SMS Marketing Myth 1: One Size Fits All in Messaging Solutions

Reality: Every car isn’t a Lamborghini, right? Initiated in 2008, SMS-Magic has never stopped evolving. Beyond traditional text messaging services, we focus on creating genuine engagement and fostering customer relationships. Our SMS platform prioritizes results, evidenced by clients experiencing a staggering 40% hike in conversions.

SMS Marketing Myth 2: It’s Just… Texting

Reality: Think of a master chef crafting a gourmet dish: whether they use secret ingredients or everyday food, they always deliver something fantastic. That’s how we view messaging! SMS-Magic elevates business text messaging into an art form. By prioritizing genuine, resonant content, we’ve become the go-to choice for high-stakes conversations such as finance and healthcare.

SMS Marketing Myth 3: Platforms are Too Complex

Reality: Ever tried assembling a 5000-piece jigsaw puzzle? Daunting, right? But with SMS-Magic, the experience is more like snapping together Lego bricks. By designing a user-friendly interface, we let businesses focus on what they excel at, leaving the SMS intricacies to us.

SMS Marketing Myth 4: Compliance is a Constant Battle

Reality: Imagine a world where you can set-and-forget rules and regulations. Welcome to the SMS-Magic realm! We actively monitor and adapt to regulatory updates and changes , ensuring your SMS campaigns remain compliant. Say goodbye to those tedious manual updates.

SMS Marketing Myth 5: Integration Nightmares Await

Reality: Imagine effortlessly blending paint on a canvas so every color is clear, bright, and tells a story. That’s the integration experience with SMS-Magic. Whether you’re using Salesforce, Zoho, or other CRM systems, our seamless integration ensures fluidity in your communication processes.

SMS Marketing Myth 6: Setting Up is Like Climbing Everest

Reality: With us, it’s more of a walk in the park! Begin your SMS marketing journey with SMS-Magic in a day. Should you encounter any challenges our top-notch support team is just a call away.

SMS Marketing Myth 7: Termination Equals Data Loss

Reality: Consider us the guardians of your digital memories. Even post-cancellation, your data is safely and securely maintained, ensuring your hard work and customer interactions aren’t lost to the void.

SMS Marketing Myth 8: Texts Play Second Fiddle to Emails

Reality: In our digital age, timeliness is the name of the game. While emails sit unread, SMS messages boast a jaw-dropping 98% open rate. Makes you wonder: Who’s truly leading the customer engagement race?

SMS Marketing Myth 9: Bulk Messaging Equals Spam

Reality: We believe in quality over quantity. Rather than bombarding users, our personalized SMS strategies ensure that each message feels personalized, leading to a whopping 75% of users feeling more connected to brands.

SMS Marketing Myth 10: SMS Lacks Engagement Power

Reality: If engagement was a dance, SMS would be leading the Conga Line! Brands that weave SMS into their strategies witness a soaring 30% uptick in engagement. It’s time to join the dance!

SMS Marketing Myth 11: Serious Businesses Don’t Text

Reality: Think of professional SMS communication as the modern-day briefcase: sleek, efficient, and indispensable. From appointment reminders in healthcare to transactional updates in finance, secure business messaging has become a keystone in professional communication.

SMS Marketing Myth 12: SMS Isn’t ROI Friendly

Reality: Here’s some economics 101: for every dollar channeled into SMS campaigns, businesses often see returns exceeding $40. It’s an investment that truly pays dividends.

The prowess of SMS marketing isn’t just about numbers or open rates. It’s about resonance. It’s about conversations that matter. Dive deep with SMS-Magic and watch your business narratives turn magical, one message at a time. After all, in this age of fleeting attention spans, it’s not merely the message, but the connection that counts. Stay ahead, stay engaged, and remember: Magic is just an SMS away! 

Due to changes this year from carriers in the United States and Canada, you may be at risk of filtered delivery or possible denial of service if:

• your company is sending SMS messages in the U.S. using 10-digit long codes (10DLC), or
• your company is using toll-free numbers in campaigns in the U.S. or Canada

Ensuring delivery requires just a few actions on your part, and SMS-Magic can help you.

To ensure delivery of your messages, major U.S. telecommunications carriers, like Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, US Cellular and others are now requiring companies sending application-to-person (A2P) SMS messages within the U.S. to register their 10DLC. This is in addition to the requirements specified in regulations like GDPR, TCPA and others.

The goal of registration is to protect consumers, improve message deliverability, and to encourage trust within the system while delivering high customer engagement. Registration should also help reduce SMS text spam and fraud.

When you register, carriers want to know two things: who you are and what you’re sending. They ask you to provide:

• Company brand registration – you must identify who you are to carrier networks.
• Standardized campaign use-case registration – you must identify the type of messages you are sending, such as account updates, marketing campaigns, customer service, etc.

To submit your 10DLC registration, please complete this form. We’ll take it from there.

Toll-Free Verification

In addition to A2P 10DLC Registration, you must also verify the toll-free numbers you use in the U.S. and Canada. Unverified numbers in Canada can be blocked, and in the U.S., traffic may be subject to increased filtering and daily limits on sending.

To submit your toll-free numbers for verification, please complete this form.

If you have any questions about registration, contact us at care@sms-magic.com.

Leveraging that behavior, colleges and universities can use SMS or MMS to capture the attention of incoming and current students in a way students will immediately understand and use. Students read most messages within three minutes, and they respond at a much higher rate to messages than they do to other communication channels. And if that isn’t enough to convince you to incorporate messaging into your digital marketing strategy, here is more information about how messaging can help you reach an audience of digital natives – your students.

Cost

Compared to most marketing channels, messaging is one of the most cost-effective methods and has the greatest ROI. While email and text campaigns are both affordable, text messages have a much greater open rate than emails, 98% and 20% respectively. The low per-message cost is an asset for colleges and universities, because text-message marketing is best executed with multi-message campaigns and follow-up messages.

Convenience

Text messaging offers a level of convenience that can not only save your team time but allows students to read and respond to messages with minimal hassle. Most messages are opened within minutes of receipt, which makes SMS and MMS messaging an effective medium for timely communications, offers and reminders. It also means you get real-time alerts about the messages that have been received and opened, so your team can adjust its approach when needed.

Performance

We know texting has an edge with open and response rates, but it is also an effective channel for facilitating sales, event registrations, class enrollments and more. Where emails that try to prompt certain actions can often be mistaken for spam, text messages can move more students through the chosen pipeline.

Interactive

Consider this scenario. Your university wants to send communications about financial aid applications to students who have been accepted but haven’t enrolled yet, and current students who still need to submit applications for the upcoming school year. The goal of this marketing initiative is both to build awareness of the financial aid resources available to students and act as a reminder for the students who are already aware of the resources but have yet to complete their forms.

When you send the information over email, some students may follow the action items all in one sitting: open the email, read the information, click on the links to complete the application, and finish/submit the application. But our paths are rarely that linear. Some student users will read the email one day, Google the information in a separate browser tab (without using the links in the email) and may even fill out the application in-person. That leaves marketing staff with a disjointed view of how their communications are influencing students.

With text messaging, the path is most likely to be linear thanks to short code keyword response options. As students respond “HELP”, “APPLY” or other quick replies, marketing teams gather better insights and engage in more student interactions.

Approachable

While text messaging can be used to achieve many university objectives, it’s the most personal method to connect with students, which is key to building brand loyalty. Giving students the ability to communicate in a convenient and accessible channel helps cultivate trust, break down barriers and maintain personalization with each and every student.

When to Use

Now that you know why to use SMS and MMS messaging, let’s talk about when to use it. The applications are limitless, but here are some ideas to get you rolling:

• Admissions and enrollment
• Financial services
• Retention
• Campus alerts
• Campus events
• Career services
• Alumni relations

Need More Information?

Just take a look at how SMS-Magic client, Northwest University, upped student engagement by 15x with messaging. This case study and others will give you plenty of inspiration on how you can use messaging at your institution. 

Contact us to set up a free demo, or if you prefer to chart your own course, start your free trial today.

If you haven’t already implemented SMS marketing into your business strategy, there couldn’t be a better time. Text messages can help you build and maintain your customer base and stand out from the rest of the pack. What makes this form of marketing so powerful? Read on to find out what SMS marketing can do for your tech company!

Nurture Leads and Customers With High-Value Content

Your leads might be interested in your products, but may not be ready to buy yet. Maybe a customer bought from you several years ago, but they’re due for an upgrade soon. Your challenge is to nurture a relationship between them and your brand, so they’ll stick with you until the right time comes.

SMS marketing offers an organic way to become a valuable source of facts, tips and useful information for your leads. Since text messages have around a 98% open rate, your leads will see your outreach. By sending helpful information that meets their needs, you’ll keep them subscribed to your messaging list, and your brand will add value to their lives. Consider reaching out with:

• Common problems your leads might be facing and explanations of how your product or service can help.
  • “Worried about security on your company’s devices? We can help  . . . “

• Interesting statistics or facts relating to technology in your leads’ specific industries or interests. With advanced SMS marketing solutions, it’s easy to both personalize and automate your outreach.
  • “A federal judge recently ruled against scanning students’ rooms during virtual test proctoring. Does your institution need new remote testing solutions? We’ve got options.”

• Creative shortcuts, tricks and strategies to help your leads solve tech-related headaches
  • “Record podcasts that sound better with these simple tips!”

Remember to keep messages short, to-the-point, and properly spaced (typically, once a week is a good schedule for promotional outreach). You can also use text messages to invite recipients to more in-depth sources of information, like your company’s blogs or how-to web pages.

Keep Customers Excited About New Innovations

Text messaging is a great way to let your customers know when you’ve rolled out a new product or upgrade. Texts are unobtrusive and easy to read, and your customers typically prefer them over any other channel. With multimedia messaging solutions (MMS), you can not only send product stats and information, but also multimedia files, like product images.

To quickly gauge interest in new products, whether you’ve already developed them or they’re still on the drawing board, you can message your customers with a quick survey. Asking for their opinion helps you tailor your offerings to their specific needs, and it also helps them know that you care about them and hear their concerns.

Offer Quick, Seamless, Multichannel Support

In the tech industry, product support and customer service are key. Today’s tech users don’t want to sit on hold for an hour waiting for someone to help. They want responsive, in-the-moment support that fits seamlessly into their busy lives. Your customers need to know that you’re there for them, not just before the sale, but afterwards as well.

Advanced conversational messaging solutions make it easy for your support team to answer questions and solve customers’ problems. Using keyword automation, your customers’ questions can easily be routed to the right agent. Members of your team can seamlessly collaborate on the same conversation, and messages from multiple channels will appear in a single inbox. Easy access to message history ensures every agent who works on a particular issue has all the facts they need to quickly resolve it. Your customers will appreciate the convenience of a text-based support conversation, which can take place while they’re on the clock, in the field or juggling other tasks.

With SMS marketing, your tech company can drive revenue, boost customer satisfaction and improve agent efficiency and workflow. Want to get started with SMS-Magic? Contact our customer support team for a demo or a free trial!

Consider the proven results of messaging campaigns: MarketingProfs reported SMS marketing has a whopping 98% read rate, while 40% of text messages actually receive a response from customers. And when it comes to paying via text messaging, customers enjoy the convenience just as much. From mobile readers to crypto transactions, digital payments are fast and convenient.

Why would a business expand its customer tools to offer payment solutions via text messaging? A study conducted in 2020 by Weave found that 35% of customers are interested in paying with a text from their phone.

Convenience and Personalization

By offering flexibility and convenience to customers, businesses are more likely to improve their accounts receivable turnover ratios. Companies with high accounts receivable turnover ratios indicate that they collect payments from customers quickly without long waiting periods.

In addition, customers may also enjoy the personal, casual aspects of receiving text messages rather than formal bills sent via snail mail or email with a deadline to pay. In fact, a 2014 industry survey found that 52% of customers would be likely to text with a live customer support agent, and that the same percentage would prefer texting instead of their current method of reaching customer support.

One limitation to consider is the nature of SMS and MMS messages sent in the United States. Your messaging provider can make the physical and backend parts of their systems secure, but no one can secure messages once they are enroute without the special security environment provided by over-the-top apps like WhatsApp.

Compliance

Perhaps the number one priority for businesses accepting text payments is the need to be PCI compliant. If you don’t plan to process payments yourself, make sure you partner with a vendor who builds compliance into their interactions with your customers.

There are only 12 requirements your business must meet to accept debit and credit card payments, but being aware of these requirements is only half the battle. You must also adhere to them in your systems and transactions.

To ensure you take no shortcuts with compliance in text payments, practice these rules:

• Partner with a payment processor that has a solid track record of compliance
• Know the ins-and-outs of sensitive cardholder data
• Establish crisis and incident response plans
• Conduct regular security audits

Payment Data Storage

Storing cardholder data – account numbers, pins, CVVS, and more – is also a critical aspect of a company’s PCI compliance and security when accepting text payments. When data breaches occur, scammers are often skimming cardholder data.

In an ironic twist, your company’s own employees may be a major cause of non-compliance if they are not handling cardholder data appropriately. A Veritas Technologies study of international office workers found that 71% employees are exposing companies to risk by sharing sensitive data outside of the businesses that employ them.

Training employees in ethical and secure data handling is just as important as ensuring your internal controls and infrastructure meet compliance standards. Many companies choose to bring in an outside expert to establish data security standards and train employees for mobile payment practices.

The ability to accept payments or store personal information is becoming increasingly popular with global companies. In fact, banks and other financial institutions use WhatsApp to send bank balances, overdraft alerts and other inquiries to their customers via messaging. WhatsApp, which is supported by SMS-Magic, also has the ability to safely secure personal data.

BYOD Policies

With the rise of remote and mobile work, many companies have developed “bring your own device” policies. Guided by these policies, employees are allowed (or encouraged) to use personal devices that are not under the purview of the company, even if they are used for business purposes. When employees use their own device to communicate with customers, the employee becomes responsible for ensuring that they are practicing compliant behaviors when they’re engaging in messaging and in text payment processing.

Even secure transmission apps like WhatsApp can make proving secure communications difficult. For example, if a company ever had to conduct a security investigation – internally or externally – it would be difficult to extract information from an employee’s personal device unless individual consent or subpoenas are involved.

That’s why it’s important to make sure your business has an ironclad phone policy for employees using their personal devices for business purposes. Establishing dedicated work apps keeps their communication within a controlled work environment, ensuring you have access to communications if issues arise in mobile payments.

Whether you’re using WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, LINE, or any other messaging channel to accept text payments from customers, your business is making the customers’ lives easier. 

Ensure your company’s infrastructure is prepared to handle this sensitive data by choosing the right payment processors, cybersecurity specialists and messaging solutions to keep you compliant and safe. 

At SMS-Magic, we can help your business securely accept mobile payments from customers via our messaging solution that meets PCI and telecommunications regulations. To chat with an expert, set up a free demo.

We’ve got some information we’re truly excited to share because it can make or break your success with messaging. Messaging has the potential to exponentially grow your business and impact your bottom line. How do you tap into that potential? Here are 5 tips to help you:

Make New Friends, But Keep The Old

Messaging offers you powerful opportunities that phone and email outreach simply can’t provide. For example, your customers can’t answer the phone at work, but they can respond to your text messages! Promotional emails are notorious for going straight to spam folders, but promotional messages get open and read.

It can be tempting to simply “dump” your old methods of connecting with customers and conduct all your business via messaging. As time goes on, however, you may find that implementing messaging alongside phone, email and other communication methods is the most effective. Give your customers time to adapt to the new way of doing things, and give your reps a chance to discover what does and doesn’t work for them in the world of messaging and then adapt as necessary.

Get The Word Out – Specifically, the Keyword

One benefit of messaging is that customers can interact with your business using simple, easy-to-type keywords. Words like HELP, STOP, MORE, YES, NO and CONFIRM allow your customers to request help, unsubscribe, ask and answer questions, and more, all while going about their daily lives. Your customers, however, need to know what keywords to use and what number to message, so they can start conversations with your business. Don’t assume customers know where to find your SMS contact information, or even that they know your business uses SMS. Get the word out on printed promotional materials, in-store displays, websites, emails and other promotional materials.

Play it Cool

When you first implement a new messaging strategy, it can be tempting to reach out to your customers constantly. After all, messaging makes it so easy to send targeted, personalized, relevant outreach to multiple recipients in just moments. It’s important, however, not to overwhelm your recipients with too much communication.

A good rule of thumb is to send promotional messages once a week. You can message more often if customers initiate contact with you. Also, remember to send messages during business hours (and be sure to consider the time zone of the country where you’re sending messages).

Personalize It

Messaging makes it so easy to personalize your customer outreach. Even better, with SMS-Magic, you can automate much of this personalization, eliminating tedious point-and-click tasks that your reps used to do by hand. By gathering a few strategic pieces of data from your customers, you can wow them with outreach that feels relevant and genuine.

Asking for anniversary dates and birthdays is a great place to start. You can also personalize messages to mention your customers’ names, items they’ve purchased, agents they’ve worked with, addresses they’re interested in selling or purchasing. The type of personalization your customers respond to will depend on your industry.

Remember, the key to sending messages your customers want to read is to make them feel special and give them information, offers, reminders and opportunities that meet their individual needs.

Don’t Hesitate To Ask!

Messaging is a great way to share information with your customers, but it’s also perfect for requesting information from them. Asking for feedback after an appointment can help your customer know that their experience matters to you. Following up after a purchase shows that you stand behind your product and care about your customer’s satisfaction. Remember, communication is a two-way street, so use messaging to get your customers talking!

A successful messaging campaign can dramatically increase revenue, drive customer satisfaction, increase agent efficiency, and so much more. If you’re ready to give SMS-Magic a try, reach out to our customer support team for a demo or a free trial!

The regulations generally apply to automated marketing text messages, not one-on-one messages sent between two people. If you have the time, you can send individual messages to your new contacts from Dreamforce. Or you can send emails to them asking for permission to text.

If you’d like to add them to a marketing list, you must have express, written consent before you do it. Implicit consent is not enough. What’s the difference?

Implicit Consent

When someone shares their contact information or gives you a business card, their action may be construed as giving you implicit consent to receive automated marketing messages from you. Don’t be fooled! Implied consent is not enough. Your contact must give you explicit permission to send marketing messages and that includes adding them to subscription lists.

Your customers may have given you their contact information in many different situations, including:

• Providing a printed or electronic business card.
• Including contact information in their email signature.
• Filling out information forms to access gated content on your website, including blogs, articles, your Wi-Fi network or community forums, among others.
• Purchasing or renting services, goods or products from your company.
• Providing contact information during check-out in an online store, unless they also check a box giving you permission to send marketing messages to them.
• Signing a contract with you.
• Sending a charitable donation.
• Agreeing to volunteer for your charity.

Even though they have given you contact information, they haven’t given you permission to send marketing messages to them, and privacy regulations around the world prohibit you from doing so. Using implicit consent is a dangerous (and potentially expensive) strategy, and it does not provide high-quality contacts and leads.

Explicit Consent

On the other hand, obtaining explicit permission to send marketing messages to someone provides high-quality contacts and leads. By opting in to your subscription list or messaging campaign, these contacts indicate their interest in your brand.

Here are a few suggestions for building your opt-in list:

• Trade show touches – If you regularly exhibit at trade shows, you can promote your text messaging program to prospects, existing clients and lapsed clients with your booth signage and handouts. Consider using a QR code to direct them to an opt-in page on your website.
• Business cards – Include opt-in instructions or a QR code on the back of your business card.
• Product packaging – Include opt-in instructions on your packaging, shopping bags, tote bags, napkins or other promotional materials you give to you clients.
• Emails – Include opt-in instructions in emails or in your signature block.
• Website – Pop-up windows can prompt users to opt in to your messaging program. Static windows in high-traffic areas work well, too.
• Contests – Launch a contest that involves your messaging program. Publicize contests on your social media channels.
• Customer receipts – Include opt-in instructions or QR code on customer receipts.
• Blogs – Encourage readers to start a subscription to your blogs.

What Should Happen After a Customer Opts In

After your customer has opted-in, you’ll want to send a text confirming their participation. In that text, you can mention all the information they need to make an informed decision, such as what they can expect to receive, how often messages will arrive, applicable message and data rates, who you are, and how to opt out. You’ll need to comply with the regulations in your country, as well as the countries where your messages are going. Products like SMS-Magic can help you automate the messages. What could be easier?

Keeping Track of Who Opted In and Who Opted Out

You’ll need to keep track of who has opted in and who has opted out, as well as who is already in the system to keep one person from opting in multiple times. SMS-Magic can make compliance a breeze, particularly if you have tied your text messaging campaigns into your CRM.

SMS-Magic is designed to track opt-in and opt-out requests so that you send only to the customers who have specifically asked you to. Our back-end systems are structured so that we can display individual requests, and we can prove you’ve complied with customer requests. You won’t have to worry about regulators asking to see your records. We use on-going processes to collect and store information about distribution and can share it with regulators, if necessary.

Does SMS-Magic sound like the answer you’ve been looking for? We hope so!

Contact us to set up a demo or to start your free trial. Let us show you why your compliance worries will disappear with SMS-Magic!

Here are our suggestions for writing great hooks and CTAs.

Crafting the Hook

Keep it short

With SMS messages, you have an established message length of 160 characters, fewer if you include opt-out and help instructions. This means your hook needs to start the message off with a bang — ideally in ten words or less. This guideline isn’t for the sake of the character count alone. It’s also necessary to capture the attention of your consumers. Everyone is busy, so using a short and straightforward hook to get their attention is ideal.

Use power words

Powerful and emotive words are a hook’s secret weapon. These words snag your audience’s attention by being more memorable and intentional than others, yet they’re also simple and easily digestible for all audience types. Power words lead consumers to establish a differentiation between competing brands and can be stimulating enough to create a desire to purchase a product. Here are some powerful words you can test in your next hook: free, now, new, save, effortless, you, easy, expires, today only, reliable, guaranteed, money-back, and risk-free.

Make it personal

Friends and family members send text messages to each other all the time, and the messages are highly personal. Similarly, customers want their communication with you to be personalized. The hook can help make your messages authentic and human. For example, try adding your customer’s name to the text using custom fields. And if you do, make sure the character count in your message leaves room for long names.

You can also try an intro that feels conversational, not computer generated. Your opener is an opportunity to build a bridge between your audience and your brand’s personality. Whether bubbly and energetic or more formal and technical, the hook should leave your audience with an experience that reminds them of your company. Check out the difference in these two examples:

Impersonal Language:

Summer deals start today at XYZ 
Company! Click here for more info.

Conversational Language:

Buy a gift for a friend and 
get yourself one for free! 
Click here to treat yourself
and a friend to BOGO spa 
services this weekend.

Conquering the Call to Action

Create a sense of urgency

SMS messages reach your audience instantly, so it seems logical for your customers to reply quickly, too. But what is their incentive? Why should they act now and not later? Your CTA must convey a sense of urgency.

The good news is that there are several ways to create urgency around your company’s offer or opportunity.

• Put deadlines on sales or offers.
• Offer “today only” deals.
• Promote contests and sweepstakes with entry deadlines.
• Show how much stock is still available. 
• Announce new products and services with discounts available for limited times.
• Follow up on purchases with discounts for additional purchases.

Example:

Take 20% off when you try 
our new relaxing spa products 
by Labor Day. Click here 
to start your best day ever.

Convey value

Your message should conclude with value for your audience. Sales and limited-time offers or deals are clever ways to create monetary value within your CTA.

Example:

Text REWARDS to 93247
for your 20% off coupon.

Conveying value is especially important when your messaging campaign is designed to build brand awareness. For example, if your CTA’s goal is to increase traffic to your website or a new blog, your customer needs to know what’s in it for them if they do. This is an opportunity to introduce your brand and the value it offers.

Keep it short and specific

Character count matters and your CTA should be brief. You don’t want to increase the cost of sending messages because you’re over the character limit. Also, if messages are long, they can be divided and sent out of order which is confusing for your customers.

So how do you make it short but also clear? By getting to the point. Tell your audience precisely what action you want them to perform: call us now, subscribe today, see the offer before it expires!

Now that you’re ready to craft powerful hooks and CTAs for your SMS messaging campaigns, our team is ready to show you how SMS-Magic can make connecting with your customers easier and more effective with a demo or free trial!

To help your SMS marketing plan succeed, we’ve curated some “Do’s and Don’ts” to help you prepare for your venture into SMS marketing.

SMS Marketing Dos

1. Stay up-to-date with compliance rules and regulations

It’s important to understand the rules and regulations for messaging in your region, country or state. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) regulates SMS marketing in the United States and requires companies to obtain written consent before sending their first text. 

You can ask for written consent with clever opt-in strategies, but that’s only one part of the compliance requirement. Here are guidelines for asking customers to opt in:

• Get consent before sending first message
• Include company name in first text
• Provide coupon or discount upfront
• Mention message frequency
• Disclose possible carrier costs and fees
• Give an option to ask for help and opt out of future texts

If your customer asks to opt in, send a confirmation message immediately. Here’s an example:

Reply OK for texts from YUM Pizza & get 15% off coupon. Max 1 msg/wk. 

Msg & data rates may apply. Text HELP for more info & policies.

Text STOP to unsubscribe. 

This reply text takes care of notification requirements. You can set up automated responses when someone texts “OK,” “STOP,” or “HELP” with links to more information and the coupon. 

2. Grow your list with easy opt-in strategies

Growing your SMS list may seem daunting when you can’t text your consumer to get consent, but you can invite them to opt-in in imaginative ways. Adding an incentive for signing up for your messages is key, and don’t forget to add your compliance language when using a mixture of these innovative methods. 

• Website pop-ups: Enable an opt-in pop up for both mobile and desktop and include compliance language. 
• Collect at checkout: Consumers are already filling out information at checkout, so adding an opt-in checkbox for them to consider is easy.
• Email assist: Add a dynamic sign-up button in emails to non-SMS subscribers. 
• QR Codes: Place your QR code on products, social media, flyers, and more. Consumers will scan straight to your opt-in screen.
• Social Media: Create interactive stories and post QR codes on your social media platforms. 

3. Utilize campaign flows

Sending a campaign that engages your customer over a period of time is the perfect way to build interest about a product or launch. You may have lots to say about a new release. Yet, when you consciously package your ideas into smaller messages sent at regular intervals, your audience stays engaged throughout the campaign. A multi-messaging flow for a product release could look something like this:

• “Coming Soon” teaser message 
• Introduce your product with a date and time of release
• A pre-order message with a discount offer 
• Create urgency by establishing a deadline
• Follow-up and sweeten the discount offer

4. Use automated message flows

Automations are an efficient way to send your customers personalized messages triggered by their behavior at different milestones. Your triggers should fire automatically while your customer naturally moves through their shopping process. For example, if a customer abandons their cart, a trigger sends an automated conversational message like: “Did you forget something?” Abandoned carts aren’t all treated the same, though. Factors such as the value of the purchase or a repeat purchase should trigger different automations.

SMS Marketing Don’ts

1. Send messages after hours

Don’t forget the “quiet hours” rules when working to stay compliant. The TCPA prohibits any telephone solicitation – including SMS messages – any time before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m. in your recipient’s time zone. Have customers in different time zones? You’ll need to build that into your automation.

2. Pre-check opt-in boxes or forget double opt-ins

Even though you’ve created a checkbox for opt-ins on your forms and paperwork, stay compliant by keeping those boxes unchecked. The customer must check that opt-in box on their own, not uncheck it to opt-out.

You might also consider using a double opt-in. When a customer responds to your invitation to receive messages, you send an immediate message asking them to confirm their request. Double opt-in messages can be sent automatically, making sure everyone receives one.  Forgetting to create a double opt-in is a missed opportunity to validate subscribers and ensure you’re staying compliant.

3. Forget to use segmentation

Creating a segmented list before sending a campaign is a powerful tool for your SMS marketing strategy. By using subsets of subscribers, you’re ensuring that the right message gets to the right person at the right time. And when consumers receive relevant messages, you’ll see more engagement and opportunities for cross-sells, up-sells, and product suggestions. Some good segment samples include engaged subscribers, VIPs, those who used a keyword to subscribe, and anyone who has yet to purchase.

4. Forgetting to create enough triggers

Triggers should fire when customers take action, like leaving after browsing, subscribing, or when their order was delivered. To make the most of your automated messaging and to keep your brand at the forefront of your customer’s mind, you should have multiple triggers set up to send personalized automated messages at various stages of your customer’s experience.  

SMS and MMS messaging can bring added success to your multi-channel marketing efforts. By following a few simple suggestions – and avoiding others – you can increase customer interest in your products and responses to your messaging campaigns. If you’re ready to give messaging a try, contact SMS-Magic for a demo or a free trial today!