The rapid rise of digital marketing over the past decades has made short message services (SMSs) a less common marketing strategy today. Regardless, if used correctly, this old-school marketing option remains an effective way of attracting quality leads and communicating with your customers. Here, we look at five ways to leverage the power of SMS marketing.
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Use advanced communication protocols
Gone are the days when SMS marketing only involved sending well-drafted texts to your target audience. With modern technology and advanced communication protocols like Rich Communication Services, it is now possible to enjoy more features, including:
- Ability to send rich media content such as images, GIFs, and video
- Ease in creating group chats
- Instant file sharing
- A single point of access for all RCS-enabled devices worldwide
These features will enable you to deliver intelligent conversations that impact your target audience more. It gets better as RCS messaging is affordable and eliminates the hassle of relying on multi-vendor solutions.
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Know your audience
Similar to all other marketing ventures, the effectiveness of your SMS marketing campaigns will be dictated by how well you know your audience. Always take time to understand your customer demographics, including the recipient’s location, age, and gender, before sending them any message. You should also segment your clients for ease in tailoring your messages and promotions to suit each target group.
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Write clear messages
One of the essential elements of an SMS marketing strategy is crafting engaging and clear messages for your target audience. For maximum impact, strive to have fun, informative, and short messages so that they can be more memorable to your customers. Your messages should also have a purpose, and some of the best instances to run an SMS campaign are when you are:
- Welcoming new clients
- Offering time-limited opportunities
- Informing your clients of new products
- Reminding your customers of their appointments, abandoned carts, and unused coupons
- Sending personalized gifts or offers to your customers
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Get your CTA right
Besides the main content of your SMSs, you need to pay attention to the call-to-action you use in your campaigns. Always stick to short and easy-to-follow CTAs that complement the message in your SMS. Some of the CTAs you can use depending on the purpose of your campaign are:
- Buy now
- Click here to discover more
- Don’t miss out
- Text to win/unlock exclusive offers
- Show this text to get 30% off
- Subscribe here and get your 50% discount
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Track and optimize your campaigns
Your SMS marketing campaigns must be actively tracked and optimized to deliver the desired results. The best way to achieve this is by:
- Running A/B tests to determine the version of your message that performs better
- Using a customer relationship management (CRM) platform to measure the performance of your campaigns
- Tracking your campaign’s click-through-rates using codes
Endnote
No matter the type of business you are running, effective SMS marketing can make a tremendous difference for your business, and with these tips at hand, you are guaranteed to see your customer base grow.
