When it comes to business, you want to stay in contact with your customers. But, you also want to reach out to them without bothering them. If you do it properly, you can accomplish this through text message marketing.
Here are 5 short message service (SMS) marketing mistakes to avoid.
1. Using the Same Messages for SMS and Emails
When you create text messages for your customers, you may want to save time by copying and pasting messages between your SMS campaigns and email campaigns. However, taking this approach could affect customer perception of your business.
Repetitive messaging has the following impact:
- Makes you appear lazy
- Makes it seem like you don’t have anything relevant to say
- Becomes an annoyance for the recipient
Keep in mind that using the same messages is different from recycling content.
Feel free to mention similar topics, but make sure that you change the format between SMS and email.
In short, always make adjustments to your messages so that they fit the style for SMS or emails.
2. Sending Long Messages
Customers may become annoyed if you send long messages. Here are some of the reasons why.
- It wastes time
- It becomes harder to figure out the meaning behind the message
- Excessive copy may cause some people to receive two or more text messages
When you send messages to your customers, you want them to be received positively.
However, if you consistently send long messages, then customers will most likely start to ignore them.
Long text messages are inconvenient and cumbersome.
You can avoid this issue by only including necessary information in your text message marketing. Be sure to avoid fluff in your sentences and be concise.
3. Creating Vague CTAs
You need to give your customers a specific call-to-action (CTA) in your SMS messages.
Make the CTA as straightforward as possible because vague CTAs could cause customers to misunderstand your direction.
Keep these questions in mind.
- Am I directly tell customers what to do?
- Do I leave any room for interpretation?
- Can they act on the CTA immediately?
As long as you make the necessary action clear as possible, you will have effective CTAs.
Here’s a quick example:
Wrong: Check out our website for awesome deals.
Right: Click on this link to see the deals on our website.
4. Sending Too Many Messages
People like to receive updates from their favorite companies, but receiving too many messages could cause them to unsubscribe.
This means that your SMS metrics will take a hit, so you need to find a happy medium.
It may become difficult to find the right balance, but you can start by sending two or three a week.
If you notice that your unsubscribe rate increases, then drop the frequency to once a week.
It’s all about finding that sweet spot.
5. Giving Customers Unimportant Texts
People want information that they find important. If you send them useless information then they won’t read it.
Ask yourself these questions to see if you send them relevant information.
- Why does this message matter to customers?
- What do they learn from it?
- How does it benefit them?
You always want to provide your customers with something that benefits them. Doing so will make them appreciate your messages and look forward to them.
Try to keep them updated about relevant information and new deals. That should catch their attention.
Conclusion
While you want to make the right choices to improve your SMS marketing, you also need to note the wrong choices. This will help you to know what to avoid. Overall, as you seek to make your customers happy and avoid things that will bother them, you can improve your SMS marketing.
