The not-so-technical Guide to SMS Marketing (Part 1)

New to SMS marketing? Here are a couple of basics to keep in mind when planning your mobile marketing campaigns.

The importance of SMS

Whether you’re a developer tasked with integrating SMS text messaging into the current company software infrastructure, a savvy marketer with a penchant for shaping short catchy phrases with a 160 character limit or a layman with an aim to become a can-do-man… this post series will give you a solid framework to grow your SMS marketing expertise. Here are a couple of quick-facts about SMS – the “to the point” and direct line of communication to your customers:

• Global Mobile phone penetration is forecast to be at 74% by the end of this year. This is more than computers and television sets combined.

• All mobile phones can send and receive SMS text messages. Not all mobiles can install and run mobile applications.

• About 94% of all text messages are opened and read.

• Response rates are, on average, higher for SMS text messaging than many other types of media.

• The list goes on…

This means that you’ve got the benefit of a medium that is always on right there in your current or prospective customer’s pocket. And the only requirement for that direct line of communication to be established, is mobile coverage. The success of your SMS marketing campaigns depend on how you use SMS, and obviously your message too.

To SMS, or not to SMS…

SMS Marketing… yes it’s marketing with SMS, but it’s much more than that: it’s the use of a wireless medium for the delivery of content that can also be used as a direct response medium across many channels, or on it’s own.

What does that mean?

It means that SMS can be used in both a push and pull capacity:

Push: A business sends out information or content to a client that has previously subscribed to a SMS marketing campaign.

Example: Jim Huffington arrives on your website and notices your SMS service, where you inform him that, should he opt in, he will receive periodical messages from you regarding special offers, announcements, SMS V.I.P Club discounts, etc. As a typical consumer, Jim is very interested in good prices for quality products, so he signs up.

A week later, you push out the first promotional message to Jim. A week and a day later, he has made a purchase as a result of your message (and for targeted future marketing, you keep track of all Jim’s purchases).

Pull: A current or prospective customer, regardless of subscription status, can request information from your business’ SMS service. This is typically done by advertising access to this service using any other channel, whether traditional or evolutionary, such as print, online, radio and TV. Using any of these mediums, you’ll prompt the user to…

Text..

• …to win
• …to vote
• …to feedback
• …for call-back
• …for alerts
• …for code
• …for rewards

Getting a grip on the concepts behind the definitions above will ensure that you have a clearer idea of which  type of message to use during each stage of your SMS marketing campaign.

In next week’s SMS marketing post… we’ll take a look at what the more in depth requirements are for push and pull messaging with the mobile phone (and it’s not something you’ll easily find on Google…)

In the mean time, see which SMS tools would be best suited to your business by visiting our SMS marketing page.

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