Does Your Marketing Strategy Need Work? Try SMS.

Marketing has as much of a psychological component as it has a financial component. Throwing your money into marketing doesn’t guarantee results, and I’m pretty sure you might have learned that the hard way by now. If you’re reading this, you probably would like to know the latest tricks in the book on how to retain customers and get new ones.

Marketing is an ever-changing realm for businesses. It’s a journey that doesn’t end. That’s one of the things that frustrates up-and-coming small businesses the most. Right now, one thing’s certain: You have to get your customers’ attention. What better way to do that than to use the most-used communication method of consumers in this day and age? I’m talking about SMS messages, of course! You’d be surprised how effective this method of marketing is.

According to a study done by Juniper Research, 97% of text messages are read by the owner of the receiving phone, and 90% of those messages are read within the first 4-6 minutes. This allows you to get the attention of your customers very quickly.

We had a chance to speak to Paul Hollowell, who runs LUX Tanning Salon in Dallas. He uses Mogreet to manage his marketing efforts. After starting with SMS marketing, he started diving into MMS.

“When I started the LUX tanning spa, I knew that MMS would be the ideal marketing medium for both client retention and acquisition,” he said. “As a small business, every marketing dollar counts, and MMS marketing allows me to track effectiveness and ROI.”

He set up a strategy in which he can acquire people who are already clients: “We always include a call-to-action to text-in a customized keyword in our print advertisements, for instance, to receive a promotional offer. The response not only allows us to track the success of that print advertisement, but, after a double opt-in, means that we’ll be able to remarket to that client until they become a member,” said Hollowell.

Remarketing may seem like an aggressive marketing tactic, but it’s effective at converting non-clients to regular clientele. The whole print advertisement idea is basically a concept in which a customer messages your business’ number with a particular string of text, like “Send an SMS to 1-888-xxx-xxxx with the word ‘CASH’ and get 50% off your next pizza at Random Pizza Palace!”

As you may have gathered, SMS/MMS messaging is lucrative for many reasons:

• It’s fast. Messages immediately arrive in the recipient’s phone.
• It’s responsive. SMS/MMS messages are read by 97% of recipients, usually within the first 5 minutes.
• It draws participation. Letting customers know of current promotions might reel them in. You’ll also get participation if you use Paul Hollowell’s strategy of inviting customers to message you through your print advertisements.

SMS marketing isn’t meant to replace any other method you use, but it will certainly take an active role in your company’s strategy as soon as you can make it work for you. You can even use the SMS method to track progress in other marketing campaigns. Hallowell said, “We also use mobile marketing to track the success of other marketing methods, especially event sponsorships and print advertisements.” It’s a versatile tool and definitely one of those things you don’t want to miss out on!