What is a texting campaign?
When looking at different marketing campaigns used by businesses, SMS texting campaigns tend to stand out due to their competitive nature. Most people do not understand how a text message campaign works or what it is. It is a common yet effective marketing technique where a business can interact with customers on a large scale but while saving time. All that is required is the customers’ numbers to which text messages can be sent as a part of the campaign. A text message campaign might be considered old school but it is still one of the most popular methods undertaken by businesses to market their products to customers. This campaign is a part of text message marketing where the business tends to focus on this marketing technique to attract potential customers and keep the old ones updated. Most businesses tend to prefer this method over others because of its quick nature and cost-effectiveness as compared to other marketing methods.
How to start an SMS campaign?
Before starting any texting campaign it is important to conduct research on the concept behind text message marketing. Even though it is easy to get contact numbers of all customers there are some initial steps that need to be taken before divulging into mass messaging. The basic requirement is to get a good provider for which you can rely on Express Text to give you the very best services for mass text message marketing. Choosing the right service provider is also important since it is not just about sending messages but also seeing the benefits that you as a business receive from your service provider. Moreover, another important step before initiating an SMS campaign is to choose whether you want to send messages through a long code or a shortcode. If you want a more personalised experience with your customers, you should go with a long code. On the other hand, if you simply wish to relay a message to your clients, you will prefer a shortcode to send out mass text messages. After this, you will shortlist a few keywords which are most relevant to your businesses and use those in your text message campaign to attract the attention of customers. The most important part of an SMS campaign is the subscribers who choose to receive updated and new information regarding the business and follow all updates religiously. These subscribers need to be targeted during marketing campaigns so they can subscribe for information and towards the business and become loyal customers over time. Despite these necessary steps, the most integral part of initiating such a campaign is to gather enough contacts as a target market to market your products and services broadly.
Why choose SMS campaigning?
Before getting into the details of how mass text message marketing is conducted it is important to know why it is beneficial to use. While there are other various texting campaign methods from which businesses are free to choose from, text message marketing has remained one of the most popular methods. The advent of technology and newer forms of communication have caused debates emphasizing that text messages have lost their importance in today’s world. However, people and business still believe that text messaging is one of the most effective methods of communication. Apart from being the most effective, it is also economical for businesses since minimal costs are attached to sending texts to masses at the lowest prices possible. With this aspect, this marketing technique fits in the budget of all businesses while providing fruitful results.
How to target customers through texting campaign?
Before getting into marketing it is important to find the target audience which you can attract towards your business. A strong marketing team for a business is the right way to find your target audience. The best method is to categorize customers according to age, gender, occupations and various other categories. After these categories have been made, a business can then sort out text messages accordingly for their customers.
Text message marketing has emerged over time with a new wave which includes certain features for targeting customers in these days. These features evolved the text messaging market for companies while focusing on the customers and the target audience. Such features revolve around:
- Creating customer segmentation and target audiences with texting campaign- categorizing customers and creating segments in the market is one helpful technique to target the right audience. A company can categorize young customers and offer them tickets to a concert after they buy a product.
- Remaining consistent with text messages and finding the best time for sending SMS to customers- while people tend to read their text messages, there are certain times when customers are more responsive to text messages and the strategy of any business should be to find the perfect time to text customers. Moreover, businesses should always remain consistent in sending messages to create an impact on customers.
- Integrate text message marketing with other strategies- even though text message marketing can be enough on its own, it can and should be used with other strategies to get a better result. Text message marketing can be used alongside the social media market, for example. A company can text customers to follow their social media page to avail a special discount on products.
- Sending promotions and offers to customers through text messages- promotions and offers are the perfect way to attract customers. Sending them offers such as special discounts with personalized messages is the best way to get their attention.
Long code vs shortcode
When opting for sending out mass text messages, a business needs to choose between a long code and a shortcode. These codes are numbers which businesses use to send text messages to their customers. The advantage of using a long code to send out mass text messages is that customers can reply with their feedback or respond to certain surveys and questions of the business. A long code, as the name implies, is a 10 digit long number and is specific for the business. The main advantage of using a long code number for sending out mass text messages is that calls can also be made using the long code which means that the customer can save that number and not worry about the business contacting the customer from other numbers. Today’s marketing revolves around tailored content for customers so they can get a personalized experience from businesses and this is what long code tends to provide. A business can use a custom long code for their business through which they can send personalized text messages to customers by addressing them with their names. This way customers feel important and tend to respond positively to the business.
A short code is a 5 to 6 digit long number which is used to send text messages to customers only. If a business is searching for one way communication, it would opt for a shortcode to send mass text messages. Like mass text messages, a shortcode is also cheap as a marketing method and focuses on a large target audience while keeping costs minimal. Through shortcodes, businesses can use their keywords in text messages and send those messages to attract the attention of customers. Shortcodes are best used for promotions, limited time offers and alerts. A clothing shop can choose its custom shortcode to set itself apart from other clothing businesses. Using this shortcode, 56789, it can send its customers messages about clearance sales, promotions such as buy one get one free and so on.
Why choose text message marketing?
While people believe that texting campaign has become a part of history, successful businesses tend to disagree. 90% of the people who receive text messages end up reading them in the first 3 minutes which shows how popular and convenient the method still is. Along with a lengthy list of advantages that this form of marketing has to offer, it is also cheap, personal, fast and most of all, effective. When comparing it to other marketing techniques used by businesses, text message marketing tends to stand out. However, while other marketing methods may not seem adequate enough to promote and market businesses, they can be used alongside text message marketing to boost sales for businesses.
Text message marketing and email marketing
Email is another famous marketing technique used by businesses to boost their promotion and increase sales. Similar to mass text messaging, email marketing is also cheap when comparing costs. Moreover, it can also be personalized for customers to market products in a better light. Emails are interactive as a form of communication and are also quick to send to people since all you need to do is select the recipients from the list and hit the send button! But there is one downside of using emails. Whereas people tend to carry their phones with them everywhere, they normally are not used to checking their emails on a consistent basis. However, text messages can be received and seen in a quick span of time since they don’t require assistance from the internet. Would you open your text messages first or your email inbox when using your phone?
Text message marketing vs social media marketing
Social media has gained a lot of popularity across the globe. From Instagram to Snapchat to Facebook, everyone seems to be revolving around the world of social media. While it is a convenient method of following businesses, their new products and new discounts there is one major drawback. That is continuous dependency and use of the internet. Furthermore, customers can only gain useful information if they follow the business page and keep a track, otherwise, they won’t be updated separately about an exclusive sale on the entire stock of shoes. Text messages, on the other hand, keep an interactive communication with the customers and provide all information directly. It is impossible for people to keep track of all posts and updates on a Facebook page on a regular basis. Posts and status uploads are not a personalized experience for users since the message posted is by and large for all public.
Promoting texting campaigns
While the concept of text message marketing is not difficult to put into action, it does require going an extra mile to make sure that the customer is on board with you. Being a reliable source of conveying messages while marketing businesses, mass text messaging doesn’t need any support but the hard part is to convey the idea to the customers. Before opting for this technique it is necessary to gain the contact numbers of clients so they can be sent promotional text messages. Businesses do need to make an effort to do this since not every customer is comfortable with providing their personal information to businesses. This is where support can be gained from other marketing techniques.
Other marketing techniques
Creating customer interest in a business and luring them to share their contact numbers is the way to initiate text message marketing. Businesses can opt for simpler methods to start off with text message marketing such as handing out flyers and posters to customers. A company starting a delivery business hands out such flyers, people will order and this will help the company to get access to their contact numbers which can then be used to send out mass messages to clients. Similarly, offering promotions to walk-in customers, who sign and fill out a survey form can also allow a business to gain the contact number of clients whom they can later text to promote other products.
Text message marketing has spread far and wide in the new era of marketing and it comes with no surprise that even large companies tend to opt for this method which is convenient, efficient, effective and cheap. Looking at all aspects, a company just needs to go about this technique the right way to make it a real success.