Did you know that 66% of the world's population uses a smartphone and that number will grow by 7% in 2019?

Clearly, mobile is a leading customer acquisition lever.

SMS marketing is the technique that uses text messaging to deliver messages and effectively leverage this channel.

The rapid expansion of cell phone users year after year is causing companies to adapt their Inbound Marketing strategy by including SMS marketing to expand their means of communication with their audience.

What do you need to make a better Inbound Marketing strategy with SMS?

1 - Choose the right target for your SMS marketing

A successful SMS campaign results from a good segmentation of your market. For each campaign you should update your contact list to focus on the ideal target for your product or service.

Pfor each campaign, update your contact list to focus on the perfect target.focus on the perfect target.

You can segment your customers or prospects by several criteria including:

• Demographic criteria: age, gender, etc.
• The socio-economic criteria: occupation, income level, preferences, etc.
• Social-psychological criteria: personality, beliefs, etc.
• Behavioral criteria: attitude toward the product, timing of purchase, etc.

Having the right target, in addition to a successful SMS campaign, allows you to avoid expenses that will yield a low ROI.

What do you prefer between sending an SMS campaign to 10,000 people with a 3% success rate and sending an SMS campaign to 1,000 people with a 45% success rate?

At first glance, you would choose the second option, not only because it generates a better return in absolute terms, but also because it avoids bothering 9,000 people with a commercial message that doesn't fit their needs.

2 - Identify yourself!

Some companies make the choice to send their message without providing their name but rather a phone number.

This means that their customers will not know until they read the message, call or click on a link in the message, the name of the company that sent the message.

This is not only quite unprofessional, but it can also negatively impact response rates and your overall Inbound Marketing strategy.

When sending your SMS marketing campaigns, include your name to let your customer know that you are the one sending this message.

3 - Offer relevant and personalized content

Lack of relevant content in a message is the main reason people choose not to respond and often, unsubscribe from the contact list.

To avoid this, use specific keywords in your message. The content of your message should be immediately perceived as relevant and if possible, delivered in the right context.

The relationship between your company and your customers or prospects must be at the heart of your strategy. To do this, your content should be friendly and personal. Remember that you are writing to humans, not machines!

Customize the message by including the customer's first or last name to increase the chance of a response.

Nothing is more pleasing to our ears and eyes than having our name spoken or written 

Before launching your SMS marketing campaign, always make sure your offer is compelling.

4 - Keep it short and to the point

The definition of the word SMS is Short Message Service. Short which means in French: court.

The number of characters in an SMS is limited to 160. Your message should be brief and to the point. Say the essentials in the content of your message.

Avoid putting information that will not be useful to your customers, such as the technical specifications of a product.

To create a good SMS marketing campaign with a high response rate, you need to grab the customer's attention with a clear and specific offer.

5 - Include a ''Call to Action''

Call to Action'' (CTA), in French Appel  l' Action, are words that prompt the reader, listener or viewer to click on an active link.

This can be a link to your website, your phone number or your email address.

CTAs are ways to seize opportunities, they tell your customer what to do next.

The ''Call to Action'' allows you:

• increase your web traffic
• improve your conversion rate
• measure the success of your SMS Marketing Campaign
.

The sms marketing software provide a delivery report for every SMS you send.

Your ''Call to Action'' should be well defined and prompt your recipients to perform the action:

"Buy now to get your 50% discount"

"Subscribe now!"

"I want to take advantage of this great offer!"

6 - Create a sense of urgency

Some would probably see this as an "old sales trick" but it still works wonders!

Urgent situations drive us to action.

So your message must introduce some degree of insecurity (time or volume limitation) to your customers to get them to act quickly: contact you, go to your website or buy.

In Inbound Marketing, this technique should be used primarily for already qualified customers, whom you know are very close to a buying decision. 

SMS Marketing, has become a new tool in your Inbound Marketing thanks mainly to its effectiveness: its average open rate is now 90% and according to the Mobile Marketing Association, consumers are five times more likely to respond to an SMS than an email.

Of course, the lack of solicitation is likely to drive this rate down in the coming years. That's why, in an Inbound Marketing campaign, where the rules of the game are clearly defined for the customer, the success rate will continue to be sustainably high.

Article written in collaboration with Cyrille Boka, Content Manager at Sarbacane