What are the tips to consider while using Bulk SMS?

Here are some tips to consider while using Bulk SMS.

1. Include a clear call to action

Ensure that the reason for the SMS is made clear. You want the recipient to act on your SMS, so tell them what they need to do to benefit from the information they have been sent.

2. Track your campaigns and optimize

Make sure you measure how effective your SMS marketing campaign has been so you can improve it further next time. How many responses did you get? What was your return on investment? Try testing different offers, at various times of the day, days of the week, or target different groups of customers, to find which works best for you.

3.  Be prepared and know when your customers respond

Pick the right time to send SMS campaigns to your customers. If you want to generate an action or response then make sure you leave your customers enough time during the day to do so.

4. Target, target, and target again

There’s a rule of thumb in direct mail that has proven itself bulletproof over the decades. The list (target market) you use is seven times more important to the success of a campaign than any other element of the campaign. This is, of course, true when it comes to Bulk SMS Marketing. Think about the people on your list. Are there any obvious ‘segments’ you can talk to more specifically? Gender is obvious, but, other things to consider are, age, geography, time since last purchase, product categories, transactions and so on.

5. Keep it short

A single SMS message consists of 160 characters. For the most cost-effective campaign, you need to choose your words carefully. Get to the point straight away, the benefit or reward to the recipient should be clear.

6. Test everything

The biggest joy about SMS Marketing is you have the ability to test everything. Don’t be afraid to, it’s how the companies at the top find out what works best.

7. Create a sense of urgency

Set an expiry date for your discount coupons and vouchers. Limited time validity creates a sense of urgency for your customers and results in higher conversion rates.

8. Find the right frequency

Should you send your SMS campaigns daily, weekly or monthly? If you send messages too frequently, customers might get annoyed and unsubscribe from the service. However, if you leave it too long between messages, the customer may lose interest and will have forgotten why they subscribed in the first place. There’s no fixed amount of messages you should be sending per week or month – the frequency needs to be fine-tuned based on your audience and the purpose of your messages.

9. Don’t overdo it – less is more

Make sure you manage your contact groups properly and avoid repeatedly sending the same SMS marketing message to recipients. Keep your communication fresh and engaging.

10. Keep your database clean

It can be costly to continue sending messages to old numbers. Be sure to regularly check and delete the numbers that can’t be reached to save time and money. Three strikes and you’re out is a good principle.

11. Respect the opt-out mechanism

Include a simple opt-out option regularly in your texts. Always ensure you make it clear to your customers that they can stop receiving messages from you at any time.

12. Personalize your texts for a better experience

Use mail merge feature and insert names, appointment times or other customer-specific details into your messages for that personalized message. You can also brand your text by setting the Sender Name on the SMS message as your company name for maximum impact.

Using these tips you should be able to achieve excellently response rates to your Bulk SMS Campaigns and because Bulk SMS Marketing is so cost-effective and easy to use.