What is Text Message Marketing? SMS (Short Message Service) Text Message Marketing is the ability to send permission-based text messages to a group of people who have opted-in to your mobile list. The small, yet powerful, 160 character spaces is one of the best marketing tools available today. With trillions of text messages being sent over the past few years, consumers have adapted to this method extremely well. Not only have they adapted to it, but they are somewhat addicted to it. In fact, some studies show that most text message users prefer to communicate via text messaging instead of talking on the phone. The convenience and effectiveness of Text Marketing has made it a very useful instrument for those businesses that have embraced it. It simply makes staying in touch with your target market much easier, which ultimately translates into sales. The use of Text Message Marketing is very straightforward; it is a simple case of sending out your company s latest marketing message to your list of mobile phone numbers. 1
Why Text Message Marketing? Over 6 BILLION Mobile Subscribers (87% of the World Population) Text messaging is the most-used mobile service - it is the King of Mobile Marketing Most mobile users send and receive text messages daily 4.1 billion texts are sent daily in the U.S alone More than one-half of U.S. mobile spending is LOCAL Consumers ALWAYS have their mobile devices with them Text massages has a 94% Open Rate with a 5% to 30% conversion rate. If this doesn t do it for you then stop here. Benefits of Text Message Marketing Extremely targeted Your text marketing campaigns are specifically targeted to your customers and prospects. No other form of marketing can give you this type of instant access to hot buyers. Permission-based opt-in marketing Text messaging is not spam because your list opted-in to receive your messages. As long as you make it easy for them opt-out, there is no problem. Your messages are welcome. Reliable, Instant Reach - Reach your entire target market at the push of a button. Most text messages are delivered, so your campaigns will reach almost all of your intended parties. High Open Rates - Most will read the message within minutes of receiving it. More than 90% of text messages are read within the first 5 minutes. Higher Redemption Rates - Text message offers are redeemed 10 times more often than traditional marketing offers. This alone leads to higher profits and revenue. Reduce Advertising Costs - Text messaging services are low cost; this, coupled with the high response rate is the perfect recipe to boost your ROI. Personalized Communication - Communicating with customers one-on-one makes them feel special, which leads to a long-term relationship. Builds Customer Loyalty Loyal customers stick around for a long time. When people do business with those they like and trust, they become lifelong customers. Can Go Viral - Your customers will forward your messages to their family and friends and they will forward them to their family and friends building your list even further and you didn t have to do anything extra to get that exposure. 2
Ways to Build Your Mobile Marketing List Text-to-Join - People text your keyword to 555-555-1234 and they will be added to your list. This is called opt-in, which means they are giving you permission to send them text messages. o Works best when giving away something of value - Contests to win prizes, surveys, newsletter sign-ups, opinion polls, promotions or discounts. o Target Existing and Potential Customers - You want as many people as possible to join your list, so start with those who are already doing business with you. However, don t forget to utilize the power of Mobile marketing to grab new customers as well. o Setup an Immediate Response When Someone Joins It is good practice to have a message setup to go out immediately to welcome new people to your list. It s good to give them a gift right away to give them that instant gratification as well to reduce opt-outs. o Example: Customer texts good food to 555-555-1234, they receive an automated text message back saying something like: Thank you for joining the Hamburger Spot mobile list! Show this text to receive 30% off of your next combo meal o Advertise your Keyword codes on all of your marketing materials including: Inside Your Business Establishment On Your Company Vehicles Flyers Business Cards Radio TV Commercials Billboards T-shirts Posters Banners Anywhere else your target market will see! Website Sign-up - Add a sign-up form on your website or mobile website (recommended) and make it visible to your visitors. Ask them to join your mobile list in exchange for an incentive. You can also create stand-alone mobile web pages just for this purpose alone. (recommended) Email Your List - Email your existing email list and tell them about your new mobile club. Again, ask them to join most of them would love to because they will get your promotions right away instead of waiting until they check their email again. Social Media Sign-Up - Send a call to action to your social media followers asking them to join your mobile list. Most social platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter have list-building applications and widgets that you can use to build a list. Alternatively, you can send them right to your website s mobile sign-up page or even better your mobile website. 3
Birthday Club, Rewards Program Sign-up - Put a form on your website to have people sign-up to your mobile Birthday Club Rewards Program. For instance, while customers are visiting your business, you can have them join while they re there. After joining, they can receive special offers before other customers, as well as receive something for FREE on their birthday. Manual Sign-up - Your staff can offer your customers the option of joining your mobile list and give them an incentive for doing so. You would then enter their phone numbers into your website sign-up form manually. Be sure to have your customer s double opt-in. 4
Text Message Marketing Ideas Offer Mobile Coupons and Discounts - Most of your customers would probably love to receive mobile notifications about special offers from your business. So keep them coming in by offering them special deals from time to time. Send Text Message Offers to Increase Traffic on Slow Days - If you have a day that s normally slower than others, you could implement a campaign to drive more traffic through the doors on those days in particular. It only takes a few minutes to write and send a text message, but the effect is amazing. Many businesses are seeing a clear increase in sales just by using this method alone. Send Reservation Reminders or Table Ready Notifications - If you offer reservations, you can send text messages to confirm reservations and decrease wasted table space. You can also send text messages to let your waiting customers know when their tables are ready. This way, they will get your notification no matter where they are. Send Appointment Reminders - Reduce no-shows and save your staff some time by using the power of text messaging. You can easily send reminders to your customers about their appointments and reservations. You can also send text messages to confirm appointments in advance. That way, if someone has to cancel, you have time to fill that appointment with another customer. Each missed appointment means lost revenue. (more on this later) Send Service Reminders - You can easily increase sales by simply reminding your customers that it s time for service. Sometimes, all it takes it a little reminder and most people will take action. Send Important Alerts Schools, for instance, text parents about important reminders, meetings, conferences, truancy issues, and other emergencies that their students. You can also communicate with your entire student body in a matter of minutes. Send Important Updates Retail businesses can send text messages to let their customers know the status of their orders as well as shipping details. Implement a Frequent Dining Program Restaurants reward their loyal customers by offering them some type of discount based on how often they come in. For instance, you could offer a dining punch card that rewards them with a free meal after so many visits/punches. Send Event Reminders to Increase Attendance - Having a special event at your business? Your customers would probably want to know about that so send them a quick reminder and watch the attendance rise. Alert Customers About New Menu Items - Adding a new dish to the menu? Your customers will probably want to try it out, so shoot them a text message to let them know about it. 5
Implement QR Codes - QR codes are barcodes that can send your mobile audience wherever you want - instantly. For instance, if you have a QR code directed to the menu on your website, your mobile customers can simply scan the code and the menu will pull up on their mobile devices (your site should be mobile-friendly for effectiveness). You can also use QR codes to send people to online videos, your Google Maps page, and many others. Put your QR codes on all of your marketing materials and anywhere else your target market will see them. Hold Contests - Contests allow you to engage with your list in a way that they will enjoy and have a chance to win something cool. If you have something good that your customers like, they will participate to get it for free or at a discount. This is powerful for keeping your list involved and looking forward to your messages. Notify Customers of Sales and Other Events - Text messaging is a quick way to remind your customers about special sales and events to help bring in more traffic. With so many businesses out there today, this is another great avenue to stay in front of your customers and remind them that you exist. Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Polls - Send a quick text message to your customers to find out what they think about your business. They would love to give you that information both the happy ones and the not-so-happy ones. This feedback will help you improve your Business s menu and service. Display Real Estate Property Information Add Text your lms to 555 555-1234 on your properties for sale signs that will instantly give prospects more information. This will help you manage your workload by reducing calls from prospects asking for basic property details. In addition, this is convenient to your buyers because they have the convenience of getting this information instantly instead of having to track you down. Send Thank You Messages - If you really want to improve customer loyalty, send occasional messages to your list to tell them Thank You for being a valued customer. Simply showing them that you care is powerful in keeping them coming back to your business to enjoy the product or service that they love. Communicate Efficiently with Staff - Text marketing is not only good for communicating with your customers; it the perfect tool for communicating with your staff members as well. Again, everybody is glued to their cell phones these days including your staff members. So it s a fast, convenient, and reliable way to get in touch with them when you need to. 6
Different Types of Text Message Marketing Campaigns Save More Campaigns - These offers influence your customers to come and buy from you so they can take advantage of your special offer. Everyone loves to save these days. Example: Show this text to receive 20% off of any hamburger combo at Hamburger Spot. EXP 5/15 Spend More Campaigns - These offers influence your customers to spend more money than they usually would so they can take advantage of a discount. Example: Spend $25 or more at Hamburger Spot and receive $5 OFF when you show this text. EXP 5/15 Purchase More Campaigns - These offers influence your customers to purchase more items so they can take advantage of a discount. Example: Purchase a large fry at Hamburger Spot and get $1 OFF of a regular milkshake. EXP 5/15 Get Something for Free Campaigns - These offers influence your customers to buy something so they can take advantage of a free offer. Example: Purchase two Kid s Meals at Hamburger Spot and receive two cookies for FREE. EXP 5/15 7
Benefits of Text Message Appointment Reminders No-Shows are costing your business money; there s no denying that. When people fail to show up for their appointments and don t bother to call, that is lost revenue that you could have filled with another customers. Reduce No-Shows Implement a system where you use text messaging to remind your customers of their appointments. If they need to cancel, they will send you a text right back immediately. Gone are the days that you have to leave a message on their phone and hope they check their voicemail. Ability to Fill More Canceled Appointments If people do need to cancel or reschedule, they will let you know so you have a chance to fill it. Most people only need an hour or two notice, and they d be happy to fill a canceled appointment. Lowers Lost Revenue Text reminders will give you a chance to fill appointments if someone cancels, which improves your overall revenue. Saves Staff Some Time Your staff no longer has to make call after call to confirm appointments. Most people are too busy to even answer their phones these days. Not to mention checking their voice mail. So text messaging is a hands-free way to confirm appointments while your staff works on something more important. Easy - No Software or Technical Knowledge Required. Although it may sound hard, running a Text Marketing campaign is really easy. As long as you re comfortable with a computer. Reduced Expenses Text marketing doesn t require any ink, stamps, printing, paper, or anything like that. It s all electronic, and can be accomplished within just a few minutes. It s one of the most cost-effective forms of marketing around today. 8
Text Message Marketing Tips Tell List Subscribers What to Expect as Soon as They Join - Let them know that they will receive special offers and discounts from your business from time to time. This way, there will be no surprises and they will understand what to expect. Implement Forward to a Friend Text Campaigns - Offer your customers freebies or discounts for forwarding your text messages to their family and friends. This makes your message go viral with no additional efforts on your part. This is a powerful, hands-free form of marketing. Always Include Your Business s Name in Your Messages - When people receive text messages, they will only see a phone number. So it s extremely important to include your business s name in the message so they know who sent it. That way, they won t opt-out or forget about you the next time they receive a text message. Branding is still important even though it s mobile. Respect Your Customers; Make it Easy for Them to Opt-Out of Your Mobile List - To avoid complaints, be sure to tell your subscribers exactly how they can opt-out of your list (as bad as you don t want that, it s going to happen so make it easy for them). Most businesses simply set things up in a way that allows their subscribers to text STOP to 555-555-1234. Example: Reply STOP to Opt-Out Notify Consumers of Potential Text Message Costs - Most mobile carriers require that you notify consumers of the cost of text messaging. For instance, if you are running a standard rate campaign, all call-to-action and opt-in messages should let consumers know that message and data rates may apply. Example: Msg&data rates may apply. Remember to include an expiration date on your offers to increase urgency. 9
Text Message Marketing Mistakes to Avoid Sending Out Sporadic Messages - Don t start out sending one message every two weeks and then cut back to one message every two months. Train your list to expect to hear from you on a frequent basis. Otherwise, you risk more opt-outs. Sending Out Spam - Opt-in mobile list building is the safest way to go. Sending messages to people who did not opt-in to be on your list is considered spam. It is not advised to purchase lists and things of that nature because you never know the source. However, take a little time and build your own, authentic list. It will be more effective anyway because most of them will be existing customers. Only Sending Out Promotions - Limit the number of promotional offers that you send out to your list. Once per week is good for most businesses. At all other times, be sure to send out some useful content that your list would appreciate. You want to make sure they re looking forward to your next text message! 10
How You Can Use QR Codes Send Users Directly to Your Mobile Website or Website with One Click Direct your QR code to your website so your mobile visitors don t have to type in your web address on their small phones. Send Users to a Live Video Tour of Your Business Prospects and customers love to see live footage of businesses that they re considering doing business with. In addition to tours of your business, you can shoot commercial-style videos, product or service demonstration videos, how-to tutorial videos, and more. Create an Instant Mobile Take Out Menu Restaurants, hotels, and other establishments that serve food can put QR codes on their menus. But even better how about they put up a big sign inside of their establishment that says Want Our Take-out Menu at Your Fingertips at All Times? Scan This to Store in Your Phone. Send Users to Your Photos and Social Media Sites - QR codes are a great way to gain even more exposure by sending your audience directly to your online properties. Send Them to Your Coupons and Discount Offers - Use QR codes to send your customers to a mobile web page with a coupon. You can even put QR codes on your coupons to send them to other destinations. Put Your QR Codes on ALL Marketing Materials - This includes your website, flyers, brochures, business cards, takeout menus, signs, and more. Put QR Codes on Your Receipts - On the back of their receipts, many businesses are asking people to go to their websites and enter a chance to win a special giveaway or offer. Most people forget or don t even bother to wait until they get in front of a computer. Instead, put your QR code on the back of your receipts so they can enter on the spot. Business Location and Other Information - Use QR codes to direct people to your Google Maps, where they can find your address, phone number, website, hours of operation, and more. 11