All you need to know about SMS marketing

SMS Marketing refers to the sending of text or SMS messages, either as campaigns or transactional messages, in order to achieve a marketing objective. It is also known as text marketing or text message marketing.

SMS is mainly used to communicate offers, updates, and urgent alerts to those people who have previously decided to receive these types of messages from a company.

It’s no mystery that building customer relationships takes work. If you want to communicate with your customers, don’t wait for them to come to you. You have to be proactive and go where they are.

Now, I don’t expect (or advise) you to knock on your customer’s door-to-door, that would be crazy. But, you can do better: send them a text message.

It is increasingly common to see how people use their telephone or mobile more, so it makes sense that SMS is the most direct line of contact.

This has made text marketing, or SMS marketing, one of the most effective ways to communicate with customers as long as it’s done correctly.

If this definition seems too complicated for you, don’t worry, later I will explain all these terms so that you can get a clearer idea of ​​how text messages can improve your marketing strategy.

What are the best practices for sending bulk SMS?

First make sure that your contacts have given their prior consent to receive information in this way.

Text messaging is a very effective and direct line of communication with the customer. However, there are many rules that you need to keep in mind when sending bulk SMS. The first, and most important, is to receive permission from your contacts to send them SMS messages.

SMS has an extremely high open rate, but this won’t help you if you’re sending messages to people who don’t want to receive them. Also, customer acceptance (also called opt-in) is a legal requirement in most countries.

Take into account the moment in which you send your messages.

Unlike emails, which are only checked a few times a day, text messages are opened almost immediately. This is great for urgent messages, but don’t abuse this power by annoying your customers after hours.

Some countries even have laws about when text messages can be sent for business purposes (for example, France does not allow SMS marketing on Sundays, public holidays, or any time after 10 PM).

Include your company name in your messages.

When sending bulk SMS, most providers send them through a short number, which means that your contacts will not know that they come from your company. That is why the first thing you should do is inform your contacts about who is sending the message.

You don’t want to send them a discount coupon without telling them where to redeem it.

Why is SMS marketing effective?

SMS is one of the most useful marketing channels at your disposal for several reasons:

  • The omnipresence of Smartphones: sending mass SMS is an excellent way to reach consumers directly. By including a link in the text, you can drive visits to your online store.
  • Complete the strategy with email marketing: Although email and SMS marketing have differences in the implementation of their strategy, they work better together. You can use SMS to communicate more urgent information, while email can be used for longer content.
  • High open rates: SMS open rates are higher compared to email. 90% of SMS are read within 3 minutes of receipt. This makes SMS very useful for delivering urgent information with a high success rate.
  • Ideal for emerging markets: If your company is trying to operate in countries where data is expensive and Wi-Fi is not as common, SMS is a much better channel to communicate information.

How does SMS marketing work?

SMS marketing messages are sent from “short numbers”, as opposed to full phone numbers. These numbers are typically 5-6 digits long and can be associated with one sender or shared among multiple senders.

Many countries do not allow sender information to be changed. This means that your message will appear as a text message with the short number the provider used and not your company name. This is why it is important to include the name of your company in the message.

There are two types of messages that you can send through SMS marketing:

  1. Promotional SMS: These are the one-to-many bulk messages. They are typically used to communicate promotions (coupons, sales, etc.) or general information (event details, updates, weather alerts, etc.).
  2. Transactional: Transactional messages are “one-to-one” messages that are triggered by a certain event or behavior. An example of this would be an order confirmation or shipping notification for e-commerce purchase. These messages communicate relevant and timely information to an individual.

What is SMS marketing used for?

SMS can be used in several different ways. I will share with you some of the most common cases to give you a better idea of ​​what you can do when sending bulk SMS and how they could help your business.

Short-term promotions for retail or e-commerce businesses

Coupons and promotions are a great way to drive more people to your store or website. If you’re running a limited-time sale or promotion, you’re obviously going to need as many people as possible to hear it.

SMS is a great channel to communicate these offers, especially if you want to let customers know when they’re on the go. In this way, you can ensure that they receive the message on time.

Urgent updates on events or customer orders

There are many changes in the planning and execution of an event. The more people attend the event, the more difficult it will be to communicate the necessary information to everyone.

With bulk SMS, you can easily communicate any changes, cancellations, general information, or updates more effectively than email or other channels.

Appointment reminders

If your business runs by appointment, then you know the frustration of customers forgetting appointments and showing up late. It’s even more frustrating when they don’t show up.

Not only does this mess up your schedule, but it also wastes your time. Maybe you could have turned down other appointments because you already had that time booked for a particular client. Sending reminder text messages is a great way to make sure clients don’t forget their appointments and show up at the right time.

Internal alerts

If you have a large number of employees, it can be difficult to communicate urgent messages (office closings, emergency updates, etc.) to everyone at once. You can email them, but they might not see it (yes I know, I don’t check my work email too often outside of the office). For this reason, bulk SMS is a great way to ensure everyone gets your message on time.

Who can benefit from the use of SMS marketing?

Text messages can be a great addition to your digital marketing strategy, regardless of the type of business you have. They perform the function of communicating very urgent information in a highly effective way.

But, there are certain companies that cannot live without sending bulk SMS:

  • Ecommerce businesses: Whether it’s to send promotional campaigns or order/shipping confirmations, SMS is a great tool for eCommerce.
  • Travel companies: SMS is essential for travel companies because customers need information in real-time. This includes flight time updates, gate changes, cancellations, weather alerts, and much more. With bulk SMS, you can tell your customers exactly what they need to know, without worrying if they’ll see it in time.
  • Service companies that require appointments: Make sure your customers never miss another appointment by sending them SMS reminders. This will save you tons of time and money wasted on no-shows and late appointments.
  • Large organizations with more than 100 employees: Internal communication is important, but it is difficult to communicate with all employees in a large company.
  • Using bulk SMS for internal communication is the best way to ensure that every employee receives the information at the right time.

Conclusion

You should now have a better idea of ​​what SMS marketing is, and why it’s so great. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the pros:

  • safe delivery
  • Direct line with the client
  • a high engagement
  • Complement your email marketing strategy

If you already use email marketing (or are thinking about it), try sending mass SMS to complement your strategy.

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Tristram Shandy