There are several ways to boost your client base and your income using SMS.
Just about everyone has a mobile device or two and mobile marketing is an integral part of the local business marketing strategy.
Since mobile usage is anticipated to be greater than the desktop means of accessing the internet, it’s a good idea to make sure you are ready to meet your customer where they are. It is important to have all online things associated with your business adapted for all mobile devices.
Using SMS (Short Messaging Service) and text messaging, for your business enables you to send direct, relevant, and targeted messages to the people who have signed up for your notifications. It takes a few smart marketing tactics to get people to sign up but once they do you have a closely captivated audience.
WARNING – do not abuse these new powers.
These are the powerful statistics:
98% of the messages sent are opened by the recipient and the majority are read within the first three minutes. This is why you need to ensure what you send is of high value to your audience. Send something that irritates them and you won’t just lose a SMS subscriber, it’s a fast way to lose a customer.
No one wants to receive garbage text messages – especially when they are paying for them.
One way SMS can be effectively used with your customers as a loyalty program. By rewarding your customers for their repeat business. Having your customers texting a keyword to your designated short code will enter them into a contest. This can trigger an automatic email that invites the participant to join your loyalty program.
Another way to use SMS is to use it as a notification service ie, when the person’s car is ready for pick-up or a table is ready at the restaurant.
Customers will willingly part with their cell phone number if it will make their experience with your business services easier. Once you have their information you can text when you have a house they are looking for, a lunch special, or a tire sale (if indeed they wanted tires).
Using a SMS service you can benefit both your business and your customers.
For example, if you have a hairdressing shop. Your 11:00 appt. cancelled so you SMS your client list letting everyone know of the cancellation. Within 3 minutes you will have that appointment filled again. This equals happy customer and no lost revenue.
Recruiting new customers to your SMS service can be done through other social media campaigns. Offer an incentive for them to register by making certain discounts or offers available only when sent to their phone. Make this something valuable, no one will give you their phone number for 10% off a box of crackers.
One of the hidden powers of having an SMS service is you can track your customers individual purchase habits. If someone buys a crib and baby mattress, they are likely good candidates to directly market a stroller sale or diaper sales. It doesn’t matter if diapers are on sale for 70% off, not everyone will want to receive that text.
Using mobile marketing requires a little ingenuity on your part. Be engaging, be useful and say it in 160 characters or less, in a way that makes the person on the other end want to respond favourably.
Qualifiers you need to levy before you consider sending a text out through SMS are things like time sensitivity, communication needs, value etc. You may decide that a phone call or email would be more appropriate.
