Are you sitting next to your phone right now? Chances are, the answer is yes. And according to The Daily Mail, people check their phone an average of 85 times a day. That’s a lot.
Despite the fact that we live in a mobile society, many businesses have been hesitant to capitalize text messaging in their marketing efforts. Why is that?
A few things to consider:
Open rates. Text messaging averages an open rate of 82.1%. Compare that to email open rates that average around 24%.
It’s regulated, but not overly complicated. Yes, the telephone industry has regulations in place to protect consumers from text message spamming. But, if you utilize permission based marketing (as you should), you’re simply communicating to your audience in way that they wish to be communicated with.
Provide value and you won’t come off as pushy. It seems business owners and marketers are most hesitant to use text message marketing because they don’t want to come off as intrusive or pushy. But as with any other communication – if customers feel as though the texts are valuable, they won’t mind hearing from you. Exclusive discounts, sneak peeks, and deals typically work best.
Keep it short. You’ll want to stay under 160 characters, so get to the point quickly.
Have a CTA. Similar to the point above, keep your message short, but have a link to where your customer can take action. Use a short, branded url to receive 39% more click-throughs.
Segmentation still applies. Just like you shouldn’t be emailing everyone the same thing, segmentation applies to text messaging campaigns too. Think about welcome texts, different messaging/frequency to your most loyal customers, etc.
Personalization still applies. Use your customer’s name and direct them to products and information they care about.
You’ll improve your customer experience. In addition to promotional messages, text messaging services can be used to send appointment reminders, links to surveys, purchase confirmations, and more. One-on-one, personalized communication can improve your customer experience.
Testing is fairly simple. There are lots of text messaging services out there – and most are very affordable or even offer free trials. Use your existing marketing efforts (social media, website, email, etc.) to get the word out and have your customers opt-in. You can quickly and affordably gauge interest from your audience.
Don’t get too excited. If you come up with a strategy and execute it well, you’ll see opt-ins and your open rates will be high. But don’t overdo it or take advantage of your audience’s desire to hear from you. Two or three messages per month is typically about right.
It’s our new reality. Do you have to have a website? Do you have to use email marketing? Maybe not, but for most businesses, using these mediums help them grow their business. Embracing the reality of text message marketing is no different.
Is text message marketing a part of your marketing strategy for 2020?
