Tips for a Successful SMS Marketing Campaign

 If you want to have a successful SMS marketing campaign, you need to have a plan in place. I want to suggest some strategies that can help you to make the most of this method of interacting with potential customers.

The first is to keep the text messages brief. Consumers who are receiving messages on mobile devices are not likely to take the time to review a lengthy message, so make each word count.

You will also want to make sure your target market knows exactly which company is sending out the messages. If the recipient doesn't recognize your business name or brand, he or she is likely simply to delete the message without acting on it.

Making sure the recipients of your text message marketing campaigns feel that they are part of an elite group is always a good strategy. Institute a type of loyalty rewards or VIP program and make sure that the recipients of your text messages are receiving offers that are not offered elsewhere.

The message should include a clear call to action for the recipient. If you are offering a special discount, make sure the customer knows that it will expire on a certain date. A clear cut-off will encourage the recipient to act on the offer in a timely manner.

If you want to develop a successful SMS marketing campaign, the strategies listed above will help you to reach this goal. Keeping your customers' needs in mind is the best way to get the results you are looking for.

Text Message Marketing Effective Strategy for Businesses

I was intrigued to learn that the majority of mobile phone users like to receive promotional SMS offers. The results of a survey conducted by YouGov indicate that 65 percent of mobile phone users fall into his category.

The survey results also indicated that 75 percent of smartphone owners prefer receiving offers via SMS, which indicates mobile SMS marketing can be an effective way to reach out to potential buyers. A full 83 percent of respondents stated that their preference would be to receive two offers per month, or less.

Unlike other types of marketing efforts, SMS messages are more likely to be opened by the recipient. I think that getting a prospective buyer to look at what is being communicated to him or her is half the battle. A business could be offering a wonderful product or service but if prospective buyers don't read the advertising messages, it is a moot point.

What do these survey results mean for your business? Now that you know that mobile phone users are willing to read SMS offers received on their handheld devices, add this element to your mobile marketing efforts. You will want to set up a schedule so that your target market receives your offers a couple of times a month to avoid overwhelming them with too many offers.

As long as you make sure that your messages are interesting and relevant to your target audience, you have a very good chance of having the recipient follow through by making a purchase.

Keep it Simple When Planning Your Mobile Marketing Campaigns

When deciding how to structure mobile marketing for your business, simplicity counts. I know that many business owners are interested in adopting this type of marketing method to reach out to customers, and for good reason: they work.

As mobile phones continue to become more popular with consumers, they will become increasingly more likely to depend on this technology to send and receive messages. Companies can use text message marketing to send messages to its customer list to provide information about special offers or promotions, turning browsers into buyers.

Since mobile phones and tablets have smaller screens than a desktop model, keeping the messages short and to the point is the way to go. A buyer who is out and about wants to receive marketing messages in bite-sized chunks, and mobile marketing campaigns are the perfect way to deliver the information they need to make a choice about where to buy a product or service quickly.

Along with keeping the messages simple, a successful mobile campaign will be one that doesn't forget that this type of marketing involves receiving, as well as sending, messages. Be ready to deal with inquiries from customers made from their hand-held devices and tablets so that they can receive the information requested in a timely manner.

Customers who are looking for information using their mobile phone are open to making a buying decision in the moment, and reaching out to them in this way will help to boost your bottom line.

Going Green with SMS Marketing

Why would a business want to adopt an SMS marketing strategy? The main reason that I can see companies being interested in this type of marketing is because it works. There are almost 6 billion cell phone subscriptions worldwide, and as texting continues to become the primary way consumers communication, text messages will become a more important way for businesses to connect with their customers.

One way to get the public on board with this type of mobile marketing would be to emphasize that it is a “green” means of advertising. Electronic messages being sent to a device that the recipient already owns means that a company does not have to go to the time and expense to produce paper advertising materials and assume the cost of having it distributed to potential buyers.

SMS messages are a much more effective way to share messages with customers. They are short, to the point, and can be directed at a specific target market. With sending out paper flyers, a good portion of recipients will simply discard them without even reading them. SMS messages, in contrast, have a 99% open rate with recipients. If getting the potential buyer to read the message is half the battle, I can see the conversion rates will be much higher using this technique.

Not only is it a green way to attract buyers, but SMS marketing is a method that gets results. This is truly a win-win situation for business owners.

Mobile Coupon Use to Increase to 300 Million Users

Mobile coupons have been growing in popularity, but I was surprised to learn that a report released by Juniper Research is predicting that over 300 million consumers will use them by the year 2014. "Mobile Coupons & NFC Smart Posters:Strategies, Applications and Forecasts 2009-2014" predicts that electronic coupons will be the most popular way for buyers to save money on purchases.

The increase in mobile coupon use is directly linked to the increasing consumer demand for smart phones. As more buyers have access to mobile technology, they will be taking advantage of various apps available, including ones that provide opportunities to save on purchases.

I was especially interested to learn that mobile coupons are redeemed at a much higher rate than the traditional paper version. Approximately five to seven percent of electronic offers are presented to a retailer, as opposed to two percent of paper coupons.

These electronic coupons can help to encourage consumer visits to a brick and mortar location, giving retailers the opportunity to show the customer what the location has to offer. Once the buyer is in the store, it will not only boost sales for the item being promoted, but will also increase sales for other products on offer.

This sounds like a win-win situation for retailers. Since mobile coupons are easy to produce and are the "green" way to save, it may even boost sales from environmentally conscious buyers. It is no wonder that they are poised for such tremendous growth.

SMS Business Application: Mobile Polling and Surveys

After browsing the latest in mobile applications, I found a new SMS business application that allows companies to keep in touch with customers and gather information, which can be used for marketing or other purposes. A business can send out messages at intervals to customers who have opted in to its mailing list to answer multiple choice or open-ended questions.

This strategy is being used in the medical field by instrument manufacturers and drug companies to interact with physicians. The answers are used to form part of physician interviews or to gather statistical information.

Businesses that choose to use SMS to gather information from customers have the advantage of being able to gather information quickly. Using other methods, such as e-mail or regular mail marketing, would take longer to get a response from customers. 

The advantage that I can see to using SMS in this way is that these types of messages are much more likely to be opened by customers, which means that the business will get a much higher response rate than with other types of marketing techniques. Businesses need to keep track of customer likes and dislikes to ensure that they are offering the right kinds of products and services, and using SMS can be an effective way to gather this important information. To encourage customers to respond to the messages, the company could enter their names into a draw for a prize or offer some other type of incentive.

Mobile Text Marketing Allows Businesses Connect with Consumers

The next logical step in mobile marketing for businesses is to allow customers to interact with the company through their smartphones. Mobile text marketing is a way for businesses and organizations to broadcast text messages from a desktop computer unit. The business would send out a message and the customer will be invited to reply. Once that customer has opted into the program by responding to the text message, the company would be able to send additional promotional text messages at intervals to the customers on its text message list.

One way that I can see this type of mobile marketing working well for business owners is if customers respond to the initial message and receive a mobile coupon in return. This is a great strategy to encourage loyalty to a specific brand, and the business can use the mobile texts to keep in touch with customers and inform about specials, new products and the like.

For companies located near the Canadian border, this type of technology can be directed at consumers in the U.S. and Canada. I can see this would working well, since the business sending out the text messages would not have to duplicate its advertising campaigns to appeal to customers in each country separately. When a business can use one method and reach a larger pool of potential buyers, this is a winning strategy in my opinion and mobile text marketing is a great example.

Next Step for Mobile Coupons: Make Them Scannable

I know that for many consumers, clipping coupons is a fact of modern life. Most people would say that being able to save money on the products they buy is a good thing. Issuing coupons also encourages buyers to try new products being introduced to the market. Mobile coupons are starting to become more popular with buyers, and for good reason: they are easy to distribute and don't take up space in a person's wallet or pocket.

All-digital coupons will be the next step in bringing these savings vehicles to consumers. The buyer would simply show his or her smart phone to the cashier, who would then scan the coupon with a handheld device. The information would be immediately credited to the consumer, in the same manner that a paper coupon is scanned.

I can see businesses using mobile coupons in conjunction with their other digital marketing efforts to reach out to buyers in a highly targeted way. Rather than go to the time and expense of printing off a run of coupons, which may or may not reach the companies target market, this method is a more environmentally friendly way to go and will put special offers in front of people who are interested in the message.

Using fully scannable coupons is something that I think we will see more of going forward. A strategy like this is very likely to boost sales for a company, while keeping costs in line.

Choose Keywords Carefully for Mobile Marketing Success

I know that I have discussed mobile marketing strategies at length recently, and that's because this is the advertising wave of the future. Part of developing a mobile marketing strategy is choosing the right keywords. What works for desktop internet searches does not translate well to the mobile marketing sphere.

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 Whereas an internet user working from a desktop computer may not necessarily be looking for local results in a search, consumers using smart phones or tablets to search for information are looking for businesses that are close by.  When choosing keywords for mobile devices, I would suggest including the name of the city or town in the keyword phrase to make it easier for consumers to find your business.

Long-tail keywords, which worked very well for desktop internet users, are probably not the best choice if you want to target the mobile market. People using handheld devices or tablets to look for information want to find what they need quickly and efficiently, with as few words as possible. You will need to come up with some phrases that can direct consumers to your business without being overly wordy.

Make sure you include some common misspellings your keyword phrase. When someone is using a device with a smaller keyboard than the standard desktop model, the potential for making errors increases dramatically.