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With the average American checking their phone once every 12 minutes, it is easy to see why SMS marketing is one of the most popular ways for businesses to reach their loyal customers and target audiences.
But, how can organizations ensure that they are getting the most out of their SMS marketing campaigns? By ensuring that their messages are received by the right people. One way of doing this is through SMS Segmentation.
Read on to learn more about SMS marketing, including the different types, its advantages, what the law says, and how to improve your mobile website to streamline SMS segmentation.
What is SMS marketing?
SMS marketing, or Short Message Service marketing, is a type of text marketing. Businesses can use it to send promotional and marketing material to customers via text message.
In SMS marketing, businesses aim to send personalized offers, promotions, discounts, surveys, and more to customers who have decided to opt in to receive these marketing messages.
SMS marketing is a little like email marketing in the sense that you are reaching your customers via a text-based message. However, unlike emails, SMS marketing messages are usually shorter and are more likely to be engaged with by recipients.
SMS marketing can also improve your mobile website. When building your online store, you can use the drag-and-drop features to insert feedback from SMS-style surveys. Users can click on this feature and submit feedback to influence your online store template design and the products you choose to display on your landing page.
Types of SMS marketing
Let’s take a look at some of the most common types of SMS marketing messages that businesses send out to their customers:
Promotional marketing
SMS Marketing is a great way to quickly inform your customers of any promotional offers or flash sales that your business is currently running. If your customers have opted into receiving SMS marketing from your business, they will likely want to know when you have a 50% sale, a limited-time offer, or some exciting new arrivals in stock.
Transaction updates
If you have an important message to deliver to your customers quickly about their order, the best way to get it to them directly is to their cell phone. SMS marketing messages can allow businesses to send delivery updates, payment confirmations, reminders, and even links to view a digital receipt after a customer makes a purchase.
Welcome messages
Have you recently had a new customer sign up for a service or buy a product from you for the first time? Ditch the welcome email and send them a welcome text. Offering them an additional discount or some special perks to thank them for shopping with you is a great way to encourage brand loyalty.
Customer surveys
52.3% of US-based marketers say that SMS marketing is one of the most efficient channels for customer service and tech support. So, it should come as no surprise that customer satisfaction surveys are another popular SMS marketing message for businesses to send out to their loyal customers
The advantages of SMS marketing
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest reasons why so many businesses are using SMS marketing to their advantage:
SMS messages are fast
There is no denying that SMS marketing is fast. Not only do the recipients of these messages receive them faster —they get immediate notification on their phone rather than having to open their emails or a social media app to see it — but it is also quicker to design an SMS marketing campaign because you don’t have to worry about creating any graphics to go along with them.
Excellent open and response rates
Did you know that marketing text messages are opened by recipients almost 100% of the time? In contrast, the average open rate for a retail marketing email is only 18.39%. Given that SMS messages have such an exceptional open rate, it stands to reason that they have a higher response rate, too.
Re-engage customers
Just like SMS marketing should reward your most engaged customers with exclusive offers, VIP access to services, or early access to new products, you can also use it to re-engage customers who have left something in their basket or haven’t interacted with you for a while. A “forgot something?” text message with a discount code or an SMS offer to customers you miss is usually a good way to increase engagement.
SMS marketing and the law
SMS marketing is a viable way for businesses to reach their customers quickly. However, SMS marketing is governed by certain laws, and it is illegal for organizations in the US to contact anyone by SMS message without their express consent.
Remember, any message a company sends to an individual is considered a marketing message.
SMS marketing laws mainly fall under the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the CAN-SPAM Act. However, 13 states in the USA have their own text message marketing laws. Because businesses often operate across state lines, they must also adhere to local laws, even if they are not physically located in the same state as the consumer.
How to reach the right audience with SMS segmentation
Now that you understand the basic ins and outs of SMS marketing and why it is beneficial to businesses, we can move on to the meat and potatoes of this article — how to get those SMS marketing messages in front of the right people.
One way of doing this is through segmentation.
If you are a marketer, you are likely familiar with audience segmentation. Essentially, this is the process of dividing your customer/audience base into different groups based on shared attributes.
Some of these shared attributes may be:
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Brand Loyalty / Engagement Level
- Browsing / Purchasing History
Why should you do this?
When researching for this article, I came across this fun analogy: It’s family pizza night. You are all gathered around deciding what toppings you want on your pizza. One person wants spicy pepperoni; another is vegetarian, and perhaps someone just wants plain cheese. Ordering a pizza that suits everyone’s preferences is impossible.
Segmentation allows you to target these groups with greater precision. If you have segmented your audience into easy-to-define groups, you can send them targeted content that aligns with their preferences.
Not only can sending targeted SMS marketing messages using segmentation improve your ROI, but customers are also more likely to buy from brands that personalize their communications. McKinsey research also suggests that a whopping 71% of consumers expect communication from businesses to always be personalized.
Developing a good SMS segmentation strategy
In order to engage subscribers to your SMS marketing with relevant content to them, you have to develop a good segmentation strategy. The most important thing you should ensure you do is to meet the unique needs and expectations of your consumers.
When you are planning the content of your SMS marketing messages, the communication approach for these messages should change depending on the segment you are targeting and the goal of the marketing message.
Each segment should receive tailored text messages based on how they interact with your brand, what their preferences are, and any other key demographics you have identified.
Suggested ways to segment SMS subscribers
Here are several ways you can segment your SMS subscribers to engage different groups:
Engaged/not engaged
Engaged users are the ones who open your SMS messages and respond by taking action. The opposite of this will be subscribers who are not engaged. You can re-engage subscribers who are not responding to your messages by sending them more appealing content or offers.
Loyalty
Identify your most loyal customers based on spending, engagement, frequency of purchase, or other factors. Then, reward them with tailored incentives, VIP access, and discounts.
Preferences
Segmenting subscribers based on their preferences can yield good results. For example, if you own a clothing brand, you can send tailored SMS messages based on a subscriber’s favorite clothing style. Subscribers are likely to interact with your message.
Past purchasers/non-purchasers
Segment subscribers who have recently subscribed or purchased something from you from those SMS subscribers who have not. You can create targeted campaigns specifically for both groups, experimenting with content to encourage non-purchasers to make a purchase.
High intent
You can create a segment of high-intent subscribers to your SMS marketing messages. These are people who show a lot of interest in your brand or products but have not made a purchase yet – for example, people who browse consistently but never buy. Target these people with personalized follow-ups or “forgot something?” messages.
Location
You can segment subscribers by location and time zone. This is especially helpful for sending location-specific offers or invitations to local events.
Final thoughts
SMS segmentation is a great way for businesses to deliver personalized and relevant content to their subscribers. With text messages having such a high open and response rate, segmentation can go a long way toward boosting engagement and landing sales.
When segmenting your audience based on factors like engagement level, loyalty, preferences, and location, you can be sure that your SMS marketing messages will be appreciated by those who receive them.
Now that you know how to boost your SMS marketing campaigns, improving your mobile website could be the next step to improving your customers’ experience, from text messages to transactions.
