SMS Marketing Articles - Page 2 of 3

Text Voting and Polling

When it comes to text voting and polling, investing in a text marketing package is a great way to be able to have individuals text their votes and take part in a poll for a variety of reasons. Text voting and polling is a helpful way to encourage more text marketing followers to find out about your business and what you have to offer.

There are many reasons to consider using text voting and polling, especially if you are already signed up with a text marketing service. This text marketing service can be a great way to find those individuals that are interested in what your business has to offer and then market your services and products directly to the crowd or group of individuals that will be the most likely to want to shop at your store and purchase your products and services. If you are part of an organization, you can always use the text voting and polling as a way to draw attention to a cause or program that is currently going to receive input from the individuals that would be most interested to find out more information or provide input to your organization.

About Text Marketing

Many text marketing companies offer awesome and affordable text marketing solutions by appealing to the customer base that is already interested in that particular genre of products and services. These companies that use text marketing to send their customers as well as potential customers information on promotions, sales, discounts, etc. are utilizing an easy and effective service that is one of the most affordable ways to market to customers using new media and technology.

About Text Voting and Polling

There are a few different examples to follow for those interested in having a poll or doing a survey that requires individuals to text in their response via text messaging. For example, voting via SMS message can be done during a battle of the bands-style concert that requires the entertainer or band that has fans vote in for their favorite song or performance. Big network television shows like American Idol have made this a popular way for fans to case their vote on their favorite artist or band. Professional sports teams have also been known to ask fans to vote in for the team or game most valuable player, or top coach, etc.

Restaurants might also want to use a text voting and polling option with their mobile marketing campaign to get feedback from their customers on their favorite dishes, desserts and specials. Bars and clubs can also benefit from offering a text voting and polling feature that allows their patrons to vote in on which song they want to hear next. There are tons of possibilities to be had with the use of SMS text messaging and text marketing technology especially when it comes to text voting and polling. The text voting or polling works by customers texting in their choice to the short code they can get from the business. Usually a business will have a card or a flyer sitting on the table or counter top at checkout with the short code and keyword they want to use to cast their vote based on their choice or opinion.

Businesses can get their customers to offer in to their text message marketing service through this means as well as establish a following of customers that might be interested in receiving messages in the future from that business. That is the perfect to start to be able to send them messages about upcoming events, features, promotions, discounts, sales and even more chances for them to text in their vote to new polls or voting occasions.

If you are interested in adding text voting and polling in to your business, it is a good idea to check out text message marketing providers online that offer the service. Be sure to call and browse around the various text message marketing websites since there are now so many text message marketing providers in the industry. The best text message marketing options will include text voting and polling as a fun and useful option you can add to your online business or organization.

Free Text Messaging Online

With free text messaging online services, as long as users have access to a computer and the Internet, then sending a text message to your friends and family can be done for free. There are many benefits to free text messaging online including the unbeatable price!

With so many people now relying on text messaging as an effective form of communication, text messaging is a great way to be able to communicate with just about anyone who has a mobile phone. However, sometimes text messaging costs with your mobile phone carrier can be expensive. This is why it might be a good idea to try out free text messaging online. Through various online services, you can simply type out your message to an intended recipient’s mobile phone number and click send. It works exactly like a text message does.

Free Text Messaging Online:

There are a few reason to use a free SMS text messaging online service. If you have a limited texting plan with your mobile carrier and run out of messages you’ve been allotted for the month, it is a good idea to try out free text messaging online. With this service, you can send unlimited messages for free. Another reason to try out text messaging online for free is if you have a lot of messages to send at one time. If you plan to send a mass message to family members and friends with an announcement but don’t want to use up all of your monthly allotted messages, this is a great way to text message your contacts for free.

Text messages are essentially short emails that can be sent your contacts quickly and efficiently. The reliability of text messaging has also come a long way in recent years. Text messages used to get lost easily in transition to the recipient. However, as cell phone service carriers continue to grow, the reliability of all mobile phone communications have increased.

As the text messaging phenomenon grows to become one of the most popular forms of mobile communication, soon to surpass mobile voice calling, it is no wonder that text messaging continues to grow with just about every person with a mobile phone having a texting plan. However, not everyone has unlimited text messaging with their mobile carrier because those plans can get pretty expensive. This is when text messaging online services allowing for free messages is a great way to save money on your mobile phone calling and messaging plans.

How it Works:

With some online free text messaging offers, you can easily send the SMS text messages to anyone that has an SMS or text messaging plan with their cell phone. As long as you have a computer with access to the Internet, you can send the message. These programs will support just about all of the major cell phone carriers like Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, etc. You can also easily bookmark the text messaging site for easy access to take care of all of your text messaging needs. Simply search the Internet to make sure the service you are considering using is a free. It is also important to make sure that you are not signing up for a service. This often results in your cell phone number being distributed to online advertisers that will call and regularly message your phone. Make sure and read the terms and conditions with the free service before you begin using the service. This is the best way to make sure the service you are using is legitimate and not a false cover up for an online marketing scam.

Premium SMS

While many mobile phone users are familiar with short message service (or text messaging), not everyone is aware of the difference between that and premium SMS. There are different type of SMS used for different mobile communication reasons. Premium SMS is more business oriented than for personal use.

SMS messaging is also known as text messaging, which most mobile phone users are now familiar with since the technology has taken off as one of the most wide-spread forms of communication. However there are different reasons to use SMS messaging. For some, text messaging is a quick and easy way to get a simple message across to a friend, family member or co-worker. For others text messaging can be used as more of a tool to send out in mass to a list of contacts. This is great for making announcements, sending jokes and forwards similar to email, etc. However, premium SMS messages are used for a slightly different purpose. Some of these short messages may be used to provide the premium rate services to subscribers of a telephone network.

Premium SMS – How it Works:

Mobile terminated short messages, or premium SMS messages are typically used to deliver digital content like news alters, financial information, ring tones, jokes, logos and more. Many companies have capitalized on premium SMS by offering services like jokes, psychic readings, horoscopes, ring tones, etc. Since the development of premium SMS messages in 1998, the industry has now grown in the billions of dollars. Some companies are allowing premium SMS for payment of some services like movie tickets, public transportation tickets, ATM, ordering online, etc. The mobile phone carrier will subscribe to the service by texting in an opt-in message or short code number to begin receiving the messages from the company. This usually enrolls the mobile phone carrier into receiving the service and committing to pay for the messages. Typically premium SMS companies will offer an opt-out option allowing the mobile phone owner to opt out of receiving and paying for the subscription at any time.

To get technical, the value-added service provider who provides the content does so by submitting the message to the mobile operators SMSC using a TCP protocol. This may be similar to the short message peer-to-peer protocol (SMPP) or the External Machine Interface. The SMSC then delivers the SMSM message using the mobile terminated delivery procedure, which is a similar process to the basics of sending a regular SMS message. However, with premium SMS, the subscribers are charged extra to receive this type of content. These premium SMS services cost more to operate, so the subscriber is committing to pay more for the service above the standard text messaging rates. The revenue made off of these premium SMS rates then is divided typically between the value-added service provider and the mobile network operator. The submission to the SMSC is then usually managed by a third party.

Other Premium SMS Services:

Similar to the above mentioned premium SMS services, other premium SMS are used for services like donors message service. Services like this will collect donations via text message for certain humanitarian causes like disaster relief, emergency services, red cross donations, etc. These services have been especially beneficial in recent months like with the recent devastating earthquake in Japan. Services like these work by the phone owner texting in to donate using a short code. The amount the person pledges to donate will then be billed to the mobile phone provider.

Voting via premium SMS services are also becoming popular with many companies that offer the service. Voting for television, or televoting, to TV shows or to place votes on opinion polls are becoming commonly used premium SMS services. If you are a business looking into offering premium SMS messaging, it is a good idea to look into text marketing as a viable option or other premium text messaging services online. If you are a consumer and just looking for the basics on how premium SMS services work, it is important to note that you have rights as a consumer to opt-in and out of these premium SMS services at your own discretion.

SMS vs. MMS

What Is SMS?

SMS is the initialism for Short Message Service, a service that provides text-based messaging services on subscriber’s phones, mobile devices, or web-enabled devices. The first SMS message was sent in the UK in December of 1992. SMS text messages use a standard protocol but with length that varies depending on the alphabet used. An SMS message may contain:

160 7-bit characters
140 8-bit characters
70 16-bit characters.

SMS messages are initiated by a sender and sent to a Short Message Service Center (SMSC), which stores and forwards it. The message is sent, and if it fails, it is put in a queue to retry or discarded, depending on the terms the center offers and the customer has chosen. Delivery reports are available to ensure the sender of receipt.

What is MMS?

MMS is the initialism for Multimedia Messaging Service, a service that provides the service of sending multimedia to a phone or mobile device. Content that can be sent includes images, music, animation, multimedia, and interactive media. It became available more gradually than SMS, after a number of technical issues during its early years.

Sending an MMS starts off like an SMS message, but there are some extra steps that may be needed. After the center receives the MMS, if the recipient uses a different MMS carrier, the message is forwarded via Internet to that carrier. The recipient’s carrier determines if the recipient’s device is MMS-capable. If it is, the message is sent as a text message containing a URL, and the recipient can have the phone browser display the message content. However, if the phone is not capable of viewing an MMS, the message can be accessed via a computer web browser.

Usage and Revenue of SMS vs MMS

In 2008, there were 4.1 trillion SMS messages sent, resulting in a $81 billion revenue. In the same year, there were 50 billion MMS messages sent, resulting in $26 billion revenue. Note that though there were 82 times the number of SMS messages sent as MMS messages, the income from those SMS messages was only a little more than 3 times as much as that of the income from the MMS messages. Providers make (and customers charge) a much higher price for MMS messages than for text messages.

Issues with SMS and MMS

An immediate issue that arises with MMS is, “what if an MMS message is sent to someone without an MMS-capable device?” As noted above, this may simply delay the message until the recipient gets to a device that can read the text with the URL. More serious issues involve the use of SMS and MMS messages to spam and spoof. Spam attacks send the recipient unwanted messages. Spoofing attacks involve a con in which a trusted party/site is duplicated with the hope of getting the recipient to reveal personal information, such as credit card numbers, bank accounts, social security numbers, etc. Other issues have to do with text messages jamming the networks if too many are sent, and the need to reformat MMS messages.

International SMS Text Messaging

Those using international SMS text messaging encounter some different circumstances and issues than those who use domestic SMS text messaging only within the United States. Read this article to gain a basic overview of international SMS text messaging.

What is SMS Text Messaging?

There are times when it’s not possible to have a phone conversation. Perhaps you’re somewhere that you must not make noise or where it would be rude to place a phone call, or perhaps you are in a different time zone from the person you wish to communicate and a phone call would wake the recipient up. There is also the possibility that you want to send a more discreet type of message than is possible when speaking is required. In any and all of these cases, you can use SMS text messaging, a special service designed to transmit relatively short messages (160 or less characters) for a small fee. When SMS messaging in English, alphabetic and numeric characters and Latin text symbols are allowed to be used. SMS text messaging is used for private conversations, advertising, and audience voting on popular reality television shows.

What is International SMS Text Messaging?

International SMS text messaging is SMS text messaging that takes place between two countries, as opposed to domestic SMS text messaging, which takes place within a single country. International SMS services are used by people who are on vacation, studying abroad, on business trips, or who live an work in a country other than that of their friends, family, and colleagues. Because of the greater cost of international communications, international SMS text messaging plans often have different rates than domestic plans, and a special sign-up may be required to access the service.

Sending an International SMS text message is similar to both sending a text message domestically and to placing a long distance phone call. From the United States, one dials 011 + country code + cell phone number.

Important Things to Know About International SMS Text Messaging

• Companies that Provide International SMS Text Messaging

Both telecommunications companies that offer phone service, like TMobile, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint, and specialized SMS text messaging providers offer international SMS text messaging capabilities. Prepaid services may also provide texting.

• Costs for International SMS Text Messaging

Various plans are available with the costs laid out differently. Check around to see what will serve best, because a plan that is best adapted for vacationers overseas briefly may not be the best choice for a long-term overseas employee. Check for these plant elements:

• Will you pay to receive international text messages or only send them? If you pay for incoming messages, what is the cost? (If there are incoming message charges, they are usually less expensive than outgoing message charges.)

• Is there a flat-fee unlimited messages plan with no additional charges?

• Are there plans for certain numbers of messages for a flat fee per month? Does it have different levels so you can adjust to your usage? What happens if you need to go over: can you jump up a plan level, or is there a penalty?

• Is there a flat per-message cost, or is the cost per message dependent on the country to which it is directed?

• Are international and domestic programs separate?

• Is International SMS text messaging available as part of a bundle of services?

• How many countries are included? (Some plans claim around 188 countries, some claim only 70: depending on your purposes, this may or may not be important.) Are there any countries to which you cannot send text messages with the plan?

• Is the service limited to text messaging, or does it include images, video, and/or instant messages?

• Is there any benefit to being on the same plan as the people you will be texting with?

Also, note that being able to send to international locations is not the same as being able to send messages when you are in international locations yourself.

Sources

http://shop.sprint.com/en/services/worldwide/intl_txt_msg_from_us.shtml

http://www.squidoo.com/international_text_messaging

http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/addons/services/information.aspx?PAsset=Messaging&tp=Svc_Tab_InternationalMsg

http://support.sprint.com/support/article/Find_out_the_country_codes_for_international_text_messages/case-ba416758-20090619-165829?&INTNAV=SU:SP:HDIA

Free SMS Text Messaging

There are ways to send free SMS text messages using the Internet, but free SMS text messaging has several drawbacks that businesses should consider when deciding if they want to use a free or a paid SMS text messaging service.

SMS text messaging is rapidly increasing in popularity, but the cost of sending SMS text messages adds up quickly. Individuals who send a lot of text messages often get a more expensive cell phone plan that allows them to send unlimited texts. Businesses and organizations using SMS text messaging for SMS marketing or advertising also need to find a way to make SMS text messages more cost effective. One option they may consider is free SMS text messaging using the Internet, either through a free SMS text messaging website or through email.

There are a number of free SMS text messaging websites available online. These programs are quick and easy to use. The legitimate free text message services support themselves through advertisements on their websites and selling premium services, and they guarantee not to send spam to the parties involved in the text messages or to sell their information. They also usually have safeguards to make sure that threatening or offensive messages are not sent through their websites. The downsides to these free SMS text messaging services for businesses include:

They usually have a limit on the number of messages that can be sent at one time, somewhere between 1 and 10.
They do not guarantee the timely or successful delivery of messages.
They require you to know or look up the cell phone provider for the person receiving the text, and some less common cell phone providers are not compatible with this service.
While many of these sites are legitimate, there are some that use their “free” text messaging service to harvest cell phone numbers and email addresses and sell the information to others who will use it for fraudulent or unethical purposes, which could put both organizations and their customers at risk.

The other way to send free SMS text messages is through email. Almost all cell phone providers have an email address that you can email a message to and the cell phone provider will forward the message to the correct phone as a text message. For instance, if someone’s mobile number was (234) 555-5555 and they used T-Mobile, you could send a message to 2345555555@tmomail.net and it would reach the person’s phone. There are also some limitations to this method of sending free SMS text messaging:

You have to know or look up the person’s cell phone provider and find the correct email address for each provider, and a few providers don’t participate.
The person sending the messages must be certain that they have entered a short enough message, under 160 characters, or the message may not go through.
This form of free SMS text messaging can be much slower than phone to phone text messaging.
In some cases, sending a large number of messages at once through email may trigger an email provider’s anti-spam filters and interfere with sending the messages.

Using email or a legitimate free SMS text messaging website to send free text messages may work well for a business trying to reach a relatively small audience or not sending messages very often, but for those trying to send bulk text messages on a more regular basis they may prove too cumbersome to be worth the money saved. Businesses with a larger audience for their SMS text messages may find a good balance between cost and convenience by shopping around for an inexpensive SMS text messaging service that is designed for organizations running an SMS text message marketing or SMS advertising campaign.

Mobile Marketing Trends

Mobile marketing trends are changing all the time. If you want to maximize your returns from text message marketing, it helps to the keep up with the mobile marketing trends. This article offers tips on SMS marketing through certain mobile marketing trends.

One of the ways that your business can reach more customers is through mobile marketing. Mobile marketing is also called SMS marketing, since it makes use of the short message service, or texting, capabilities of mobile devices — especially cell phones. Since so many people have cell phones now, it is folly to ignore the marketing opportunities available. Indeed, it is possible to have SMS marketing messages sent right to cell phones, putting your brand in the palm of potential customers’ hands. This is a great way for you reach out to customers and gain some market share.

But you also have to think ahead. There are plenty of interesting mobile marketing trends that are on the way. Position yourself now to take advantage of what could be coming:

Mobile Web Expected to Continue Growing

People no longer access the Internet just at home. Now, thanks to smart phones, they can take the web with them wherever they go. This means that it is possible to take advantage of marketing aimed mainly at the mobile web. Make sure that your ads and messages are geared toward the mobile web. Realize that, in some cases, there are sites designed specifically for use on mobile devices. You want to make sure that your group text messaging marketing plan is compatible. As smart phones continue to penetrate the market, we will see more people on the mobile web. Millennial Media believes that by the end of 2010 100 million unique users will be on the mobile web. You need to make sure you are effective tapping that market.

This means that you might need to create a mobile site for your business. Not only do your ads need to be compatible with the mobile web, but your home in cyberspace should be as well. Consider creating a mobile version of your site that is easy to access and read on a mobile device.

CRM Data Linking

If you are interested in access to CRM data for marketing, this trend is one that could be helpful. Charting the relationship that your customers have with their phones can be quite helpful. Linking CRM databases to mobile marketing would be a great trend that could help you more effectively target your customers. Make sure you look into mobile CRM so that you can take your data driven programs to the next level of marketing.

Augmented Reality

One of the big trends in mobile devices is augmented reality. This technology provides enhanced images and data that can be merged with the real world. This means that it is possible to combine information about local happenings with images and maps of the area. This technology could have an impact on mobile marketing. It provides numerous opportunities for marketers to provide information on sales, special promotions and more with the help of what is on a smart phone.

Geo-Fencing

This is a great technology related to augmented reality. It works by setting up a sort of virtual fence around a certain area. Once the person who owns the phone enters the area, it triggers a message. You can get the geo-fence set up so that a message is triggered offering a special coupon when a potential customer enters an area not too far from your store. It is a great way to bring immediacy to your text message marketing. It makes it easy to send out messages and let customers know of events, promotions and sales. It is even possible to offer exclusive deals to customers.

In the end, there are a number of opportunities being presented by mobile SMS marketing. Mobile marketing trends indicate that more people will continue to purchase smart phones, and that means that you need to develop strategies to take advantage of these hot new technologies.

Benefits of SMS Marketing

Benefits of SMS marketing goes beyond just saving money. SMS communication provides some distinct advantages over other forms of communication. Knowing the benefits of SMS marketing can help you use it to better effect in growing your business. This article explains the specific benefits of using text messages.

Cost of SMS Marketing

A text message costs less than a stamp, and even sending SMS text messages to many people costs less than producing a television or radio advertisement or creating a billboard. It may possibly cost less than a newspaper ad. Cost control is also available through your choice of plan. You can tailor a plan by whether it is domestic or international, the number of texts per month you require, and the service features that are desirable for your situation.

Combine and Conquer

Because SMS text messages can be effective for in-company communication, as well as marketing, there’s another consideration at play here. You might be able to find a good deal on text messaging and redirect inter-company communications. Since text messages are more discreet and less interruptive than emails and phone calls, you may find that your employees function better, having fewer interruptions and less time spent on each inter-office (SMS) memo.

Control Message Arrival Parameters

When will your customer see the billboard, newspaper ad, television ad, direct mailing, or visit your website? Even the ones that display when they’re supposed to do not guarantee that the customer will view them then. There’s simply no way of knowing, and the answer may possibly be never. Even email can be erratic, and if people fear that it may be long or involved, they may choose to open it later. But SMS text messages are just about instantaneous to transmit, a distinct advantage, and the limit to size means that they may get opened more quickly—after all, your customer may say, it’s limited to 160 characters: it can’t take too much of my time . . .

The timing control allows for some fine-tuning of advertising. You wouldn’t advertise a particular Thursday Happy Hour special on a billboard – the special would be over by the time most people saw it. But sending out a text message—particularly to those who tend to put in an appearance at that Happy Hour—makes sense . . . especially if the special is on the Super Nachos, which the customer has ordered four times already.

DIY or Hire an Expert

Another of the benefits of SMS marketing is the freedom to choose to do it yourself or to hire an expert to support your marketing venture. You can get as much or as little assistance as you need in setting up marketing campaigns that are appropriate for your target audience.

Target Your Audience More Effectively

Using an opt-in marketing method assures you of the interest of your message recipients, cutting down on your payments to spread the word to people who aren’t interested. You can spend more time on crafting your message than on deciding where to place your billboard or run your print advertisement.

Using short codes, you can segment your audience and send customers only the text messages (but also, all of the text messages) that they will find useful. Thus, you can send only the pertinent messages to the customer who is interested in snowshoes, the customer who is interested in kayaks, the customer who is interested in mittens, and the customer who is interested in all three.

Using SMS Features in Your Marketing

If your SMS provider offers bonus features, allowing you to send other material besides text, you are provided with even greater possibilities both for marketing in general and for fine-tuning your message for your audience. It’s possible to find SMS text message marketing providers that offer the ability to send videos, images, instant messages, audio files, and interactive messages.

Text Message Marketing Reaches All Ages

Text message marketing is a form of marketing often overlooked by businesses. Though some businesses may have the idea that text message marketing is only likely to reach a teenage and young adult audience, text message use is expanding rapidly among baby boomers and other customers over 30, meaning that text message marketing can effectively reach customers of all ages.

Text messages are often seen only as a form of communication among teens and young adults, but businesses and other organizations should think about looking again at text message marketing as a way to reach potential customers of all ages and demographics. The use of text messages has spread from teens to their parents and even grandparents who want a fast, easy way to communicate. The convenience that is drawing customers over 30 to text messaging also creates a lot of potential for mobile marketing aimed at customers of all ages.

Only a few years ago it seemed unlikely that text message marketing aimed at adults would have much success, but in the last few years the number of adults using text messaging has boomed. A report from the Lafayette Journal and Courier gave these statistics on the use of text messages between 2008 and 2010:

The use of text messaging doubled among 18 to 24-year-olds
Texting among 25 to 34-year-olds increased by more than 100 percent
35 to 54-year-old text messaging use tripled
Text messaging by those 65 and older quadrupled

Furthermore, the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit blog reports that baby boomers, the 45 to 64-year-old demographic, make up the fastest growing group of text message users.

On average teens and young adults still use text messages more than their older relatives, but the older generations are quickly adapting to text message use, and are beginning to use it more and more. In fact, for many age groups text messaging is beginning to replace telephone use, and more text messages than phone calls are sent each day in the US. Text messaging is fast and not as disruptive as a phone call. It is also more convenient because the user can read and respond when they have a chance, unlike a phone call which demands that the user answer it immediately. Also, many adults are interested in new technologies and want to keep up with the latest communication trends.

Some businesses are already using niche text message marketing to send exclusive information and offers to their customers, and text messages are being used in a variety of other applications outside of everyday conversation. Text messages are used to send important medical reminders to patients, to track stock performance and sports scores, and to provide news updates.

What does this mean for business marketing? It means that text message marketing is an expanding field that businesses can tap into to reach their potential customers regardless of their ages. Businesses can send text message reminders about sales, announce special promotions or events, offer coupon codes, or send links to online coupons, polls, or announcements. Because they are trying to reach a broad demographic, businesses using text message marketing should keep these tips in mind:

Make sure customers know they are opting-in to receive text messages when they provide their mobile phone number or send a text to your text messaging service. Make this appealing by offering coupons or other special promotions.
Avoid using texting language, grammar, or slang. To look professional and be understood, especially to older adults, it’s important to use good grammar and complete, though short, sentences, like “Reminder! 25% off shoes today at XYZ.” By their nature, text messages are limited to 160 characters.
Only send messages that are relevant and worth the customer’s time. Text messages that are too frequent or do not interest the customer will be seen as the text message equivalent of telemarketing or spam and most customers will block them or opt out.

A well designed text message marketing campaign can be an integral part of a marketing strategy to reach customers of all ages.

Sources:

Layfayette Journal and Courier, “Why Call When a Text Will Do, More Generations Ask” [online]

What’s Next Boomer Business Summit blog, “Baby Boomers Fastest Growing Group for Text Messaging” [online]

Publishing 2.0, “Is Text Messaging a Viable Media and Advertising Platform for Older Demographics?” [online]

Pew Internet and American Life Project, “The Power of Mobile” [online]

Contracting Business, “DuPont Will Send Special Text Alerts from HVAC Comfortech” [online]

SMS Marketing Strategies

SMS marketing is all the rage, but – as with any other medium of communication – it’s not just using it but how you use it that makes the difference if effective marketing. This article provides some SMS marketing strategies for effective use of text messages.

Strategy 1—Adapting to the Medium

Just as with any marketing medium—whether a TV ad, a radio spot, or a sign on a hot air balloon—one of the key elements of SMS marketing strategies is adapting your message to the medium. Granted, in an SMS text message you have a lot more space than you do on the side of a hot air balloon! But still, 160 characters takes some getting used to. Here are some strategies for adapting to the SMS length:

• Use abbreviations, but only when necessary. If your message fits the space, there’s no reason to use abbreviations, and it can look odd, too.

• Use standard abbreviations, whenever possible. If you stick to familiar SMS abbreviations, rather than making up your own, your customers will have an easier time reading your SMS text message.

• Draw a line on informality. Despite the fact that abbreviations are informal, avoid informal language, slang, and off-color material that is outside the image that your company has created for itself and that could offend your customer.

• Read and reread for double entendres. Especially when working with abbreviations and the kind of shorthand that is required to make substantive messages fit in SMS, it is important to be aware of all the ways in which a phrase or sentence could be interpreted. As many SMS text abbreviations have multiple meanings, check thoroughly to make sure that the ones you choose to employ do not have an alternative that you would be embarrassed to have sent your customers.

• Front the important stuff. With more time and space, ads can lead up to the point. Lead-in is not SMS text messages’ strong suit. It’s best to immediately let your customer know what the SMS text message is about. Coupon, Contest, Free, Sale, Special Offer, Win, and Sweepstakes are all words likely to get positive attention. Speaking of positive, it’s probably better not to start with a negative word. Don’t let laundry stains get you down and similar approaches that begin with a negative word may lose you your audience before they’ve finished reading.

• Don’t get taken for spam. Clearly specify your business name and contact information, and construct your text messages in a professional way to make sure that your group SMS text message isn’t taken for spam.

• Keep the medium in mind. In face-to-face communication, people have many cues besides the words: The speaker’s facial expression, posture, gestures, and voice all give clues to meaning. These are all stripped away in SMS text messages. This makes tone, particularly irony and sarcasm, difficult to judge. For this reason, it’s probably best to avoid snarky comments. They have a large risk of being misread.

Strategy 2—Keep in Touch

Part of effective SMS marketing strategies relies on creating expectations and then fulfilling them. If you send a SMS text message about weekend specials every Friday at 10 a.m., your customers will come to expect it, rely on it, and look for it. You will avoid having your SMS text messages mistaken for spam and your customers will have weekly evidence of your consistency and reliability. The same goes for weekly or monthly coupons, links to a newsletter, etc. Of course, you might have a business where some elements aren’t as regular. But having something that your customers can rely on is a useful approach.

Strategy 3—Target Your Audience

Not everyone on your opt-in list needs to receive all SMS text messages. People who buy soccer equipment can get separate SMS text messages from hockey freaks and baseball fanatics. Make distinctions in what you send to whom when it makes sense to do so via niche marketing.