Sending your first mobile marketing message? Well here are 5 simple steps to making sure it’s a success.
We know that when embarking on your maiden SMS voyage it’s exciting for most – it may also be slightly daunting for others; it is a very powerful and emotive medium.
Once you have signed up for your free Text Marketer account you will be sent your username and login details by text – well how else? We want to make sure it gets to you and that you read it after all!
(They are system-generated so you will probably want to change these for something more memorable – do that easily in your account settings).
Step 1 – The data
The data you have collected is key. It needs to be as up to date and as accurate as possible, also the more information you can get about your clients the better as it will help you segment your database into different contact groups – can you guess what step 2 is?
Step 2 – Consider segmenting your database
It’s important to send relevant messages to your customers – more relevancy more response.
Upload your contacts into different groups such as male or female, location, interests, when they signed up or when they visited you – think about how segmentation suits your business as it can really help your response rates.
For example a recruitment company might use groups for different job titles and locations – ‘Nottingham Chefs’ or ‘Bristol Account Managers’ for example.
Or an online retailer could send a link to women’s and menswear accordingly.
Step 3 – Now for the message
With your first message we suggest that you include an introduction and what the customers can expect. Hold off on bombarding with offers and give them the option to wave you goodbye should they want to by using our neat opt-out feature.
An example could be something like…
‘Hello Jake, we’re launching a mobile service for our most valued customers where we will be sending you some great offers and news about us. If you would prefer not to receive any deals from us text DFGH to 88802.’
Step 4 – Sender ID
Your sender ID will be defaulted to either your virtual mobile number or the short code number 88802, however you can change this to anything you like within 11 characters. We suggest your company name.
Step 5 – Schedule your send
Another vital part of mobile marketing is the timing of your message; no one wants to be woken up in the middle of the night by a marketing text.
Decide what the best time and day for you to send your message is and then simply select it using the schedule send button.
It is important to try out some different variations to see what works best for you and your customers. You could test different groups with a different send time. Or test different offers – money off, a percentage reduction or perhaps a voucher code ?
Once you start sending a few different types of campaigns you will begin to see what your customers prefer from the results – check click through rates in Analytics within your Text Marketer account.
Happy sending!
