Statista projects that by 2024, the number of smartphone users will be as much as 290.64 million. It is no surprise that businesses create an SMS marketing strategy to fit their business model.
Incorporating SMS marketing into retail brands can help you retain your customers. However, if done wrong, you can also lose a number of your customers.
There are some prevalent mistakes we see most retail brands make in their SMS marketing strategy. So, we have compiled this post on some SMS mistakes you could be making and how to avoid making them.
1) Sending SMS at the wrong time
With text messaging, your customers can easily opt-out of receiving messages from you, so be conscious of the time you send out your messages. For example;
- Don’t send out SMS too early. Not everyone is a morning person, and sending out messages when people are just waking up can be irritating to some people. In that same light, not everyone is a night person. So basically, don’t send out messages too early or too late.
- The days of the week you send out messages is also crucial. Don’t send out messages during the weekend as a result of the higher unsubscribe rate.
- Avoid sending messages at peak hours when people are most busy. They might not read it, or they could opt-out of receiving messages from your brand.
2) Excluding call to action.
It doesn’t matter what kind of marketing communication you are creating; call to actions are essential to its success. However, some retail brands still send out text messages and forget to include a call to action. Don’t make this mistake.
Ensure that all the text messages you send out have a clear call to action your customers can follow. This will help grab the attention of your customers and carry out the activity your text message intended. You can use websites such as Best Writers Online and Online Writers Rating to find reviews of the best writing services online.
3) Don’t send out too many text messages
Another mistake most brands make is sending out too many text messages. Sending the same message continuously and to the same set of customers can annoy your customers and push them to opt-out.
You can avoid this by;
- Using a legitimate text message marketing listing.
- Ensuring you send out relevant text messages.
- Don’t send out the same text message more than twice to the same customer segment.
4) Don’t conduct an SMS marketing strategy without permission.
You must comply with text messaging marketing compliance. This is important for any business writing strategy for brands and using SMS to do it. Points to note:
- By law, you should give your customers the option to opt-out of your text messages if they want.
- You should also ensure that your customers have prior knowledge that they will be receiving a message from your brand.
Not following the text messaging marketing compliance will mean that you could lose customers and probably get a fine from the law.
Some tips that could help you maintain compliance;
- Your customer signup form includes an opt-in option that your customers can click if they wish to receive messages from you.
- Incorporate a text option they can send to opt-out of receiving a text message. An example could be: Text SALE to 63566 to opt-out of receiving this message.
By following the law, your customers will see you as trustworthy and will be more willing to accept text messages from you.
5) Don’t fail to personalize your SMS
Additionally, sending out un-personalized SMS will hurt your business and can reduce the effectiveness of your SMS marketing strategy. If you have a customer database with your customer’s name written, personalize every text message you send. If you don’t have a customer database, create one.
Sending out personalized text messages has a ton of benefits. Amongst them is the fact that customers react better to personalized messages.
Personalization has to do with a lot more than sending your customers a text with their name on it. It also has to do with paying attention to their geo-location, demography, proximity marketing, etc.
6) Ensure you use an SMS marketing tool
There is now SMS marketing software that can help you send bulk messages. The benefits of this kind of software are not just sending messages to a more extensive customer base. They also give you analytical tools to help you nail your strategy by;
- SMS automation. SMS marketing software helps you automate your marketing message.
- Allowing you substitute text for emails in a situation where you don’t have text permission.
- Providing the option to add text messages directly to your email automation workflow, which in turn will save you time.
- Helping you expertly segment your customer database to send personalized text messages.
7) Work on sending short and concise messages.
Another mistake not to make is to send SMS that is too long and isn’t concise.
- Lead with the main point of your message.
- Ensure you include a link in your message so your customers can get more information about whatever update or offer you are sending. This will help you keep your message short while still providing enough information.
- Send follow-ups messages to your customer’s emails.
- Limit the number of characters in your text message to retain your customer’s attention span.
8) Don’t focus on the hard sell
Finally, you should know that brands that send too many sales text messages have problems building customer relationships. Don’t make this mistake, and try to send as many personal messages as you send sales messages.
Build up your customers’ relationship by asking them questions and resolving their queries to gain insight into what your customers want.
In conclusion
Text Message marketing is one of the most effective yet stable methods of marketing in the industry. An excellent SMS marketing campaign will help increase customer growth and conversion.
However, a marketer writing strategy for brands should ensure that they understand the mistakes mentioned in this article and avoid them. By doing this, your SMS marketing strategy will bring growth to your business.
