The marketing world comes with countless strategies and practices that every marketer must know. Being familiar with these skills and practices is essential because it enhances your overall marketing output and improves the customer’s experience with said band.
One such strategy is SMS (Short Message Service) marketing. It’s a direct marketing technique that offers the potential for an almost immediate reaction from the target audience. That being said, there are several best practices to stick to when using SMS marketing. We’ve listed four of them below.
1. Follow the Rules
Believe it or not, there are rules governing text messages, which determine whether or not they can be sent. Depending on your niche, you might need to be well versed in certain messaging rules to ensure you’re not out of line or breaking rules when sending your messages. A typical example is politics.
As a marketer working on a political campaign, you need to adhere to all political texting rules. You’ll need written consent for each phone number before sending out messages. Without consent, sending out messages to these numbers becomes illegal and can warrant a fine anywhere from $500 to $1,500 per recipient.
2. Make Your Program Clear
Think of yourself as a customer before a marketer. As a customer, you’ll likely want to do business with a brand that offers value. When using SMS marketing campaigns, you need to ensure that your target audience knows exactly what to expect once they subscribe to you.
To educate your target audience, you don’t need a complex strategy. You can simply summarize your benefits in one or two sentences and present them to customers before they subscribe. This way, they can choose whether or not what you’re offering is important to them.
3. Consistency is Key
A major fault countless businesses and marketers make with SMS marketing is sending messages in an inconsistent manner. Many believe that consistency might look like spam from the client’s perspective. The opposite, in most cases, is true; when your messages are sporadic, you made be viewed as being haphazard with your brand.
Sending just a few messages might cause your target audience to forget about your brand or unsubscribe because they can’t recall why they signed up in the first place. Be consistent with your messaging, and your customers should respond well. You need consistency and a regular testing schedule, which is easy to draw up with your strategy and end goal in mind.
4. Consider Exclusivity
When someone subscribes to your SMS list, they’re, to a certain extent, giving you access to their information and attention on a regular basis. With this in mind, you always need to deliver top value in exchange. When creating a text messaging strategy, it’s key to avoid using recycled content. Also, try to make your SMS list as exclusive as possible. Exclusivity offers customers early access to promotions and flash sales.
No matter the practice you choose to go with, always back it up with responsibility, since without it, nothing matters. SMS marketing is a strategy that offers great returns when done right, and as such, it’s best to put all the best practices in place from the very beginning.
