How to Do Smart SMS Marketing

As the amount of Americans with cell phones has grown (85% now own at least one, with roughly half of those being smartphones,) so too has advertiser’s eyes as they stared at the amount of money just ready to be made from smart SMS advertising. But businesses are running into the same issues they always do when they find a new medium to advertise on – they’re not very good at it.

Consumers don’t currently expect advertising on their phones. They expect texts from friends. That will, of course, change. It was only about two years ago that seeing advertisements on Facebook’s news feed caused people to uproar and riot online – but a month later, everything was back to normal. Still, your company most likely isn’t Facebook, with a stranglehold on a billion users. You should be a little less forceful.

Doing SMS marketing right requires explicit consent from the consumer. Make it clear that you will be texting them. Let them know how often. Don’t include it in a 20 page privacy policy that only your lawyer will skim through. Tell it to people upfront. Personalize the texts with their name. Make it easy to unsubscribe when desired.

Smart SMS texting can and will be affective. But it’s equally affective in two ways. Upsetting customers is typically a bad choice. Pissing them off while they’re holding a tool capable of quickly sharing their anger with thousands of followers – that’s just stupid. Connect with them in a positive manner, though, and they’ll be reading your call to action at a much closer point to purchase than most other forms of advertising available today.