A great deal of this content was taken from an article written by 'Badalyan, Published, February 24, 2020
We have taken the bulk of the article and added for the Australian experience.
Many businesses have started to implement SMS marketing in their marketing strategies these days since it is a comprehensive way to engage with your customers. SMS and MMS marketing can help you be in touch with your clients. It is quick, easy, and if you do it right -its very affordable and instantly rewarding. Messaging direct to an inbox is NO email, and needs a totally different headspace. Message marketing mistakes may lead your business to failure. You must avoid each one of them to ensure the highest efficiency for your marketing campaigns, and optimise what is an amazing, always on, instant channel to every one of your businesses contacts. Listed below are ten message marketing mistakes along with tips to avoid them.
Too Many Messages Statistics show that the open rate for text messages is over 98%, and billions of people are texting worldwide. So, some businesses send message after message hoping that each one will get the same response. However, too many text messages are likely to annoy your customers. A lot of your recipients will disregard your messages or even unsubscribe. First of all, you should establish a well-thought frequency for your promotional text messages. And keep in mind that the rate of your words should be no more than twice a month, depending on the business that you are running. Afterward, you should schedule your messages and build up a planning calendar.
The timing of your messages is critical. Hence, the time when you send your message plays a significant role in your campaign’s success. Some businesses send texts on a very inappropriate time for the users. This will surely be annoying. A simple solution for this is to consider the schedule of your customers. Then, you need to reach your audience at the right time and in the right time zone. And of course, try not to send messages too early in the morning or too late in the evening.
Call to action or CTA is the chance that motivates your audience to take the desired effect. It makes communication simple and easy for everyone. An excellent example of CTA is “Buy NOW,” “Visit NOW,” or “Text back.” Yet, some companies do not even consider using CTA. They should be aware that skipping the call to action can be a life-changing mistake and harm the company’s profit. Start your call to action as soon as possible. As SMS can’t directly sell a product, you need a CTA to get your desired outcome. Don’t forget to tell your clients what you need from them. Also, remember to include all relevant contact information, be clear, precise, and straightforward.
Companies do their best to pay attention to grammar and spelling. However, sometimes, when they forget to double-check the copy, they end up sending messages with mistakes. This is one of the most critical mistakes marketers make in content marketing strategies, which makes the notes sound unprofessional, disorganized, and untrustworthy. You can avoid this small but essential mistake if you just double-check your text messages before sending it. You can hire someone that will always determine the accuracy of your texts. There are also apps available for checking your texts instead of you.
The characters of your texts are limited, but that does not mean you should not tell your customers who you are. Appealing and smart texts are fundamental, but they are not enough. They should always include the name of your company. If your messages do not have a name, the receiver will not know who it is from. The texts you send will seem utterly random to your contacts without your brand name. You must include the name of your company at the beginning of the end of your message. You can remind them of any previous communications or tell them how you found them.
In most countries, it is illegal not to give users a way to opt-out of receiving your messages. If there are no instructions available for opting out, it can make you lose the trust among your audience to get in trouble. You should always give users a way to unsubscribe from receiving your messages at the end of each text you send. This will provide users with a chance to opt-out if they subscribed accidentally or didn’t know why they were signing up. It’s essential to make this process easy and positive for everyone.
A robust personalization is very valuable for marketers. According to statistics, 71% of mobile users get frustrated when their experience is not personalized. And 54% of customers expect a customized discount during the first 24 hours of sharing their information with your brand. Not personalized text messages can make your company fail at customer engagement. On the other hand, personalizing your messages will make your customers feel good. It will help you see better results from your marketing campaign. It is a known fact that personalization drives brand loyalty and establishes your authority happy.
Some businesses haven’t discovered the importance of SMS marketing strategy. In fact, having a well-thought plan is very useful for every company. If you fail to recognize the importance of adopting one, you will most likely gain and retain fewer customers. First of all, you need to have an SMS marketing team or at least a couple of specialists in your marketing department. Then, you have to learn about your customers and have a clear plan. An SMS marketing strategy can help you boost conversion rates, foster loyalty, and build strong relations with your customers.
The content of your text is critical. Some businesses send irrelevant and confusing messages to customers. This will decrease customer response rates, which directly affects the sales rates as well. Although the messages have a substantial character limitation, they have to tell the reader who you are, what the offer is, and how you want people to respond. The texts you send should make sense and be transparent. Try to avoid using confusing sentences. And of course, be accurate and keep any abbreviations to a minimum.
Sending the same offer can weaken the impact of your messages. As your customers know they are going to get the offer again, they will not subscribe or buy immediately. They will get bored of receiving the same message over and over again. Yet some companies send the same message not only to a customer’s mobile device but also by mail. This will be both irritating and uninteresting. To avoid this mistake, you should send one message at a time. Remember not to confuse mail with SMS, because they are very different channels for marketing communications.
These were the top deadly text message mistakes that many businesses make. Hopefully, these strategies will help you avoid such fatal errors and do everything right.
