SMS messaging is a great way to reach your customers in a more effective and efficient manner. When you consider that 98% of SMS messages are opened and over 90% of them are read within 3 minutes, it’s hard to pass up the opportunity to reach your customers via their smartphones.
SMS messaging boasts some very impressive stats. Not only will you see high open and read rates, but your customers actually want to receive messages from companies via texting.
Getting started with SMS marketing often begins with simple messaging to customers to help build your subscriber list. But as you become more advanced, your SMS campaigns can start to grow into something more. You can create new experiences and engage customers in a number of new ways to keep your marketing fresh.
In this article, we’ll take a look at a few ideas to help take your SMS messaging strategy to the next level.
Here’s a sneak peek at what we’ll cover:
- Use SMS and social media to reach more customers and build your subscriber list
- Provide customers with exclusive SMS offers to build loyal customers
- Send product reminder emails to bring customers back to your site
- Run competitions to encourage more interaction from your customers
- Promote relevant products based on previous customer behaviors
Start Making the Most Out of Your SMS Messages
If you’re looking to get more out of your current SMS marketing strategy, look no further. These ideas can easily be implemented into your ongoing marketing efforts. Of course, the ability to send out thousands of texts with the click of a button can have other applications as well. Employee text notifications, for example, are a great way to keep everyone at a large company in the loop about what is going on. It can be as simple as integrating your social media channels or sending exclusive coupons and discounts to your loyal customers. Let’s dive in!
1. Use SMS and Social Media Together
Social media and SMS messaging are a match made in heaven. Chances are good you’re already using social media as an avenue to reach your customers but by integrating SMS messages into your strategy, you can take both platforms to the next level.
Knowing that the number of people using social media continues to grow, it’s a great opportunity to enhance your SMS messaging. Combining efforts will help you grow your SMS program and increase engagement on your social channels.
If you’re just starting out in the SMS marketing world, leveraging your social media channel is a great way to build your subscriber list. By sharing your shortcode with your audience and encouraging them with a little incentive (such as a discount code) can help you quickly grow your subscriber list.
On the other hand, SMS messages are a great way to bring people to your social media sites in the click of a button. Sending messages with a link to your social pages will allow them to see your content right from their phones and is much more likely to be read. They can work together seamlessly to provide up-to-date and relevant content to your customers.
Here are a few ideas on how you can integrate your SMS and social media marketing:
- Share text-to-win contests on your social media channels to build your SMS subscriber list
- SMS messages that direct users to your social media outlets to entire sweepstake promotions
- Send SMS messages to promote new content on your social media channels such as new blog posts
- Use both SMS and social media to ensure customers receive important company updates and information
Using these two marketing tactics together will help improve engagement, build loyal relationships, and improve awareness.
2. Provide Exclusive SMS Offers
This is one of the most common ways to use SMS messaging, and it’s one that works. In fact, 75% of customers prefer to get offers via SMS. Incentives and coupons are one of the top reasons why people choose to subscribe to SMS programs.
When you look at the top reasons for customers to subscribe to SMS messages, incentives and coupons are at the top of the list. That means that by providing exclusive SMS offers and discounts, you’re going to see more engaged subscribers.
When asking customers for their phone number, you have to consider that they are giving up their personal information. That means you need to provide them with something of value in return. For many, exclusive discounts and coupons that only SMS subscribers receive can be the perfect incentive.
You’ll quickly find that customers are a little more hesitant to give up their phone numbers when compared to email addresses. But with the right offers you can enhance your customer’s experience and provide them with the incentives they’re looking for.
Just remember, one incentive to entice someone to join your SMS program isn’t enough. If you don’t continue to provide the value and incentives your customers are looking for, they will quickly unsubscribe from your campaigns.
3. Send Product Reminder Messages
By tracking the browse and shopping history of your customers, you can utilize reminder messages just as you would through email. This means when a customer recently viewed a product on your website, you can send them a reminder message about that product at a later time.
The number of visitors who abandon carts prior to making a purchase is much higher than you’d expect. Implementing a reminder SMS message will help you reach the customers and bring them back to complete their purchase. Image courtesy of Moz.
This is a great way to remind customers about products they showed interest in and get the message to them where they are sure to see it. Having a link that takes the user back to that specific product on your site will help set you up to see higher conversions.
Here are a few examples of how you can use product reminders to enhance your SMS messaging experience:
- Remind customers of a product they were previously interested in
- Send abandoned cart messages to remind them that they left a product in their shopping cart
- Create a sense of urgency by letting customers know when products they are interested in are low on inventory
- Entice customers to come back and complete a purchase with a special discount on the product they left behind
Sending a simple reminder text to your customers can make a big difference in your bottom line. Your customers are much more likely to see and open the message, which will then lead to higher conversions and sales.
4. Run Competitions
Competitions are always a fun way to get your customers involved with your brand. Using SMS messages is a great avenue to effectively run competitions. Since it’s very likely your customers always have their phones on them, you can promote your competition in a number of different ways.
You can promote text-to-win campaigns across all of your media outlets to encourage participation. From in-store print ads to digital ads on your site and social media channels, it’s a great way to get customers engaged.
From in-store promotion, social media, or even commercial or magazine ads can bring in new customers. This is because to run an SMS competition, all you need to do is promote your shortcode for customers to enter. You can promote that shortcode practically anywhere and customers can engage right from their smartphones.
Are you still wondering what the benefits of running an SMS competition are? Here are just a few benefits you can expect to see:
- Quickly grow your subscriber list
- Increased engagement
- More brand awareness and loyalty
- Drive more traffic to your website
All you need to do is come up with a unique competition and create a shortcode for your customers to enter. Once you get started you’ll find running SMS competitions can be easier than you ever imagined — and you’ll like the results.
5. Promote Relevant Products Based on Previous Purchases
Another product-focused option when it comes to SMS messaging is to send recommended products to your customers. This can be based on their previous browse history or on products they recently purchased. Sending relevant products to customers based on their recent purchasing behaviors can help you upsell related items.
Using product recommendations in your SMS marketing strategy will help you see an increase in sales. The right recommendations can provide your customers with products they didn’t even know they needed.
For example, if a customer recently purchased a laptop from your company, they may need a laptop case to get it to and from work. In this case, you can send them a quick message sharing your listing of laptop cases or other accessories to get them to make another purchase.
Many times, you can predict what a customer will need next before they even realize it. When a customer is focused on one item, they may not think of all the complementary products they may also need. This allows you to stay ahead of the game and provide them with items they didn’t even realize they needed.
Product recommendations are a common practice in the marketing world, adding it into your SMS messaging strategy will provide you with excellent results.
Make the Most out of Your SMS Strategy
SMS messages are a great marketing tool. By continuing to evolve your strategy you are sure to see increased engagement and revenue numbers. After reading these tips, it’s easy to see you don’t have to make major changes to your strategy to improve your reach. All you need to do is make the most out of the tactics you’re currently using.
