SMS Marketing is a favorite among many direct-to-consumer brands for its practicality and easy scalability. Simply gathering a mobile phone number from customers can provide you with a line of direct communication that even outlasts physical addresses!
However, SMS marketing is not as simple as it may seem. Here’s a handy list of “do’s” and “don’ts” to help you make the most of your SMS marketing campaigns.
First things first: you don’t want to message people without their permission. Not only is it in bad taste, it’s also illegal. Providing an easy way for recipients to opt-in and opt-out prevents you from becoming a nuisance, and keeps you on the right side of the law. For more information regarding regulatory information, visit the CTIA’s website.
Nothing is worse than spam, and your meticulously planned and elegantly worded marketing strategy goes right out the window if your consumers are constantly bothered by an unwanted “DING!” The goal, then, is to ensure you only send clear, concise messages at the right time. This generally means sending within normal business hours, when the material provided is most likely to be acted upon.
Demographic research is a key component of any marketing strategy, but becomes even more important with direct message campaigns. You should always be curating a list of qualified leads to avoid wasting resources or sending irrelevant information to customers. Prisma’s guide to Micro-Demographic Targeting may be helpful in defining your target audience.
There are a number of regulatory boundaries to direct message campaigns designed to protect the consumer from scams and spam. Choosing a partner that has done their due diligence can help ensure that your messages are not only effective, but compliant. They can also help by providing infrastructure and relationships with cell service providers, making your campaigns much easier to launch.
It may be tempting to let your customers know about everything you have going on, but avoid this urge at all costs. The easiest way to go from loved to loathed is by blowing up someone’s phone. Making your messages short, informative, and infrequent will go a long way toward staying in the recipient’s good graces.
Each and every instance of communication between your business and the customer must be a value add. Ensuring that each of your messages is relevant and offers something practical is the best way to prevent your messages from becoming an annoyance.
SMS Marketing can serve many different purposes, but it is generally helpful to focus on providing one or two distinct types of information, like promotional material or account updates, through SMS. Clearly defining the purpose of your SMS campaign helps naturally limit the number of messages sent to each recipient, and ensures customers are only receiving marketing materials they really have a use for.
SMS marketing strategies sometimes fall short of their intended purpose, but by following these tips, you can be sure you’re giving your business the best shot at running a successful campaign.
For more helpful marketing advice, and to find out how marketing automation can transform your FI, visit Prisma’s blog and get in touch today.
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