SMS marketing can be a very effective marketing tool for an existing customer base or for customers who have shown interest in receiving information about your products or services. . However, in line with Australia’s ‘Do Not Call’ register it is imperative that you have permission from your intended recipients to contact them.
Overuse
SMS is one of those media that you should wary of over using. Like email spam, SMS spam can be very annoying and with overuse can lead to compulsive unsubscribing. So be sure not to over do it and make sure it is a worthy communication.
Character Length
Obviously SMS messages need to be succinct. You need to be aware that there is a 160 character limit for SMS messages. If this limit is exceeded the message will still be but will be sent in chunks of 160 characters (e.g. multiple messages). On some SMART phones like the i-phone, it will reassemble the chunks into one piece. However, note that charging will still occur in chunks of 160 characters. e.g. if your message is 320 characters long, you will charged for 2 messages. Though SMS campaigns are in general very cost effective, multiply this by many and you will significantly increase your costs. Note that the 160 characters should be limited to 135 characters of text to allow for an opt out mechanism.
Content
In terms of the content of your message, be sure to make it enticing and targeted. Ideally an SMS marketing campaign will offer a discount for a product or service and a simple way to add urgency to it is to put a timeframe on it. e..g. 20% discount on spare part purchases ordered prior to 99/99/99. Another option that adds urgency may be to offer a discount to the ‘first 40 callers’ for example. Make sure that your message is not ambiguous and is genuine and there are no trick mark ups involved.
Call to Action
A clear call to action, words that urge the reader to take immediate action should be apparent. A phone number or website link is ideal .
Unsubscribers
As with email marketing campaigns, ensure that any unsubscribe requests are duly actioned. Your customer just may not want to be contacted via SMS but may be happy to receive your marketing messages via other means. The surest way to infuriate and possibly lose a client is to ignore their instructions.
Overuse
SMS is one of those media that you should wary of over using. Like email spam, SMS spam can be very annoying and with overuse can lead to compulsive unsubscribing. So be sure not to over do it and make sure it is a worthy communication.
Character Length
Obviously SMS messages need to be succinct. You need to be aware that there is a 160 character limit for SMS messages. If this limit is exceeded the message will still be but will be sent in chunks of 160 characters (e.g. multiple messages). On some SMART phones like the i-phone, it will reassemble the chunks into one piece. However, note that charging will still occur in chunks of 160 characters. e.g. if your message is 320 characters long, you will charged for 2 messages. Though SMS campaigns are in general very cost effective, multiply this by many and you will significantly increase your costs. Note that the 160 characters should be limited to 135 characters of text to allow for an opt out mechanism.
Content
In terms of the content of your message, be sure to make it enticing and targeted. Ideally an SMS marketing campaign will offer a discount for a product or service and a simple way to add urgency to it is to put a timeframe on it. e..g. 20% discount on spare part purchases ordered prior to 99/99/99. Another option that adds urgency may be to offer a discount to the ‘first 40 callers’ for example. Make sure that your message is not ambiguous and is genuine and there are no trick mark ups involved.
Call to Action
A clear call to action, words that urge the reader to take immediate action should be apparent. A phone number or website link is ideal .
Unsubscribers
As with email marketing campaigns, ensure that any unsubscribe requests are duly actioned. Your customer just may not want to be contacted via SMS but may be happy to receive your marketing messages via other means. The surest way to infuriate and possibly lose a client is to ignore their instructions.
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