Thursday, March 31, 2011

Some Common Text Marketing Mistakes

Every day, at BoomText, potential clients ambitiously call in with questions on ways to successfully implement mobile and text marketing. These clients might ask what to do and what not to do when introducing text marketing into their marketing strategy. Text message marketing has become an intricate part of successful marketing strategy, but there are certain concepts to keep in mind that will help to make that campaign a success.

Here at Boomtext, we objectively research breakthrough strategies to keep us on the cutting edge of text message marketing. We recently found an article from Mobile Marketer Daily that does an excellent job capturing what we often remind our clients. Rimma Kats, the author of that article, breaks down 5 common mistakes that companies and marketers make when strategically implementing Text Marketing.

First Kats says, "Avoid not making your call to action prevalent". A simple call to action is the best method to engage customers. Something like, "Text in for a FREE..." is a strong way to influence customers to opt in. A simple call to action is also easy to display on many media's.

Kats next point emphasizes using SMS as a relationship tool. Kats states, "Avoid using SMS as a one-off feature". Don't simply use SMS to as a one-time tool, but develop a plan that keeps the relationship with customers going. Keeping the customer interested and engaged is the key to maintain the interest level in your company at that height of when they opt-in.

"Avoid running a mobile marketing campaign based on price", Kats says. When exploring a mobile marketing company for campaign implementation, avoid looking simply at price. The primary decision maker is going to be the overall value which will validate the price. For instance, many times a client will justify their selection of a text marketing company only by lowest expense. Later, they will express their disappointment with the text message marketing industry as a whole. Text marketing is proven to be a powerful resource when proactively researching successful utilization.  For optimal results, you must find the right company regardless of price. Most have found this method successful for delivering the desired result. In pursuit of your desired result, many have found relevance in finding a company that provides a high level of customer service; A company that will aggressively strategize to help execute a successful campaign.

Kats' point of, "Avoid bombarding consumers with daily SMS messages" is one of the primary tips we remind our clients when we together objectively strategize. Companies, typically, might see how strong redemption rates are when they send out a blast promotion. The next day they will send another blast, then the next day and so on. While diluting the service, this ultimately causes customers to opt out of a text club and thus decreasing the database.
Text marketing is both immediate and personal. We acknowledge both of these as the primary strengths in our industry. When sending out a mass of messages to the same user, text marketing's two greatest strengths become our two greatest weaknesses. When exhausting your customer with redundant messages, the customer quickly develops a negative association with your establishment. Understanding your demographic is key to recognizing the best time and frequency to send messages.

Since text marketing is so personal, a good point is, "Avoid being generic". To further promote message intimacy, adding a personal touch to a blast is a primary objective when developing interaction with your company. If a message addressed is perceived by the individual to be written uniquely and personally to them, Perfect! More often than not, however, it is not that simple. Adding a particular detail in the blast, relevant to the demographics community, will engage the community encouraging optimal results. For example, "Congrats on the win, Lions! In your honor Dan's Café is giving a FREE lrg drink. One per txt". This is a great example of how the personal blast is implemented. Further strategizing, we encourage clients to not make every blast an offer. Results are best obtained when using text marketing as means of building a relationship with your customers.

We have found there is no "cookie cutter" solution as to how to run a text marketing campaign. What works for one company, or industry, may not work for another. It is all about knowing your target audience and what would work for them. A good text marketing company gives you the means to attain relatively successful results. A Great text marketing company helps clients find the right solution that is unique to them; then goes the extra mile to successfully help execute that campaign. Don't let these five common mistakes in text marketing scare you away from integrating the ultimate solution to your marketing needs.

The quotes in this commentary are from the Mobile Marketer Daily article "Five Common SMS marketing mistakes" by Rimma Kats