your text message, you need to have a clear, enticing CTA. Some examples include:
“Show this Text”
In order for a customer to receive a discount, they must show the text to someone.
“Text to Win”
Ask them to text back in order to enter a contest.
“Text to Vote”
This is a great way to increase customer engagement and find out how your company is doing.
“Click Here”
This is great if SMS marketing doesn’t provide you with all the space you need for information.
“Buy Now”
This CTA is perfect for targeted messages. If you know a customer buys a product on a regular basis, you can text them “Buy Now” with a coupon code.
4. Get the Timing Right
Have you ever opened a text message when you were half asleep, and then completely forgotten about it the next morning?
We’ve all done this. And, your customers will also likely forget about your texts if you send them at the wrong time. In general, you’ll want to send your text messages out between 8 am and 9 pm. If you know more about your customers, you can narrow that time down even more.
For example, if you know that a lot of your customers work 9-to-5 jobs, then sending text messages over the lunch hour is a good idea. Or, if a lot of your customers are stay-at-home moms, then sending them a text mid-morning after they’ve got the kids out the door would be ideal.
Also, remember that deals via text are most effective when they offer last-minute chances. In other words, if you have a big sale starting Friday evening, send your text Friday afternoon.
5. Promote Opt-In Option Across All Types of Media
In order to get your customers to opt-in for text messages, you need to ask them more than once.
Here are the different points of contact in which you should ask your customers to opt-in for texts:
- Social Media: You can add a mobile number field to your Facebook signup page
- Newsletter: Make text opt-ins visible on your newsletters
- Website: Make sure text opt-in is promptly featured on your website
- Point of sales: Make sure your employees are asking each customer if they’d like to opt-in for promotional texts
6. Personalize Your Texts
Customers tend to respond to things more often when they’re addressed directly to them.
So, as much as you can, insert peoples’ names when you send text messages. And, make sure you’re sending texts that directly relate to the customer’s wants and needs.
Also, remember to not clutter your customers’ inboxes with deals that they could easily find on your website or get from your brick-and-mortar location.
You want to make your customers feel like they’re part of something exclusive by signing up for text messages, so make sure that you offer things that can only be redeemed via text.
7. Have a Conversation and Respond in Real-Time
When a customer responds to your text messages, this provides you with a great opportunity for engagement.
So, don’t waste it. Make sure you have personalized auto-responses set up with all of your texts. Also, make sure you respond to their messages in a timely manner.
8. Identify Yourself
Last but not least, don’t forget to identify yourself via text.
When people see a text from an unidentified number and a message that could have come from any number of companies, they’re not going to engage.
So, make sure you clearly identify your brand right away. Otherwise, you’re going to get the spam treatment.
Are You Ready to Step Up Your Text Message Marketing?
As you can see, there’s a lot that you can do to take your text message marketing to the next level.
Let us know in the comments below if you have any questions. And, make sure to check out our blog post on how to engage the modern B2B customer.