SMS marketing is a significant acquisition lever. A large majority of your customers, if not all, own a smartphone. In fact, 84% of French people have a smartphone. They consult it for more than 3 hours a day.
Studies show that message read rates are as high as 98%. Why go without? In this guide, discover our tips for successful SMS marketing campaigns.
What is SMS marketing?
SMS marketing is a communication technique based onsending targeted information by SMS. Recipients are prospects or customers who have consented to receive them. It offers multiple communication possibilities: notifications, surveys, time-limited promotional offers, alerts, etc.
There are two types of SMS:
- Transactional SMS: validating an action, notifying an event, confirming an order, etc. In 2021, more than 6.8 billion SMS notifications were sent.
- Promotional SMS: drive-to-store direct marketing, advertising, etc. In 2021, 4.5 billion commercial text messages were sent by brands.
SMS marketing campaigns offerexcellent results at low cost:
- Effectiveness: In France, 84% of people over the age of 12 own a smartphone. They consult it for around 3 hours a day.
- High deliverability: 95% of SMS messages are received in less than 10 seconds. 99% received in less than 10 minutes.
- Instantaneous: More than 9 out of 10 SMS messages are read immediately after receipt. Take advantage of this to communicate about events close in time, or to create a sense of urgency. You could, for example, attract your customers to the point of sale with a flash offer.
- Attractive rates: on average, each SMS costs just a few cents. Return on investment (ROI) for campaigns is very high. 97% of messages sent by a brand or company to its customers/prospects are consulted.
SMS marketing is quick and easy to set up. Creating a campaign takes just a few minutes. It allows you to establish an immediate relationship with your targets at any time. Messages can be aimed at local, foreign or cross-border customers.
Sending bulk SMS messages is a winning strategy for developing customer relations. It effectively increases customer satisfaction (support during the purchasing process) and loyalty (promotional offers).
A few techniques for successful SMS marketing campaigns
Before taking the plunge into SMS marketing, you need to be aware of the best practices to adopt.
1. Assess your needs
Want to keep your customers better informed? Boost their satisfaction? Build loyalty? Revive inactive customers? Prospect to increase sales? It's essential to set quantifiable objectives such as :
- The number of people visiting stores following an invitation ;
- Sales growth in a particular product category;
- The success of a promotional offer;
- Requesting information about a new service;
- New customers (age, geographic area).
2. Determine the type of SMS marketing campaign that meets your objectives
For example, if you want to inform your customers, you can send them :
- Practical information": changes to opening hours or the address of a sales outlet;
- Appointment reminders ;
- Invitations to events: competitions, webinars, product launches, open days, sales, flash sales, Christmas, Mother's or Father's Day, Valentine's Day, etc. ;
- Personalized messages: customer birthday, targeted promotions, etc. ;
- Transactional messages, at all stages of the purchasing process: thank-you messages following an order, parcel pick-up, etc.
3. Equip yourself with a bulk SMS solution
Import contacts, personalize messages, automate dispatches, schedule dispatch dates and times... It's the ideal tool for organizing and managing your SMS marketing campaigns. When it comes to customer files, there are two possible scenarios:
- You already have a customer file opt-in SMS ;
- You rent an SMS prospecting file from a specialized company like Dataventure. You benefit from the activation of a turnkey solution.
Don't forget to perform a Home Location Register (HLR) search to ensure the deliverability of your SMS messages.
4. Choose the right timing
Study your target's behavior to launch your campaign at the most opportune times, when the target is available. Don't hesitate to use A/B testing. Tuesday or Thursday mornings, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., or mid-afternoon, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., have been identified as the most profitable time slots. Please note that it is forbidden to send commercial SMS between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. (weekdays), on Sundays or public holidays.
5. Keep messages short and to the point
This is an SMS, not a novel, so don't get lost. The idea is to get a message across clearly and concisely. The maximum number of characters for a text message is 160. You can incorporate various elements into the message: link to your website or landing page, position on a map, product sheet, downloadable document, etc.
Choose the sender's name carefully: brand name, personal name, company name, etc. Avoid the automatically generated 5-digit number. Remember to include a strong call-to-action.
6. Configure your messages
Don't hesitate to rewrite your messages for each customer behavior. Marketing automation tools are ideal for creating multi-channel CRM scenarios or plans: basket abandonment, anti-churn, anniversary date, up/cross-selling, post-purchase survey, etc.
7. Get to know your audience
Ultimate technique number 1: know your target! Buyer persona, market research, consumer research... If you don't know your target, your leads won't be qualified. You'll not only be wasting time, but money too.
8. Track the results of your SMS marketing campaigns
You've launched an SMS campaign? Now it's time to evaluate its effectiveness and your ROI. To do this, start by defining key success indicators (KPIs). They'll tell you whether the results achieved are in line with the objectives set beforehand:
Deliverability rate
It tells you how many SMS messages have been delivered in relation to the number of recipients. In other words, the number of text messages that have actually reached the mailboxes of the targeted contacts. If the rate is low, it certainly means that your mailing lists need to be cleaned or updated. Remember to regularly delete unassigned, incorrect or unsubscribed numbers.
Another indicator to analyze: delivery speed. You know how quickly your SMS messages are received by your contacts' smartphones.
Opening rate
It corresponds to the proportion of messages delivered and actually opened by recipients. Several factors have an impact on the open rate, such as the frequency, the day and time of sending, and the relevance of the SMS.
Click-through rate for SMS campaigns with embedded links
It gives you an idea of the proportion of recipients interested in your promotion, offer, event, etc. With somebulk SMS software, you'll also know :
- How many contacts clicked on the links on your landing page?
- Which recipients scratched the photo or image in your SMS scratch card?
- What proportion of contacts shook their smartphone to find out what was hidden in your SMS to shake?
To maximize your click-through rate, be sure to mention your brand name in your messages. This way, you avoid creating mistrust among your readers.
Conversion rate
It reveals the number of contacts who have carried out the expected action. This could be using a coupon code at checkout, downloading a white paper or requesting a quote.
Bounce rate
It tells you the number of unsuccessful SMS messages. This may be a temporary error, such as a network problem, or a permanent problem, such as an incorrect number.
The growth rate or opt-in
It measures the evolution (positive or negative) of your subscriber numbers, after the SMS campaign.
Opt-out rate
It determines the number of contacts lost during your SMS marketing campaigns. The lower the churn rate, the more successful the campaign. If the number of unsubscribes is high, analyze the causes, then find solutions to improve the problems detected.
Cost per customer
It is calculated by dividing the cost per SMS sent by the conversion rate.
You now have all the tools you need to create high-quality SMS marketing campaigns. Dataventure can help you develop this new acquisition and loyalty channel. Boosting website traffic, generating qualified leads for a product or service... Whatever your objectives, our experts can offer you tailored customer acquisition strategies. Contact us to launch your Interactive SMS campaign!
