Implementing an effective SMS Marketing campaign takes time and preparation. The expectation is that 2020’s holiday season is going to look different than years past, much like the rest of this year, and as such, your business needs to start preparing your SMS marketing strategy right now!
In fact, according to a survey conducted by Wells Fargo, 70% of consumers are not planning on shopping in person anytime soon. And with a 50% projected increase in mobile sales from this time last year, it’s time for your business to start planning how exactly to take advantage of your SMS marketing this holiday season.
While Black Friday was typically seen as the one-day kick-off to the holiday season, these days, it’s turned into a full weekend of sales and promotions lasting until Cyber Monday. Whether you have a brick-and-mortar store, an ecommerce site or both, we’re going to give you some tips on how to make the most out of your SMS marketing campaign this Black Friday through Cyber Monday.
How to Use SMS Marketing to Boost Sales This Black Friday & Cyber Monday
- Step up your list building efforts.
Even if you have already managed to build up a substantial list of SMS marketing subscribers, advertising your Black Friday and holiday promotions is as close to a surefire list-building method as you can get. Given the high rate of unemployment as a result of the pandemic, it is safe to say that more consumers than usual will be on the hunt for the best deals this holiday season.
After planning your SMS marketing campaign, be sure to alert potential subscribers of the value your business offers exclusively to its text message marketing subscribers. This information should be provided on every social media channel, email newsletter and in brick-and-mortar stores.
- Plan a drip campaign.
A drip campaign “is a communication strategy that sends, or ‘drips,’ a pre-written set of messages to customers or prospects over time.” This is one of the best ways to keep your business top-of-mind with customers.
Have you ever heard of the ‘Rule of Seven’? It is a staple of the marketing world, and its basic claim is that customers must see or hear your marketing message at least seven times before they actually remember it or make a purchase. Your drip campaign is a great way to get your message on their phones and in their minds multiple times in a planned, cohesive way.
It goes without saying that while you are busy planning a top-notch marketing strategy for the holidays, your competition is doing the exact same thing. Therefore, neglecting to contact customers more than once will certainly limit the sales potential of your SMS marketing list. Your customers are receiving messages in one form or another all season long from countless different businesses. Planning a drip campaign will get your messaging in front of consumers multiple times for your best chance of converting.
- Continue providing additional value
beyond coupons.
The 80/20 rule is a popular standard to inform content marketing strategies. It basically states that only 20% of content marketing efforts should be promotional while 80% should focus on being educational, entertaining and/or otherwise valuable to your target audience.
It is important to bear in mind that, much like other marketing channels, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to SMS marketing. Your audience may be different than that of another business’ and therefore, what works for someone else may not work for you. While you might not have to take the 80/20 rule too literally, it makes for a good jumping off point for planning out SMS marketing campaigns this holiday season.
As much as people love deals, the majority of consumers don’t like being sold to constantly. If a customer has provided their phone number for the purpose of text message communications with your business, you should try to find ways to turn your industry expertise into helpful or fun content.
- Consider the timeliness of your
messages.
Because consumers are subject to countless sales-driven messaging around Black Friday, your business has one more reason to get a jump on the competition by planning and implementing your SMS marketing campaign ASAP. If you wait too long, you may be running the risk that your audience has already decided on where they will be shopping for Black Friday before receiving even one message from your business.
It will behoove your business to get even more specific than that, however. We always recommend experimenting with the time of day that your business plans to send SMS marketing messages. 98% of text messages actually get opened and 95% receive a response within three minutes. While this speaks to the immediacy of SMS marketing, it also reveals a potential downside. If your business is missing the mark in terms of identifying when your audience is most likely to make a purchase, they may be opening your messages and forgetting about them before making a purchase. We have all done this! Even if we have the intent of acting on a particular marketing message but aren’t ready at that exact moment, it may slip our minds later.
Experiment a bit with the timeliness of your SMS marketing campaigns. Run A/B testing with the only variable being the time of day in which messages are sent; if one campaign performs remarkably better than another, you will want to take that into consideration for the next campaign.
- Don’t be afraid to cross-promote!
While we usually recommend keeping some offers exclusive to your SMS marketing subscribers, that doesn’t mean that you can’t use multiple marketing channels together.
Actually you should try to support and enhance your SMS marketing strategy by using it in tandem with other channels! In fact, businesses that successfully employ an omnichannel marketing strategy experience a 91% year-over-year increase in customer retention, compared to businesses that do not.
Use your SMS marketing strategy together with other channels, such as email and social media, for best results this Black Friday and Cyber Monday!
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While this year has certainly presented many challenges to businesses, your SMS marketing strategy does not have to add to that list! Use these tips for best results this holiday season. If you have not yet subscribed to a business texting service, it’s not too late! Start your 14-day free trial with us today.
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