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June 03, 2022
Over the years in SMS marketing, Sempico Solutions, as a SMS service provider, has come across many questions and problems from clients. One of these questions is: “Everyone says that SMS is the most effective marketing channel, but my SMS campaigns fail every time, why?” The answer to this question can be different: from incorrect technical settings to a cold database of numbers.
But there is another common mistake – violating the etiquette of SMS marketing. Therefore, we have written an article for you about what SMS etiquette is, what its basic principles are and how our service can help you.
A smartphone has become a must-have for every modern person. In addition, the time that we spend in it every day is growing and it is completely undesirable for business to become an annoying element at this moment. Therefore, it is important to know and adhere to the basic rules of etiquette in marketing messages.
By building a strong and trusting relationship with a customer, you can increase brand loyalty and engagement. On the contrary, messy and rude communication will destroy any desire of the client to pay attention to your brand and make purchases.
In order for you to build an effective and solid strategy for interacting with your leads, we have compiled a list of 6 main principles of etiquette.
Sometimes getting customer phone numbers does not mean opening up the ability to send SMS messages. Before deciding to use SMS marketing, it is worth analyzing your target audience for loyalty to this type of communication. Because, for example, the B2B segment is more inclined to interact via email, because it is much more convenient to conduct long business correspondence there. But the end-user segment is open to accepting commercial offers via SMS.
2. Carefully select the contacts of your mailing list.
Earlier, we wrote about how important it is to correctly collect contacts of leads and how to do it. After all, mailing without the consent of the user is illegal and can lead to liability. In addition, it is equally important to check the numbers or databases of numbers before sending it, you should not exclude the human factor. If you still sent an SMS message to the wrong segment of the target audience, then send a message with apologies. Such a mistake can be smoothed out with bonuses.
3. Decide on the tone of voice of the brand.
It is important that before you start marketing your brand, define your positioning in the market and the way you interact with customers. It is the tone of voice (ToV) that will determine the relationships that will be built with your customers in the future, it will determine how you will be associated with people. Each segment of potential customers prefers different manners of communication. A company that provides financial advice cannot address customers like a fast food brand at all.
4. Observe the limits of working hours and the number of SMS.
It’s not normal to harass a customer with offers and “discounts” at 3:00 in the morning, or send dozens of them a week. Due to the fact that a modern person is oversaturated with incoming information, even one untimely SMS can cause irritation. Respecting the personal boundaries of the client will help you determine the time and amount of brand presence in his life. Standard working hours and a slight deviation from them (+-1) – the ideal time for bulk SMS mailings.
If you are doing a 2-way mailing, then think about the fact that the client has enough free time to answer you.
5. Check SMS content for grammatical errors.
Trust the writing of marketing texts only to competent people. Do a grammar check on the third person to ensure a fresh perspective. A grammatically correct and concise sentence will please the client and assure him of your professionalism.
6. Use slang and emoji on a loyal audience.
Some segments of the audience, such as older people, may be skeptical of slang or emoji, and sometimes not understand them at all. At the same time, the younger generation is more open to this style and even encourages it.
But there are niches where the use of such designations is not recommended, for example, insurance services, despite the age of the target audience. And there are niches where emoji will only increase engagement, for example, an entertainment center. It is also worth remembering that there are always exceptions and A/B testing of SMS will help you get to know your target audience better.
By applying these rules to creating new SMS text advertising, you will be a few steps closer to success. This will be easy to do if you have experienced marketers and copywriters on your team. If you have not yet hired such workers, you can use the service from Sempico Solutions. We will not only set up SMS mailings for you, but also help with writing unique texts for messages. Your personal manager, which you will receive after registration, will help you with all the rules of SMS marketing etiquette and make your campaigns successful.
