The growing popularity of SMS Marketing is no surprise. As mobile commerce continues to dominate the ecommerce space, text marketing has quickly become an inescapable part of marketing strategies across all industries. Looking for a beginner’s guide to text message marketing? Whether you’re running a small business or a major brand, this article will discuss all you need to know if you’re looking to start your SMS Marketing journey. We will cover the basics of SMS marketing, how to build your strategy and how to get started.

What is TEXT Marketing?

Text message marketing, also referred to as short messaging service (SMS) marketing, is an opt-in channel that enables brands to instantly communicate with their audience through promotional text messages. To put it simply, consumers are given the option to share their phone numbers with the brand in order to receive exclusive deals and updates. Brands can use SMS marketing to communicate discount codes, promotional offers, shipping updates, reminders and more.

Why Use SMS Marketing?

While navigating your marketing channels can be overwhelming, SMS marketing is a relatively low effort, high reward channel. SMS is quickly overtaking email marketing for several reasons, but the biggest benefit of text message marketing is the ability to communicate time-sensitive messages instantly. According to Forbes, almost 70% of consumers open their text messages within just five minutes of receiving them. Additionally, 90% of people check their texts within the first 30 minutes of receiving a message. Mass texting services are a great way to communicate with your consumers on a large scale.

Benefits of SMS Marketing

According to a study by Retail Dive, SMS has eight times more engagement than email. Additionally, with the ability to segment your customer base, you can send targeted messages that are relevant to specific audiences, increasing your base engagement even more.

People prefer texting over talking on the phone. With over 65% of people preferring text messaging to talking on the phone, there’s a good chance they’ll be open to receiving texts from your company as well.

With SMS marketing, you can measure the results of your campaign and make changes accordingly. You have access to detailed reports that will show how many people opened or clicked through an Text Message which makes it easy for you to adjust future campaigns according to what works best with your customers.  

HOW SMS MARKETING WORKS 

Text Message is concise, usually 160 characters or less. They’re designed to be read quickly on a small screen which is why they need to be as direct and brief as possible without sacrificing any important details. There’s no room for long paragraphs of text here.

There are two types of SMS messages: transactional and promotional. Transactional texts include notifications like delivery alerts, confirmation numbers, appointment reminders, or password resets while promotional ones promote sales or special offers directly to customers who opted-in to receive them. SMS marketing campaigns are promotional communications designed to help you build relationships with your customers by reaching out to them directly.

OPTING-IN AND KEYWORDS

Customers and prospects must opt-in using a keyword for you to send promotional messages to their phones. This is an important step in keeping your messages legal.

A keyword is a word or phrase that customers must enter to sign up for future SMS communications. Coming up with the right keywords can go a long way. You’ll want to tailor your keywords for each SMS campaign you are running. For instance, DOGS, CATS, BIRDS, etc. would be good keywords for a pet supply business. Customers can opt-in to the campaigns that are relevant to them.

SHORT CODES

Short codes for texting can serve many different purposes for businesses; in SMS marketing they’re used for sending and accepting texts from customers and prospects. To send and accept messages from your SMS marketing campaigns, you’ll need a short code which is a five-digit number that’s unique to each campaign or business account.

As CDYNE, one of the leading SMS service providers for businesses puts it, “an SMS short code is a unique 5-6 digit phone number that can send and receive SMS and MMS messages at high volumes in a short period of time.”

Short codes should be easy to remember so that you can use them confidently in catalogs, websites, and other advertisements.

AUTO-REPLY

When someone opt-ins to your SMS communications, they receive an auto-reply that your business has come up with. This message’s body should include text that provides the subscriber pertinent information such as the opt-out keyword, the type of messages they will receive, and the maximum number of texts they may expect.

The auto-reply might be the most important aspect of an SMS campaign. It has the potential to increase engagement and trust by putting your subscribers at ease knowing exactly what to expect from your SMS campaign. If you are clear with your subscribers, they will be much less likely to opt-out the next time you message them.

How Do I Grow My Mobile List?

We offer you a few tools, along with mobile keywords, that can help grow your mobile list.

OSPs: Short for “online signup pages”, you can create and place OSPs on your website for customers to fill out.

QR Codes: Our software is able to generate unique QR codes for you. When scanned, the customer’s phone number is automatically captured and entered into your database.

Advertise your keywords, OSPs, and QR codes on collateral around your store, in emails you send to your customers, and on your social media pages.

Tips on How to Start Your First Campaign

• Create an account with Trumpia
• Set the desired frequency
• Pick the best opt-in incentives
• Decide on effective list promotion techniques
• Provide value in your first message
• Create a sense of urgency
• Include a clear call to action

For example, after someone texts your keyword, your auto-response could say:

“Thanks for signing up! You’ve just put yourself on our VIP list, which means you’ll be getting a lot of exclusive promotions and event invitations from us! So…thanks, and you’re welcome!”

Measure Your Campaign Success

By gathering accurate measurements on your campaigns, you’ll be able to see what worked and what didn’t, so you can improve your campaigns in the future.

Test

Depending on your industry and clientele, there is a whole assortment of variables that can factor into which promotions work better than others. Time of day, percentage off vs. set dollar amount off, and which channel to use can all have significant effects on your campaigns.

Measure

Trumpia automatically collects and measures your results for you, so you don’t have to.

Refine

Using what you learn from your analytics, you can effectively make the necessary changes, so you see maximum results.

Examples of good SMS marketing

1. The Flash Sale message

Who wouldn’t want to receive these from your favorite brands? A short and snappy SMS is a great way to promote one-off flash sales or major promotions.

2. The Hype-Up text

Don’t launch a flash sale without some hype. A text a few days earlier makes a big difference in conversion. Many people like to think about their purchases ahead of time, so it’s wise to give your favorite customers a heads up before your sale is live.

3. The Feedback message

Thanks to its conversational commerce nature, SMS is great for striking engaging conversations with your customers. For example, when we come up with new product ideas, we might send an SMS to our customers, asking for their opinion. If they reply, we’ll have engaging 1:1 discussions. Not only does this bring our customers into our process, but they’re far more likely to buy the product when it’s out.

4. The Back-in-Stock message

This message informs customers about sold out inventory. It’s a gentle yet effective way to re-engage past visitors. Combine with a free shipping minimum or other tactics to increase your average order value. Transactional messages are impactful and simple to automate. 

5. The Giveaway messages

If you want to get more leads from your SMS marketing efforts, host a text-to-win giveaway or contest. These types of lead generation strategies work because they expand your customer base without any effort on your part.

One study found that 46% of people will share contests without any extra incentive. However, if they can get more chances to win by obtaining new participants, the study showed that 99% of participants would share such a contest.

You can set up a giveaway quickly across your current marketing channels. Just add your 10-digit number or shortcode to any of the following:

• Ads (print and digital)
• Social media accounts
• Product packages
• Webinars
• Blogs or feature articles
• Landing pages on your website
• In-store signage 

When a subscriber signs up for your giveaway, they automatically become subscribers whom you can then reach with future campaigns.

Conclusion

SMS marketing is a great way to connect with customers and increase your sales. By following the steps in this guide, you can create Text Message that will resonate with your audience and drive them back to your ecommerce store. Measure the success of your campaigns using the analytics provided by your SMS marketing software provider and use this data to improve your future campaigns.