Whenever your cellular phone rings or notifies, you pick it up to see what message was sent to you. You check if it was either your friends or family. If none of the two, you probably received a text message from a brand for marketing purposes.

In this digital age, brands use text messaging to promote their new product or to promote an upcoming sale. If you are a business owner, you might want to consider utilizing SMS Marketing to advertise your business.

What is SMS Marketing?

Short Message Service Marketing, or SMS Marketing, is a permission-based marketing strategy that utilizes text messaging to promote a business offering. It is an act of sending messages to customers for marketing purposes, using text messages as its marketing channel.

It is one of the Top Marketing Trends of 2018 and is still used today. This recognition is understandable, considering that an impressive 82.1% is the SMS open rate. Millennials generally say that the first thing they check when they wake up is their phones. People check their phones every chance they get, which makes it vital for the success rate of SMS Marketing.

As mentioned above, SMS Marketing is permission-based. Customers typically sign up or opt-in for an automated system. For example, a salon might instruct customers to send keywords to a certain number to be included in the system. The customer’s number is included in the store’s text message marketing software after texting the keyword.

Brands can utilize SMS Marketing to offer a coupon, promote a sale, announce new products, send notifications and updates, send appointment reminders, and collect customer feedback. Learn about sms marketing to further your business.

The Benefits

There is better customer engagement with SMS Marketing. Almost everyone cannot leave their homes without their phones, even regularly checking it for any notification. Whenever their phones ding, they will almost always check what it is about.

People tend to neglect emails for days and leave them unanswered. People also tend to skip on social media notifications, especially if there is a lot all at once. However, people immediately check their phones for a text message. The likelihood of your business promotion getting noticed is much higher than using email or social media.

Information is also sent quickly. With text messaging, users become instantly aware of a new text or notification. There is an immediate delivery of information to your customers using SMS Marketing. Once you click send, the information is sent automatically.

SMS also offers a more personal take in business promotion. Emails get buried deep and forgotten, unlike SMS, where information and response are almost automatic. Using SMS Marketing is a more direct and personal way to inform and interact with your customer.

Rules to Follow

Before utilizing SMS Marketing, there are rules you need to follow. These rules are:

Always get permission

As mentioned above, SMS Marketing is permission-based. This means that you have to make sure that your customers chose to sign up to receive messages from your system. To many, there is nothing more annoying than receiving promotional text messages out of the blue.

You cannot send messages as you please just because you have the numbers of your customers. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) mentions that customers must give their express consent before a business can send text messages. The consent must be clear that the customers know what they are signing up for.

Consent is given by (1) sending a keyword to a certain number, (2) signing up their mobile numbers online, and (3) personally signing up in your business location. Note that you cannot force a customer to opt-in as a condition before purchasing any product or service from your business.

Maintain a professional tone.

The purpose of sending a text message is to promote your business. Thus, it is essential to use a professional tone in your messages. SMS Marketing is fast and brief, which gives you a small window to promote your brand.

Some business owners often commit the mistake of sounding harsh due to conveying the message quicker than usual. Avoid this mistake by maintaining professional and positive words in your messages.

Keep it short yet informative.

No one wants to read a lengthy promotional text message. Text messages sent in sections will only lead to the trash since many find reading long and split messages inconvenient and annoying. Make sure to keep your message short and direct to the point.

Be mindful of the timing of your messages.

People immediately check text messages. However, do not abuse this human behavior by sending messages during odd hours. The last thing that you want is to annoy your customers by sending offers at 2 AM and disturbing their sleep.

Always proofread before sending out text messages.

You only get one chance of sending promotional material to your customers. Thus, the information you send should be correct. Customers also tend to get turned off by any spelling and grammatical mistakes. Proofread your message at least once, or have a colleague check it before sending.

Takeaway

Text messaging can be a useful and powerful tool to promote your business. It’d be wise to take advantage of this opportunity. However, be mindful of the rules mentioned above to promote your business through SMS Marketing successfully.