Summary: Companies should consider targeting customers with an SMS marketing campaign.
In order to respond to the rising number of smartphone and tablet owners worldwide, it could be time for brands that aren’t doing so already to begin targeting customers via SMS marketing.
With technology continuing to evolve and more consumers than ever getting their hands on the latest gadgets, businesses need to ensure they have the right tools in place to stay one step ahead of their competitors.
The mobile channel is a great way of engaging with the public and encouraging them to buy in to your company, plus it also helps to maintain a steady connection with customers and keep them loyal.
And, according to a post on Business 2 Community, there’s no better way to stay in touch with mobile users than by complementing email marketing with an SMS campaign.
The article states text messages can be easily integrated in to a firm’s marketing strategy, as while it shares important similarities with email platforms, it also has definite differences that can be taken advantage of to strengthen communication with consumers.
For instance, both channels invite the consumer to respond to the brand and this sets up two-way discourse that is personal and interactive. Text messages could be used to send short, time-sensitive information like appointment reminders or promotions, while email is good for longer, targeted content.
In addition, with so many people currently opting to read emails via their mobile phones, there’s an even greater chance of the customer reading and responding to the message.
However, if you’re planning to send consumers a link to your website within the SMS messages or emails, you need to ensure it is fully optimised for mobile use, as otherwise the time you’ve taken to send out the messages will be wasted.
Worryingly, a recent report published by Pitney Bowes found just eight per cent of small and medium-sized companies have a mobile-optimised website and less than half (49 per cent) have integrated the mobile channel in to their business strategy.
Business 2 Community provides some key rules that mobile marketers should abide by if they want to find out how SMS could work for their strategy.
Firstly, it states that like email, SMS is permission-based, so customers aren’t going to be outraged by the fact a company is contacting them in such a personal way. Setting up an opt-in service – which involves people texting your own personalised short code – means you’re guaranteed to see more people join your SMS database.
It further advises businesses to keep their messages short, as most texts will be read in less than five minutes, while others will be absorbed in seconds. Keep promotions short and sweet, making sure the main point of the SMS is delivered straight away, while it must also be made obvious as quickly as possible how customers can make the most of the deal you are offering.
While SMS marketing is great for boosting interest in your company, there is a fine line when it comes to how often you make contact with consumers. Sending out text messages daily is sure to become irritating after a while and you could end up losing contact numbers from your database.
Dynmark is the power behind global cloud mobile messaging and mobile marketing. We help organisations from SME through to global enterprise, to leverage the power of messaging as a business communication tool, for marketing or operational uses. Read more about Dynmark here.
