Insights
5 Best SMS Marketing Campaigns to Engage Customers
SMS marketing is a great cost-effective addition to your digital marketing efforts.
Here are five of the best SMS marketing campaigns to boost your marketing strategy.
1. Use SMS keywords and QR codes to bring your target audience to you.
The best contact lists are comprised of customers who you know are interested in your offers. A keyword is a word, like SALE, that customers can text you to opt in for discounts, updates, and more. You advertise your keyword in places like your website banner, storefront, digital ads, or social media, and then the interested customers come to you.
A common call-to-action to advertise a keyword would be:
“Text [keyword] for 20% off your next purchase!"
QR codes can make your keyword campaigns even more efficient. The customer simply scans the QR code with their cell phone, then the QR code auto-populates a text message with the keyword to your business. From there, they just hit send!
The best part is that once customers opt in for text messages by texting your keyword, you can continue to send them more SMS campaigns like the examples below.
2. Combine SMS marketing and email campaigns for maximum engagement.
Business texting has high conversion rates in comparison to email, but you’ll get the most bang for your buck when you combine the two marketing channels. That’s why one of the most essential SMS marketing campaigns you can do is advertise your SMS newsletter to your email subscribers and vice versa.
“Hi [Name], did you know that we also have an SMS newsletter? Text [keyword] to [phone number] to subscribe.”
This instantly grows both your subscriber lists, plus you’re more likely to get a customer to take a next step when they see a back-to-back text and email about a new offer you have.
SMS marketing automations and integrations make it possible to automatically sync your contact lists. Text Request currently offers integrations with MailChimp, Constant Contact, and HubSpot to help you combine your SMS marketing and email campaigns.
3. Mass text flash sales and limited-time coupon codes.
Engaging your entire customer base at once is simple when you send mass texts. Mass text messaging, sometimes called bulk texting, is similar to BCC email. Any responses become one-on-one conversations, so it still feels personal even if the message is going to hundreds of contacts.
Mass texts are a perfect way to share time-sensitive discounts, flash sales, and more to generate quick revenue from current customers. We have several pre-made promotion text message templates ready to use, but one quick SMS template example is:
“Flash sale alert! Only 10 of these 15% discounted [items] are left. Check our e-commerce store for more details. [image]”
Messages like these instantly drive engagement through the roof, and interested customers are likely to either use your link to make a purchase directly or text back with more questions about your offer. Just remember that customers will expect real-time responses if they take the time to engage with you. The best part of mass texting, for you and the customers, is that it’s two-way communication.
4. Request online reviews to highlight your 5-star customer service.
Online reviews are the #1 way potential customers decide whether or not to do business with you, and text messaging’s 50% click-through-rate makes it the perfect marketing channel to request feedback.
Text Request’s Review feature can stream your review request campaign efforts by:
Connecting your different locations’ Google Business pages
Creating custom review links to request and track feedback
Offering one place for your business to monitor and respond to oncoming reviews
Businesses that text for online reviews not only see a drastic increase in feedback, they also see an increase in web traffic as a direct result of the increased online reviews.
Text Request also helps ensure you only get positive feedback by asking customers to “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” their customer experience when they first open your SMS review link. Only customers who leave a “thumbs up” are prompted to submit an online review.
5. Create personalized appointment and service reminders.
Sometimes customers need a reminder that it’s time to reschedule. Texting service and appointment reminders is a fast way to get people back in the books and generate revenue.
You can create text templates for service and appointment reminders, then personalize them with merge fields. Merge Fields allow you to personalize SMS reminders to different contacts based on the information you have saved in their contact details, like first name, last name, type of service, type of appointment, and last service or appointment date.
Personalized reminders are more likely to capture the customer’s attention and get them back into scheduling regularly. Check out our Appointment Scheduling Ultimate Guide for more SMS scheduling best practices to keep revenue flowing.
How do you choose a phone number for SMS marketing campaigns?
The SMS marketing campaigns we covered above are only helpful if you have a text-enabled mobile phone number to send them from. That phone number must also be 10DLC registered to comply with carriers, otherwise your messages will be blocked.
A business text messaging platform, like Text Request, will not only text-enable your business’s phone number, we’ll also make sure your 10DLC is registered so your messages are delivered.
Want more best practices and SMS marketing examples?
47.7% of consumers want SMS marketing promotions and discounts from businesses like yours. Our team is available to create and share business texting resources to get your SMS marketing strategy off the ground. Contact us to get individual help for your specific industry and use cases.
