THE DO S AND DON TS OF SMS MARKETING

Transcription

1 THE DO S AND DON TS OF SMS MARKETING

2 02 Firstly, if you are not already doing it, do consider text marketing! Mobile commerce is growing. This is simply because people like and prefer mobile phones and texting as a form of communication. It s convenient, easy and affordable. marketing is yesterday s news and it s been proven to be ineffective, just as fax shots were before , remember them? Market research firm Frost & Sullivan concluded that just 22% of s are read by recipients, compared to a 98% open-rate for text messages. Companies now want their name on your personal small screen, rather than the big business desk-top. Generating new enquiries and customers and maintaining brand awareness and loyalty from existing customers will always be a challenge. Communicating with your audience by text can help.

3 03 Sending a text is easy Texting is easy, which is why we all take to it. But before embarking on your first SMS marketing campaign, check out our do's and don ts advice. Don t panic! There aren t many pit falls, but following best practice and being aware of potential issues will ultimately improve outcome results and prevent any problems further down the line.

4 04 Here s the 123-txt recommended do s and don ts A GOOD CONTACT LIST IS ESSENTIAL Do take time to build you target list the right way. Start asking customers and potential customers if they would like to opt-in and receive vouchers, presale notifications etc. by text. Get their mobile number and start building a list. It may take a while, but it will be worth it. You will have a quality list of people who are genuinely interested in your product or service. It will also cost you less to run a well targeted campaign rather than embarking on a scattergun approach and just playing a numbers game. Don t buy-in a list of contact numbers. It may seem like the ideal quick solution, but it s unlikely to result in a successful campaign outcome. Ask yourself If I received a spurious text from a company I have never heard of, would I open it? If the answer is no, it is unlikely that anyone else will either.

5 05 MOBILE MARKETING HAS TO BE RELEVANT AND WANTED Don t Spam. Don t ignore guide lines. Be prepared for rants on social media or complaints to the ICO, which is really serious and can lead to legal action. Do include an opt-out path on all messages and do manage opt-outs meticulously. If someone replies STOP to your messages, you are obliged to remove them from future messaging. This enables you to stay within the regulatory guidelines while maintaining customer satisfaction. Do read the ICO and OFCOM guidance* and make sure you understand the implications before you start texting. *

6 06 MESSAGE CONTENT A text message is a lot less disruptive than a phone call, but you still need a good reason to contact them so the text does not irritate. Bearing this in mind Do keep your messages short and sweet. You have 160 characters at the most to play with. If you use special characters such as accented characters, emojis or foreign characters you will have less. Do personalise your message. Personalised messages are much more engaging. 123-txt lets you have an unlimited number of customised fields so there really is no excuse. Personalisation isn t just about addressing the individual with their proper name. It allows you to provide them a bespoke, personalised offer or unique information (even though you are sending the message to many thousands of recipients). Our platform even allows you to create dynamic tiny URLs each individually pointing to a unique offer on your website. You can pay extra for more characters if you really want to, but remember that people prefer short, to the point communications, so it could be a waste of credits. Do make sure you use an editor that correctly calculates the message length and more importantly the cost to you in order to send your campaign. Our platform will count every individual character in each and every single message fragment of your campaigns to tell you the exact cost before you click the send button! Do consider the scheduling of your messages. You probably don t want to send people promotional offers late into the evening. You would probably want to limit your 2 for 1 Tuesday offer just to a Tuesday for instance. If you re sending a promotion that has an end date make sure no messages are accidently sent out after the offer has ended. Do offer value and include a compelling call to action. Up to 60% off winter coats. Visit Use the discount code WINTERCHILL60 at the checkout. Bonus purchase by 30th Jan and get a free matching scarf.

7 07 Don t forget to say who you are and what you are promoting. Today only! 50% off all stock. Come and join the in-store or online discount windfall and catch a bargain. From: Unknowntnyurl. Don t give up if your first campaign falls short of expectations. Practice makes perfect. You will soon be able to work out what customers respond to. This insight will enable you to develop a bespoke text marketing formula for your business and customer base. Don t use brand names you don t own When you send a text message you can opt to send an Alpha ID instead of a reply telephone number. Only use trademarks and brands that you own or represent. Our platform fully supports Alpha ID but we ask you to provide evidence of your ownership please. Don t overdo it and risk upsetting your customers, it will result in needless optouts. Don t forget to check and double check your messages. Once you ve hit send there is no way of stopping things, so it needs to be right first time. Do clean-up your database regularly, ideally after every campaign. Take out invalid numbers. They then won t waste your credits. Do be patient. Customers will respond if your message is of genuine interest to them.

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