How Do You Create a Profitable SMS Marketing Strategy?

SMS (Short Message Service) remains a powerful marketing strategy even after the evolution of modern digital marketing. It is a time-saving and budget-friendly strategy that enables marketers to communicate directly with potential clients and record customer data. The significant advantages of text messaging are its high open rates and a unique blend of immediacy and efficiency. 

If you are not using SMS marketing, you are missing a huge opportunity to build a loyal customer base regardless of your business size. Trust me, text marketing has the full potential to boost your business if you use this approach wisely and effectively. 

This blog will provide well-structured and results-driven steps on how to create a profitable SMS marketing strategy. 

Let’s dive into the blog. 🚀

What is SMS marketing?

Short Message Service (SMS) marketing is a form of marketing that businesses use to promote their products and send reminders to their permitted customers via text message. Compared to traditional forms of advertising, it is a cost-effective strategy that enhances customer engagement including high deliverability and increased revenue. 

Organizations willing to use SMS marketing must adhere to SMS compliance. Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the company must receive written consent from the consumer to send messages. Such an act will protect consumers from spam text messages and privacy issues. 

The sales organization can obtain customers’ express written consent in many ways. It can provide web and physical forms. Additionally, it can ask customers to reply with a single word to express their consent to receive promotional messages. Notably, the forms must clearly state the permission to send promotional messages to its customers. 

Why is SMS marketing important?

SMS advertising is one of the most convenient channels for communicating with customers. It can be used in various industries and business sectors to find the targeted audiences. The advantages of using text messages in communication are:

I. High open rates

Text messages have exceptionally high open rates compared to other forms of digital communication, like emails. According to the research, 95% of text messages are read and responded to within 4 minutes of being received. The open rates are an essential indicator for determining the success of an SMS campaign. The high open rates indicate increased sales as customers are more likely to act on your offer. 

II. Simple and affordable

Text messages are simple and versatile. They do not require visual elements or a lengthy paragraph of messages. All it takes is precise language with a call-to-action (CTA) link for an immediate response or to encourage an immediate sale. The prominent attractive feature of marketing automation is that it is cost-saving. Compared to traditional advertising or other digital marketing channels, SMS is affordable, assisting the brand in achieving substantial returns on investment (ROIs). 

III. Mobile-friendly

Text messaging is a mobile-friendly advertising approach. Brands can use it effectively to communicate directly with customers and create long-term relationships. Also, today’s generation is stuck with their phones. The American population spends an average of 5.4 hours on their mobile phones daily, so delivered texts are more likely to be opened and read. 

IV. Better data insights

The correct selection of the SMS marketing tool provides insightful information regarding the effectiveness of SMS marketing campaigns, allowing you to improve the weaknesses in the next campaign. Optimizing the text message will enhance your brand’s return on investment.

What are the Pros and Cons of Using an SMS Marketing Strategy?

The use of SMS Marketing Strategy has both Pros and Cons. Let’s discuss them individually.  

The advantages of using an SMS Marketing Strategy are:

A. Lightning fast delivery

SMS is independent of an internet connection, enabling marketers to send promotional messages to offline customers using the cellular network’s infrastructure. They can instantly send plain text messages of up to 160 characters without depending on Internet connectivity.

In addition to fast delivery, opening, reading, and engagement rates are comparatively higher. People spend excessive time on their phones, making them likely to respond to text messages instantly.

B. Higher engagement rate

The main advantage of an SMS marketing strategy is increasing the engagement rate. These tactics offer a fantastic chance to nurture client loyalty. By providing updates, exclusive deals, and personalized messages, they also assist companies in promoting business growth and maintaining consumer engagement.

C. Direct communication with customers

SMS is a more conversational advertising channel than other mediums. It takes no more than a few seconds to connect with your customers. Being close to customers has several benefits, as it helps to understand customers’ contemporary needs and help them timely. Apart from offering timely support, you could also gain direct insight into how customers navigate the purchasing process effectively. 

The disadvantages of using text messaging strategies are:

A. Limited message length

One disadvantage of SMS is the limited message length. It supports up to 160 characters, including spaces, or up to 70 if the message contains an emoji. Marketers must write a clear, short, and engaging message to attract the readers’ attention. Therefore, hooking your target audience is more challenging than other marketing channels.

B. Potential for over-messaging

Sending messages frequently in a short period may lead to message fatigue and negatively impact the customer experience. Marketers can send at least one to two text messages weekly and four to eight monthly. The time and frequency of opening and engagement rate must be studied effectively to change the number of sending messages. Furthermore, the quantity of messages delivered also depends on the message type. 

How to create a profitable SMS marketing strategy campaign: 6 simple steps

Creating a winning SMS marketing strategy can bring great success to your organization. It also helps marketers ensure each message resonates with its intended recipients, which enhances the opening, reading, and engagement rate. This leads to an increase in sales. So, follow the provided steps to create an effective SMS marketing strategy. 

1. Define goals and objectives

Organizations must initiate this process by defining their objectives and what they aim to achieve with SMS marketing. They should mention whether the goal is increasing sales, product awareness, website traffic, or customer relationships. Clarifying the goals of any SMS marketing campaign can make analyzing data over time easier.

2. Understand your target audience

The message you send must be concise and relevant to your target audience. You can segment these audiences into groups based on common characteristics such as purchase pattern history, product preferences, and feedback.

Such segmentation allows you to customize the promotion, cart abandonment, exclusive deals, or reminder messages accordingly, increasing the relevancy of your communication. These personalized messages are more impactful and likely to bring positive responses from the recipients. 

3. Build a subscriber list

Building a subscriber list is a critical strategy for a successful business. It enables the organization’s marketers to personally communicate with the most interested clients, fostering a relationship that significantly enhances sales.

Marketers can use social media, email, or website opt-in campaigns to encourage customers to sign up for communication and SMS alerts. They can increase signups by providing offers, discounts, or sales access and create a quality subscriber list.

4. Create compelling content

Creating compelling content helps to convey relevant messages and evoke emotion or curiosity. Text messages are plain text with no graphics to encourage customers to take action. So, to make the message engaging, selecting words wisely and using persuasive language is vital.

In addition, use emotion, exclusivity, and urgency to make your messages eye-catching and impressive. Lastly, include a call to action in every message so the recipient knows what to do next. Examples of CTA are a website link, order now, try for free, call now, sign up, and reply “yes” to opt-in. 

5. Automate and schedule texts at strategic times

The effectiveness of your SMS marketing campaign depends on when you send your texts. Marketers should research the best time to reach customers or when they are more likely to open and respond to texts. Recipients living in different time zones might receive messages at odd hours. So, automate the task accordingly. 

Scheduling text messages also varies by type. For an appointment, send a text message 24 hours in advance. Generally, avoid reaching them before 9:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. 

6. Test and Optimize

SMS marketing tactics allow you to test and learn from actual data to keep improving. To determine which components perform best, you can conduct A/B testing with various messages, timings, or calls to action (CTAs). You should also welcome feedback on your SMS campaigns to improve your approach.

Conclusion

SMS marketing boosts your business by offering unique advantages over other digital channels. The messages are delivered instantly, making them perfect for urgent or time-sensitive updates.  The marketing strategies allow the businesses to segment the target audience based on purchase history and product preferences. Then, the marketers can send personalized messages and build a strong connection with the audience, leading to higher engagement and conversions.

SMS’s integration capabilities with other digital marketing tools, such as Email marketing, CRM, and Social media, will enhance the marketer’s ability to reach wider audiences. Some best practices for creating a successful SMS marketing campaign include knowing your audience, creating compelling content, using automation, and upholding compliance.

FAQs

Why is SMS marketing effective?

The SMS marketing is effective because of the following reasons:

1. High Open Rates
2. Direct Communication
3. Quick Delivery
4. Reaches customers frequently on mobile devices.

What are the critical components of a compelling SMS message?

The critical components of a compelling SMS message include:

1. Personalization
2. Concise and clear content
3. Strong call to action (CTA)
4. Optimal timing and frequency

What metrics should I track to measure the success of my SMS marketing campaigns?

Track the open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, unsubscribe rates, and ROI to measure the success of SMS marketing campaigns.

How do we optimize the SMS marketing strategy over time?

To optimize the SMS marketing strategy, follow the given steps:

1. Analyze performance data regularly
2. Conduct A/B testing.
3. Solicit feedback from subscribers
4. Stay updated on industry trends and best practices.