You weren’t able to make it to the event Technology for Marketing? We’ve got you covered. Our team was there we’ve summed up what we heard about new trends in SMS and advice you can use for your SMS strategy. Let’s see what’s changing and how we can build an intelligent strategy together.
Is SMS marketing just a new point of contact with your prospect?
The first SMS conference was called How Hype uses personalised text message marketing to drive engagement and conversion.
Sebastien Simon (Hype) began with his first thought when Hype came up with the idea of a text campaign:
Clearly, the answer is no.
Changing habits with smartphones increase opportunities for any brand.
Let’s talk about SMS marketing… Why marketing professionals should not overlook the power of SMS.
Let’s talk about Text… Why Marketers shouldn’t overlook the power of SMS, the flash conference of Rew Golding highlighted that the way we use smartphones is completely different now. He agrees with Sebastian Simon about how people use text.
Since 1992, when the first text was went, the number of texts has exploded. 23 billion messages are sent worldwide every day (SMSeagle).
But our practices have evolved. As Rew Golding pointed out, texts look a lot different from 10 or even 5 years ago. While the results change depending on age, habits, country, culture or socio-professional category, one trend is emerging:
The division of professional, personal and commercial messages
Personal messages
Our personal messages (for friends, family, partners) are gathered on apps such as Whatsapp, Messenger, Telegram or Viber.
Professional messages
Professional messages are gathered in profesional messaging tools. Microsoft Teams and Slack come quickly to mind.
You may have noticed that we haven’t mentioned the SMS app built into your smartphone and linked directly to your phone number. When was the last time you actually sent a message via this app?
Promotional messages
For a couple of years, this space started to be dedicated to corporate messages: promotions, reservations, validation codes, news, VIP offers…
Some brands have strongly focused on this channel.
Why would they concentrate so much on SMS? These brands understood how powerful this strategy can be for their drive-to-store strategy. Shopping, restaurants, supermarkets and wellness are among those who solicit you the most via SMS.
Engagement rate: The SMS marketing indicator to work on
If marketing people try out SMS campaigns, it is often after a discussion ending with “Fine, why not.”
If they create a powerful strategy, it is after they have seen their favorite key performance indicator increase: the engagement rate.
Their are several ways to improve your SMS engagement rate:
- Rewarding loyalty
- Mobile wallets
- Contests
- Automatic triggers
The results from each of these triggers can be amplified with the unique personalization of messages.
The SMS trends seen from USA.
Rew Golding takes a closer look and SMS usage in the States. In the United States, messages are highly personalized. Brands rely on advanced segmentation.
- Particularly relevant products or services
- Build on the person’s previous actions
- Meet the prospect at the right time on the right channel
- Add media for better memorization and generate emotion
Finally, the key for Rew Golding (and we agree on his analysis) is to build on the data collected.
Go beyond simple gender, age and location segmentation. Look at behavioral data and create a personalization strategy.
Convert with personalized SMS marketing
Build a dedicated community with marketing messages
Let’s go back to Sebastian Simon who focuses on the underestimated notion of communities with SMS.
“People who give you their phone number want to hear from you and talk to you.”
Build a strong relationship by sharing content that will speak to each person in your audience. They have trusted you, don’t disappoint them.
Yes, some of your most loyal customers will expect promotional messages with discounts. But think beyond that.
How to create a community through SMS marketing?
- Use data to create personnalized text
- Ask your users for feedback
- Reward your loyal users
- Use media to generate emotion
- Share specific recommendations
- Simplify the buying journey: your customers don’t want to click 10 times to get to the desired action
Engagement, community, conversion. What’s next?
Sebastian Simon wonders about the future of SMS. What if tomorrow, SMS became the new preferred customer service channel?
Users have forced brands to adapt their customer service: first phone, then chatbot, social networks, emails…
For more personalization, and to reinforce the relationship between user and brand, SMS could become even more important in these exchanges.