Now that you’ve integrated SMS into your marketing channels, it’s time to focus on boosting the conversion rates, click-through rates, and subscription or retention rates of your bulk SMS campaigns. Enhancing these metrics can significantly impact your overall marketing success.
Here are some of the industry’s best practices to maximise the ROI on your bulk SMS campaigns.
Use clear and concise language
A common mistake with bulk SMS is prioritising quantity over quality. Remember that engagement impacts your conversion rates. Focus on writing messages that resonate well with your audience, highlighting aspects that matter most to them. Ideally, keep your message under 150 characters. Consistency with tone and diction also helps build your audience’s top-of-mind awareness. Using clear, concise, and consistent language creates trust and familiarity that you and your audience will appreciate.
Avoid spammy messages
While bulk SMS is one of the most effective ways to reach your target audience directly, another common mistake is creating promotions and calls to action that may be flagged as spam by both the recipient and their messaging apps. The key is to create engaging messages that inform and lead the recipient toward your conversion channels, such as your websites or e-commerce pages.
Here are some types of messages to avoid:
- Collecting personal information
- Easily acquired money
- Bank/cash transfers
- Refund amounts
- Account details/passwords
Respect opt-out requests immediately
As tempting as it is to keep sending messages to your audience, we must respect their privacy and consent. When a recipient no longer wants to receive SMS from your company, it’s best to provide an easy option for them to unsubscribe. This practice not only honours their choice but also keeps your retention and subscription data accurate. It gives insight into whether your content connects with your audience or needs improvement.
Customise messages for each audience segment
As part of your marketing funnel, segment your audience based on demographics and interests. By using data such as purchase history and platform touchpoints, you can customise your campaigns to enhance their customer journey. Align the design and language of your materials with the specific segment you’re targeting. Consider these questions: How old are they? Do they use their phones often? How far into your conversion do they go before stopping? Creating a buyer persona helps you personalise messages, making them more engaging.
Once your database is organised, this is where SMS software like Monopond becomes indispensable. Manually sending bulk SMS increases the risk of errors and consumes valuable time, as each phone number must be entered individually. Monopond streamlines this process by allowing you to store databases for each campaign and schedule message delivery seamlessly. With the database integrated into the software, you can easily add or remove users or elements from your messages as needed.
Remember that SMS is a one-way communication channel. You can’t retract or delete messages once sent. Scheduling them through SMS software allows last-minute proofreading and any necessary content adjustments.
Personalise your bulk SMS messages to increase relevance
Once you’ve established rapport, it’s crucial to engage with your audience further by offering a tailored experience that shows your company values them and rewards their loyalty. This is where promotions play a key role. While promotions are open to all, keeping your active customer base informed can encourage repeat engagement. Personalising your messages enhances after-sales services and retargeting efforts. It also adds value to your business by making customers feel that your messages are not just automated but thoughtful communication from a brand that puts them first.
Here are some tips for personalising your bulk SMS campaigns:
- Leverage the data you’ve collected. Use features like “mail merge” to incorporate names and relevant historical information such as purchase history or pending items.
- Adopt a more casual writing style. Since SMS is sent to mobile devices and has a character limit of under 150, use a confident and straightforward writing style that’s easy to read.
- Reply promptly once your recipients engage. Ensure your team is ready to reply immediately as soon as your recipients respond. Another key feature of SMS software is that it provides you and your team complete visibility on any responses, allowing feedback to be sent directly to your emails.
- Include promotion links. To streamline the customer journey, include a call to action at any stage of the campaign. Providing links to promotions can nudge users to purchase or inquire even during the initial awareness phase.
Track the performance of your bulk SMS campaigns
Once you’re ready to launch your SMS campaign, it’s important to track its performance and adjust the content based on its effectiveness. While you can manually monitor backlinks and subscription rates, SMS software like Monopond is valuable for streamlining this process. These tools save time and resources by automating tasks and providing detailed delivery reports, including information on any messages that failed to send.
Now that we’ve discussed the best practices for bulk SMS campaigns, you’re now ready to integrate them into your overall marketing strategy and align them with your company’s broader goals. Automating with SMS software tools like Monopond can save time and ensure content is created more quickly and consistently. These tools not only track your data but also create campaigns from your desktop using Email-to-SMS features, allowing you to broadcast bulk SMS more effectively.
