We know one thing: The only way to stand out in the crowd is by doing something different. Something innovative that has the potential to engage your audience through meaningful interactions. As businesses become increasingly competitive, organisations must go the extra mile with their marketing campaigns.
For instance, look at SMS marketing. It is a smart idea that unleashes the full potential of mobile marketing. Through bulk SMS campaigns, you can reach out to a wide audience and still establish a personal connection. With people being so attached to their smartphones, this is an opportunity that you cannot afford to overlook.
But, wait! Before you go ahead and avail a bulk SMS solution, let us help you understand what value it can bring to your campaigns and how it can empower your business.
Bulk SMS Service: What’s It All About?
Essentially, bulk SMS service is a quick, efficient, and cost-effective way to empower your SMS marketing campaigns. It enables a business to interact and engage with its customers by sending across relevant information and communicating its value proposition. Using minimal resources, you can direct an SMS blast to a broad audience from around the world. It opens an easy two-way communication and keeps your audience hooked.
When it comes to the applications of bulk SMS, the opportunities are limitless—you can deliver advertising messages, news and weather updates, transaction receipts, alarms, and even engage in mobile banking. You can also use the service to conduct surveys, collect customer feedback, or engage the audience with games or voting campaigns.
Merely implementing these steps will not result in a successful campaign. Your customers, for all you know, are already bombarded with several blasts every day. So what will set you apart? Your messages or blasts must compel them to act. Here are some factors to keep in mind while designing your campaign.
(1) Know Your Audience
Like with every other marketing initiative, the first step is to know your audience. You can identify customer groups based on factors like gender, location, age, and past purchases. Use this information to create messages that are relevant and attention-grabbing. For a good response rate, your offering has to have the right context and connect with people.
(2) Short and Simple
As a rule, an SMS allows only 160 characters. That’s a limited number of characters to make an impression; hence, using the right words and language is very important. Get to the point straight away, list out the benefits and make your offering as clear as possible.
(3) Personalise for a Better Experience
Personalisation is a winning advantage for any campaign. Fortunately, it is easy to tailor bulk SMS solutions by inserting names and other recipient-specific details. Another step would be to set your company name as the sender. This will solidify your brand name and image.
(4) A Sense of Urgency
The right words may increase interest, but a sense of urgency will spur your customers to action. You can do it by setting an expiration date on the vouchers and offers. Limited time validity often results in higher conversion rates because customers tend to cinch the deals sooner rather than later.
(5) A Clear CTA
A must-have element in all SMS blasts is a clear CTA (call to action). It lets the recipients know the intent of the message and tells them what they need to do to avail the benefit from the offering. Adding a URL or CTA button will drive action instantly.
(6) The Right Frequency
Be it daily, weekly, or monthly, identifying the right frequency for SMS campaigns can make all the difference. Overdoing things can annoy the audience and they may even unsubscribe from the service. At the same time, you cannot afford to be out of touch for too long because people may lose interest. Keep your communication fresh and engaging with just the right amount of messages.
(7) Anticipate Customer Response and be Prepared
Time is a key factor in your campaign. Finding the right time to send your SMS will depend on factors such as demographics and geographical location. If it is a response that you wish to generate, give the customers enough time during the day to get back to you. A hassle-free way of optimising time is to draft messages on a scheduler and have them delivered according to the anticipated response time.
(8) Track and Optimise Your Campaign
No campaign can be effective unless you periodically fine-tune it for better results. Track the metrics closely; keep an eye out for the number of responses and ROI (return on investment). You could dabble in strategies—send out SMS blasts with varying offers, mix up time and days, and see what works best. Constant tweaking and adjusting will result in your personal formula of success.
(9) Relevant Keywords
Growing your opt-in list of customers gets easier by making judicious use of SMS keywords. Stick to the people who opt-in with the help of these keywords. In any case, you wouldn’t want to get intrusive and send across messages to people who haven’t permitted you.
(10) A Decluttered Database
Sending messages to old numbers can actually increase the cost of your campaign. Obviously, regularly checking and decluttering your database enables you to clear the numbers that you cannot reach or ones that are no longer interested in your offerings. This helps you save time and money in the long run.
The Takeaway
When it comes to mobile marketing, bulk SMS is a smart approach to rely on. It gives you wider coverage and lessens your workload without costing a fortune. It is a must-have in your marketing mix.
If you are already using it, then, upgrading your strategy doesn’t hurt to stay a step ahead. More than anything else, you need to choose a bulk SMS solution that you can depend on. It all boils down to your service provider really; you want quality without downtime and features that can take your campaigns to the next level. A savvy bulk SMS campaign can take your marketing strategy a notch higher.
Servetel offers a robust bulk SMS solution that you can personalise according to scale and demographics. To know more call us at 1800-120-4132
