In today's world, SMS marketing is king. Not only is it the fastest growing method of marketing, it also boasts a surprisingly high success rate. As a marketer, that should be something that makes you sit up and pay attention.
However, with anything that appears to be a sure thing, there's always something darker lurking underneath. SMS marketing isn't perfect, and those who think it so, are fools.
Everything needs constant improvement and careful watching. Everything can afford to be better.
So, with that in mind, here are some tips to help you turn your fantastic SMS messages into more action, and above all, sales.
1. Know Where You Are, Before You Set Off Improving
With any improvement project, you must first need to figure out what needs to be improved. Get a clear picture of how your conversion rate has been acting over a couple of months. Look to the peaks and valleys. Look to the average.
From this data, you'll be able to set a reasonable and achievable goal.
Further still, with a clear picture of where you're starting from, you'll be able to track how well you've been doing.
2. Time Your SMS Correctly
The beauty with text message marketing is that there isn't much of a delay from when your message is sent and it's opened by your subscriber. As a rule, text messages are opened faster than emails. Perhaps it's due to the incredibly personal way of communicating: your message is in their pocket or purse.
Look at the time and day that your customers are most active with your SMS.
Though each business is different, in general, most people are more inclined to act on marketing messages later in the afternoon towards evening and often on the weekends.
So, send your messages at the top three days and times and watch your conversions soar.
3. Make it Easy for Customers to Purchase
It's important that with any marketing strategy – especially, SMS – that cashing in on your promotions is quick and painless.
If you make your customers jump through hoops to get their 20% discount, they'll just as soon turn it down instead of using it.
A note about promotional codes: ensure that they're easy to remember. For example, SHOE20 is far easier to remember than SHOE4892034, especially if the discount is 20% off their next purchase of shoes.
4. Link to Your Other Promotions
As long as your message remains shorter than the 160-character maximum, you'll be able to link to your online life. But, don't overdo it because you'll waste valuable space on the other end.
So, the best thing to do is offer links that are relevant to your promotional message. Further, set up a directed landing page that offers more information regarding your deal as well as additional links to your main website and social media pages.
