Over recent years, mobile marketing via SMS (short message service) has expanded rapidly as a new vehicle by which companies and brand are communicating with their target audiences.
SMS initially received negative media coverage in many parts of Europe for being a new form of spam as some advertisers purchased lists and sent unsolicited content to consumer’s phones; however, as guidelines are put in place by the mobile operators, SMS has become the most popular branch of the mobile marketing industry with several 100 million advertising SMS sent out every month in Europe alone.
Consumers and businesses have been noticing this new marketing tool to communicate and to increase sales and benefit with coupons and discounts. Business owners have twisted to SMS marketing because other advertising and marketing methods have become so flooded with competition that it is tough for consumers to find their message and free offers.
SMS marketing campaigns work so well because the business owner is communicating one-on-one with the consumer. Text offers are sent to the subscriber three to four times a month. Consumers are unlikely to sign up for several text marketing campaigns within the same niche.
The two main parts of every SMS marketing campaign is promoting and growing your opt-in list and then sending appropriate text offers to that list. To publicize your text campaign you get your mobile call to action out there by promoting signage in your business, integrating the call to action with other marketing materials and online such as Facebook and Twitter.
Customers who opt-in by texting your keyword to a five digit short code are automatically sent a reply message thanking them for signing up to your text list and depending on your marketing goals, an offer they can redeem by showing their cell phone message at their next visit.
Your list will increase each week on auto-pilot and the next step of your SMS marketing campaign is to send appropriate offers that reward your subscribers for being on your list.
Text messages sent through the SMS channel are read within 15 minutes and redemption rates across all businesses average 20 percent. This is much higher than direct mail, newspaper, radio, box toppers, and other forms of marketing.
With redemption rates so high, the ease of starting a mobile marketing campaign and the increase in sales it can give your business, starting a SMS campaign is a great choice in this economy and digital age.
