Bulk Text Marketing is an extremely effective way for businesses to market their products and services. The main reasons are that SMS messaging is fast, secure and always reach their targeted audience. The fact that 98% of text messages are read by customers is a business owners dream and far outreaches any other forms of advertising. However, like any form of marketing, there are some rules to get the most effective return for you and your customers.
Do’s
Get consent
Under GDPR this is now a legal requirement. You simply must have consent to send messages to customers phones. Remember how personal our phones are to us and by receiving permission and delivering relevant offers, your messages will be accepted and are more likely to prompt action from your customers.
Timing is critically important
When sending SMS messages to your customers or potential clients, schedule your SMS messages to be sent at appropriate times during the day. We recommend sending between 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to get maximum attention from your customers.
Relevancy
Make sure your bulk text marketing messages deliver relevant offers which add value to your customers. This means you will need to know about your customers and what it is they really want from your brand. You should know this or at least have some systems in place to segment your customer base into their relative preferences. You can even add images to the SMS to spice them up such as delivering menu’s or flyer through weblinks in the message.
Identify your brand in the message
Consumers receive hundreds of messages each week. It is very important not to forget to identify yourself or your brand name in all of your SMS marketing sends. Whether you use a sender name or simply add your brand name in each SMS that you send, make sure that your customers and clients know who they are receiving the messages from.
Easy Opt-Out
Another GDPR requirement is that all customers have an easy and free opt-out mechanism. If you decide to give bulk text marketing a try, make sure the company you choose offers this.
Don’ts
Don’t spam
Apart from the fact that it is illegal, it simply doesn’t work and will harm your brand. Because bulk text marketing works so well some customers have a tendency to spam people thinking they will get more sales. You won’t. Build up your permission-based opted-in customer list and SMS them with an offer every month.
Don’t bombard your customers
Following on from the previous point, because of the successful companies have with bulk text marketing they tend to overuse it and begin to bombard your customers. This results in people opting OUT of your communications. Make a plan of which customer segments you will target each month and stick to it. You will create a more sustainable sales pipeline in the long run.
No Jargon – Don’t abbreviate
The whole idea of SMS marketing is that it is a simple, concise way to get your message across. It is not a good idea to abbreviate your messages to the point that they are illegible. Communicate clearly with your target audience in all messages.
We hope the above do’s and don’ts are helpful. They are common sense approaches to using a powerful marketing technique which is used by millions of businesses worldwide as part of their marketing mix. And in our opinion the best part.
About Sendmode
Sendmode has been in the Bulk SMS marketing industry for almost 10 years and serve over 30,000 customers worldwide. We can help you build your opt-in customer database with easy to implement techniques and then provide advice on content, timing, and frequency of your bulk text marketing campaigns. If you would like to try it for the first time (or maybe switch from your current provider) please clicking the image below, check out our super low prices and then click ‘Try for Free’.
Thanks,
John