We get this question a lot, and the answer is SMS Marketing!
“If you had to pick one marketing strategy to invest in, what would you pick?”
We can’t say for sure that there’s just one strategy we put over everything else just because they all serve different purposes. We can say there is one low-cost, conversion-friendly, high-ROI strategy that you can’t afford not to have in your marketing arsenal.
SMS Marketing!
SMS marketing has a 98% open rate and the best engagement rate of any other marketing medium.
We hear people dismiss SMS a lot, but those marketing texts you get from an automated number, the ones that you think everyone ignores, the reality is people don’t ignore them. They convert at a crazy rate, precisely
because so many of them get opened, which is more than you can say about almost any other form of marketing communication, such as email marketing or push notifications.
If you’ve heard of it once, you’ve heard of it a thousand times. People are glued to their phones these days. The average person checks their phone 344 times a day. Research from Statista shows that in 2021, SMSs experienced a 75% year-over-year increase in popularity among customers.
There are a million reasons to be absorbed by your phone, from group texts to social media to every app under the sun. The average American spends 2 hours and 54 minutes daily on their phone, which is almost 44 days a year. 71% of people say that they check their phones within 10 minutes of getting out of bed. So if your audience is already checking it, why not meet them where their attention is directed?
There are a ton of SMS marketing strategies that you can try now. So let’s dive in.
SMS Marketing Strategy 1 – Offer Exclusive Deals.
Already have a substantial subscriber list and want to capitalise on it? Create a uniquely generated coupon code so you can send it to your subscribers, who can take advantage of it. And you can also give each user a unique code so they can’t just take that code from their friend.
The cool thing about SMS marketing is you can also tie it into your payment system so that people can quickly buy from their phone and redeem within a few clicks. And think of it from the subscriber’s standpoint. If they’re already subscribed, the next time you want to promote a specific product with a coupon code, discount, or limited-time deal, they can engage and quickly get that offer through SMS. It’s much better than having to check your email.
SMS Marketing Strategy Number 2 – Use a Drip Campaign
Don’t you love having that golden opportunity to automate a part of your marketing strategy? We do. That’s a beauty of a drip campaign. There are automated messages based on specific factors like how long they have been a customer, and they can allow you to adapt SMSs to particular people. And you can make triggers and tailored responses based on how long someone’s been with you and how much they’ve bought from you, whether that’s a service or a product, so that you can get more sales.
So let’s stick with the coupon example from, let’s say, SMS marketing strategy number 1.
You can offer a 5% coupon right after someone signs up to your SMS list, a 10% off coupon after three weeks, and a 20% coupon after two months, assuming they haven’t redeemed any of the other coupons, or if you have high margins, you can just run your sequence that way. And because you can schedule them automatically, you can map out the entire
series beforehand, such as if someone does one or redeems one, you don’t have to send them another. You can send them the upsell. Or if they don’t redeem the coupon, you can send them a bigger coupon to entice them.
SMS Marketing Strategy 3 – Collect Information
We’ve discussed this and how essential it is to create buyer personas for your brand. If you want to market to your audience, you must understand them. You can then use that to make better targeting and figure out how to tweak your campaigns to drive more leads and sales.
SMS Marketing Strategy 4 – Run A Contest
Who doesn’t love winning something for free? According to EZ Texting, half of the consumers respond to a text within three minutes.
So if you’re offering something for a contest, you can count on many participants to opt in immediately.
Have your customers sign up before the contest by texting a specific keyword and then choose a winner from the pool that’s opted in. You can collaborate with the partner brand to grow your audience and have even more subscribers opt-in.
SMS Marketing Strategy 5 – Transactional Messaging
Trust us, don’t skip this one. It’s a quick way to grow your brand.
Customers love transparent communication, and a great way to do this is when someone makes a purchase. Let them know about other things that they can also get. You can also let them know when items are getting shipped out.
There are two types of text messages that customers love to receive: shipping updates, 75% love that, and according to G2, 65% love confirmation messages. Think about it, what’s more exciting than knowing that your package is on the way or that the service you just purchased is already in action and working?
SMS Marketing Strategy 6 – Build Exclusivity
People want exclusive offers. If someone’s on your SMS list, give them some love. Show them something else that no one in your audience will see. It’s a great way to get more people to opt in because they know they will get special treatment.
If you have any questions, we’re here to help you. Get in touch with us if you need help with any digital marketing needs.
