Sending a campaign to a group of contacts (of any size) can be daunting for sure, even the most seasoned marketer will get nervous clicking the big SEND button. No matter how many times we proof our content and check our campaign, we are all humans so the occasional mistake can happen.
Before
SMS has proved popular across a range of industries because it’s so simple, quick and a campaign can be pulled together right at the last minute; however it still needs some thought and planning to ensure you get the awesome results you deserve.
So, what should we be prepping and checking before we reach to send?
It’s worth giving some thought to the time and day the campaign will be sent – consider the content of your message and when it might be best received, for example, if you’re sending out a tasty offer for your restaurant, send it just before dinner time when stomachs are rumbling.
Another thing to consider is, who you are sending the campaign to; make sure you’ve segmented your data to include all the lovely customers you want to reach.
During
You may only have 160 characters, but your content is super-important, have you got a clear call-to-action, does the message make sense, would you respond? Remember to proof read and spell check all of the content too, getting someone to glance over it can be really handy.
If you want customers to reply to your campaign you’ll need to pop your reply number in the senderID, if you’re sending from your brand you get a maximum of 11 characters, try an abbreviation or to make it really personal use a name.
It’s super-important to test your campaign out so send one to your own phone first so you can see how it will look to the recipient, check everything reads well, test any reply function and click on links if you’re including them, to ensure the pages your message points your customers to are all set for mobile.
Once you’ve checked everything and are happy with the content, you’re ready to send it on its way – or schedule it if you want it to go out at a later time.
After
Clicking SEND shouldn’t be the end of the campaign, in fact what happens after is even more important. Our reports and analytics will help you analyse and improve your future campaigns, your delivery report will start to update as soon as you send the campaign, this can be helpful to check the quality of your data.
If you’ve also used the URL tracker, you’ll be able to get even more data from your click report, telling you not only how many clicks you’ve received but also who, what time and on what device – so clever!
Have you planned a follow-up? If a customer has replied or clicked through, make sure you act on this, either send another campaign to those interested or drop them a personal call or email to see if you can help with more information.
We have a handy download here, or if you need a second pair of eyes, just give us a shout 🙂