Learn how an SMS mobile marketing platform can work for you.

AvidMobile offers a private label SMS mobile marketing platform for mobile website and text marketing campaign development. A SMS mobile marketing platform provides marketers with the opportunity to reach people with exciting promotions in real time.

The term SMS refers to short messaging service, which is a way of sending communications via mobile handset or specialized computer program. Marketers can think of this as a more accessible form of email that arrives wherever customers happen to be, rather than in an email inbox at home. Most importantly SMS subscribers sign up of their own volition and opt-out if they so choose.

An SMS mobile marketing platform creates opportunity.

• Right now 72 percent of all mobile users send and receive SMS text messages.
• In the US alone there 170 million people texting.
• Worldwide  it’s estimated there are 2.4 billion active SMS users.

But what does all this mean to e-commerce and online businesses?

Currently, consumers are using their smartphones to conduct over half of all online searches. This results in prospects of online businesses accessing the sites through their mobile phones. Knowing that it makes sense to deliver a promotion directly to the user’s handset instead of making the user check their email inbox.

There are numerous companies out there that have adopted the private label SMS mobile marketing platform as a great way to promote their website through embedded URLs within the text message. They often alert users of abandoned shopping carts to remind them to finish their purchasing process. For example Dutch Brothers coffee chain sends out deep discounts via text to inspire purchases, which can easily be done for other businesses too.

Over a third of SMS recipients respond to the ads they receive, which is a much better response rate than conventional email campaigns.

How can I get started with an SMS mobile marketing platform?

Identify your objectives.

First, set your goals and determine exactly what you want to achieve with SMS marketing. Once you have a strong understanding of your goals you will be ready to evaluate an SMS mobile marketing platform. Finally, after the research is done you will be ready to get started and send out text messages of your own.

Build your SMS subscriber list as you would an email list.

Create an opt-in offer that encourages online shoppers to sign up for exclusive offers or special rewards. For instance, some users will offer a $1 off coupon at checkout for people who join the SMS list. Have the customer enter a valid mobile number and the coupon code will be delivered via SMS.

A text marketing campaign will take one of three directions:

1. Most e-tailers send out special coupons or discounts to shoppers, which motivates them to visit the site.
2. Use text messaging to send out surveys.
3. Reminders of special occasions, sales, or abandoned shopping carts are a third use of mobile messages.