The smartphone has become an indispensable part of daily life. Billions of people have their phones with them at all times and are used to receiving news, updates, and communications through a wide variety of channels.
Because of that, getting through this key medium has become essential for companies of all sizes. Mobile search has been on the rise, and websites have been shifting to mobile-centric designs for a few years now.
But while there are plenty of ways to interact with mobile audiences, SMS marketing has been largely ignored, even though bulk SMS campaigns have been proven to be extremely successful in many situations.
So, to help you get on the right track with SMS marketing, let’s look at some of the most effective SMS marketing campaigns you could put together.
Announce Special Deals
There are many small business marketing ideas that can generate excellent results for your company. Sometimes, even something as seemingly simple as a sale can provide a massive boost to your revenue, which is why so many businesses make discounts a key part of their strategy.
However, in order for it to work, you must make sure that people actually find out about the special deals you have in place. After all, waiting for people to stumble onto the offer on their own is not a reliable way to generate sales.
But that’s where SMS campaigns can be so useful.
SMS messages have an unbelievable 98% open rate, which almost guarantees that the information about your promotions will be read and acknowledged.
Because you know that your message will be delivered and read almost immediately, you can add a bit more urgency by creating a time-sensitive campaign, offering special prices for a short period of time.
If the offer is good and you’re providing real value, you can expect a quick surge of sales, which means that after you find what’s working, you can boost your revenue on demand. There are text messaging services for businesses available you could tap into to help you execute SMS marketing campaigns.
Inform About Events
Event attendance is a crucial part of success for most businesses. Since both virtual and in-person events take a lot of time and resources to organize, you must ensure that all of that effort will be worth it and that people will actually show up.
Unfortunately, generating interest around your events isn’t always easy. Even if you have an email list, maintaining high open rates and engagement can be challenging as you promote your most important events.
But with the help of SMS marketing, you can keep your audience in the loop about your upcoming events and ensure that they won’t forget to attend.
First, you can send out invites, linking to your event page that explains what it’s about and some of the main benefits of participating. Then, you can send timely reminders, announce news, and generate excitement around your event as it draws closer.
You can even track SMS campaigns in Google Analytics, gaining insights about what’s working and figuring out how to better use SMS messages in the future.
With physical events, you can set up the messages to go out to people based on their location. You can even do the same for virtual events, segmenting the messages according to the timezone in which the event will be hosted.
Talk About Your Products
No matter how you look at it, your product is the driving force behind your business. Without it, it won’t matter how good your marketing strategy might be or how responsive your support staff is.
But figuring out how to make your audience familiar with your products and what they can offer is not easy. Especially when you also have to differentiate your brand and your offers from the competition that sometimes has much larger marketing budgets.
Because of that, many brands are starting to utilize SMS campaigns to spread their message. Since SMS messages have such high open rates, you can be confident that your prospects will read the message.
Then, your main task becomes telling a story that captures and keeps their attention, persuading them to try your products and services by giving compelling reasons why they should choose you over the competition.
Once you have a list of people who have opted in to your list, you can basically use SMS messages as you would an email newsletter. The format allows you to send short but compelling messages and then link to an article or product page that expands on the subject.
And don’t limit yourself to writing just about your products – you can also talk about your brand values, your team, and your goals, forming stronger connections with your audience that build loyalty and trust.
Keep Customers in the Loop
Finally, a great way to provide a quick boost to sales is to keep your customers informed about the products that they care about.
If you’re adding new products to your selection, sending out a message that announces the news to your list will usually generate excitement and help get your new products to start selling quickly.
Since you can insert links into SMS messages, people on the go can quickly go to the product page on their phone and buy in just a few seconds. Compared to having to open an email, the process is just more natural and in-line with smartphone user habits.
You can even build anticipation for upcoming launches by sending out regular updates about the new product line, its launch date, and the various options that will be available.
Another way to use SMS campaigns is to let your audience know about products that have been restocked.
Your hottest-selling items will sometimes sell out, which can be frustrating to your customers. Letting them know that the product is available again will not only help your sales but will also show your audience that you take the extra effort to meet their needs.
Final Words
SMS marketing has been around for a while, but it’s still one of the best ways to keep your audience informed and help you multiply your sales.
Whether you want to announce special details, boost event attendance, or even build brand awareness, SMS messages are a perfect tool for maintaining a direct line with your audience that you can use to grow your business.