Getting the most from text marketing
For many business owners, text marketing may be quite unfamiliar. Some may be completely new to it. Others may have dipped their toes in but never quite got round to developing a plan. But there is a science to it and if you don’t have a strategy, it can feel like you’re firing your budget into thin air.
This blog will look at the best situations to send a text, the best time to send them, and how to use your text marketing platform to its full potential.
Why text?
There are many reasons why you may want to send a text. We’ve all received them for offers and promotions before, but that’s just the start. Bars and pubs could use texts to announce bands or live events. Dentists can use them to confirm appointments with their patients and send reminders. For a customer, texting is the most convenient way to communicate with a business, so by adding it as a functional system, you will be making their experience with your company much more enjoyable.
When should we text?
Reaching people at the right moment is essential and with a good scheduling tool this is easy. If your store is expecting a new line of clothes, you can set up the text the week before and schedule it for the day of the launch. If you own a restaurant you could segment your best customers based on their favourite day of the week to visit. Then on that day you could send them a text, at say 4pm, just when their stomach starts to rumble!
Using a staggered sending feature will help you to do this effectively and avoid the issue of everybody trying to redeem an offer at the same time.
Adopting a multi-channel approach
Companies are increasingly starting to use text messages to connect with customers they have found online. It’s relatively easy to ask customers for a mobile number when they sign up for an online account. Providing incentives and promotions that are redeemable by text will often encourage them to agree to receive information by SMS. As a result, you can then keep them informed about your business. An added advantage of this is your company then has the ability to reach people online and offline, improving the chances of making a sale.
Some companies even use text messages to remind customers about things they have been viewing online. For example, if someone was on the website researching a holiday but then left before booking it, a text is sent as a reminder to complete it.
The best time to send this message is within 15 minutes of them leaving, simply to offer help. It may well have been something trivial that caused them to leave, such as a payment issue, so your text could turn around the sale quickly.
They should receive the next one the day after, in case they were too busy to buy, or just browsing during their lunch break. Studies have shown that the best time to reach people is 8.05pm (between 7pm and 9pm is fine!). This is usually around the time most people return from work and before they go to bed – it is also when they place the most orders online.
Online buying through the week: This data shows Sunday and Monday evenings are popular for shopping (Image courtesy of Humberto Corona via Quora.com)
If a week has passed and they still haven’t returned, send a final reminder with a time incentive. This is potentially your last chance to sell the item so there has to be a strong reason for them to buy. An offer or a limited stock notice is often enough to stir a customer into action, through the dreaded ‘fear of missing out’.
Getting it right
Striking the balance between an attentive company that values the interests of its customers and one that’s incredibly annoying is a tough challenge that many fail. So having a strategy in place that’s designed to contact people at the best time will hopefully prevent you from flying straight into the deleted folder.
Scheduling messages is easy and takes a lot of the pressure out of hectic new projects. To get started,
sign up here or give us a call on 03300 223459 and one of our specialists will assist you.
