Although larger companies are the ones that have more widespread use, SMS is also used by small companies to communicate with their customers. If you can do it with a text message, SMS Marketing can cover it. 

Every text message is limited to 160 characters, so as long as you can imagine it and explain it summarily you can do it with a text message.

These are some popular uses of SMS Marketing and are a good place to start and some of its benefits.

Appointment Reminders – When a customer misses an appointment that’s lost revenue for your business. Studies show that unobtrusive text message reminders dramatically cut down on no-shows.

Mass Text Messages – Type a message once and send it to all of your customers. 

Mobile Coupons – Research shows that consumers love mobile coupons. Text messages are a fast, efficient way to offer mobile coupons to existing customers and new customers alike. A good mobile coupon will include some brief info about the discount, a redemption deadline (build urgency!), and a coupon code. If you want to track your campaign make sure to use a coupon code that you can enter into your point-of-sale system. 

These are some popular uses of SMS Marketing and are a good place to start. Every text message is limited to 160 characters, so as long as you can imagine it and explain it summarily you can do it with a text message.

McDonald’s isn’t successful because it serves the best hamburgers in the world. It’s successful because it’s made a science of analyzing business statistics, understanding them and responding to them in a timely and effective fashion. Not every business should be like fast food, but your SMS marketing campaign will be all the more successful if you monitor, understand and act on the data your campaign produces. Here are six stats you need to know and know how to improve upon if necessary: 

1. Opt-In Population This is the total number of people on your broadcast list. It’s not the most accurate number, because it measures who you send to – not necessarily who you reach. Still, an increasing population means you are successfully getting the word out. A decreasing population means the opposite. Improve this statistic by getting your SMS keywords on every marketing item you produce. 
2. New Subscribers This is a more focused version of watching your opt-in population, focused specifically on how many new subscribers you acquire each cycle. Watch for spikes in this number when you release other media containing your SMS codes – it can tell you about how those releases are performing. Get the most out of this number by inserting different keywords in different marketing initiatives – telling you exactly where each new subscriber came from.
3. Quit Rate/Opt-Outs You’re going to have opt-outs – people who ask to be removed from your list. That it happens isn’t important, but why it happens can tell you a lot. You won’t be able to interview your opt-outs about why they quit. Instead, look at your quit rate for spikes or valleys, and search for changes or events around those anomalies. Reduce your quit rate by always sending out SMS messages with actionable deals or advice, and by posting just enough to stay in mind without becoming annoying. 
4. Response Rate How many recipients of your SMS broadcast do what you ask them to? This is a direct measure of how effective your message was. It’s the reason a simple but unique call to action should be part of every message you send out – a text response tells you which recipients are engaged. Improve your response rate by examining messages that had unusually high rates, then mimicking the core of those messages in future broadcasts. Interactive content like polls can also help. 
5. Conversion/Sales Rate Not every response results in a sale – but every broadcast should turn into at least one customer. Each industry has its own “good” and “bad” rates of response, but all you need to see is a steady increase in whatever your numbers are. Use digital coupons and similar deals with limited response times to up your conversion rate. 6. Return on Investment This is the bottom line. Track how many sales your SMS campaign generated, and the total value of those sales. Compare that against the total cost of your SMS marketing. If sales > cost, your program needs work before you can consider it successful. Improve ROI by reducing costs or using your statistics to increase the effectiveness of your SMS campaign.

Finding Inspiration for Your SMS Marketing Messages Entry by Jason Brick One advantage of SMS marketing is that you can make a meaningful impression on your broadcast list every single day. One disadvantage of mobile marketing is that you have to come up with a meaningful impression every single day. This can be a challenge for professional copywriters – people whose job it is to come up with an effective ad copy. As a small business owner, you have many other things on your plate. Your passion for your business – and your need to pay the bills – will help you come up with some compelling copy. But sometimes you need more inspiration. When that happens, you can look to these resources for help. The Calendar You’d be amazed at the sheer number of commemorative days, weeks and months that exist. You can even add local community celebrations and anniversaries for your business to the list – all of which can serve as springboards for your daily marketing message. The News Paging through your local newspaper can yield dozens of ideas, events, and facts that can turn into a relevant marketing message. A new business in town could turn into a coupon for people who show you a receipt from a visit. A local hero could inspire a new menu item. Whatever you imagine spread it via your mobile campaign. Your Consumers Listen to your customers when they tell you what they like most about your shop, your people, your product and you. Use your mobile marketing to bring those to the front of their minds at every opportunity. Messages with an inherent call to action help you listen to customers even when they’re not in the store.

 SMS marketing is a hidden gem amongst the advertising world. It sounds fancy, perhaps even mysterious.

It’s not mysterious at all, however. It’s a necessary part of getting your business’s name out there in the mobile-focused world. In fact, most people use SMS every single day.

Experience the Many Benefits of SMS Marketing Today and start your business right!

From all of this, you can see for yourself just how great texting can be for your business. It’s perhaps not as trendy as social media, but it does get results. SMS marketing has so many benefits and at little cost to you, there’s no reason not to give it a try.

Especially when the benefits of SMS marketing give your business that extra edge it needs to stand above all of the competitors.