I often get the objection “Isn’t texting customers spammy and annoying?”
I can identify with this, as I thought the same things before.
And regretfully I let years of wasted marketing opportunities pass me by because I couldn’t get out of my own way with SMS marketing.
Thankfully all that changed and I finally saw how powerful it can be - when used the right way.
So in the post, I’m going to discuss how you should think about using SMS in your business!
1. Good Marketing Is About The Way You Execute It, Not About The Medium Itself
The first thing to understand is that marketing is NOT about the medium, it’s about the way it’s used.
Could you use SMS in an annoying and spammy way that turns off your customers?
Absolutely.
If you spam people daily with irrelevant messages then you can piss people off and they’ll unsubscribe.
But can you develop an AMAZING SMS strategy that delivers sick content, event reminders, develops relationships and cultivates incredible engagement?
Absolutely.
It’s up to you and how you use text messages.
But you don’t have to believe me - let’s just look at some of the data.
2. The Data Is Overwhelmingly Clear - People Want SMS
Most customers prefer SMS as a marketing method (when you use it the right way).
For example:
- 91% of customers said they’re interested in receiving text messages (Attentive Mobile)
- Over 50% have already signed up to receive messages from brands they like.
- 58% of consumers believe that SMS is the most effective way for brand communication. (Zipwhip State of Texting Report)
SMS is an AMAZING WAY of communicating with your customers.
It’s their preferred method of communication.
And if you’re a brand they want to actually hear from then they’d prefer to receive SMS from you over every single other communication method
3. SMS Is Effective (Especially Now)
It’s critical to understand that for marketing to be effective, it has to be SEEN first.
That means you want to go where the attention is - and right now that’s on mobile.
Texting is one of the BEST ways to get in front of your prospects…
Text messages get read & clicked:
Research shows text messages have a whopping 98% open rate and 20% click-through rate.
Compare that to email (don’t worry we still love you email) - Email gets an average of 20% open rates and a 1-4% CTR.
On top of that, it’s fast - 95% of SMS messages are opened and responded to within 3 minutes of being delivered (source.)
SMS Marketing Makes Money
SMS works really well to actually make money.
In fact, 96% of marketers using text messages said it helped them drive revenue (Attentive Mobile).
We’ve seen it ourselves in the real world as well. Even if you have a much smaller SMS list, you can drive big results.
Check out this strategy we recently used to book sales calls:
4. SMS Can Create A Deeper Connection
SMS doesn’t have to be one-way communication.
With Roezan you can even talk back and forth with your customers and have conversations via SMS if you choose to.
And this DEEPENS your engagement with your customers rather than hurting it.
At my other coaching company Skup, I have our support and sales reps interacting with customers, replying to them, asking them questions etc.
Stats show that 70% of consumers would enjoy having these types of back and forth conversations.
Does that mean you NEED to respond to your customer's texts? No. We have many clients who don’t have conversations with customers at all and still get an amazing ROI.
However, it definitely can help and will lead to more revenue generated.
Tips For Developing A GREAT, Non-Spammy SMS Strategy
Now hopefully you’ve opened up to creating an SMS strategy for your business.
Here are a few steps that you can take to make sure you create a valuable channel for marketing:
1. Get Customers to OPT-IN
Remember that to use SMS you won’t be blasting a big random list of phone numbers.
You must get explicit consent to send marketing messages.
This will confirm that you are only sending SMS to people who actually want to receive it.
2. Give Them A Reason
Tell people WHY you need their phone number, not just asking for it.
If you don't say why, they most likely will assume you will be calling to sell them something.
One common way our clients collect phone numbers is when prospects sign up for a webinar. They say that they will send reminder texts when the event is starting.
If you’re planning on sending more messages, you’ll also want to be clear about what else they will be receiving as well.
3. Tell Them What To Expect
When people sign up, let them know how many texts to expect per month… Is it 5 per week? 20 per week? Let people know what to expect. This is required.
4. Craft Relevant, Value-Driven Messaging
We like to send a variety of messages including:
- Links to new content & videos
- Live event notifications
- Webinar registration texts
- Webinar reminders
- Activation questions
All these are valuable to the people that receive them. They are not all promotional texts.
If you have lists that are interested in different subjects, you can use Roezan’s segmentation feature to ensure people see content that’s only relevant to them.
5. Give A Way To Opt Out
This is required and also by default with Roezan - Anyone on your list can opt-out at any time by just texting the word “STOP”
Those 5 steps alone will pretty much solve any fear of being seen as spam.
And look… There will always be people like that who are impossible to please. However, there are the other 99.98% of people who actually love to hear from you.
Conclusion
SMS marketing can be an amazing channel if you use it right.
There are in fact ways that you could use SMS in a spammy way, but if you follow the advice in this article you’ll be in the clear!
