Widespread Fears And Myths Connected With SMS Marketing

Every year we can see how the number of channels and points of contact with a person as a consumer increases. Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Viber, WhatsApp, Telegram – now the business can contact its customers by any or all of these channels. In all this diversity, is there is a place for good old SMS marketing?

94% of SMS messages are read within the first 5 minutes after their delivery (while the SMS open-rate is 99%).

These numbers convince that it would be worth the cost, and all businesses urgently need to engage in the implementation of SMS marketing and development of SMS strategy. Is this so? Let’s figure it out together. And let’s start, perhaps, with the most important thing – with the answer to the question, “Does my business need SMS marketing?»

The specialists from SMS-Smart bulk message sending platform told how to determine whether your business needs mobile marketing and also dispelled the general myths connected with SMS marketing.

Defining the role of SMS marketing

The undeniable advantage of text messages is the fast delivery of the information to the customer, regardless of their device model. Yes, digital technologies are moving forward by leaps. Still, not all people have permanent access to mobile messengers and the Internet.

• Are there any such clients among your target audience?
• Do you need to send additional information to the client, in addition to advertising?
• Have you thought about the automation of messages sending so that SMS messages are sent to subscribers while you are, for example, on vacation? Do you need the full statistics of the SMS campaign?

If you answered “Yes” to at least two of the three questions, then it’s time to think about fully-fledged SMS strategy and implementing it in your business.

It is the stage when most business owners and marketers have questions and fears. Let’s move on to the most frequent worries and myths standing behind it.

 

3 Widespread Fears About SMS Marketing and How Do Businesses Overcome It

Fear #1. What if the customers don’t want to leave their phone numbers and SMS strategy simply fails before it starts?

Reality – the client is the same person as you. Think about the condition under which you would agree to leave your phone number to any company? A win-win option is to offer a customer some benefit in exchange for his contact data. It should be a value that will make the client a little happier. Create an association between your product and the goal they want to achieve in the customer’s mind. Help the customer to become one step closer to the dream. Win the client’s trust.

Example: “DUNKIN’DONUTS SMS Case»

The main goal of SMS marketing is to attract more customers.

Solution: the company launched a campaign that offered customers to discount promo codes by sending SMS to the short number. Both did well – a company received a customer’s mobile number, and a customer received promo code for a discount.

Result: the company received more than 7,500 new subscribers, and therefore potential customers. Within three weeks, sales were up 9%.

Fear #2. I don’t know what to write in text messages. Do I have to hire a specially trained marketer now?

Reality. First of all, you need to define the tasks that SMS marketing will solve at your business, and it’s the main goal. This could be mass advertising of a new product or announcement of discounts, status messages for ordered goods or confirmation of registration, etc. Take a pen and paper and make up a list of goals suitable for your business. When creating a promotional text for your SMS marketing campaign, keep in mind the goals you’ve set. If there are several of them, then there should also be several SMS message chains in your SMS campaign.

If talking about the message text itself, we’ll tell you a secret; some services already have many ready-made SMS templates that can be used for particular purposes, by adding personalized the information.

Example. Search for the templates for Spring greeting SMS messages

Also, keep in mind some general tips:

• Write, preferably without abbreviations
• Use clear and understandable language for your audience
• Be as clear and accurate as possible

Fear #3. Mass SMS mailing is expensive. What if it will not pay for itself?

Research your competitors’ marketing activities. Are they already using SMS marketing? Do you think they work at a loss? Don’t be afraid to spend a little time studying offers from various SMS services. We are sure that you will find the best option up to your business needs. Besides, the benefits and payback of SMS marketing have been proven by many benchmarks. And more: how often do you get an SMS about discounts from your favorite store and go there for purchases?

Example. Business case of the American cosmetic brand Keihl’s

The main task was to use the geolocation function and the location of the consumer when sending SMS messages. This way, the company segmented subscribers as much as possible.

Solution: the company placed a detailed SMS subscription form on the corporate site so that the client could send a message to a short number. In the future, as soon as the subscriber was within the radius of the Keihl’s store, he received an SMS message with a personalized promotional offer according to his interests (but no more than 3 SMS per month).

Result: in six months, more than 73% of subscribers purchased one or more Keihl’s products

3 Common Myths About SMS Marketing

Despite the well-known facts about the effectiveness of mobile marketing, myths about SMS marketing ineffectiveness are still passed on by word of mouth. We have taken it upon ourselves to rid of these common myths and prove the effectiveness of text message marketing.

Myth #1. SMS marketing is useless for small businesses

An absolute lie. Mobile marketing is such a versatile tool that is ideal for any type of business.

Just consider the following business cases:

• A small handmade jewelry store uses SMS to announce new items’ arrival, congratulate customers on their birthday, notify them about the shipment/delivery of goods, etc.
• Large passenger transportation company sends confirmation SMS to its customers on the flight check-in; reminds the clients of the departure date and time, suggests new tours, etc.
• An online clothing store – applies personalized messages with a selection of products based on the customer’s previous purchases, notifies about promotions, tracks the order processing steps, etc.

Myth #2. You can’t make money on SMS

A well-built SMS strategy can both significantly increase your profit and win customer loyalty.

Plan SMS campaigns in advance: info-reasons, dates, timing, message texts.

Make sure that the recipient database contains only those who personally agreed to receive SMS from you.

Create chains of text messages, don’t be afraid to remind customers about yourself.

Always analyze statistics and evaluate the effectiveness of SMS campaigns.

The main task is to make customers an offer that he could not refuse 🙂 And if you can cope with this task, you will immediately feel the absurdity of this myth. An investment in SMS marketing is an investment in the future, in lead generation, customer loyalty, and in the development of your business.

Myth #3. Message Marketing is Spam

No, no, and no again! SMS marketing is a well-planned strategy for working with subscribers. The main word in this sentence is “subscribers”. You will never be called a spammer by people who will receive an SMS containing the necessary and essential information for them.

Provide customers with several ways to subscribe to your SMS mailings. It can be performed by a feedback form on the website, a questionnaire in the point of sales, registration of a discount card, etc.

We recommend following four basic rules of a successful; SMS marketing campaign:

1. Never buy a database of phone numbers!
2. Carefully compose the message texts you are going to send.
3. Send SMS rarely: too frequent mailings are annoying
4. And always allow customers to unsubscribe from the SMS mailing list (even if you are not very happy about it).

With technological growth, the borders are blurred. Distance is no longer a barrier. Wherever your subscriber is located, you can always send them a short message. It creates the illusion of intimacy, the dream of friendship between the client and the company. The more reliable this illusion is, the more willing the consumer will be to communicate with the company, make purchases, and participate in promotions.

It is in your power to “get closer” to the client as much as possible:

• Expand the knowledge about your target audience by always studying consumer behavior.
• Analyze and segment your customer database into targeted groups according to the criteria you selected.
• Collect as much personal information as possible (name, date of birth, date of registration, order number, product preferences, city of residence, profession, interests, etc.) and personalize messages, create information guides for the subscriber personally. Create a full portrait of the recipient.

All of the above comes down to the fact that the introduction of SMS marketing, like any other strategy, requires a clear understanding of the main objectives and goals that the business owner aims to achieve.

An SMS message is another channel for communicating with potential consumers and clients. Whether it is a long-term collaboration or a one-time SMS – all depends on business decisions, its ability to respond quickly to changes in the situation and adjust actions depending on the behavior of the target audience.