Do you know that 6 in 10 people read their SMS within 5 minutes? That’s why you need to gear yourself up for one of the best marketing strategies, Bulk SMS Marketing!
More than 60% of people check their phone 160 times a day on average. Mobile phones are handy and people rely on them for literally everything; from connecting with their dear ones to getting the latest updates on what is going around them. So the best way to bring your brand in front of your customers is through SMSs.
In this full guide, we will take you through every step of how you can implement SMS marketing. We will look at the SMS marketing best practices, examples and how to send automated text messages for your business. Before you dive in, let’s see what exactly is Bulk SMS Marketing.
- What is Bulk SMS Marketing?
- 6 SMS Marketing Best Practices
- Examples of SMS Marketing
- How to Send Automated Text Messages?
What is Bulk SMS Marketing?
Bulk SMS Marketing is simply the practice of sending bulk SMSs to customers during different stages of their customer journey. It is seen that SMS has a 98% open rate compared to email marketing. This shows that there are higher chances of increasing your conversion rates. This strategy is also great for staying in touch with your customers and boosting customer engagement.
SMS promotion is different from other social media marketing as it requires an opt-in. Your contacts must subscribe to you for you to send SMS in bulk. You can find more about it in the coming section of best practices in SMS marketing.
Some best strategies of SMS bulk marketing include Welcome Offers, Discount Offers, Shipping Updates, Surveys etc. You can find more examples below.
What is Bulk SMS Marketing?
Before you implement SMS marketing for your business check out these do’s and don’ts and the best practices to level up your efforts.
1. Ask Customers to Opt-in
As mentioned above, SMS Marketing requires an opt-in. Before you start sending out messages to your customers, ask for their permission. You can ask them to confirm their opt-in in the first text message you send to your subscriber. Another tactic is to use SMS opt-in options on your website, newsletter or social media channels.
Here is an example.
3. Give Opt-out Options
An important thing to keep in mind is to not annoy your existing subscribers who are not interested in your text messages. So make sure every text message you send includes an opt-out option in case they wish to stop hearing from you.
3. Mention who you are
Your customers might not recognise you from your text messages. If so there are chances that they will ignore your message. So it is important that you mention yourself at the beginning of your message itself.
4. Include a Call to Action (CTA)
Call to Actions help in prompting your customer to take the next step. It can be a link to your website, a link to claim special offers, coupon codes, surveys etc.
5. Know the Character Limit
The character limit of a text message is 160. You should be able to craft the message within this limit by providing the call to action. Keep it short and come to the point quickly. To make it easier for you to draft your text message, check out our blog on 10 marketing sample text messages to customers.
6. Use SMS Marketing software
An SMS marketing software can help you take your SMS marketing strategy to the next level. There are many SMS bulk providers available that let you automate sending text messages, send free bulk SMSs, segment your audience and send personalised messages. Here are some of the best SMS marketing software.
1. TextMagic
Text Magic allows users in sending bulk SMS, build contact lists, run SMS campaigns, send notifications, alerts and reminders and do much more to automate the SMS marketing process. This bulk SMS provider has an Email to SMS gateway that lets you convert emails to text messages that can be sent directly to the customers’ mobile phones.
Pricing: Price per text- £0.04
2. Simple Texting
If you are mainly focusing on running SMS and MMS marketing campaign you can go for SimpleTexting bulk SMS provider. Simple Texting has a very easy to use user interface. It also helps to text real-time with your customers.
Pricing: $29/month for 500 credits, Additional credits- $0.055
3. TextLocal
TextLocal is a tool for SMS marketing in India. It is a bulk SMS provider using which you can easily send bulk SMS for marketing and automate text messages. This bulk message service platform provides API Integration that allows you to automate sending and receiving SMS from any website or application.
If you are looking for paid and free bulk SMS service providers in India, check out this blog that lists the top SMS service platforms with their pricing.
Examples of SMS Marketing
There are many tactics you can use to entice your customers and SMS marketing gives you many options for them.
Here are some of the best promotional SMS examples for inspiration.
1. Welcome Offers
Welcome messages are not just for email marketing. Include the strategy in your SMS marketing practices too and try to make it more enticing for your customers by giving them an exclusive welcome offer. This is a great way to retain your subscribers.
Here is an example.
2. Coupons, Deals and Discounts
SMSs are effective to make your customer know right away about your discount offers or limited-time deals. You can make it exclusive only for your subscribers by adding coupon codes to claim the offer.
3. Run Polls
Polls can help you with understanding what is working in your business and what is not. Using text messages, try to get feedback from your customers by providing them with a list of options to choose from.
4. Offers for Special Occasions
Wishing your customers on their special day and offering discounts shows how much you value them. Include the offer in your SMS campaign and surprise your customers. Some strategies include wishing them on their birthday, subscription anniversaries etc. Take a look at an example.
5. Customer Service
If you think that SMS marketing is just about promoting your brand, you might need to rethink. Text messaging is also a great way to stay in touch with your customer and guide them in case of any issues.
For instance, say your customer is facing shipping delays. In such cases, you can send text messages explaining the reason for the delay. You can also add a link to track their order in the message. This will make your brand look more credible in front of your customers.
How to send automated text messages?
Now it’s time to put these strategies and tips into practice. If you are following the strategies mentioned in this guide, you would definitely require a system to automate your text messages. It not only saves you a great deal of time but makes your marketing practices more efficient and organised. Take a look at some SMS marketing tools that can help you with it.