SMS Text Marketing Must Be Deftly Handled For Best Results

It used to be that people never left home without their keys or wallet. Well, nowadays you can add one more thing to that list: a cell phone.

People TiVo their television, screen their calls, run Adblock on their computer screens. But they are rarely without their cell phones these days, and marketers are learning how to take advantage of the fact.

SMS Messages Have A 90% Open Rate

According to industry experts, SMS messages have a 90% open rate and are generally opened within 15 minutes. But the fact that there are no spam filters on text messages means that you must be even more careful not to spoil things. Spammy messages will turn formerly happy customers against you because consumers are fighting back against mistargeted and annoying ads.

Best practices include being careful to get permission. It’s imperative that you not buy a list like you can with direct mail. If your current customers have already given you their mobile numbers you can’t text them to ask if you can text them; you have to first get in touch some other way. It’s a slower way of reaching out at first, but that will ensure that the customers you are trying to market to don’t curse your name and take their business elsewhere.

Careful segmentation and easy opt-outs are another good way to make sure customers are happy to see your text messages. Sometimes it’s just the particular offer that customers wish to stop so you can help segment your list still further if you send them to a page to change their settings rather than opt out altogether.

Those are most of the “Don’ts”. What about the “Do’s”?

To be successful with SMS Text Marketing, you should have a call to action that takes your customers to a mobile-optimized landing page.  Or possibly, insert a clickable phone number that will dial your front desk or a salesperson, but that will likely lower your conversions. The best practice is often a mobile-optimized landing page that goes into further detail about your offer than you can get in the 160 character limit of an SMS message.

Want us to handle your SMS marketing? Call us at 877-877-0542 for a free consultation or write to [email protected].

Conversion Pipeline
Latest posts by Conversion Pipeline (see all)