Cooking up a storm with a sprinkle of SMS psychology

Wouldn’t you like to know what compels your customers to click, purchase or respond to your mobile marketing efforts?
From retail and leisure through to health and hospitality, as marketers in any industry we’d love to know the secret ingredient that drives the success of a good marketing campaign… perhaps it’s about more than just the right wording in that nifty 160 character allowance.
Throw in a call to action, a sprinkle of emotion and a dash of psychological triggering and it seems you’d have yourself a smart and effective campaign according to recent studies.
We might not yet realise it but texting is all about game-playing in work or at home. Throw someone a ball, and they may just throw it back. Never throw that ball and you may never get the chance to play.
In the kitchen of SMS marketing; associations, emotions, behaviour and choice of language are all part and parcel of a healthy appetite for successful SMS.
Here Text Marketer take a look at the psychology behind consumer choices and how you can use the neuroscience to cook up a storm for your business this year.
Creatures of habit
We are often referred to as creatures of habit, and is it any wonder when it is estimated that the average person checks their smartphone 150 times each day? (Nokia) Many people don’t need to even think about checking their phone when it becomes habitual, with estimates that 20% of consumers have admitted to unconsciously agreeing to do something while on a handheld device (Eircom).
We all know that checking our phone to no messages can be a disappointment so offer your consumers different levels of reward to keep marketing consistent and make them want to open your message – it’ll be the icing on the cake.
You do something for me…
…And I’ll do something for you! Ok, so many of us say we don’t give to receive, but how many actually believe the phrase when we hear it? An instinct that is natural to us, and referred to as ‘reciprocity,’ if someone does something for you, you’ll be more inclined to return the favour (Dr Robert Cialdini).
Try reversing this method by providing your customer with something price based: a discount, a free download or offer that will reward tenfold with leads and solid customers that will return with loyalty just to sweeten the deal.
The ‘me too’ effect
Nobody wants to be the first to add something new to the mix, but when a few people do – everyone wants a slice of that cake!
Share your company’s success in your own SMS campaigns, although don’t boast.
Much like big advertisers use celebrities to endorse their campaigns or websites publish case studies, consider sharing user reviews; state that “98% of your customers have rated you five stars” or even send a url to videos of people enjoying your product photos or customer features.
Going, going…
Gone! We all know the phrases ‘last chance to buy’ and ‘last few remaining’ often instil a response in us to just check it out anyway.
The scarcer the opportunity, the more valuable your commodity can become to your target audience. This works particularly well in event planning or ticketed sales. Consider reminding those who have opted-in that there’s only a certain number of tickets remaining or that places are limited.
Once it’s gone, it’s gone…it’ll just be crumbs that are left!
Feast on this
The personal aspect of mobile and its on-the-go capabilities make it one of the most reliable and targeted methods of marketing, use the right measurements of these ingredients and your SMS snack will turn into a super fancy banquet!