Bulk SMS Biggest Mistakes that You Must Avoid (Pt. 1)
Bulk SMS is a powerful marketing tool, but there are some biggest mistakes you must avoid to be productive in the industry. In this article, we’re going to go through the “Don’ts” and “Dare Nots” of SMS Marketing Campaigns. These are the mistakes that you should avoid at all costs to make your SMS Marketing Promo Campaign successful. Ding! What happens when you hear the familiar text notification sound from your mobile? You pick up to find out who sent you a message, huh? If the text you receive is not from a family member or a friend, it might be an SMS marketing message. Does that text really delight you? Or does it irk you? Your response is likely to depend on whether your business buddy has followed best practices in SMS marketing or not. Because there are the right way and the wrong way to do SMS marketing. Following the SMS marketing “Don’ts” and “Dare Nots” will make your SMS marketing campaign effective and not rage-inducing.
The ‘Don’ts’ of SMS Marketing
Here are a few things that you don’t want to do if you want your SMS marketing campaign to be successful.
Just assume, it’s midnight, you’re sleeping in your cozy bed, and you’re suddenly startled by a business text message. What possibly can be more annoying than that? It’s also not fun to get business texts early in the morning, on holiday, or at dinner with your family. You need to consider the timing of your SMS marketing messages in order to avoid this kind of situation that could cause you to lose even your most loyal customers. Pay attention to the time zones in which your customers are located and send messages during convenient times. According to a study, the best time of day to send SMS marketing messages is between 10:31 a.m. – 11:29 a.m. or 2:34 a.m. – 3:27 p.m.
2. Don’t Use Slang and Abbreviations
In SMS Marketing, you have only 160 characters in text to get your message across. But that doesn’t mean that you should include text slang and abbreviations in your message to fit it all in the given limit. Rule of Thumb! if you can’t say it all in 160 characters, your message is too long. Text slang and abbreviations are not comprehendible for everyone. And if you use them in your SMS marketing messages, you run the risk of confusing users. If your customers have no idea what you’re talking about, they’re going to ignore your message. Evading text slang and abbreviations helps to ensure that your SMS looks professional and that recipients understand them.
3. Don’t Fail to Identify Yourself
Have you ever received an anonymous text message with you having no idea who you’re talking to? Have you ever tried to answer it? The answer obviously is a big ‘No’. Remember that when you send text messages to your customers. If your customer receives a text message without knowing who it is, they are likely to consider it SPAM or suspect it has been sent to the wrong number or by a wrong number. Just introduce yourself, as you do when you meet someone in person. When customers know that it’s your business that communicates with them, they’re more likely to respond. Plus, repeating your company name helps to improve brand recognition.
4. Don’t Be an Obsessive Seller
Nobody likes to communicate with someone who’s always trying to sell something. While the primary objective of your SMS marketing campaign may be to generate sales, it’s crucial that you’re not being nosy. Keep in mind; your customers are human, so talk to them in a friendly, conversational tone.
1. Dare Not Send Too Many Texts for your Bulk SMS
People are already being bombarded with an overwhelming amount of SMS marketing messages every day. In fact, there is an amazing number of SMS messages that are sent per minute – 16 million SMS messages. That’s a lot of text! It’s crucial that your business doesn’t add to this stress by sending too many texts as part of an SMS marketing campaign. If you have nothing important to say or offer, it’s best not to send a text at all. By sending out only the most exciting messages, you will avoid annoying your customers. Oh and of course, when they see that they’ve got a text from you, they’ll know that it will be of value.
2. Dare Not Forget Giving the Opt-Out Instructions for you bulk SMS
It’s not legal to text your customers without their permission. It is also illegal not to give users a way to opt-out of receiving your SMS marketing messages. You must give your users clear instructions on how to opt-out of receiving your SMS marketing messages. You may add these instructions at the end of each text you send, and especially the first message you send. This gives any user the possibility to opt-out readily if they have signed up accidentally or for some reason did not know what they have signed up for. Telling the users that they can opt-out at any time will help you avoid annoying them and will also ensure that your SMS marketing list is filled with people who are actually interested in receiving the messages from your business.
3. Dare Not Forget to Include a Call-to-Action for your Bulk SMS
In any type of marketing campaign, a strong call-to-action is vital. As it is Call to Action that encourages users to take a step further in a buyer’s purchase journey. You must remember that your customers are not the mind readers, so when you want them to do something, you’ve got to ask them. Never forget to include a Strong Call to Action in your SMS marketing message, else it’s a dead-end for your customers. Make it clear, whatever step you want users to take after reading your text message.
The Upshot
This is it! . These are the ‘Don’ts’ and ‘Dare Nots’ of an SMS Marketing Campaign. SMS Marketing can be a powerful tool for your business, enabling you to send important messages directly to your customers. So, take advantage of that. Keep the above-mentioned Don’ts and Dare Nots in mind and you’re going to be a Bulk SMS marketing pro.
