How to use Mobile SMS Text Messaging Tactics via the web to Boost Sales
It’s common knowledge that there are now billions of mobile phone users around the world. The mobile marketing and communication industry is still very much on the rise and it is no secret that wherever people are or while they are on the move to somewhere, they have their phone with them. And if you are a local business owner not using mobile SMS text messaging to connect with your target market, you are massively losing out! As this provides a huge opportunity to increase your sales revenue.
SMS stands for ‘Short Message Service’. It basically allows the exchange of short text messages between mobile phone devices. One single SMS text message typically has a maximum length of 160 characters, and text messages remain popular because they stick to the simple principle of sharing small snippets of information in an instant.
But how exactly can you use Mobile SMS text messaging via the web to effectively generate sales? Here are 3 key methods:
Grow An SMS VIP List Of Your Best Customers
Having a VIP Customer List of your best customers through the web that you can send great promotional offers to over and over again by SMS text messages is a proven way to very much boost your sales. In order to get people willingly and easily joining your VIP customer list, simply offer an immediate incentive to join, such as a discount offer.
Set Up With Online SMS Messaging Platform
To properly set up your SMS VIP customer list via the web, you will require an online ‘SMS Messaging Platform’. This is particularly necessary in terms of providing people with a valid PHONE NUMBER along with a related KEYWORD they will need to text you, in order to correctly join your SMS VIP list.
If you use a decent online ‘SMS Messaging Platform’, then all this stuff can seamlessly be set up from within the same platform. Providing a valid PHONE NUMBER plus a related KEYWORD for people to text you to be on your SMS VIP customer list is the right approach. As they have to personally ‘opt-in’ to subscribe, which is known as ‘permission-based’ subscription.
In fact, using a decent online ‘SMS Messaging Platform’, they will have the infrastructure in place that allows you to activate a PHONE NUMBER and KEYWORD of your choice for getting ‘opt-in’ SMS VIP subscribers.
Once you set up your SMS VIP customer list through using an online ‘SMS Messaging Platform’, people who personally ‘opt-in’ to subscribe will (as part of the subscription process) automatically provide their mobile phone numbers – which are automatically stored in your SMS list database.
You then (according to the law) have the permission or the consent of your VIP subscribers to be text messaging them future promotional offers.
Using an online ‘SMS Messaging Platform’ provides the functionality to easily be sending offers by text message directly to the mobile phones of your VIP subscribers – which will give great value to them and drive more sales revenue into your business.
Promote SMS VIP List To In-person Customers
You can promote your VIP subscription list opportunity to in-person customers by handing them a printed promotional flyer about it that also includes instructions, and an incentivised offer for them to join. Alternatively, you can also promote this opportunity by obviously putting up a banner or stand-up sign holder at your business premises, which will encourage visiting in-person customers to sign up.
Promote SMS VIP List To Customers On The Web
On the web, there are a number of ways to promote your VIP subscription list opportunity with instructions and an incentivised offer for people to sign up. For example, promote this opportunity on your website, blog posts, Google Business Profile and on social media platforms.
Offer Mobile Coupon As a Sign-up Incentive
You can offer mobile coupon (e.g. 15% discount in value) as an incentive to get people joining your SMS VIP customer list. Doing this will make people willingly subscribe and really boost your sales as a result. Because for joining your VIP list, subscribers will instantly receive a redeemable 15% discount coupon on their mobile phones.
Just to re-emphasise, you must set up this entire VIP list system through using an online ‘SMS Messaging Platform’. And through your SMS platform, you must activate a valid PHONE NUMBER with a related KEYWORD (e.g. VIP) that your customers will need to text you, in order to join your VIP list and instantly get their 15% discount coupon.
Your promotional message (on a printed flyer, banner, stand-up sign holder or online) for people to join your SMS VIP customer list and instantly receive their 15% discount coupon by text message can be something like this….
Get 15% Off Coupon Today
Text ‘VIP’
To Phone Number XXXX
As a VIP you will get a maximum of 4 text messages per month about special promotions, exclusive coupons and special offers.
You can unsubscribe at any time.
Providing you properly set this system up through an online ‘SMS Messaging Platform’, a customer who subscribes to your VIP list by texting the keyword ‘VIP’ will instantly receive back an automated text message that includes their 15% discount coupon. This message is called an auto reply.
Offering 15% discount coupon is fine, as an incentive to get people subscribing to your VIP list. However, it is best to offer as much discount percentage as possible. Because the higher the percentage (in value) of the discount coupon you offer, the easier you will attract potential VIP subscribers and the quicker you will grow your VIP list.
Once you have people on your SMS VIP customer list, you can then be sending them ongoing promotional offers or valuable information by text message. This could be regarding future major events, holiday offers, new product launches, new services or exclusive special offers.
Only Contact Your Subscribers
You should never run a mobile SMS campaign to contact people who have not subscribed to your SMS VIP customer list – which means they have not given you permission to contact them (on their phone) by text message. Doing this is regarded as SPAM and since people easily get irritated by SPAM messages, they can therefore take legal action.
So, using an online ‘SMS Messaging Platform’ for setting up your SMS VIP customer list is crucial. As this approach will definitely allow people to willingly join your customer list and give you permission (according to the law) to send them future text messages. And by text messaging great offers to the people who actually subscribed to your mobile SMS list, you will achieve high sales volume.
Make Offers To Bring Back VIP Customers
If your service requires people to visit your business premises, you can be sending SMS text messages about ‘come-back’ promotional offers to your VIPs. As this will make them keep coming back to use your service. You can for instance be text messaging valuable offers to your VIP customers that will bring them back into your business premises during your typical quiet days – which as a result will dramatically boost your sales revenue.
Don’t Overwhelm Your List With Messages
Make sure you don’t overwhelm your mobile SMS VIP customer list with too many text messages in a short space of time, otherwise you will have many people on your list unsubscribing. For instance, sending one text message per week or every fortnight is okay in terms of frequency. By not bombarding your audience with too many text messages in a short time will really keep them warm and responsive to your offers.
Vary Your SMS Text Message Offers
Avoid making your offers predictable or repetitive to your SMS customer list, as people find this boring and off-putting. So, by varying your text message offers to your VIP customers, you will highly retain their interest and consistently achieve excellent sales conversions as a result.
Offer VIP ‘Unsubscribe’ Option
Offering people the option to unsubscribe from your mobile SMS VIP customer list will encourage a lot more people to sign up to your list. When people know they can opt-out as a VIP subscriber, it puts them at ease to subscribe. Mention this clearly via your SMS system to increase the chances of many people easily joining your list. After all, the more people on your VIP list, the greater the opportunity of highly making repeat sales.
You Must Be Time Sensitive
This is really crucial to the success of your SMS promotional campaigns. Early morning or late night SMS text messages to your VIP customers can obviously be bad timing and irritating. So, by not sending out messages at the wrong times, your sales volume will be much healthier.
Send Relevant Messages To VIPs
People who subscribe to a list to be receiving offers or information normally respond negatively when they receive non-relevant messages, which are regarded as SPAM. This then has a negative effect on conversion rates. So, when sending an SMS text message to the people that subscribed to your SMS VIP customer list, make sure you provide a valuable irresistible offer that is relevant to what your VIPs subscribed for in the first place. By doing this, you will accomplish high sales conversions.
Offer Prospects Very Competitive Service Quotes
If as a local business you provide quotes as part of your service, in terms of acquiring customers, then you can send out quotes to people on request through SMS text messaging. For instance, you can provide a ‘Quote-Request’ form (with SMS functionality) on your website for your site visitors to complete to request a quote.
Make sure the ‘Quote-Request’ form on your website collects the contact details of people requesting quotes – especially their mobile phone numbers. Also make sure the form is set up on the web in connection with an online ‘SMS Messaging System’, so that you can easily send out service quotes by text message to your prospects’ mobile phones on request. You can then easily send follow-up messages as well to these prospects by text, and therefore effectively convert them into paying customers.
Automatically Send Reminders In Advance
If as a local business you do service bookings or schedule appointments with people, then you can use SMS via the web to ‘automatically’ send people reminders by text message. To make this happen, you must use an online ‘Service Booking System’ or ‘Appointment Scheduling System’ that also ‘automatically’ sends out SMS text message reminders.
Having this mobile SMS ‘automatic’ reminder in place will of course save you some precious time – as you won’t have to manually contact people yourself to remind them of their service bookings or scheduled appointments. More importantly, using this ‘automatic’ reminder method will help drastically decrease no-shows and you will therefore very much increase your sales.
According to Campaign Monitor, the open rates are as high as 98% when people receive SMS text messages. And 90% of text messages received are read within 3 minutes.
As you can see from all the above information, using Mobile SMS text messaging tactics via the web to reach out to your target market makes great business sense. And if you are not doing so already, I hope you will start using SMS somehow as a strategy to effectively increase your sales revenue. For a quick introduction about our Online Services, access the link here. And should you have any questions or require our assistance, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
