sms marketing guide

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SMS Marketing: A Beginner's Guide

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I n t r o d u c t i o n

SMS Marketing has proven to be highlyeffective when trying to engage yourcustomers. Over the years, as text messagingbecame a communication tool used by moreand more people, the popularity of marketingthrough this interactive method has alsosteadily increased.

2 SMS Marketing Guide

More brands are using text messages torelay promotions and coupons to theirfans. In addition, when partnering withthe right company, you can use thetechnology in a number of other creativeways that can enhance your customer’sexperience.

This guide will give you some basic ideasabout what SMS marketing means, how itis best applied, as well as some exampleson creating effective campaigns.

What is SMS Marketing and WhatDoes it Mean to be Permission-

Based?

SMS Marketing is marketing to your customersthrough a text message that can be sent to amobile phone. Marketing through text messagesis also considered Permission-Based Marketing.In order for you to send marketing messages toa customer’s phone, they will need to opt-in, orin other words, give consent to receive a brand’smarketing messages on their phone.

By customer’s opting-in to receive a brand’smarketing messages, it is a strong sign that thebrand has just acquired a loyal fan.


Why is SMS Marketing so Effective?

SMS marketing is one of the most effectiveways to market to your customers. Themessages are sent directly to a user’s phone,so the delivery is immediate. Also, textmessages are very personal. While manymarketers may feel that this would be adeterrent, the truth is that many usersactually respond to marketing messagesthrough SMS at a higher rate than email.



Growing your Subscriber List

One of the most important things you can dowhen you are building your subscriber list isto make sure that your call-to-action isincluded with any other type of marketingyou do. For example, if you run commercialsor print ads, you can simply include theadditional information for the SMScampaign in order to get the word out andgain more fans.

Many businesses also create signs that theydisplay throughout their physical locationswhere people are more likely to look. Forexample, if you have a cash register, placingthe signage at the credit card terminal, or onthe counter, is a great way for yourcustomers to see your code and join rightaway.


Contests

Another popular way of engaging fans andgrowing your subscriber lists is by creating acontest that will encourage people to join.Contests add a value for first-time subscribersto join your list since they must opt-in to beeligible to win.

Contests will also work to keep currentsubscribers engaged with your brand. Winnerscan be notified via SMS to collect their prizeand losers may even receive a consolationprize that will bring them into your location.


Sending SMS Campaigns

The most important thing to do whenyou are building campaigns is to ask:

Value is defined differently for different businesses and customers. To test the value of your campaign, you will need to test which of those campaigns work best by the response received from your subscribers or redemption rates from coupons.

Is this valuable to my customer?Will this increase engagement? Will it allow us to get to know ourcustomers better?

Engagement is an important part ofyour campaigns because it gives value toanother important aspect of marketingthrough SMS. Engagement increasesthe level of personal communicationwith your audience and allows you tointeract in ways that you can’t accesswith other forms of marketing.

Engaging your fans to become a part ofyour marketing team is one of the waysyou can measure how successful yourcampaigns are.

Sending SMS Campaigns


Using Trial & Error To FindThe Best Campaigns for your

Customers

As in many other areas, testing differenttypes of campaigns is a great way to makesure you see what works best for youraudience. Without trying many differentways to engage with your fans, you mightget discouraged to continue using thismethod of marketing. Too many companiesstop using their SMS marketing servicesbecause they feel that their subscribersaren’t interested in receiving offers.


Most of the time, it isn’t whether theywould like to see the offers delivered totheir phone, but that the offers beingsent weren’t relevant. Using acombination of discounts, coupons,event information and promotions willusually allow you to cast a wide enoughnet to cover the many different types ofoffers that your customers may want tosee. Later, you will be able to measurehow successful each of these campaignswere, and if they were relevant to yoursubscribers.

Using Trial & Error To FindThe Best Campaigns for your

Customers


Messaging Types


O f f e r s

Offers are anything that you would sendto your customers such as coupons andpromotions. These are very valuable toyour subscribers and are usually themain reason they may sign up to receiveyour marketing through SMS. Theseoffers can be anything from a discount oftheir next purchase, a messageinforming them of a limited timepromotion you might be running, oranything else that will provide the valuethat your customers are looking for.


P o l l s

Getting feedback from your customershas always been an important part ofcustomer satisfaction. Many people relyon third parties or complicated onlineforms to get insight on how satisfied acustomer was with their service. UsingSMS to retrieve that information givesyou the ability to immediately haveyour staff provide a response to yourguests.

For example, offering a survey near theend of your guest’s visit to yourrestaurant can give you fast enoughresults that a manager can visit theirtable to understand why they may haverated the service a certain way. Thisgives your staff the ability to take actionon providing the best possible serviceand generating a positive experiencebefore the customer leaves therestaurant.

Another way polls can be used is forsegmenting your subscribers intocategories based on their interests. Thiscomes in handy when you provide anumber of different services. Forexample, casinos offer multiple types ofservices that attract a number of guests.Many may visit the property for gaming,but there are also those that only go toenjoy the restaurants or shows. If yoursubscribers are only interested indining, you are then able to sendrelevant offers that are tailored to them,making your messages feel morepersonal.


P o l l s


V i r a l M e s s a g i n g

Viral messaging is a patented process thatis only available through Mobile Connectby SkyWire. It allows your customers to doyour marketing for you by forwardingrelevant messages and offers to theirfriends and family. This helps grow yoursubscriber list and reward your most loyalcustomers for promoting your brand.

T r i g g e r e d E v e n t s

Triggered events is an SMS that istriggered by a particular action, and is apatented feature of Mobile Connect bySkyWire. It is scheduled for a later dateand helps automate the SMS marketingprocess.


For example, you offer your subscribersa coupon towards their next purchaseand would like to get their feedback ifthey use it. For those that actuallyredeem the coupon, a message can betriggered at any time after theredemption. This feedback can be sentback to your system via SMS withoutthe need for third party systems such asonline surveys.

T r i g g e r e d E v e n t s

Triggered messages also allows you todrive additional visits to your propertyor guide them around your property byscheduling messages based on how theyredeem your offers. An example wouldbe for a casino to send a follow-upcoupon to a subscriber for a free drink inthe bar 90 minutes after they haveredeemed an offer for a discountedappetizer at one of the casino’srestaurants.


Unique Ideas and Alternative Uses

Sometimes the software for SMSMarketing is used in alternative ways.These creative uses give brands thepower to engage their customers in waysthat go beyond a simple text message.


For example, Pinnacle Hotels andResorts have a “Text a Towel”campaign. A guest can simply text thekeyword with their room number to thespecial short-code to receive freshtowels in their room. This message issent directly to the front desk or guestservices staff to respond.

Another successful use for this service isfor delivery confirmations. The flowerdelivery company, FTD, uses MobileConnect to send delivery confirmationsto those who subscribe.

Mobile application developers can alsouse SMS Marketing to send directdownload links through SMS so userscan quickly, and easily, download theapplications without having to hunt forit in the app store.


Nightclubs can use SMS marketingsoftware to build guest lists, in additionto sending offers and promotions forspecial events.

Apartments can use SMS for residentsto schedule work orders. The system canverify that the phone number theyreceived a work order from is on file andsubmit the work order in the systemqueue.

Hotels can also give guests the ability tocheck out via SMS, so guests do not have tospend time visiting the front desk when it istime to leave.

Colleges and Universities send studentslinks for the campus maps, on-campusevents, and alerts.


Golf Clubs can use polls to getinformation from their players andprovide information on available teetimes and special events at the club.


Measuring SMS Success

In order to fully understand theeffectiveness of your SMS campaign, it’simportant to measure your dataregularly. Calculating list growth willprovide a percentage to measure howmany subscribers your campaign isgaining (or losing). The churn rate willhelp determine how valuable yoursubscribers felt a particular messagewas. If the churn rate is particularlyhigh after a message goes out tosubscribers, it may be wise to reevaluatethe type of message or campaign you arecurrently using.

# Of current subscribers

LIST GROWTH:

# current subscribers - # previous subscribers

previous subscribers

CHURN RATE:

# of subscribers who opt out


Knowing your redemption rate isessential for understanding what offersare the most popular with yoursubscribers, and calculating your costper redeeming subscriber will help youunderstand how much it is costing youto bring a subscriber into yourestablishment, the lower this number is,the better your return on the SMScampaign is.

Redemption rate

REDEMPTION RATE:

# of subscribers redeeming an offer

# Of current subscribers

COST PER REDEEMING SUBSCRIBER:

cost to send SMS to one customer

Regulations and Compliance

Before you head out to build campaigns, it’salso important to understand some of theregulations surrounding marketing throughtext messages. If you are marketing througha text message and forget or do not knowwhich legal disclaimers need to be included,then your company can be held liable andsubject to penalties. Its important to informyour subscribers of what it is they aresigning up for, whether it be weeklynotifications, monthly discounts andcoupons, or the chance to win prizes.


Let your subscribers know how often youwill be sending them messages, andclosely monitor your campaign so youdon’t go over. Once you have broken thetrust your subscriber has, it can bedifficult to get it back and you may losesubscribers over an unnecessarymessage.

Each customer opting in must explicitlyagree to the terms and conditions ofdoing which may be done with a simplereply. Legally, subscribers must also benotified of any charges that may applyand be given information necessary foropting out.

Regulations and Compliance


Resources

http://www.business2community.com/mobile-apps/sms-marketing-0962895#!bKv4lg

http://www.tatango.com/blog/5-must-haves-for-advertising-your-sms-campaign/

http://www.tatango.com/resources/video-measuring-sms-advertising/

http://www.skywire.com/solutions/mobile-connect/


http://www.skywire.com/solutions/mobile-connect/

http://www.tatango.com/resources/video-measuring-sms-advertising/

http://www.business2community.com/mobile-apps/sms-marketing-0962895#!bKv4lg

http://www.tatango.com/blog/5-must-haves-for-advertising-your-sms-campaign/

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