SMS marketing is a rapidly growing channel for lead engagement. In the US alone, over 95% of citizens own a cell phone – more than people who own a landline!
While calls largely remain the most effective channel in lead generation, SMS marketing can be a beneficial addition to your marketing strategy.
Without further ado, here are eight strategies to help you find customers and capture leads with SMS marketing. Use these tips to boost business, get ahead of competitors, and expand your reach.
1. Focus on Value
Before you start crafting witty, eye-catching SMS messages, it’s important to have a full understanding of your business.
First, who are your customers? What do they care about? What problems are they facing that your business can solve?
If you don’t understand your customers, you’ll have a difficult time crafting a message they care about.
If you have a broad target audience, consider using buyer personas to differentiate your customers. For example, you can segment audience groups by broad categories such as age, gender, or even go as deep as debt load, budget, insurance status, etc. Consider your products, the customer’s buying habits, and their interests as well.
Once you determine your audience, you can create personalized messages for each group.
How do your customers communicate? According to G2, 60% of customers want to text businesses about customer support issues. Another 54% say they want to receive promotions by text message. Unfortunately, only 11% of businesses are taking advantage of this opportunity!
Consider the type of content your customers are looking for, too. Maybe 50% would opt into an SMS loyalty program that offers deals, sales, and coupons. Others may want SMS updates for order status updates, scheduling reminders, etc.
If you want to encourage people to opt into your SMS marketing, focus on your unique value to capture leads.
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What value are you offering customers that they can’t find from one of your competitors? Make sure the value is the focal point for every message you send.
For example, you can offer coupons, tips based on buying behaviors, and flash sale announcements. Don’t forget to try different offers to keep your audience from getting bored.
2. Remain Professional
It’s not enough to find customers who want to opt into your texts. You also need to keep their preferences in mind. Otherwise, you could run the risk of losing quality leads.
How do your customers speak and act? Do they use abbreviations and emojis? These things may seem small, but they can make the difference between truly connecting to your audience and turning them off. Remember, you’ll need to adjust your SMS messaging based on your target audience.
While a younger audience might use slang, memes, and emojis, the same things likely won’t be successful with a senior audience.
Try to keep your messaging personal (instead of sounding like a bot). Keep question marks and exclamation points to a minimum. Instead, use your brand’s voice and tone to appeal to your audience.
Maintaining a professional voice will help you avoid sounding like spam.
3. Keep It Concise
Texts are short, sweet, and easy to read. Make sure to keep your SMS messages short and to the point. Otherwise, you could lose the customer’s attention.
A sense of urgency to your messages can sway your customers into taking action. Using the fear of missing out (FOMO) concept can encourage your audience to take immediate action instead of sitting on it or ignoring it.
4. Track the Time
Think about when you’ll send your messages as well. When are your customers at their least busiest? Are they more likely to look at their phones during lunchtime or after work?
The general rule is to avoid sending texts before 8 am or after 8 pm. Not only do SMS marketing campaigns have the lowest response rates during these windows, you might also risk running afoul of state compliance regulations. It might take a few campaigns before you recognize the sweet spot for your timing.
Review your analytics to determine which time window generates the most leads.
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5. Offer Incentives
Incentives are a great way to draw quality leads to your business.
What would work to help you tempt your audience? Are they looking for deals and coupons?
Make sure to put the offer at the beginning of your message. Otherwise, you might lose the customer’s interest before they finish reading your message.
Want to make your offer even more appealing? Consider adding social proof to build intrigue and credibility. Use reviews from happy customers to show consumers why your business is the best, like so:
6. Offer the VIP Treatment
Customers want to feel like they’re getting the best possible deal. Creating a sense of exclusivity by offering them the VIP treatment helps encourage them to stick around.
First, consider branding your SMS marketing campaign in a way that helps you stand out. For example, you can call your SMS subscribers your VIP club members.
Make sure to thank your customers with a lead follow-up text. Send them a special offer just for subscribing.
As you send them texts and coupons, remind them that those offers are only for the VIP club!
7. End With a Strong CTA
The next time you craft a SMS marketing message, read it over. What action are you encouraging customers to take?
Make sure your SMS messages end with a strong call to action (CTA). A clear, concise CTA will direct customers to take action then and there. Otherwise, your customers will read your message, promptly forget about it, and continue to move on with their lives.
If you want them to complete an action on your website, make it easy for them. Provide a link straight to the page. A complicated CTA, on the other hand, scares off leads.
8. A/B Test
As you use these tips, make sure to A/B test your campaigns. Try different messages, texts, and offers. Test when you send your texts as well.
A/B testing can give you valuable information regarding your customers. The more texts you send out, the more information you’ll have to work with.
Then, you can make adjustments to your campaigns and capture leads!
Ring It In: 8 Strategies for Gaining Quality Leads with SMS Marketing
Ready to get texting? Keep these eight tips in mind first. With these nine SMS marketing tips, you can gather quality leads and boost business.
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