It is estimated by online carriers, that there are approximately 6 billion texts sent every day in the United States alone. This doesn’t count an additional 60 billion texts sent on a worldwide daily basis using Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
Businesses in the United States and around the world have tapped into this important method of communication by using text messaging marketing. Also known as SMS marketing, these short, concise messages can be targeted at specific customers for a low cost direct digital marketing campaign that is highly effective.
However, text messaging marketing is not just as simple as sending out a text to everyone in your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software or your contacts and customer list. Instead, it requires a focused, applied marketing strategy to create the interest to get those customers to click through to the website and make a purchase.
Know Your Customers
Keeping careful records in CRM systems will allow a business to segment or section the customer list into specific areas of interest. Once this is done, targeted text messages can be sent to groups and subgroups that will be of interest to the recipient.
Provide Value
The best text messaging marketing is not a hard sell campaign or a list of items and prices. Instead, the message should provide something of value to the customer, so he or she clicks on the link to read more on the website.
Phrases or hooks such as “20% off storewide” or “important savings selected for you” can be seen as valuable to a customer, particularly if they relate to a past purchase or are a cross-sell option.
Consider Volume and Timing
With analytics, it will be possible to see when different target audience groups look at text messages and when they click on the links provided. Keep records of this in CRM and send texts at the ideal time to the customer. Text messages in the middle of the night or first thing on a Saturday morning are less likely to be effective than those in the afternoon on a business day.
It is also important not to send too many text messages. Surveying your target audience can be helpful in determining how often to send texts without becoming annoying.