SMS marketing has grown by leaps and bounds today. But some companies tend to overdo the promotions and some tend to use it in the wrong way, thereby decreasing its efficiency and productivity. If you are a company that can benefit from SMS marketing, then you must keep in mind the common mistakes people tend to do in text message marketing. Also, included are ways to avoid such mistakes.
Common SMS Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them:
• Sending Messages at the Wrong Hour
While marketing by SMS, you have to be very careful about the time and day you choose. Many people send texts after or before business hours. This irritates the customers who can easily block your number or subscribe to your SMS service. You may lose a valuable customer if you send SMS messages at the wrong hour.The correct way is to send messages during business hours. This is, of course, also dependent on your brand. For example, Dominos Pizza can send SMS promotional messages at 7 pm that is, just before mealtimes and also during weekends. But a Content Writing company should not send promotional offers at these unofficial hours.
• Sending Very Robotic Messages
It is obvious that you use software to send bulk SMS messages. But if you send an SMS that sounds very robotic and unfriendly, you will not be able to create a relationship with the customer. Such messages are often read as spam and may be trashed even before reading them properly.It is better to use the first name of the customer to make your messages more personal. Such messages help to create a deeper impact on the person.
• Sending Too Many Messages
Anyone can get irritated by receiving too many messages. The ideal frequency should be once or twice a week. If you end up sending one message a day for advertisement, chances are that the customer will soon block you or opt-out of your subscription list.The ideal frequency should be once or twice a week. You should go for impactful messages just once or twice a week, with some deadlines or offer-ending dates.
• Bad Call-to-Action
Call-to-action is a must in your SMS marketing messages. You cannot just describe your products or services, without compelling the customer to quickly click on the link to buy immediately. They might get impressed by your offer, but fail to respond then and there and eventually forget.Adding a CTA often compels the customer to take action immediately rather than postponing the work for later.
• Sending Unsubscribed Messages
Some companies tend to send SMS messages to unknown customers who have not even opted-in. This gives a bad reputation of the company and results in the customer blocking your number, filing a complaint or opting-out immediately. You may lose an important customer if you make such mistakes.The best way would be to ask permission via email or when the customer comes to your store or logs online on your website. Ask them their permission to send them text messages. If you forcibly send SMS messages to someone who is not interested in getting them, the entire act is null and void.
• Not Sending a Welcome Message
Some companies just simply start sending messages to a customer who has recently opted-in. Often the customer does not understand your messaging process and is confused as to how your brand functions.The right thing would be to send a welcome message to any new customer, explaining to them about how your brand functions, how many messages you would send, and how customers can use your SMS to get more information about the brand. This also helps to create a good strong bond with the customer.
• Using the same Message Content for your Emails and SMS
Another major mistake some companies make is to simply copy-paste whatever they send in their marketing emails, also in their messages. This fails to create an impact on the customer and soon they would stop reading either your SMS or emails.
You have got to be creative and think of different content in both. You can draft your SMS in short and impactful sentences to deliver the same information that your email does.
All these SMS marketing mistakes should be avoided if you want to achieve better leads and sales.
