5 SMS marketing tips for small business

As a small business, you’re consistently looking for new ways to improve brand awareness and grow your customer base. The good news is that you don’t need a bunch of expensive marketing software to get the job done. Using SMS as part of your small business’ marketing strategy can provide your organisation with big results, for little cost. SMS marketing allows you to connect directly with your audience, no matter where they are, via their most preferred channel. With 75% of consumers wanting to receive offers via SMS and 48% of the world’s population owning a smartphone, there’s no better time than now to implement SMS marketing in your small business.

Below, we discuss the top 5 SMS marketing tips for small businesses. This includes following SMS best practices, providing your customers with the correct content and ensuring you get the most value out of your SMS marketing campaign through effective performance measurement.

1. Understand the SMS marketing laws in your country

Before utilising SMS marketing for your small business, you will need to ensure that you are aware of the legislation in place around sending SMS messages in your country. For example, when sending SMS to Australians, you need to comply with the Spam Act 2003. When sending SMS to Americans, you need to comply with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

Follow these SMS best practices to remain compliant when using SMS marketing in your small business:

• Ensure consent has been given prior to sending your customers an SMS. This can be given in many ways, including via web or mobile opt-in, using an existing customer base or via face-to-face.
• Set up an opt-out list so you don’t send any SMS messages to those who have previously opted out. Continuing to send any form of communication to customers who have opted out may result in penalties and/or fines.
• Send an email to customers if they have been inactive for a certain period to reacquire consent and provide them with the ability to opt-out if they choose to do so.
• Ensure customers’ details, including their mobile number, always remain up-to-date. This may be as easy as asking them if their contact details are correct when booking an appointment or visiting your store.

Notifyre can help you manage subscribers with the predefined opt out link and text. Just add it when creating your message! There is also a field on each contact card so you can see who has unsubscribed using Notifyre's opt out link. You can also manually opt contacts back in if you have received their consent to send them SMS messages.

2. Personalise the SMS content to your customers

Content is king and with SMS text messaging, you have 160 characters per message part available to get your message across, which makes it even more important. When using SMS marketing in your small business, you need to personalise your SMS for your target audience to ensure a smooth customer experience and interaction with your brand.

Stick to these guidelines when creating the perfect SMS for your marketing campaign:

• Remain professional - use natural, unemotional language. Get your point across without sounding like a robot or sounding unprofessional.
• Stay on brand – ensure your message represents your brand by sticking to your style guide. By using the same messaging that you use across your website and other forms of communication, your audience will know that the SMS is genuine and comes from your small business.
• Include a Call to Action (CTA) - make sure your SMS text has a readily accessible CTA in the body of the message to direct customers to make a purchase or view your small business’ website. The CTR rate for SMS marketing offer messages are 9.18% higher compared to any other digital channel.
• Avoid using shorthand – using acronyms such as BRB and LOL make you sound unprofessional and can hinder the relationship with your customers. Refrain from using any SMS lingo and stick to being professional in your SMS marketing campaigns.

3. Use a dedicated virtual SMS number

It’s never recommended to send any business communications using your personal mobile phone, or even a work mobile phone due to its inefficiency and the potential risk for privacy breaches. If you’re looking at launching a text marketing campaign for your small business, you’ll need a reliable online SMS service that allows you to send bulk SMS to your audience and receive replies from customers. Notifyre’s feature-rich text messaging service for businesses allows you to send an SMS broadcast in minutes and receive replies through 2-way SMS messaging directly back to a dedicated virtual SMS number.

Using a dedicated virtual SMS number improves brand awareness as it ensures that your customers know exactly where the SMS text message has been sent from. It also provides your small business with a way to receive SMS replies. Whether it’s an opt-out or you’re running an SMS marketing campaign using keywords, a dedicated SMS phone number can make your text message marketing campaign even easier.

4. Be considerate of customers when timing your SMS campaign

As a small business, your reputation is gained through positive customer experiences and interactions with your brand. Whether it’s an in-store experience or an online one, customers expect to feel valued when being in contact with your small business. When launching an SMS marketing campaign, it’s vital to ensure that your SMS text messages are being sent at the right time. You can schedule SMS to send with Notifyre's handy scheduling tool. Simply, compose your message and select the date and time you want your SMS to be received.

So when is the best time to send an SMS? For SMS marketing campaigns, such as launching new products, offering discounts or running competitions, it’s best to send your SMS message between 11:00am and 2:00pm. With 60% of customers reading their text messages within the first 1-5 minutes after delivery, capturing your audience’s attention has never been easier.

If you’re launching a global SMS marketing campaign, you’ll also need to be aware of the different time zones in each country. Customers are less likely to make a purchase from an SMS sent to them at 3:00 am while they’re asleep, compared to an SMS sent to them during the day.

5. Measure your SMS marketing campaign’s performance

Once your SMS marketing campaign is up and running, you’ll need to measure its performance to determine the success of the campaign and ensure that it’s working for your small business. Notifyre’s real-time reporting tools allow you to easily see sent and received SMS messages from your customers. When measuring the performance of your SMS marketing campaign, always look for:

• Delivery rate – this is the rate of successfully delivered SMS messages.
• Open rate – how many potential customers open the SMS text message, compared to how many successfully received the SMS.
• Click-through rate (CTR) – how many potential customers clicked on the CTA in the body of the text message, compared to how many potential customers opened the SMS.
• Conversion rate – how many potential customers turned into customers, compared to how many remain as leads.
• Unsubscribe rate – the number of potential customers who unsubscribed or opted out of SMS marketing communications with your small business.

Notifyre: the best SMS marketing tool for small business

Notifyre’s SMS marketing tools equip your small business with the ability to launch powerful SMS marketing campaigns to improve brand awareness, increase your customer base and boost business revenue. Get started with Notifyre and see how effective a text message marketing campaign can be to help your small business grow.