To make your business and brand successful, you must continually adapt with the changing times and advancements. This can clearly be proven by all of the land-based retail businesses that never made the leap to the Internet. In short, they went out of business.
While the Internet was a huge advancement in and of itself, there are smaller, yet huge advancements taking place every day. Lately, one of the biggest movements has been in the mobile and text messaging space.
Once again we are seeing the best brands in the world (Starbucks, for example) take advantage of what mobile messaging and SMS have to offer, while others continue to sit on the sidelines.
Read on for some of the most effective ways any brand or business can use mobile and text messaging to their advantage.
Delivery of Special Promotions and Coupons
One of the most common text message marketing methods has been in the form of special promotions and coupons. From big-name brands that are based offline, to some of the biggest online stores, direct text messaging of time-sensitive coupons is extremely effective.
In addition to the benefits of using text messaging for delivering promotions, it makes the process more rewarding and seamless for both the customer and the business. For example, instead of requiring a customer to fill out a form and provide their information (which would then be manually submitted to a mailing list or computer by another paid employee), the customer can simply send a text message to a number and instantly begin receiving alerts. This also eliminates the need for product waste (e.g., flyers and physical coupons), which lowers the business’s cost and helps remove potentially unwanted promotional pamphlets from the customer’s mailbox.
Online Marketers Love Text Messaging
Along with big-name brands and offline business, online entrepreneurs and professionals love the power, ease of use, and engagement of text messaging. Here’s a perfect example: A traditional way to deliver a message through a conference session or keynote is to have your speaking session and then provide an ending slide displaying your contact information (phone number, website and email). The problem with this is only a handful of people might write this down or remember it after your session is over.
Take a moment to stop before your session ends and tell everyone to pull out their mobile devices and text a message to #### to receive a free bonus gift or report. Since the room is already engaged and interested in what you have to say, you’re sure to see an increase in your engagement rate.
This same type of text to consumer engagement can be done through multiple online marketing methods, such as when someone fills out a form to join a live webinar. Instead of just putting their email address, phone number and name, ask them to provide their cell phone number so they can receive an alert on the day of the event.
The Value of Text Messaging Is Astronomical
In the past, email was the best way to get your message out to a potential or current customer. With inboxes now overloaded with email and spam, it’s still an effective way to get your message out, but it’s nowhere near as effective as it used to be. Nearly across the board, open and click rates are now lower than ever before.
Mobile and text messaging is where the real business is. When someone receives a text message, chances are they’ll look at it almost instantly. There has never been a more effective way to reach and engage with your audience, while also prompting them to take the initial action to show their interest.
To learn more about mobile text messaging and how you can implement these marketing methods into your business, click here to create your free account with us.
Zac Johnson is the founder of How to Start a Blog, a free blog tutorial series and is also an online marketing expertise with 20 years of experience. To learn more, visit Blogging.org.