How to run an SMS marketing campaign
It's a fact: the world is going mobile. The smartphone market is
growing at breakneck speed, while developing markets are becoming
awash with non-smart traditional handsets. A growing population of
text-ready consumers represents a glowing opportunity to market
your business - but SMS marketing is also intrusive and it's easy
to do more harm than good.
Find a bulk SMS service online
Type 'SMS marketing campaign' into a search engine and you'll be
confronted with a list of companies offering bulk text services. Media
Burst, Text Anywhere, Esendex and Text
Marketer are just a few names to look out for.
As with everything in business: research before you buy.
Opt in, and opt-in again
If receiving an unsolicited message via email is annoying,
receiving one on your mobile is unnerving. People are used to
inputting email addresses in websites and grudgingly accept that
they are open to spam, but mobile numbers are far more private.
Mine customers' numbers without their express permission and
watch them run for the hills in a panic. For them, a text message
out of the blue feels like someone is watching - which is not
likely to get them in the mood for shopping with you.
Even when customers opt in to receive text alerts, they are
liable to forget they have done so. This means you need make doubly
sure they are happy for you to contact them. When they tick that
box, make it absolutely clear that they will receive marketing
messages.
Give customers the option to STOP
Turn glowing customers into frothing enemies by preventing them
from opting out of marketing messages. Every one of your SMS
promotions should include a message along the lines of 'to stop
receiving messages reply to this message with the message
STOP'.
Sure, you'll lose a few people from your marketing list, but
that's infinitely preferable to a whole list of unhappy people who
won't use your business and will encourage their friends to stay
away.
Watch the frequency
Email and SMS are different in many ways. Not least because
people are generally happy to receive emails on a more regular
basis than texts. Texts can be annoying, especially if the
recipient is expecting a message from a friend and not from your
business, or if they have their hands full.
It makes good sense to relate your SMS activity to your email
campaigns. For example, if you send customers an email a week,
consider sending one SMS every two weeks. It's important to get a
balance between texting too regularly and not regularly enough.
Text your customers once in a blue moon and you risk them
forgetting that they ever signed up to receive your promotions -
and you know what that means.
Less is more
Text messages are by definition short bursts of information that
people can consume and act on in a matter of seconds. Keep yours
pithy and get key messages in quickly. Use short, uncomplicated
sentences but refrain from text speak - it makes you sound like an
idiot.
Cross-promote away!
For the best results combine your SMS campaign with your email
and social media offering. In addition, give customers the option
to forward your text to friends and leave space for them to leave
their own message (ie 'I just got this 2-4-1 offer - gotta be worth
a purchase').
Sweeten the pill
Offer an incentive for signing up to texts. Either a competition
entry or something for free (vouchers work well) is best. Everyone
loves something for nothing!
#MWW offer: share minutes with your
colleagues
As part of Mobile Working Week, BlackBerry and O2
have teamed up to offer Smarta readers an exclusive offer. To find
out how you can share your minutes for free, click
here.
For more information about how BlackBerry can help
your business go to www.blackberry.co.uk/sme
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