5 SMS Marketing Mistakes To Avoid ~ Part 1

  SMS marketing is growing rapidly, with more businesses integrating SMS into their overall marketing campaigns. SMS is a reliable and cost-effective means of communication which allows your business to get your message directly into the hands of your target audience. SMS Marketing is one of the best communication tools when done properly.

Are you currently running an SMS marketing campaign? Considering running an SMS Marketing Campaign? If so, here are 5 mistakes to avoid with SMS Marketing.

• • Sending customers too many messages
    Avoid sending your customers countless amounts of SMS messages, sending daily irrelevant information and offers will lead to customers Opting Out of your SMS list. It is important to note that your customers mobile numbers are a personal source of communication used for family, friends and colleagues. You have been given consent to contact your customers with special offers/promotions – they trust that your business will use it in an appropriate manner. Put yourself in the shoes of your customers and ask how many messages would be acceptable for you – Monthly / weekly?

• • Forgetting a clear “call to action”
    Many businesses send out text messages to customers and fail to take full advantage of the opportunity by adding a “call-to-action”. It is essential that you get your customers to act on your text message and provide them with instructions on what you want them to do next. If a clear “call-to-action” is not obvious you will lose the attention of your audience. Make sure to offer something of value keeping your business in the minds of your customers at all times. Expiry dates and time limits are a great way to make your customers act and respond faster to your offers.

• • Avoid long-winded SMS messages
    Writing what you want to say with 160 characters can be challenging. Long-Winded and boring text messages need to be avoided by your business when sending out an SMS campaign. If you are unable to get straight to the point this will result in losing your customers attention right from the start. Action words like ‘SALE, FREE, DISCOUNT, PROMOTION’ are great for telling your customers exactly what you want them to know right from the start – getting straight to the point and not losing them in the process!

• • Repetiton
    Another common mistake to avoid with SMS Marketing is sending out repetitive text messages. Getting the same message at the same time, on the same day every week can become irritating. Be aware, if your business is not getting the attention you want from your customers, it’s time to change tactics. You should never repeat the same message twice, make sure that they’re always different and attention grabbing – you don’t want customers thinking your lazy. Offer something good and valuable to your customers with each text message – repetitive SMS Messages could lead to customers Opting Out of your SMS list.

• • Focus on just selling
    SMS marketing can be seen as a disadvantage when a businesses only use it for hard selling, because of this they begin to see their lists getting smaller and smaller. A big mistake is that businesses constantly send out marketing messages trying to get their customers to purchase from them, it is important to offer valuable information with no promotions in some of the SMS messages to make the customers feel special.

SMS Marketing is very effective when you get it right, your business will see the benefits immediately achieving  great things. If SMS marketing is done wrong you could seriously damage your relationship with customers and your brand. Think smart before starting an SMS Marketing campaign.

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