EFFICIENCY
We’re all well aware how powerful an instrument the SMS system is. It has a regular opening rate of 98% in the first 2 minutes of delivery. Also, it works without the Internet availability. This makes it one of the most popular marketing tools for the business. Coming to the E-commerce sector, Bulk SMS Marketing has gained a high preference due to its efficient features which are stated below.
- It is highly cost-effective.
- It is absolutely trustworthy with the mobile users.
- There is no need of the Ad copies.
- It ensures that there won’t be any delay in the implementation.
- Measuring of results is pretty simple and can be handled with ease.
SUCCESS RATE
Let us also talk about the success rate of this system. This can be clearly displayed by its 98% open rate. So, there are around 6 billion individuals who use the mobile phone, out of which 20-30% customers open the messages and out of these, 47% users purchase the product.
SMS MARKETING
The entire idea of SMS Marketing is to contact the clients of interest and send them the messages with suitable information containing the essential business thought. So, it is very important to get acquainted with the marketing strategies which make the Bulk SMS system meet the organizational goals.
Let us now discuss a few tips to consider while working with an SMS Marketing Campaign.
1. Build an SMS Targeting List
So, building a SMS targeting list can only start if you exactly know your target customers. You must know whom you’re pitching to and why will they avail your service. In the Bulk SMS system, all your messages are client-based, and hence you must know that a message can be useful to one client and maybe not to the other one. Therefore, a correct message should be customized for the correct client so that it is lucrative.
Also, you need to make a list of your customers in a classified form, the present customers, the past customers, and the loyal ones. When we sync the information of the clients, it enables us to study who our objective clients are. The list should also include other necessary information related to the business, which may be purchase history, location etc.
Know your Customers
Sign Up campaigns is a good approach to et to know the best clients for you to connect. These campaigns acquaint your clients with your SMS Services which then tempts them to join your messaging list. Tracking of success rate can let you review if your SMS Marketing is delivering the expected results.
A campaign is successful if maximum number of clients clicks on the message and connect further. Also, include an ‘opt-out’ option in your messages regularly so if any customer does not want your messages, they can stop it anytime.
Rules and Regulations
You must know the rules and regulations of the SMS Campaigns before preparing the target list.
- Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) guidelines
- Customers’ right to not receive Unsolicited messages
- Client’s right to opt out of accepting message
- Customers’ right to provide consent before receiving the messages
It is important to know these, so that you do not face any legal complications while campaigning.
2. Value the Time of Customers
We need to pay proper attention while framing the message that each message that the customer receives must be worth their time. It is very disappointing when one receives a message that is of little or zero value to them. So, it must be noted that the time of customer must not waste by sending useless offers, or any information that is not meant for them.
It is observant that some incorporate challenges and contests, offers of exclusive deals etc. are very irritating and this makes the user quit entertaining a certain service system.
Use of Keywords
Use of the SMS Keywords like ‘send OFFERS to 56562XXX’ for receiving discount coupons at your nearest brand showroom, is very effective way of increasing the opt-in list of customers who are interested in receiving your messages.
It does not let the Bulk SMS Marketing be intrusive, as when you get the opt-in list, you know whom to send messages to because you’ve been permitted, and whom not to.
This also helps in maintaining the reputation of your business because it ensures that most of the clients want you to communicate with them which are a positive mark.
3. Call to Action (CTA)
Call to Actions is something that puts an expiry to the message and does not let it be left open because open end messages do not prove to be much potent. So, you can include a simple CTA, keeping it brief and including the guidelines, to ensure higher response results.
Your SMS should create a sense of urgency by setting an expiry date to your offers or vouchers. This will make the clients to respond quickly because limited time would put into a condition of availing a certain service right then. Through CTA, you should try to convince your client that the message is profitable to them in some manner.
Use of URL
A telephone number or an URL needs to be incorporated at the end of your messages. Besides this if the URL of site is mentioned, look to it that the link is mobile friendly. URLs can also be shortened using Goog.gl or Bit.ly.
4. Timing of Sending the SMS
Timing is an important parameter to know if the client will read the message or not. It predicts a lot. For this, we need to study the time slot that keeps maximum users occupied on their phone so that it can be impact. The Right Time of your SMS will ensure that the client would not see your message as a SPAM message. A perfect time can be found out only after a Trial and Error method is practiced.
Certain tips for the same are stated below.
- Selecting Too Early and Too Late timings of the day to send the messages is a wrong choice.
- Triggers should be used to receive an SMS after specific activities.
- The weekends are a good option as the clients usually have more availability of time than usual.
Frequency Check
This is another important factor to maintain the number of clients. Messages sent too often might irritate the users and make them quit the service, and even the long gaps between messages might make them forget about a certain subscription. This must be studied and further brought into practice so that your messages are tuned as per the purpose and your target audience.
5. Personalization
It does feel special when you’re called by your name and not by a term that refers to a certain category of people. Similarly, when you refer to your client as ‘Mr./Ms. ShaXXX’, they feel more connected rather than when you refer to them as just ‘client’ or ‘user’. This means that your message should be warm and interactive so that the customers feel important and special.
Now, to ensure this, your SMS campaigns should be framed to individual customer groups. All the details inclusive of Location, Gender, Age and Past Records play a prominent role.
For an example, you cannot offer a makeup item to the male users as it is obvious that the responses will be just next to zero. This is where all of these filtering parameters help us to target effectively.
The mail merge feature of the Marketing Software can also be brought to use for inserting the details like names etc. As mentioned, when you know your clients and their needs, the Bulk SMS service gets very efficient and produces wonderful results.
Taking an example, for a gadget geek, you can update them for the launch of new gadgets of their interest.
Precise, Concise & Short
Your words need to be chosen very carefully, ad your language should be to-the-point to maintain the clarity of your message.
It is the art that you need to know because besides having a word limitation, you also cannot be too direct. So, you need to play is short.
As in whole, you need to respect the client’s private space that the client is letting you in by opening your message. And in that very little time, you have to make sure that their time is not getting wasted, and the language is not irritating them. All of this helps in growing the faith of the clients ultimately.
6. Track & Optimize
It is very much obvious that the clients might take some time to respond to our messages, and for this you need to give them sufficient time. There are software like Scheduler that allow you draft your messages and schedule the delivery at any time that is found suitable for the customers.
Now what we need to do is the calculation of response rate which is done by Tracking and Optimizing. This helps us measure the effectiveness of SMS Marketing Campaign. For optimization, different groups can be targeted at various times to find out the most efficient option for ourselves.
Bulk SMS Marketing Software can be used to find the granular metrics for the files associated with your SMS Campaign. You should regularly check and delete the old contacts that cannot be reached. This would save time and money. For this you can follow a very responsive method called as ‘Three Strikes and You are Out’.
CONCLUSION
Now that you’re acquainted with the tips of SMS Marketing Campaigns, you can now begin one which will bring good returns to your investments. It is also important for you to comprehend the significance of accomplishing your objectives to run a successful SMS Campaign.
Bulk SMS Marketing Campaigns helps with Building the Database of perspective members, Creating Leads, Conversion of Prospects with personalized offers and even Retaining existing Clients by taking Regular Feedback.