Everyone is talking about SMS marketing these days. Statistics tell us that there are over 242.6 million mobile phone users world-wide. That’s a huge market to tap! Furthermore, most people have their phones on them all day long and answer text messages within moments of receipt. This all sounds like fantastic news for marketers, but you could run into an unreceptive audience if you’re not careful.

When Marketing SMS Is Smart

The best use of SMS text marketing is to engage existing customers. You want to stay in the forefront of their minds, keep them informed on your sales activity, maintain their loyalty, and encourage them to spend more. By recording and analyzing purchasing data, you can send out more personalized messages for a more effective campaign. For instance…

• Say a customer has a habit of visiting your store to make purchases after work around 5:30 pm. At 5 pm, you can send  out a coupon and alert the customer of a “flash sale” to drive real-time traffic.
• Say you have someone who likes to buy Urban Decay eye-shadow from your store. You can send out a message letting that buyer know when you get a brand new Urban Decay product in stock that she may like.
• Say you have someone who recently bought an iPod from your electronic store. You can send out a message offering a discount on iPod carrying cases and accessories or a free iTunes download.

When Marketing SMS Is Just Plain Dumb

On the other hand, you could royally screw things up. No one wants to be harassed with constant business messages at work. You don’t want to overdo it with messages to your subscribers or they will unsubscribe in a hurry. Also, you don’t want to solicit new leads using text marketing or you are likely to have a lot of angry people on your hands. You always want to provide an opt-in opportunity, whether it’s asking someone directly for their permission or asking people to text a keyword to your short code. No matter  how targeted your messages are, no one will want to hear from you if they have not approved the correspondence beforehand.

The Bottom Line:

There is a right way and a wrong way to do everything. If you want fresh leads, you’ll have to use traditional methods of lead generation. However, if you’re looking to increase  brand loyalty and reach out to repeat customers, there is no better method than mobile marketing. We’d love to hear from you if you’re ready to get started marketing with SMS.

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