What are the key points to remember before launching an SMS marketing campaign?

SMS is one of the longest running mobile messaging systems in the world.

Despite being around for more than two decades, SMS continues to be one of the most effective methods of sending messages and has become an impressive promotional tool.

An SMS mobile marketing campaign can generate customer loyalty and improve results; for it to be successful, you just have to keep in mind the following series of key points.

1. Personalize your SMS: include the recipient’s name, appointment date or reservation number. Personal references such as these in the body of the SMS generate trust in the sender and a personal touch.
2. The content of the SMS should be relevant to the recipient. The objective is to encourage them to read the message but also to optimize the segmentation of your target market, for example through likes and personal preferences which can be reflected in the SMS content itself.
3. The content of the SMS should be short, and it has to be sent at the right moment. As well as helping the recipient to understand and encouraging them to respond, it will speed up the time that the recipient takes to read it.
4. The time you launch an SMS campaign is key. If you want it to be as successful as possible, the first thing to do is to plan exactly when you are going to send the messages, bearing in mind when the recipient will have the availability to read it immediately, and ensuring that the message won’t bother them.
5. Be methodical with your campaign. When you decide on what day and at what time you’ll get the best response to your SMS campaign, make sure to maintain regularity in every message you send. No unplanned action is worth risking your recipients wanting to unsubscribe because they have received a message at the wrong time.
6. The quantity of messages which each person receives is key. An SAP study reveals that more than 80% of consumers prefer to receive SMS over other marketing campaigns. Knowing how to take advantage is key.
7. Don’t object to recipients unsubscribing from the database if they wish to do so. Not only will this generate trust, but will optimize your contacts list and avoid potential legal action.
8. SMS are an important tool in customer care, whether used for reminders, appointments, order confirmations or other types of transactions. SMS allows you to prove to each client that they are much more than just a telephone number.
9. Although the effectiveness of SMS is much higher (SMS messaging has a 99% reading rate), combining an SMS marketing campaign with an email marketing campaign (which has a 30% reading rate) will help you to create the most effective campaign, especially for those recipients who don’t often open their emails.
10. Emphasize the exclusivity of the text messages you send in an SMS mobile marketing campaign. An SMS marketing campaign will be more successful if the recipient sees that they are going to have access to benefits or advantages just through their loyalty. This is an effective way of generating loyalty between company and client.

The mobile phone is the most common electronic device in the whole world, and 100% of them are capable of sending and receiving SMS. The emergence of smartphones on the market hasn’t changed this capacity whatsoever, and messages sent using the Short Message Service continue to amplify the sense of trust of clients in businesses.