Everywhere you look, Americans are tapping out messages on their smartphones. Text messaging, or short messaging service (SMS), is one of Americans’ favorite smartphone activities. It’s perfect for quick, casual conversations with close friends and family – and trusted brands.
Texting is a one-to-one chat between the sender and recipient. It’s a friend telling you about a new workout studio or restaurant opening or your sister responding to a frantic request for a plumber recommendation. Consumers are open to texting with businesses, too; nine out of 10 consumers say they want to receive text messages from companies.
Americans have phones in hand or nearby 24-7, making SMS marketing highly effective and intimate, and it also compliments your multi-media marketing efforts.
When brands convince customers to subscribe to their text messages, also called text clubs, it provides a direct line to one of consumers’ prized possessions: their smartphones.
The best news? Customers love texting with brands. Nearly 100 percent of Americans open text marketing messages, and 10 percent click through to links.
And yet, surprisingly, only 39% of businesses are using SMS marketing.
Texting Turbocharges Other Marketing
SMS marketing is a powerful option in your toolbox and can augment your overall marketing strategy, including broadcast radio, content marketing and social media.
It’s a quick and easy way to alert users to your marketing efforts. And you know they’re reading the texts!
Here are some ideas for using SMS marketing with other marketing activities:
On-air promotions: If your radio commercials are highlighting a specific product, service or deal, make sure to send a message to your text club too.
Lean into email: If you have a robust email list of customers and want to grow your text club, email an exclusive offer in exchange for signing up for your text club. While you may email about regular promotions, you can also send text messages to reinforce your message. You can also send texts about flash deals and other last-minute announcements.
Integrate texts and contests: Radio stations are masters at helping businesses stage contests and giveaways, and text marketing is a powerful new tool to boost sign-ups. At Federated Media, we recommend including a text keyword for your contest in your radio commercials that promote the giveaway. You can also have registrants sign up for your text club as part of their contest entry form.
Leverage the text club database: SMS marketing creates a first-party database of super fans. They opt-in and share their phone numbers and personal information. Use that information to fine-tune other marketing efforts and promotions.
The Fine Print
The Federal Trade Commission regulates text message marketing, and FTC rules require text club members to confirm twice that they want to receive messages from your business. They must say yes twice through a text response, sign-up form, or subscription code.
Federated Media Can Boost Your SMS Marketing Strategy
At Federated Media, our marketing specialists can help plan, build, and operate your text club. Our services include:
- We can manage your club with scheduled texts and activate one-to-one texting capabilities between your business and users.
- We keep each text club and campaign legally compliant with current FTC guidelines and as FTC regulations update.
- To help spread the word, we provide a QR code that links to text club signups for your print materials.
- The text club can be integrated with our Second Street platform so contest entrants can easily sign up for your text club.
- We’re building the capability to send forms to your club via text to gather personal information, including name, date of birth, zip code, and more to boost your databases and integrate with your CRM.
The Bottom Line: Text Message Marketing Delivers Across Your Portfolio
By sending texts to your most loyal customers, brands can tie into other marketing efforts, getting more bang for your ad dollars and increasing engagement.
Consumers are ready, willing, and able to open your texts and take action. Our multimedia marketing specialists can design an SMS marketing campaign that complements your other marketing and engages customers.
Interested in learning more about how to integrate SMS marketing into your overall marketing strategy? Reach out to Federated Media today!
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