The Essentials of SMS Advertising
Table of Contents
SMS Advertising Best Practices
Common SMS Advertising Mistakes To Avoid
Dexatel: An SMS Advertising Company
SMS advertising is one of the most popular types of mobile marketing—it ranks higher than email, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms. This marketing channel helps you send a proposal or introduce your company directly to your clients. Wish to start advertising through SMS? You’ll need a couple of things.
First, you must have access to a mass SMS text messaging platform. There are many online services where you can sign up and handle your SMS marketing campaign by yourself or connect with a text message advertising agency. Second, you’ll need a contact list of your customers or possible clients. Import the list of phone numbers to the software or simply fill out the form one by one to start sending text messages.
SMS Advertising Best Practices
Capturing a client’s attention is one of the hardest things to do. Imagine having thousands of brands trying to get you to use their services or products. To stand out from the crows, you need to follow a few essential points that’ll increase your chances of getting noticed.
Keep It Short and Catchy
We’re sure you’ve heard people say, “This meeting could have been an email.” The same goes for an SMS message—a long text can very well be an essay. That’s exactly what you don’t want to do. You want to save your customers’ time; you want them to remember what you told them.
This brings us to our second point: have a clear message. Include a brief intro, body, and a call to action. You can also include a link to your website to facilitate the process for your customers.
Maintain Connection
Successful SMS advertising doesn’t stop at one message—that is not to say you have to send several messages to your customers per day. But, you want to maintain your relationships with your customer base by periodically sending them promotional text messages. This way, you’ll attract more people who are interested in your product or service.
Ask For Permission
No business wants their messages to be dismissed as spam. Therefore, you want to make sure you’re following the rules and regulations. Keep in mind that any business that deals with clients prioritizes customer service. To make sure you’re not doing anything wrong, keep these steps in mind:
- Have your clients consent to sending them SMS messages
- Mention your business name when sending messages
- Give your customers a chance to opt out or unsubscribe from your text message marketing campaign
Switch Things Up
Sure, you can go ahead and follow the same steps every other business does—it’s a foolproof method of success. But, to really stand out from the rest, always test new content. Don’t limit yourself to anything; play around with different advertising methods.
Keep up with advertising trends to include new tactics in your text campaigns. Instead of linking to your website, include a link to a video or a product. Testing different types of messages will help you figure out which ones are profitable and interesting for your clients.
Common SMS Advertising Mistakes To Avoid
Not Including a Call to Action in Your Message
SMS calls to action are effective techniques for capturing the attention of your target audience—they inspire your customers to take action. The most important things you want your SMS calls to action to do are:
- Capture attention
- Produce desire to opt-in
- Provide value
When you meet all three requirements, your SMS campaign will yield fantastic results. So, make sure that your text is proactive so that the customer understands what you’re offering and what they should do. Feel free to modify your CTAs if you’re not generating enough leads.
Not Paying Attention To Timing
You have your message ready, you've prepared a strong CTA, and you know your target audience—it’s time to schedule the message. Paying attention to when you’re sending your message depends on who your audience is and what you’re offering them. There is no one best time to send marketing text messages, but there are instances when doing so is inappropriate.
Everyone reacts differently to commercial texts. Some clients may respond well to receiving messages early in the morning, but others may respond better at the end of the day. It all comes down to who you’re targeting.
Not Sending Personalized Messages
You want your message to show that you know who your customers are. A lot of the time, when a message doesn’t include a customer’s name, it may be perceived as spam. If you have a customer’s phone number, the data most likely includes their name as well.
Make sure to communicate with customers by their names when sending welcome messages. Moreover, make sure your customers know who is sending the message. Mention your brand in your message body, especially if you’re sending texts to a new client.
Dexatel: An SMS Advertising Company
Dexatel is a customer-friendly text message advertising platform that allows you to reach out to your customers via SMS. The text advertising software helps you send messages at a reasonable price while guaranteeing your messages are delivered and read. From small businesses to large corporations, Dexatel guides you every step of the way.
Our bulk SMS pricing page lets you calculate how much it costs to send messages in different countries. We also provide a list of SMS marketing templates to help you get started.