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SMS marketing is becoming a more critical component of the marketing mix for many companies. The effectiveness of text messaging is undeniable. On average, it takes 90 minutes to respond to an email, but 90 seconds to respond to a text message.1 SMS text messaging and MMS messaging provide marketers with an effective means of communicating with customers.
One of the biggest challenges for marketers is to determine the focus for their SMS/MMS marketing campaigns. It’s human nature to want to ensure every marketing dollar works as hard as possible and can meet multiple masters. The reality is, however, that a SMS marketing message needs to be communicated in 160 characters. By nature, this forces some focus.
So how do you set a strategy and objective for your SMS marketing efforts? We’ve created a list of questions to answer in the development of a SMS strategy and more than 20 objectives to consider in the goal-setting process.
1. Map the prospect-customer lifecycle.
The best place to start in determining what role SMS should play in the marketing mix is to start with the customer. Consider where and how users are interacting with your product and brand via mobile. Map the entire customer lifecycle and determine where the prospects and customers would benefit from interacting with your product, services and communications via mobile. While this isn’t a complete blueprint for developing a mobile strategy, it is a place to start in determining what role mobile can play for your product, brand and company. The focus of this process is to identify potential interactions that can be enriched through SMS marketing.
• How do our customer profiles align to those with above average mobile consumption?
• What are the main reasons we reach out to customers? Ongoing service? Product upgrades? Upsell/cross-sell? New products? Advice, helpful information or tips?
• Where do prospects learn about your products?
• How do customers re-engage with our company on an ongoing basis?
2. Setting a SMS marketing objective.
One of the core elements of success is objective setting. As marketers, we know one of the first questions that generally should be asked is, “What are we trying to accomplish?”
Objective setting is a critical step, whether you’re launching a new SMS marketing program or enhancing your current SMS marketing efforts. Here is a list of possible objectives to consider in developing your SMS marketing strategy:
Acquire new customers
Generate foot or online traffic
Generate leads
Nurture leads
Convert prospects to customers
Grow revenue of existing customers
Generate repeat purchases
Build relationships with existing customers
Improve or simplify operational process
Improve browsing or shopping experience
Improve buying or purchasing process
Enhance customer service experience
Deliver content or messages
Deliver offers or coupons
Ensure accessibility regardless of device
Provide reporting or order accessibility
Provide low-cost delivery channel
Reach a niche group
Reach a group that prefers SMS
Have a multichannel presence
Link customer data across channels
Have a comprehensive view of the customer
We typically recommend that marketers rank a handful of top goals, rather than just check all those that apply. This can help bring some of the necessary focus to the SMS marketing strategy.
The reality is that SMS marketing requires customer opt-ins. SMS marketing messages simply can’t be sent to people who haven’t provided consent to participate. For that reason, we typically think of SMS marketing programs as being more appropriate for customers (versus prospects) and try to steer marketers away from considering SMS as a pure acquisition channel.
3. Setting the SMS marketing strategy.
The goals and customer mapping will guide the SMS strategy development process. One consideration is whether you are working toward building your subscriber database or driving activity against a current set of customers. Although there are a number of factors to consider in designing your SMS marketing program strategy, here are a few key places to start.
Determine channels for integration.
One of the first steps in building a SMS marketing strategy is to consider which existing channels can be utilized to generate subscribers. We typically go through an inventory process of all existing channels a client should consider for inclusion in the contact strategy. This includes newsletters, website banners, direct mail and other online and offline touch points, as well as for those that have a brick-and-mortar presence, we include in-location signage and merchandising.
Develop offers that generate action.
One key is to utilize a specific offer for enrolling in your SMS/MMS program. If it’s not exclusive, it’s not an incentive to join. Utilize an offer that will motivate customers to provide their mobile number. The goal is to find an incentive worthy of exchanging this information.
Additionally, consider building an ongoing set of SMS/MMS offers to deliver value. Once you have a subscriber database and you’ve defined your objective, it’s easier to establish an ongoing set of offers. The offers should be aligned to meet your goals, such as driving engagement, revenue, repeat purchase, traffic or transactions.
Develop a testing strategy.
Consider testing things like MMS messages, mobile coupons and video. According to eMarketer, 10 times as many coupons are redeemed through mobile as through traditional channels. Mobile coupons are a great mechanism for delivering unique offers to your subscribers, and they provide significant tracking.
Establishing a SMS marketing objective is a critical building block to success. It’s important to marry user mobile consumption habits of your products in defining the strategy.
1. CTIA.org
Topics: Digital Marketing
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