Text messaging is the most powerful weapon of Direct Marketing. The chance of customer not noticing your message is very less. People may spend a day without checking emails but no one spends a day without checking their phones. But great powers come with great responsibility. When you have a chance to enter someone’s most visited Inbox, enter carefully because they can give you marching orders anytime they want.
Since bulk messaging is turning more economic these days, one might tend to get excited and show it in the messages. But not to forget that huge market giants have faced whopping lawsuits for playing too fast. Here are a few safe practices to avoid such trials and troubles.
Personalize Your SMS With A Customization Variable
If your contacts are the customers who opted-in for your promotional messages, you’ll anyway have their names. But if you are uploading any new list, ensure you are acquiring data along with their names and basic details. Since SMS is a one-to-one personal communication channel, the more personalized messages you can compose, the better your ROMI you may expect. Use suitable tools to send customized messages addressing each customer with their first name. That way it looks like you are speaking personally with them and conveying your message.
Approbation Is Important
Well, not all contacts are from subscriptions or sign-ups, we get it. But the list of manually uploaded contacts run with the risk of being unsubscribed. To avoid that risk, you add a line seeking consent, in your first message to such contacts. It not only filters the interested customers for you but also improves your brand value. Just add a disclaimer if they want to unsubscribe or continue with the messages. According to some certain laws, it could be illegal to send bulk messages without customer’s consent.
Add A Point Of Contact
If your message is about selling something, you would of course give the web link but not always you add the reach out number. What of the customer wants to clear some doubts before buying? Don’t expect them to go to the link, scroll down to the long catalog page, clink on ‘contact us’, find your number and call you. Give a contact number, probably a customer care number if they want to reach you. However, it depends upon your business model.
Confine The Frequency
Just because you have their contact number, don’t fill up their inbox with your promotional messages. No one likes a flood of marketing messages every day. Ensure you have control over the frequency of the messages sent. It’s not only illegal but the receivers may tend to unsubscribe if you are pouring too much. Best practice is to send, at most, 2 to 4 texts a month. Any more risks might end up annoying your customers.
Timing Is The Key
You can’t send a coupon for lunch package at 7PM. Try to plan your message campaigns carefully. Stick to business hours. Anything beyond that should be relevant and welcomed by customers. Your message should reach them in perfect timing and that’s when your call-to-action makes any sense. Remember SMS is a unique channel and it comes with a high barrier to entry for marketers. Again, timing is the key.
Don’t Get Too Urban While Composing A Message
Being palsy-walsy is good but going too out of the line might make you look unprofessional. It certainly depends upon your business and how you want to create your impact, but using too much of urban slag or shorthand texts might make them suspect your standing. So, don’t take risks just to cut down a few characters in the text message. Be elaborate and clear while writing your customers.
These are the principal commandments to make your marketing more effective. If we missed out any, feel free to write them below in the comments. You may share your go-throughs as well.
Happy Marketing!
Since bulk messaging is turning more economic these days, one might tend to get excited and show it in the messages. But not to forget that huge market giants have faced whopping lawsuits for playing too fast. Here are a few safe practices to avoid such trials and troubles.
Personalize Your SMS With A Customization Variable
If your contacts are the customers who opted-in for your promotional messages, you’ll anyway have their names. But if you are uploading any new list, ensure you are acquiring data along with their names and basic details. Since SMS is a one-to-one personal communication channel, the more personalized messages you can compose, the better your ROMI you may expect. Use suitable tools to send customized messages addressing each customer with their first name. That way it looks like you are speaking personally with them and conveying your message.
Approbation Is Important
Well, not all contacts are from subscriptions or sign-ups, we get it. But the list of manually uploaded contacts run with the risk of being unsubscribed. To avoid that risk, you add a line seeking consent, in your first message to such contacts. It not only filters the interested customers for you but also improves your brand value. Just add a disclaimer if they want to unsubscribe or continue with the messages. According to some certain laws, it could be illegal to send bulk messages without customer’s consent.
Add A Point Of Contact
If your message is about selling something, you would of course give the web link but not always you add the reach out number. What of the customer wants to clear some doubts before buying? Don’t expect them to go to the link, scroll down to the long catalog page, clink on ‘contact us’, find your number and call you. Give a contact number, probably a customer care number if they want to reach you. However, it depends upon your business model.
Confine The Frequency
Just because you have their contact number, don’t fill up their inbox with your promotional messages. No one likes a flood of marketing messages every day. Ensure you have control over the frequency of the messages sent. It’s not only illegal but the receivers may tend to unsubscribe if you are pouring too much. Best practice is to send, at most, 2 to 4 texts a month. Any more risks might end up annoying your customers.
Timing Is The Key
You can’t send a coupon for lunch package at 7PM. Try to plan your message campaigns carefully. Stick to business hours. Anything beyond that should be relevant and welcomed by customers. Your message should reach them in perfect timing and that’s when your call-to-action makes any sense. Remember SMS is a unique channel and it comes with a high barrier to entry for marketers. Again, timing is the key.
Don’t Get Too Urban While Composing A Message
Being palsy-walsy is good but going too out of the line might make you look unprofessional. It certainly depends upon your business and how you want to create your impact, but using too much of urban slag or shorthand texts might make them suspect your standing. So, don’t take risks just to cut down a few characters in the text message. Be elaborate and clear while writing your customers.
These are the principal commandments to make your marketing more effective. If we missed out any, feel free to write them below in the comments. You may share your go-throughs as well.
Happy Marketing!
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