3 advanced strategies to elevate your SMS marketing

SMS marketing is a beacon in business; it has an average open rate of 98% and click through rate of 10%. Once you’ve mastered the basics, we’ve got 3 advanced strategies to help level up your SMS marketing game.

Use these super-charged tips to soar from SMS marketing beginner to expert by improving conversions and offering a better customer experience.

1. Be demographic-relevant

When it comes to a great marketing campaign, knowing your audience is everything. Consider where they live and how they spend, and pay attention to their generation and technology use.

Younger generations are tech-natives and are much more active mobile users than Baby Boomers. Think about the best ways to reach each group.

Gen Z

Those in the later Gen Z bracket are now in their early 20s, contributing billions to the economy. They’ve grown up with social media, video, gaming, and online learning – target them with rich, interactive content.

Offer a seamless experience across multiple devices, keep things authentic and build relationships rather than the big sell. Gen Z’s are more likely to fill out online forms and polls, and embrace interactive keyword responses; use this to your advantage.

Millennials

Millennials, born between 1981 and 1997, grew up with phones and have embraced smartphone technology. They like to keep up with breaking news, connect with their community, and communicate via texting and video calls. A significant target market for SMS marketing, Millennials find it convenient and efficient. This generation wants tailored messages, so use your SMS marketing to create engaging, personalised content and offers. Two-way communication is a big winner here; use a dedicated virtual SMS number to receive SMS replies and build trust.

Generation X

Don’t overlook Generation X. Born between 1965 and 1980, they’re often looking to save time and money, so your messaging needs to help them do both. Be direct while using warm, conversational language. Offer value through discounts or coupons, make buying easy with one-click links, and provide invaluable customer service tips and hacks.

Baby Boomers

Baby Boomers are no longer the largest demographic, but they’re still a driving force in the market. Born between 1946 and 1964, they typically have longer attention spans. This makes them the perfect audience for in-depth analyses and data-driven articles. Research from 2019 shows 68% of Baby Boomers own smartphones and embrace text communication. When crafting your messages, think about how you can help them enjoy their leisure time. Keep things simple in terms of tech, and include a contact alternative, such as email or phone. Make it even easier by using a memorable Gold Virtual Number.

2. The way you market matters

SMS marketing boasts incredible open rates, quick response times, and a high engagement rate. Despite all of this – sometimes it just doesn’t convert to sales.

Some services sell well via SMS – think one-click links to on-trend clothing, interactive menu ordering, or rebooking a spa service at the click of a button. For other products or services, think more about the situations that would prompt a customer to buy and adjust your marketing in response.

Here’s an example: to spruik your window installation service, you send an SMS marketing campaign offering 20% off all installations for the next month. The response falls short. This could be because your service relates to a specific need, and your offer hasn’t caused a surge in demand. Your customers are more likely to need your service during an unexpected event (an untimely soccer ball through the window) or a planned renovation. No matter the value, your offer won’t drive someone to book a window installation if they don’t need one.

Rather than abandoning SMS marketing, try using it as a customer experience and brand awareness tool. Send an appointment reminder to customers or offer follow-up services and advice. After you finish the job – share tips on keeping the new windows spick n' span. Seek feedback and offer a referral program.

Consider whether an MMS marketing campaign would work better than a text-only SMS campaign. Using the power of images and videos, you can create before and after content that’ll be top-of-mind when the customer needs your service. MMS marketing is also useful for upselling products or services, providing reminders for maintenance or rebooking, and building a good brand reputation.

3. Stagger or throttle

If you haven’t heard of SMS throttling before – it’s an essential tool for SMS marketing. Throttling has to do with limits set on the number of messages and connections that an exchange server can process. You can purposely throttle your messages to manage surges in demand.

If you’re asking your message recipients to visit a website, message throttling helps prevent a website crash resulting in a crappy customer experience. When you’re asking the customer to call a number, throttling can stagger your campaign so you don’t overwhelm your team, leave customers on hold, or get swamped by voice messages. These things all affect the customer experience and can damage your reputation.

A bulk SMS gateway offers a quick and easy solution for SMS throttling and reaching a broad audience. Our bulk SMS service offers message throttling to split up large campaigns, deliver your SMS over time, and increase your SMS and MMS marketing impact. You can easily throttle your campaigns by sending them out in segments with a click of a button using Burst SMS.