You’ve heard that SMS or text message marketing is a big thing and is growing at a rapid rate. You also suspect that it could be a great thing to implement for your business marketing strategy. But what is it? And where do you start?
Here we present a very concise guide to the bare essentials of SMS marketing and the terms attached to it…
SMS refers to “short message service”. It is a protocol and platform for sending and receiving text-based messages via a mobile device.
MMS or “multimedia message service” resembles SMS but has a longer limit for allowable characters and allows for the attachment of images or videos to a message. It is not as practical for business users as is SMS.
A Keyword is a word or short phrase which is used to join a campaign; it can also be used for SEO purposes.
A Shortcode is a phone number of five or six digits. Users send messages to this number to interact with an SMS campaign.
Call to Action tells potential customers what you want them to do. It usually provides the combination of keyword and shortcode needed to join a marketing campaign.
Autoresponder is a feature allowing you to send automated messages at set time periods from a user joining your list.
Short URL is a web link of very few characters that redirects to a website.
SMS marketing is a fast and effective way to communicate with a large list of consumers instantaneously. It is limited to 160 characters per message. As such, messages must be concise, delivering content that is short and sharp. As a business, SMS is of benefit as it is a powerful tool to drive sales, improve brand awareness, remind consumers of events and appointments, and generate leads. It can also effectively increase traffic to your website and educate your subscribers.
SMS marketing campaigns take various forms. These include time-sensitive offers, product-based offers, location-based offers, and price-based offers. Broadcast campaigns are the most common.
Other uses for SMS marketing include appointment reminders, text-to-collect information messages, text-to-vote, and user polls. Text to in is also very popular.
SMS marketing is permission-based, and requires all recipients to opt in, and must provide a clear and easy way for subscribers to opt out. Opt in can be done via mobile, website, or paper at point of transaction.
This is but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to SMS marketing. Contact us at ClickSend now or explore our website to discover more.
