Learn the ins and outs of SMS marketing for businesses. Text messaging is a popular form of communication with various firms, including service-based companies like auto dealerships, healthcare, real estate agents, and more. With so many organizations using SMS marketing, you might wonder if it could benefit your business too. SMS marketing can help connect with customers and build brand awareness.
What is SMS Marketing?
SMS stands for short message service. It is a technology that allows you to send written messages to mobile phones. Companies can use an SMS code, which is usually a 5 or 6-digit number, to send mass text messages to their audience. This is called SMS marketing as you can send messages to your customers, leads, and anyone else who might be interested in your product or service. There are plenty of reasons why SMS marketing is helpful for any business, but the most important one is that it’s easy to use. Almost everyone has a mobile device and is signed up to receive texts.
How Does SMS Marketing Work?
SMS marketing works through your online platform to set up campaigns, similar to how you would create email marketing campaigns. When you create a campaign, you enter the phone numbers to which you want to send your message. Then, your platform will send the message instantly as an SMS text. You can also set up an autoresponder on the SMS platform. This may be a welcome message, a message thanking the customer for their purchase, or a message that lets them know how long it will take to ship their product.
Why Is SMS Marketing Effective?
When you use SMS marketing, you leverage a channel most people have opted into. Mobile devices are a part of virtually every person’s life, and almost everyone has a phone with texting capability. Because people have chosen to receive texts, you don’t have to worry about spamming anyone with messages. That’s not to say you should be overzealous and spam people willy-nilly. But because people have signed up to receive texts from specific numbers, you know that your marketing campaigns will reach the right people.
Which Businesses Should Use SMS Marketing?
Any business can and should use SMS marketing. Large corporations like Amazon and Starbucks send bulk texts to millions of customers, letting them know if their order is expected to arrive by a particular time. You may have also received a text from your utility company if your bill is due. These are great examples of companies using SMS marketing to reach and communicate with customers instantly. If your business, big or small, has customers who use their mobile devices, then you should use SMS marketing to stay in touch with them.
What Should You Send via SMS Marketing?
SMS marketing is great for reaching out to customers and thanking them for their purchases. It is also a great way to inform them when you will deliver their products. You can also use text messages to remind customers of your brand. Send them a quick message about your company, your products, and where they can purchase them. You can also send promotional offers via text, but you must ensure that your customers won’t find them spammy. The best way to do this is not to send a constant barrage of offers. Instead, send out a few relevant to the season or current events each month.
How to Get Started With SMS Marketing?
To get started with SMS marketing, you need to choose a platform. There are a few different platforms that can help you send out text messages on behalf of your business, but there are a few things you should consider first:
You should consider your budget: The price of the different platforms can range from free to a few hundred dollars per month, so you need to pick one that is in line with your budget.
How many phone numbers you want to send your messages to: Some platforms have a cap on how many messages you can send simultaneously.
What content you want to send out: Some platforms allow you to send text, pictures, and GIFs.
Conclusion
SMS marketing is one of the best ways to reach your customers. It’s instantaneous, convenient, and doesn’t require people to be at their computers to receive your messages. When you use SMS marketing, you can personally connect with customers to make them feel appreciated. However, your campaign needs to be strategic to ensure it’s bringing in the right customers. Ensure you send messages to people who have opted in to receive them. You don’t want to send messages to random people and risk coming across as spammy.