A text campaign is a type of marketing campaign that is conducted by utilizing short message service (SMS) or multimedia messaging service (MMS). Launching a text campaign involves sending messages to a large number of recipients, usually for marketing purposes. Customers can receive text messages about new products, discounts, or flash sales directly on their mobile devices. In this way, text campaigns can improve communication between businesses and their target customers.
Launching a text campaign is a simple yet powerful strategy that you can use to drive people to action. In fact, 45% of text marketing campaigns generate a successful ROI (return on investment). This figure climbs to over 50% when combined with other popular channels such as email and social media. By using this strategy together with compelling text campaign templates, you can dramatically boost your sales.
If your business isn’t taking advantage of the ability to text customers, you’re missing out on incredible sales opportunities. Your company can send outbound text messages that create a feeling of time sensitivity. You can launch text campaigns to inform people that they have limited time to avail of the offer, and if they want to take advantage of the offer, they should act immediately.
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Why are text campaigns important in sales?
Text campaigns allow you to reach a large number of mobile users all at the same time. It also has the highest engagement rate of any communication channel. Not everyone goes online every day, but more than 5 billion people around the world can receive SMS texts. This means there’s a very good chance that your message will actually reach your customer.
Launching a text campaign is important to companies since it allows them to send sales-related offers such as discounts, vouchers, and promotions to the right audience. These offers allow them to get the maximum ROI from each text campaign that they run.
Texting has the capability to engage a reader instantly and elicit a response. This makes it the perfect channel for businesses who are looking to grab the attention of their customers. In addition, text campaigns have higher open rates compared to other digital marketing channels. The average open rate for an SMS campaign is as high as 98%, while email rings in at just 20%.
Benefits of text campaigns
Texting campaigns cannot only be used to engage existing customers but also to reach out to new audiences.
Benefit # 1 – Convenient to use, implement and manage
Text campaigns are easy to launch and monitor with the right software. Make sure you measure how effective your SMS campaign has been so that you can improve it further by modifying several factors. Text campaigns can be optimized easily, especially when you know key metrics like open rates and delivery rates.
Benefit # 2 – Time-saving and cost-effective
Text campaigns are time-saving since your business can reach out quickly to your subscribers. They are also cost-effective because the costs usually involve partnering with SMS text messaging providers such as Aloware. When compared to other channels, sending text messages is an inexpensive alternative that yields great results. It is a tried and tested method globally.
Benefit # 3 – Provides immediate feedback
You can use text campaigns for autoresponders and follow-up sequences that don’t sacrifice personalization. You can choose platforms that leverage automation, so you can automatically send triggered messages to prospects who are interested in your products and services. In the same way, you can also get immediate feedback from your recipients when they hit the “reply” button or click on the link that you provided.
5 best ways to segment your contact list
One of the problems in text campaigns is a recipient complaining about being spammed with a lot of irrelevant text messages. They feel that companies are just sending out generic messages to a whole lot of people. Most customers today are not interested in receiving impersonal offers and will reconsider forming a relationship with another company.
The key to success is to segment your SMS contacts which will allow you to personalize the text messages so that they provide value to those who receive them. By grouping people with similar needs, you can launch more targeted text campaigns. Here are the 5 best ways to segment your contact list:
1. Segment by location. This segment is composed of people grouped according to their geographical location. You can send text campaigns about events, offers, and promotions within their vicinity.
2. Segment by generation. This segment is composed of generations such as Boomers, Gen Z, Gen X, and Millennials. Different generations react to different tactics, so knowing the generation you want to target can make your text campaigns more effective.
3. Segment by buying behavior. This segment is composed of customers with different purchasing behaviors such as habitual buyers, variety seekers, or complex buyers. Knowing their purchase history and purchase frequency can help you send them the right text messages at the most opportune time.
4. Segment by brand engagement. This segment is composed of customers with different levels of engagement in your business such as those who follow your socials, reply to your text messages, click your links, or send a lot of queries about your business.
5. Segment by subcriteria. This segment targets micro-groups within a much larger group. For instance, you may have a large list of customers with ages ranging from 19 to 59. You could divide the list into two categories: customers who are 21 to 39 years old and customers who are 40 to 59 years old. This allows you to create content that is more suitable to their age range. The younger list may appreciate content featuring emojis and GIFs, while the other list might not.
Before sending your message to your audience, you must have the right tool for business texting. Aloware’s business texting tool can effectively implement everything from importing contacts, segmenting them, sending messages, and monitoring results in real-time. Now that you have an idea of how vital text campaigns are to your business, let us take a step forward towards the importance of the “message” itself for effective text campaigns.
Templates you can use for effective text campaigns
Keep in mind that customers want to feel as though a real person is texting them, not a bot.
When it comes to message length, it would be best to keep them short and sweet. Most carriers limit text message length to 160 characters, which is why it pays to be direct to the point. State value up front, include a crystal clear call to action, and use a URL shortener like bit.ly or tinyurl to save on space.
Your recipients won’t appreciate lengthy messages, and if they do not offer any value, they could opt out or mark your messages as spam. To avoid this scenario, your text messages should be relevant to the recipient and be sent at reasonable times. Here are the Aloware-approved templates you can use for your text campaigns:
Template for product or service updates
This template is for promotional messages like incentives to encourage customers to repurchase products from your company. When sending promotions to your customers, you can give them exclusive SMS-only offers that will entice them to stay on your subscriber list. You can use powerful words like save, qualified or free in the message you want to include in this template.
Template # 1
Save now and get all clearance items at 50-70% off until [deadline dates]. Check out the items here [site link]. Reply STOP to opt out.
Template # 2
[Customer Name], you are qualified to get an exclusive discount of [discount amount] for our new product [product name] here [site link] Reply STOP to opt out.
Template for appointment reminder or follow-up
This template is to remind your clients about an upcoming appointment schedule. It would be best to send these reminders 2-3 days before the actual appointment to avoid no-shows.
You shouldn’t overwhelm your clients with a lot of unnecessary information. Focus your message on the time, date, and the company they have an appointment with. This will make it easier for your clients to review all information at a glance.
Template # 3
Hi [client name], This is to remind you of your appointment on [date/time]. Please call or text us at [number] if you need to reschedule. See you then. Reply STOP to opt out.
Template # 4
Hi [client name], This is to remind you about your appointment at [time] today. Reply STOP to opt out.
Template # 5
Grab this offer now to get up to 50% discount for [product name] and get a FREE [free item]. Visit our store today [site link]. Reply STOP to opt out.
Template for re-engagement
This template works best for contacts that have gone cold. Sending updates about your company can help remind recipients of your product, service, or offer. Avoid hard-selling in this template as you don’t want to nag these contacts with another sales pitch. It would be best to share something of value like the link of your latest blog post to educate them.
Template # 6
Hi [name]! It’s been a while. Check out our new blog post about [topic]. You may learn more about it by visiting [URL]. Reply STOP to opt out.
Template for new customers
This template can be used by B2Cs and small enterprises. This is best for building a strong relationship with your new customers. You want to leave your new customers with a good and lasting impression. Acknowledging new customers right from the start can also make them more receptive to cross-sells and upsells in the future.
Template # 7
Hi [name]! We’re so excited that you’ve decided to purchase [product name]. Contact us at [phone number] if you have any questions. Reply STOP to opt out.
Template # 8
Hi [customer name], here are some recommendations and tips for using [product name]. Thank you for choosing [business name]. Reply STOP to opt out.
Template for after-hours or busy replies
Many businesses miss out on this opportunity to easily set customer expectations. With this template, you can immediately inform customers about your business hours so that they won’t feel frustrated when they don’t get an immediate reply from you.
You can automate these replies with Aloware’s business texting software by simply defining your operating hours. You can also set replies based on incoming keywords from your customer.
Template # 9
Hi there. We appreciate your message but our business hours are [day/s and time]. We will get back to you as soon as possible. Reply STOP to opt out.
Template # 10
Thank you for reaching out to [business name]. Please expect a callback from our agent between [estimate time]. Reply STOP to opt out.
BONUS: Template using MMS
MMS (multimedia messaging service) messages allow you to send visually appealing content that can dramatically increase customer engagement. Show your creative side by using flattering photos of your products or services.
Let Aloware supercharge your text campaigns
Running a text campaign presents an opportunity to increase brand awareness, boost customer engagement, and ultimately generate more sales. However, before you can launch an effective text campaign, you will have to be knowledgeable about contact list segmentation and business texting etiquette. You also have to be equipped with the right tool to broadcast your messages.
Aloware offers a turn-key business texting solution that comes with unlimited SMS/MMS credits. It also comes with unlimited calling capabilities and workflow automation that can be used to streamline your processes. The cloud-based contact center software can be integrated with your existing CRM to help your agents close more sales. Schedule a demo today to learn more about Aloware’s SMS/MMS solutions and how it can help you launch your future text campaigns.
