So you’re new to the world of text marketing, have faith in the power of SMS messaging - but you’re not 100% sure how to go about conducting your first campaign? We’ve compiled our top five text marketing tips for newcomers…
- Make it Actionable. When you’re short on space, and you’re dealing with the short attention spans of the mobile audience, it’s vital that your message opens with a direct call-to-action. That first sentence should include the words ‘buy’ or ‘purchase’ or ‘browse’ somewhere. Include a link to your website so customers can take the action you’ve suggested. If you can pull this off without sounding pushy, you’ve already begun mastering the art of effective text marketing.
- Time it Right. One of the key attractions of text marketing is the high open and read rate – the vast majority of messages are open and read within minutes of being received. This makes for tantalizing opportunities to target users with an offer when it is most useful to them. Geo-targeting plays a big role here, allowing you to issue messages when your sign-ups are close to your store. Equally, it’s important to resist the temptation to send too many texts – after all, it’s so easy to do right? Good timing means being sparing with the frequency of your texts.
- Keep it Balanced. Although smartphones allow for longer messages, you should tailor your campaign to the 160-character standard used by older cellphones. That means creating concise copy that includes all the necessary information but isn’t crammed with sales pitches. Each text campaign should refer to just one offer. If you have another promotion coming up next week, wait until then to let subscribers know. If your texts are confusing and cluttered, they’re more likely to be ignored.
- Use Sentence Case. Writing a message entirely in caps is not more eye-catching – it’s a surefire way to irritate readers. Caps have their place – for specific action words like BUY, for example – but are to be used sparingly. Similarly, avoid text lingo as it looks unprofessional.
- Facilitate an Easy Purchase. You could have the most attractive promotional offer in your industry, communicated via a well-conceived, well written text, but if it’s a pain for users to actually complete the transaction, they’ll be turned off – perhaps for good. So make sure you have an efficient mobile payment system in place to take advantage of a market that is increasingly turning to online payment as a convenient way to shop.
SMS marketing can be very effective when it’s done well. Follow our advice and you will reach more customers than you ever thought possible!
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