Text messaging is one of the most common ways of communicating today. Sending a message with 160 characters or less is easy using a text message. The benefit of sending a text message is that it can be sent even to feature phones and don’t require smartphones. The text message does not need internet connectivity. The recipient would receive this message instantly making it a highly convenient form of communication. Texting is not just to send messages for communication but can also be used by businesses for marketing. It can be used as an effective strategy to boost business performance.
Texting for marketing
Texting can be effectively used as a marketing strategy by businesses. The reasons why text marketing is such a powerful strategy are:
• More than 60% of people use mobile phones to access the internet. 87% of all mobile internet users do shopping online. This makes it convenient to use text messaging for marketing. A message with promotional information on online shopping can be used by a customer to directly shop for a product.
• 97% of all messages sent are read by the recipient. This makes text messaging highly convenient for use by marketing.
• More than 86% of customers surveyed have indicated that they prefer receiving marketing messages through texting.
• 46% is the response rate for text message marketing. This is higher than in email marketing.
• Customers consider telephonic calls as intrusive. Emails sent are filtered out by spam filters. This leaves the text message as the best option since it is non-intrusive. A customer can read the message while at work, which makes it very convenient.
Texting strategies
Businesses can make use of mass texting services to reach out to their customers by sending text messages. The following are five highly effective strategies to boost business:1) Get your target customers right
The success of a text marketing strategy depends on targeting the message effectively. Sending the same message to everyone would not be effective. A customer should get the message based on his needs or based on the market segmentation. The business needs to understand its target audience. Once this is understood, then messages can be sent only to the target audience by filtering the database. This produces better results. Sending common messages to everyone will be spammy. This is a more effective strategy.2) Conduct sales promotions
Sales promotion is a great strategy to attract customers. Well-planned product promotion can attract customers. It can also make them eager to buy the product if there is an attractive offer. The use of discounts, vouchers, coupons, freebies, etc. is a great strategy to sell products. This is particularly helpful in moving slow-moving products or during lean seasons. Sales promotion can be done by sending an online text message using SMS. The message can be sent to the target audience by specifying the offers and letting them know how to avail of it.3) Use a call to action
An effective strategy is one that has a clear call to action. Customers receive many promotional messages. They will take further action only if the call to action is strong. Specifying an end date for the offeror specifying a limited time to avail of the offer is a good way to use the call to action. Asking customers to show the text message to the cashier to avail of the discount is a good call to action. Even a simple ‘buy now’ button will be helpful in making the customer act.4) Link to social media
Text messaging and social media can be integrated. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are extremely popular. It makes sense to link text messages with the social media page of the business. The message sent to the customer can include a link to the social media page. This will help drive visits to the social media page. It can help create more likes and followers. This is a good strategy for online success. Similarly, social media pages can carry instructions asking customers to send a text message to a given number to avail of an offer.5) Engage with customers
The secret to marketing success is constant engagement with customers. The messages sent must prompt the customer to engage with the business. This can be in the form of queries for additional information or asking for product samples or asking how to buy the product. Replies to these messages can be automated using keywords. This allows for constant engagement with customers. It is convenient for both the business and the customer. This kind of engagement can help boost business.The above-listed strategies are easy to implement and can produce effective results. You can start implementing the same easily. Just get text messaging software and start sending messages to boost your business from today.
