SMS Marketing: The Upgrade for Your Sales Strategy

1. What is SMS marketing and how does it work?
2. Why is SMS marketing an effective marketing strategy?
3. What are challenges in SMS marketing?
4. How can a company successfully carry out SMS campaigns?
5. What SMS marketing tools are there?
6. How can SMS marketing be personalized to increase relevance for recipients?
7. What laws and regulations must be observed when conducting SMS marketing?
8. How can the measurability of success of SMS marketing be improved?
9. What are examples of successful SMS marketing campaigns?
10. Conclusion: Do not let the potential of SMS marketing go unused

Are you looking for a way to expand your marketing campaign? Do you want to specifically interact with your customers and send them automated and customized messages? SMS might seem outdated, SMS marketing is however a very effective means to reach your customers quickly and directly. You can find out everything you need to know here.

What is SMS marketing and how does it work?

SMS marketing is a marketing strategy in which you as a business owner send short messages to your customers' mobile phones to promote your products or services. To sum up, SMS marketing is therefore another marketing channel to achieve your sales goals.

However, if we take a step back and look at the pure SMS, we can definitely say that they are significant for most people. Text messages are a quick, easy and effective method for communication. Although the importance has somewhat decreased with the advent of other messaging services like WhatsApp, Signal or Facebook Messenger, SMS is still an important component in mobile communication and used daily by billions of people worldwide.

The obvious thing to do is to integrate SMS communication in business matters. Here too, it is a simple and effective means to reach customers, present offers and promotions, provide updates or support transactions.

Graphic: Statistic from SimpleTexting

Why is SMS marketing an effective marketing strategy?

Zero is usually the number of unread SMS on a phone and even if the one or another text message is waiting for our attention, our email inbox can only dream of this interest. SMS work very well and that's why they are an effective marketing strategy for guaranteed impressions. But we also have some more facts that speak for SMS marketing:

1. High opening rates: Compared to other marketing channels such as email marketing, SMS messages have a very high opening rate of about 98%. This means that your customers open and read your SMS message seconds after receiving it.
2. High reach: SMS work in all milieus and age groups. Therefore, it doesn't matter how specific your target group is, an SMS will most likely reach them.
3. Direct connection to customers: SMS marketing is a very direct way of communicating with your customers and sending them specific offers, vouchers or information.
4. Possibilities for personalization: SMS messages can be personalized and adapted to specific customers and user groups, resulting in stronger customer loyalty and a higher conversion rate.
5. Immediate reaction possibility: Since SMS messages are usually opened within seconds of receiving them, customers can quickly respond to offers, which in turn leads to quick results in your conversion rate.
6. Lower costs: The costs for sending SMS messages are comparatively low. That's why SMS marketing is considerably cost-effective than other channels like print ads or television commercials for instance.
7. Opt-in principle: Customers who wish to receive marketing messages usually have to give their consent by actively signing up for it. This way you ensure also that the recipients are particularly interested in your products or services and are more likely to respond to the messages.

Graphic: Statistic from Thorit

What are challenges in SMS marketing?

To use SMS marketing, you have to adhere to certain rules and regulations. We have summarized the most important ones for you:

• As already mentioned, the opt-in principle is not an option from a legal perspective, but compulsory. This means that your readers have to expressly agree to receiving your SMS in advance. Only then can you add them as recipients to your list. Also, you have to allow them to easily unsubscribe. Furthermore, make sure that the data of your customers is protected and not that it's not misused for other purposes.

• If you use your SMS channel too often, your customers might feel harassed and judge your messages as spam. This will also make your prospects unsubscribe or even the interest in your organization might be out off.
• An SMS is usually limited to 160 characters, which restricts the possibility of conveying detailed or particularly complex messages. The same goes for your possibilities for personalization.
• Most people have only one phone number and rarely change it. Therefore, the incentive has to be very high to win them over for your SMS list. Moreover, you want to keep your subscribers in the long run and this can only be achieved with a clever concept that works in the long term.
• Sending the SMS itself can pose some costs. If you use special software or a provider for bulk dispatch, you also have to consider these costs. In the case of well-planned campaigns, the ROI is indeed higher, but it might take a while until you have recouped your investment.
• Also, make sure that your sent message is faultless in content. Unlike blog entries, postings and tweets, you cannot change an already sent SMS.

How can a company successfully carry out SMS campaigns?

If you plan an SMS campaign, get the most out of it with the help of the following points:

Use suitable software

Choose an appropriate auxiliary system with which you can represent your SMS marketing completely. You also need to consider how many messages you are going to send, how often and with what content. If you want to attach images or videos, your software should be suitable for that. An example of such software is GetResponse. If you are just starting to build your SMS channel, you should be able to scale the capacities according to the developments.

Define your strategy

SMS marketing does not necessarily mean sending coupons. You have many options to contact your customers via SMS, promote your revenue or simply entertain:

• Coupons and exclusive offers
• Automated events and actions: birthday, welcome gift, anniversary, etc.
• Surveys and feedback
• Event invitations
• Competitions
• Services, e. g. customer service, dispatch notification, identification, reminders etc.

Rely on quality information

Your target group usually has a very short attention span. Try not to scare off your prospects with too much text, but keep your messages short and concise. Likewise, targeted offers for the next order are much more effective than advertising messages that cannot be used for immediate advantage.

Stick to the rules

A user should not be part of your SMS campaign because the unsubscribe process is too complicated. Definitely adhere to the legal provisions and design both the registration and the cancellation process simply and in particular in a data protection-compliant way. True, some readers will unsubscribe every now and then, but those who stay are very interested in you, your enterprise and your messages.

Create an editorial plan

If you want to integrate SMS marketing in the long run, you need an editorial plan that balances topics, offers, timing and periods. This ensures that you do not bombard your subscribers with SMS and at the same time do not miss any important buying events.

Graphic: Editorial plan from Trello

Part of the whole

Your SMS campaign is probably not the only way to get in touch with your customers. Rather, an SMS is another channel to inform about offers, trends and events or to enable exchange. Therefore, always keep an eye on the big picture, vary your options and use other channels to push your SMS campaigns.

What SMS marketing tools are there?

SMS marketing works particularly well when you have a suitable tool to support you. This way, you can implement your SMS interactions and use tasks like personalization, monitoring and reporting across different channels.

Suitable software for SMS marketing usually also provides you with a feature for customer segmentation, which you can use for further marketing automation. Welcome messages, requests for ratings, discounts and the coupling with social advertising measures then become a piece of cake.

If you are looking for a suitable tool, feel free to browse OMR Reviews. In the category Mobile Marketing you will find a variety of suitable software that is well received in practice. Screenshots, price details and extensive user reviews are available for you.

To shortcut, you can also orientate yourself on the following software list:

Braze

Mateo

Klaviyo

Brevo (ehemals Sendinblue)

GetResponse

Omnisend

Drip

ActiveCampaign

eworx Marketing Suite

How can SMS marketing be personalized to increase relevance for recipients?

By personalizing your SMS marketing messages, you help to increase the relevancy of the content for your recipients. Thus, you increase the likelihood that they respond to the message. Here are some ways on how you can personalize SMS marketing:

1. Use the recipient's name to add a personal touch and establish a better connection.
2. Segment your recipients according to behavior, interests or other relevant characteristics to adapt your messages to their needs.
3. Create an incentive to respond to your SMS messages, for example by offering a discount code on the recipient's favorite products or keeping a gift ready.
4. Send your SMS at relevant times, when they are most likely to be read and promote immediate action.

What laws and regulations must be observed when conducting SMS marketing?

In Germany, there are some laws that lay down rules about the conditions under which you are allowed to transmit promotional messages. Among them is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which regulates the storage and protection of data. Therefore, make sure that you collect and store your recipients' data in a secure manner.

You also should comply with the Act against Unfair Competition (UWG), which declares unsolicited advertising as anti-competitive, especially for private individuals. According to UWG, previous consent of recipients is the absolute basic requirement for sending marketing messages.

There is also an imprint obligation. This means that as a business owner, you must link every message with your imprint, disclosing the name and address of your company. In the case of an SMS, this works best with a direct link to your website.

How can the measurability of success of SMS marketing be improved?

With the following methods, it's easy to measure the success of your SMS marketing:

Use tracking links to find out who follows a link. At the same time, you can measure the success of a link and analyze how many recipients used it and consumed the offer. If you set up your SMS campaign with suitable software, the tracking links are usually played out automatically and personalized.

With the help of coupon codes, you can also measure how many readers applied a particular code from a specific SMS. Also give them the option where the code is applied, whether in the online shop or in a store.

Likewise, you can seek targeted feedback or include links to more complex surveys. Was an offer interesting, could it solve a specific problem or are there uncertainties regarding product or service? All this can be easily collected, allowing you to analyze the success of your action and plan future measures.

Also common Data and web analysis tools such as Google Analytics, etracker Analytics or Matomo (zuvor Piwik) enable you to link your SMS marketing campaigns and make the measurability of traffic and engagement a breeze.

What are examples of successful SMS marketing campaigns?

After all the theory, it's time for some practice. Based on the following examples, we would like to show you how other companies have already used the advantages of SMS marketing to inform their customers and increase sales.

Subway

The franchise chain is known primarily for its sandwiches, which are sold in more than 100 countries worldwide. Subway's text marketing program regularly sends SMS and MMS to its subscribers. Specifically, it's about special offers that are directly linked to the app to encourage customers to order. Upon the introduction of the campaign, Subway achieved a sales increase of 21%.

Picture: SMS campaign from Subway

Harley-Davidson

In 2011, the American motorcycle manufacturer developed a great strategy to promote its Route 66 Harley-Davidson motorcycle travel business. Only twelve days before Christmas, an SMS campaign was started to specifically reach followers and the customer base. All they had to do was to text the code RT66 to a specific number and subsequently received discounts of 20% on different products for the next twelve days.

The relatively simple concept quickly spread and led to the sales of the advertised products to increase significantly. And that at a time that Harley-Davidson, or rather the travel company, would otherwise describe as rather weak. On t-shirt day, for instance, 250% more shirts were sold than on regular days. Likewise, the jacket sale increased on Leather Jacket Day by 16% compared to the discount-free previous week.

The SMS themselves were very simple: A little text explaining the discount, along with a CTA that directed the subscribers straight to the shop. In addition, the campaign was promoted on social media.

Picture: SMS campaign from Harley-Davidson

Kiehl’s

The manufacturer of skin, hair and body care products first promoted its SMS campaign directly in stores, via newsletters and on social media, and there made known two opt-in methods. One of them was simply to text the word „KIEHLS“ to an SMS shortcode. Afterward, the customers were asked to state their location. Kiehl’s then sent three location-based SMS messages if a customer was within a certain radius of a store.

The result was that 73% of the subscribers actually made a purchase. Kiehl’s also utilized these contacts to start a survey. In this survey, 81% of the respondents said that they still remember the SMS, and 90% stated that they have made purchases at Kiehl’s in the last six months.

Picture: SMS campaign from Kiehls

Poiscaille

The French company is the perfect addition to the fruit and vegetable box and supplies its customers with wild fish, shellfish and crustaceans. As a fast-growing start-up, the company quickly resorted to the SMS channel to elevate customer relationships to the next level.

Poiscaille sends SMS to track transport or transactions or to send urgent notifications. Also, marketing-oriented messages are part of the program to support customer loyalty and win new customers.

Picture: SMS campaign from Poiscaille

Conclusion: Do not let the potential of SMS marketing go unused

You now know what opportunities SMS marketing offers and what you need to look out for in order for your concept to stay within the legal framework and not be drowned out as spam.

SMS can be personalized and useful for many purposes. Whether discounts for the customer anniversary or as an invitation to a store opening - there are not many people who ignore their smartphone when it receives a new message. You should make use of exactly that and give your marketing strategy a considerable upgrade.