SMS. A guide to successful SMS Marketing. Easy ways to gather mobile subscribers and send more effective messages.

Transcription

1 SMS A guide to successful SMS Marketing Easy ways to gather mobile subscribers and send more effective messages.

2 Whether you ve sent out a few dozen messages to test out SMS marketing, or you ve sent out thousands of messages and would like to take your results from average to exceptional, this ebook is for you. It contains advice on growing your subscriber list, the sort of messages people like to receive, when they prefer to receive them, and quick tweaks that ll mean you get much better results.

3 Contents page: Grow subscribers... pg.4 SMS marketing and the law... pg.5 Incentives that really work... pg.6 Promoting your offer... pg.8 Setting expectations... pg.8 When to use SMS and when not to... pg.9 What to send... pg.12 The first message... pg.13 Leading with value... pg.15 Personalisation... pg.16 Timing is everything... pg.17 Conclusion... pg.18 3

4 Grow subscribers

5 The hardest part of SMS marketing is getting a list together of people who want to hear from you. Here s where we explore how you can grow your list, starting with the legalities. SMS marketing and the law A lot of businesses collect mobile numbers from customers as a matter of course: from buying something online to registering for a service. Sending marketing messages to these people is not illegal it s called a soft opt-in but recipients must be given the opportunity to opt-out. This means allowing the recipient to text back with STOP or something similar. You don t need to include this information with every message you send, but at least one of your text messages have it (see The First Message for examples and ideas). In an ideal world, customers will actively opt-in to receive text messages from you, and we ll look at how you can encourage them to do this on the next page. Every text message you send needs to show: Who you are What you are selling What the promotions are, and if there are any special conditions attached. The Information Commissioner s Office has a helpful checklist to ensure you re compliant. 5

6 Incentives that really work Here s where we explore how you get can customers to actively opt-in to receive text messages from you. It s an important step because, although it s not illegal to send promotional text messages to existing customers without their consent, you will get better results if the customer knows that they are going to receive messages, and wants to receive them. You ve probably seen tick boxes saying tick here to receive mobile offers if you shop online; most people leave these unticked, because they don t see the value what s in it for them? Here are two ways to give customers a great reason to sign up to receive messages from you. 1. Give something away As our example shows (and our apologies for the dreadful pun), giving something away as an incentive to sign up to a mobile mailing list is a familiar and effective tactic. You could also offer a discount, or a prize draw for a gift card, driving experience or spa treatment if you offer a service that can t be given away or discounted easily. These kind of adverts can appear on your website, in print, on signs or in your signature and they appeal to both new and current customers. JAVA BEAN COFFEE CLUB TEXT BREWTIFUL TO JOIN TODAY FOR YOUR free weekly Example giveaway MORNING WAKE UP CUP 6

7 2. Offer something exclusive This is more long-term than a single giveaway or prize draw and needs a bit of planning. The sort of things you might offer to customers here include promotional codes, offers or event invites: Get exclusive news, events and deals by joining our mobile VIP club, Exclusive offers straight to your mobile device and Receive exclusive contests, events and more!. If you have an newsletter, and distribute promotional codes or event invites via , it s important that these are separate from your mobile offers. They really do need to be exclusive. A quick note about short codes Short codes are special telephone numbers which are significantly shorter than full telephone numbers. They are pretty much essential for signing up new mobile subscribers because they re a lot easier to type in than a full telephone number! Example Call-to-Action How do you get one? Ask your SMS service provider about your options and expect to pay a small monthly fee. 7

8 Promoting your offer 75% 75% of people want to receive messages from businesses sent to them via SMS, and almost 1/3 have actively subscribed to mobile marketing (source). So the appetite is there, but now you need to make sure that your customers know that you offer this service. You don t need to have a big budget, either: Add a form to your website allowing customers to opt-in with their mobile numbers Use to encourage customers to opt-in to mobile marketing If you have a shop, put up signs inviting customers to join your mobile mailing list Tell people how to sign up for your mobile mailing list in your magazine or directory adverts Add a banner graphic to your website and social media pages Put your invite on your letterhead paper, invoices / receipts and compliment slips. Our attention span keeps getting shorter so keep your message simple! Setting expectations Don t expect overnight results; building a mobile database takes time and energy, and one of the reasons some companies don t succeed is that they give up too soon. It s not unusual for it to take several months for a small business to get your first 500 or 1,000 subscribers, so don t worry if things seem slow to start with. Keep on consistently promoting your mobile offer, and they will come in time. 8

9 When to use SMS and when not to

10 Marketing by text message has a lot of stats to boast its success: 81% of Irish people own a smartphone (source); SMS boasts a 98% open rate (source); and 70% of people deem SMS as a great way to win their attention (source). However, receiving a text feels much more personal than an , and obviously you have limited space to get your message across. Think carefully before committing to an SMS campaign and as yourself these questions: Pre-send checklist 1. Can my message be put across in 160 characters? It s not easy to write advertising messages that are interesting, entertaining or useful AND encourage someone to take action within 160 characters. There will be times when works better. Don t take your campaign and try to squash it into an SMS: always think SMS first. 160 characters is the length of one text message. 10

11 2. Is this message urgent? One of the great things about SMS is the speed in which they re read. MobileSquared, a mobile research firm, reported that 90% of people read text messages within three minutes of them being received. But that great strength is also a weakness; if your message doesn t demand immediate attention, it ll be read and then forgotten. Reminding someone that their car is due for a service a month before the actual date will be less effective than the same message sent *when* the service is due. Equally a one day promotional sale should be promoted on the day, not three days before. This is where coupling SMS with an campaign can be very effective; use for the build up, and SMS to really drive action. 3. Is this message really valuable? Don t waste your customers good will; every message you send out is a chance for them to unsubscribe, and if you send them something unimportant, they ll do just that. This is best practice for any marketing message, but with SMS being so personal, you need to be particularly selective about what you send. 11

12 What to send

13 The first message The first message you send to both subscribers (who ve opted in) and new customers (who might not realise they re going to get marketing messages from you) is absolutely key to the future success of your messages. This is your opportunity to tell people what they can expect Already sent out your first message? Don t worry: it s never too late to let people know what to expect and when. to receive from you, how often, and how they can stop receiving messages if they choose. Example welcome messages for subscribers: 13:34 Cactus Recruitment 13:34 Mobile VIP Club 13:34 Daybrook Surgery Text Message Text Message Text Message Thanks for signing up to mobile alerts from Cactus Recruitment! We ll send you 2-3 messages per mth with the best vacancies for your skill set. Text STOP to opt out at any time. Welcome to Esendex s Mobile VIP Club! You ll receive exclusive invites, promotions and news 3-4 times per month. Opt out any time by texting NOTHANKS to Hello & welcome from Daybrook Surgery! We ll send you special offers & important surgery news via SMS. Text STOP to opt out. Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 13

14 Example welcome messages for new customers: 13:34 Cactus Recruitment 13:34 Esendex 13:34 Daybrook Surgery Text Message Text Message Text Message Thank you for registering for Cactus Recruitment s services! We d like to send you 2-3 messages per month with the best vacancies for your skill set. You can opt-out at any time by replying STOP. Thank you for shopping with Esendex! We d like to send you exclusive invites, promotions and news via SMS 3-4 times per month. If you d rather not receive these messages, please text NOTHANKS to Hello from Daybrook Surgery! We use SMS to let people know about special offers and important surgery news; they re free to receive and you can opt out at any time by texting STOP. Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 While you ll probably want to keep most of your messages to 160 characters (the length of one text message), the welcome message is often longer as there s more to communicate. If you go over 160 characters, your message will still look like one message, but you ll be charged for two messages by your SMS provider. 160 characters looks like this. It s true that you don t have a huge amount of space, but not so short that you shouldn t consider how you structure your offer. 14

15 Leading with value You should always open your SMS with the most exciting part of your message. If that s a giveaway or a discount, start with this and then go into detail. Example promotional messages: 13:34 Bella s Boots 13:34 Freddie s Fry Up 13:34 Tanstar Text Message Text Message Text Message Save 20% on all footwear at Bella s Boots. One day only - show this text to the cashier to get your discount! Free garlic bread with every 10 pizza ordered from Freddie s Fry Up this weekend! Order online at www. freddiesfryup.ie & add FRED10 when you checkout. Buy 2 get 1 free tanning sessions in our new state-of-the-art tanning booth. Call to book today & quote SMS. Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 15

16 Personalisation As we ve said before, receiving a text feels highly personal, which can work for or against you when sending marketing messages. It can work for you if you use all of the information you have about your customers to improve the relevance of the message you re sending. It can work against you if you stick to one-size-fits-all messages without thinking about how the people at the receiving end will react to them. Personalisation can start small: just including your customer s name will help them feel like the message was crafted just for them. Taking this further, you might want to consider grouping your customers by: Age Gender Purchase history Location You can then tailor your promotion to each group - for example, a discount on a new celebrity perfume might be of greater interest to women aged than to men aged 60+. Equally promoting a new restaurant opening in Limerick isn t going to be of much interest to people in Dublin. If you don t have this level of information about your mobile subscribers, don t panic; use what you do have, and segment and personalise your messages as much you reasonably can. 16

17 Timing is everything How often should you send SMS marketing campaigns? Pretty consistently: three to four times a month should help you stay top of mind with your customers. However, don t feel that you have to stick to an absolutely rigid schedule - better to miss a week than to send through a poorly thought-through message. When should you send SMS marketing campaigns? Most text messages are read within three minutes of them being received, so they don t work as well for teaser style content (i.e. coming soon ). They re better used when you want someone to take action NOW. Marks & Spencer ran a highly successful text message campaign to promote their dine-in-for-two offer (source). Their texts were carefully timed to reach phones as busy commuters were leaving work, reminding them that they re hungry, they ve mouths to feed, and there s an affordable solution to this problem just down the road. The same message sent at 9AM wouldn t have had the same impact. For most people, working out the best time of day to send out a campaign is down to good judgement and a degree of trial and error. If your customers are working professionals, and your message isn t work-related, try lunchtimes and evenings when they re at liberty to take action. Test different days of the week, and different times, and, based on the volume of response to your promotion, you ll be able to work out what works best for your customer base. 17

18 Conclusion We hope this ebook has given you some ideas for how you can start to actively grow your mobile subscriber list, and what content works well sent through SMS. Our top tips for quick wins are: Set expectations - don t just send a promotion out of the blue to unsuspecting customers! and SMS work really well together; send an first and follow up with an SMS when you want action Pick your moments - use the immediacy of SMS to your advantage Open your message with the most exciting part Tailor your promotions to the individual as much as possible. About Esendex Esendex is a mobile business communications provider helping thousands of customers worldwide. We offer account management to help you get the best out of your marketing campaigns, and have direct network connections to all of the major networks, meaning that your messages will be delivered quickly, securely and reliably. To contact your account manager: Call Visit where our agents are available on LiveChat (office hours only). 18

19 Designed and published by Esendex Ltd. Esendex Limited 2017 Registered company number: