Joshua Galyon
Businesses now reach clients and advertise their goods and services using SMS marketing. SMS marketing enables firms to send their audience concise and important messages and alerts. However, it’s crucial to follow the best practices for SMS marketing to make sure that your messages are well-received and don’t come off as spam.
Six SMS marketing best practices that you should be aware of are covered in this post.
1. Obtain Consent
The first and most important stage in SMS marketing is getting consent. Your brand’s reputation can be harmed by sending messages to people who haven’t given their approval, and regulatory authorities can fine you. Customers opt-in by sending a text message to a designated SMS short code. Businesses must provide a clear opt-out option in every message and be considerate about the frequency and type of content they will deliver.
2. Keep It Short and Sweet
SMS messages have a character limit of 160, so it’s important to say exactly what you mean in the few words you have. Businesses should avoid the use of industrial jargon or other technical language since it can cause recipients to become confused. Instead, you should use language that is easy to understand and include a call-to-action (CTA) that clarifies what you want the recipient to do. To create a message that is more intriguing and engaging for their target audience, businesses should make use of action-oriented verbs such as “buy now,” “register,” or “subscribe.”
3. Personalize Your Messages
It is possible to effectively make your audience feel appreciated and significant through the use of personalization. Using the recipient’s name, segmenting the audience based on the recipient’s interests or previous purchases, or delivering messages on the recipients’ birthdays or other special events are ways businesses can personalize the communications they send. Personalized communications have a higher chance of being opened and interacted with, which can result in higher click-through rates and conversions.
4. Timing Is Everything
When it comes to marketing by SMS, timing is a very important component. When sending messages, companies have a responsibility to consider both the recipient’s time zone and the sender’s location. It’s possible to receive unfavorable responses or opt-outs if you send your communications too early in the morning or too late at night. Sending communications outside of normal business hours, when the recipient is less likely to be available but more likely to be receptive to the message, is not the best strategy for businesses. It is also important to deliver messages at opportune moments, such as during a sale, promotion, or event, to increase conversions and encourage interaction.
5. Provide Value
SMS marketing is not just about promoting items and services; it is also about offering something of value to the person receiving the messages. The transmission of special discounts, promotions, or material that is not available anywhere else is one way for businesses to provide value to their customers.
In addition, companies can keep their customers engaged with the brand by sending them news about the sector or other helpful information. Providing value to the recipient is an efficient approach to earning their trust and loyalty, which can lead to a rise in sales and referrals from satisfied customers.
6. Monitor Your Results
It is essential to keep track of the results of your SMS marketing campaign to understand the campaign’s efficacy and improve your future marketing efforts. When evaluating the success of their marketing campaigns, companies can assess success using measures like open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. The use of analytics tools can also provide insights into the audience’s behavior and preferences, which can assist organizations in tailoring their messaging and campaigns per those preferences.
Conclusion
Businesses can effectively sell their brands, products, and services to their target market by using SMS marketing. Businesses can establish effective SMS marketing programs that engage their audience and provide results by following best practices like gaining consent, keeping messages succinct and to the point, personalizing messages, timing messages appropriately, giving value, and tracking outcomes. Firms must also adhere to legal requirements to avoid complaints and fines and include a simple opt-out option in every message.
