SMS Marketing is an essential tool for US merchants. Today’s customers conduct their lives on their phones. This gives business owners a unique opportunity to engage with a large number of consumers instantly.

Before commencing an SMS campaign, there are certain rules and regulations you should be aware of. Below are five business essentials for how to get started with SMS marketing.

1. Permission First

Before you start SMS marketing, you are obligated to obtain permission from your customer first. Treat customer privacy as a priority because it’s against the law to send texts as a business without prior consent. Once you have permission, keep a copy of it as proof. A common practice would be to send this confirmation back to your customer for their reference.

2. Cover The Costs

Fortunately SMS marketing is affordable and provides great investment to gains potential for your business. You will need to cover,

  • Phone number (a shortcode, for example: ‘7777’ - used to message you customers)
  • Messaging costs (usually a per-text cost. Most plans include keyword rental for your campaign)
  • Marketing costs (If you are running a professional campaign)

To choose the best package for you take a look at our pricing page.

3. Unsubscribe Option

When customers have chosen to opt in then you must include the option to opt out or unsubscribe from your messages. The unsubscribe option should appear in every message you send. To cover all bases, inform your customers about the costs incurred if their mobile does not have unlimited messaging. These details make a difference and show you are transparent and professional.

4. Quality Not Quantity

If you’ve experienced the confusion and frustration of receiving a large quantity of SMS messages with different offers, you will know that quantity does not mean quality. The reaction from customers is to delete and unsubscribe.

Subsequently, only message two to six times a month. Any more than this could damage your reputation and you don’t want to be known for spam, but rather the quality of your campaigns.

A message should include a keyword followed by a shortcode.

Example

If you run a restaurant business you could run a campaign for Valentine’s Day which could simply say:

Text ‘Rose’ to 7777 Now And Win Free Romantic Meal!

These keywords are an easy way for a customer to get on board with your campaign and this simple engagement can reap benefits for your business. Many businesses reserve certain keywords for various promotions. Keyword ownership is a clever way to get ahead of the game and generate instant interest.

5. Generate Leads

Think of SMS marketing as a great way to break the ice with customers. With instant engagement, you now have their attention and can lead them to the other landing pages or content about your product.

Draw up a list of other marketing channels that you can integrate easily with SMS marketing. This active engagement on your different channels leads to a greater interest in what your business offers and creates customer loyalty and sales.

Example

You run an SMS marketing campaign that is promoting health products which receives active interest. An SMS is sent with a link to a blog article discussing the same health products. More traffic is generated to your website and with easy links on your blog to a sales page your business will take a new course.

SMS Marketing in 2020

SMS marketing once had the reputation for being cold and outdated. Nowadays, as more businesses recognise the benefits, SMS messaging services are being adopted on a grand scale.

Follow these essentials and you get started with your SMS marketing campaign today. Just before the Christmas period and heading in 2020 is a great time to generate instant customer leads and sales.