Outbound SMS campaigns
The first thing you think of when someone mentions SMS marketing are outbound campaigns. You immediately think about various types of promotional content that can be sent out to customers. A general rule of thumb is that outbound campaigns aren’t meant to generate responses but rather, to get your users to take action.
And it works, and not just with SMS. According to Koupon, 39% of customers spend more if they receive a personalized mobile coupon or offer. eMarketer claims that more than nine in ten mobile coupon users will redeem a coupon or code via their mobile device for online or offline shopping in 2017. Loyalty360 states that 70% of U.S. consumers appreciate getting texts or emails from healthcare providers.
But, because of the personal nature of SMS, its high read cash app database rate (90% of all SMS messages are read within 3 minutes), outbound SMS campaigns are hard to get right and can easily be interpreted as spam by your customers. For example, outbound SMS in the sales process can lead to conversion gains of more than 100%. However, sending messages before establishing contact with a lead or prospect can adversely affect conversion rates.
If you don’t target your customers with precision or know how to properly engage over various channels available today (SMS, chat apps, voice, push notifications, email…) there is a good chance your outbound campaigns will result in a swing and a miss. And the consequences can be dire.
In an article for Entrepeneur.com Rustam Singh writes:
“Every single time my iPhone makes beep sound of the annoyingly loud tone of an SMS, I am alarmed whether it’s a notification of my bank that someone’s been misusing my funds! Could it be someone from my family that’s not so familiar with technology and still uses SMS? Could it be some notifications from my private email accounts of an unauthenticated transaction?
“I, therefore, immediately jump to check my phone and immediately have a flush of emotions ranging from rolling my eyes to just frustration, because it’s usually an SMS announcing that the pizza place I ordered a pizza from 6 months ago has 10% off if I spend 1000 bucks.”
Sometimes [the SMS] is about some discount on properties in a part of the country that I have never visited (or plan to) or even heard of – yes, that bad!
Rustam Singh
Yes, the negative reaction is that bad. SMS is the most personal channel available today, so when people receive your SMS campaign you better make sure it’s something interesting, engaging and sent at just the right time.
To do this, you need to make sure that the consumer data you collect is put to good use. Deep analytics, audience segmentation, and proper targeting give you the option to send campaigns that actually inform people and streamline the process of getting to your product. The technology for appreciated engagement exists, but you’re the one that still has to use it to the satisfaction of your customer base.
