There are many reasons why SMS is so prolific and enduring for businesses in 2015 despite the mass choice of new communication-type mediums. These include, the simple nature of both creating its content and the method of its delivery. As well as, of course, that it can operate and deliver on a GSM network, so can reach even the most rural or remote of areas.
The impact 160 characters makes can really have a bearing on increasing your brand recognition, the growth of your enterprise and the traction with your customer base; to name just three benefits. With the advent of Twitter, businesses have become extremely creative in even reducing that 160 character limit down to 140, to match what they have perfected on that social media medium.
SMS does not require specific software to be understood on a phone, nor a specialized app to be downloaded. One of its core strengths, is that it can easily be adapted to more modern technologies ,such as data mining, to enhance the potential outcome of any marketing message. For example,
- When is a low peak trading window?
- Send messages to only people within a centre radius of your business.
- What age or demographic do you wish to send SMS to?
- Sending a specific marketing message to a specific gender.
- Only send to those with a certain amount of loyalty points (perhaps as a bonus for their custom, or on the other scale- prompting them to understand why their loyalty account is not currently used).
These types of areas can easily be understood and effectively extrapolated by what you already have on your own systems, be they sales or customer databases or CRM type systems. Ensure though that you filter out for exclusion those who have stipulated that they do not wish to receive marketing messages. Lists such as these can be sent by many means to mobile phones, usually by either a group software system or an email to SMS based service. Just remember to always keep in mind that each message you send reflects your business, so quality, consistency and clear company name recognition are always important, as well as a seamless opt-out list.
This can be summarized by:
- Who are the target audience?
- What type of content do I wish to include and is it relevant? Have I tested quality control by sending to a few colleagues to understand their interpretation and also its translation on different handsets?
- What sort of reaction do I want to prompt, namely, what is the call to action to generate a decent response, and thus an enhanced return-on–investment to my marketing campaign?
- Have I included an unambiguous opt-out system?
- Does this message accurately and fairly portray my business in a positive light? If you wanted, you could go further by increasing your brand awareness, and hence immediate message recognition, by replacing the sender identifier number with a label that is either your brand, product, name, service (max 11 plain characters).
- What measure of effectiveness do I wish to use in order to calculate the viability/success of the broadcast? Do I wish to track for redeemed SMS vouchers versus Overall Sales, for example?
You could even consider SMS as a green technology, as it cuts down on distribution of leaflets, tickets, coupons etc. Again adding not just a positive reflection on your company but also a tangible cost benefit to your company’s marketing operation. And reduces the disposal clutter of your customers- remember SMS is a push technology so they are instantly aware of your message unlike mass marketing postal mail (for example).
And finally, another benefit for your business, is that it allows a degree of flexibility and spontaneity, unlike other methods, SMS can be sent immediately in an ad-hoc basis (for example when you wish to offer a discount coupon that has a limited timespan for use, during times of poor trading).
Using Text Messages/SMS/Mobile Marketing in Business 