5 Killer SMS Marketing Tactics
Here's what you need to know, to take your SMS marketing to a whole other level.
If you want to take advantage of today’s increased mobile device usage, then you have to master the tools. One of the most popular ways of turning your business into a better-known presence is by using SMS marketing.
But it’s one thing to say "Use SMS marketing". It’s a whole different matter to actually have the know-how to do it effectively. Fortunately, here are some SMS marketing tactics that will yield some great results. But first, it’s definition time.
SMS Explained Short Message Service, or SMS, is a permission-based messaging platform that allows users to receive text messages of up to 140 characters, with Twitter being the most well-known SMS medium. Although the gross character count is actually 160, the first 20 characters are reserved for the sender’s name. So, here’s how to be an SMS marketing rock star.
Associate It With Social Media If there’s any other trend out there that’s as big as SMS, it’s social media. So, why not have these twin titans working for you together? Have a text message with your social media page link embedded in it. On the other end, place a sign-up window on your page so that users can get SMS messages and be kept abreast of your business’ latest news and promotions. Maybe offer people an incentive for signing up! And speaking of sign-up incentives ...
Hold A Contest Who doesn’t appreciate a bit of fun that may end up snaring them some cool prizes? Run a contest either weekly or monthly, using something as simple as a "text this code for a chance to win" drawings. If you want to add more names to your SMS message list, hold a contest to see who can sign up the most friends.
Offer Discounts People not only enjoy contests, they enjoy discounts as well. Send people an SMS message that instructs the user to respond with a code, which in turn sends them to your website and provides them with some cool money-saving offer, perhaps in the form of a printable coupon or a QR Code.
Host An Event Personally speaking, nothing is cooler than wondering what to do on any given evening, only to receive a text message from a local bar announcing a trivia night or sports promotion. If you have a restaurant, bar, or other service-related business in the entertainment/leisure industry, consider having a theme night or other special event, then promote the daylights out of it via SMS.
Keep It Short, Sweet, And Actionable You would think that a 140 character limitation would mean fewer boring messages, but some businesses manage to pull it off anyway. Make your point (what, where, how), and give the user the means of acting on it. Something like "World Cup Nite 7-9, 50% Off All Beers, and Text 4747 For Appetizer Coupon", for instance, gives people the deal, when it is, and even offers an extra incentive to anyone who heeds the call to action, and that only took 73 characters.
Want more ideas? Check out
"Mobile Marketing Strategies to Help You Make More Sales" for additional inspirations. If you crave even more insights, then visit
"SMS Marketing: What You Need to Know".
Find out more on the future of Technology at our DLUK - Trends Briefing on the 24th September 2015