SMS is good for:
o Short delivery times and immediacy
o Profitable personalized communication
o Continuous 1 to 1 relationships
o Automated data capture and compliance
o Direct income and opportunities for improvement
Basic rules for SMS
Besides permission, there are five key elements that differentiate SMS marketing from traditional marketing. These are also the key success factors for its use. A minimum of 2 factors is necessary for a successful campaign.
You need Permission more:
1: relevance
2: Rent
3 Time
4: Added value
5: interactive
Step 1: campaign planning
Objectives:
o Why do you communicate via mobile?
o What do you want to achieve?
Offer plan:
o What is the definition of your offer?
or How are you going to say it?
o When should it be shipped?
o Who are you talking to?
o Is viral marketing possible?
Limitations:
o Do you need to limit the answers?
o Receiving messages: do you have systems to handle the volume?
Step 2: creating the campaign
Some SMS service providers allow you to create, test, and track your basic campaign yourself through your web browser. This can be very useful for simple push campaigns like; event notifications, requested information (ie results, account information), “show this message free …” style campaigns, notes to staff, and more. However, the more complex the campaign, the more likely you will need professional help both in planning and carrying out the campaign.
Step 3: copywriting
o You only have 160 characters, use them wisely
o Be aware of the limitations of the different screens
o Be personal (can be an intrusive medium)
o Be objective
o Speak in the same language as your clients
o Lrn txt spk-especially for youth markets
o Use an SMS composer
Step 4: test, test and test again.
o Try the campaign on different screens
o Try different networks (i.e Vodaphone, Orange)
o Check if the correct responses are sent, etc.
o If it is a competition, plan for the unusual / wrong answers and have suitable answers in place.
o Language, typographical and technical errors test (not all symbols will come out as expected).
Step 5: measurement and monitoring
Some indicators that you can use to measure the success of the campaign are:
o Open rates
o Pedestrian traffic (to website, etc.)
o Acceptance of offer
o Answers
o Exchange rate
o Brand awareness …
Do
o Use it as an automated data capture
o Consider the time
o Try different approaches
o Take advantage of “land grabbing” opportunities by using SMS before your competitors.
o Use only the participation option and the opt-out option (the more automated the better)
or identify you
Common mistakes:
o Poor targeting and relevance
o Failure to identify the sender
o Bad writing
o Targeting the wrong audience with the wrong offer / message
o Messages sent at the wrong time
o Do not allow the recipient to unsubscribe
o Typographical errors
o No customization
o Inability for systems / customer service, to handle responses
conclusion
o It is an important marketing medium and it is here to stay
o It’s about experience, not technology
o Plan ahead to get it right
o Get creative with your campaign
o Keep IT Simple Stupid (KISS) applies