How to Advertise Your Business with Mass Texting

Did you know that nearly half of those surveyed said they spent an average of five to six hours on their phones each day, not counting work-related mobile use? That’s time spent scrolling through social media, answering emails, and texting.

Perhaps that’s why text message marketing is so effective. Customers open marketing texts at a mind-blowing rate of 98 percent, compared to just 20 to 25 percent for email. And most customers open marketing texts within 15 minutes, making them a great option for advertising time-sensitive promotions. Offering a lunch special at your restaurant? Have a flash sale?

Text message marketing could make it a success.

Your customers are already on their phones all the time, and they trust marketing text messages enough that they’re willing to look at most of them promptly. Text message marketing could be just the tool you need to take your business to the next level by strengthening the loyalty of your existing customers and laying the foundations for that loyalty in new customers. Here’s what you need to do to make mass texting work for your company.

Follow the Rules

A big part of the reason why customers are so willing to open and read marketing texts is that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) have gone to great lengths to protect consumers from being bombarded with spammy marketing texts. There are federal regulations you have to follow when using text messaging to market your business, goods, and services.

The main thing to remember is that you need explicit, written permission from each customer you plan to text. Customers must opt into this kind of marketing, which seems like kind of a roadblock on the surface, but it really isn’t, because it means that you’ll be contacting people who definitely want your text messages. You can obtain the permission you need by using a keyword campaign. Customers who want to sign up for your marketing text messages can text a keyword to a specific code to opt-in.

Don’t Text at Odd Hours

It’s easy to use a mass texting service to contact your customers any time of the day or night, but that doesn’t mean you should. Texting late at night or early in the morning could disturb your customers and make them want to opt-out of future text messages. Stick to texting during normal business hours.

Don’t Overwhelm Subscribers

Subscribers may be interested in getting discounts or special offers from your business, but that doesn’t mean they want to be bombarded with every little update and piece of news you have. If you send too many marketing texts, customers will opt-out. Send texts only when you need to advertise a promotion, especially if the deal is time-limited. Limit how often you text customers and don’t spam all your customers with a message that might only be of interest to a subset of them. Create customer contact lists so you can send your messages to those who might be most interested.

Create Value

Customers aren’t going to stay subscribed to your marketing texts if they don’t think they’re getting something out of it, so you need to create value with every text. Each message you send to your customers should contain relevant information and contribute to another good experience with your brand.

Think about what your customers want before you send out a marketing text. Sneak peeks, promotional offers and coupons are all popular choices for marketing texts. Think about the kinds of communication customers have with peers and friends, and try to emulate that kind of friendly interaction when sending marketing texts.

Make It Easy to Opt Out

In order to follow FCC guidelines for the use of marketing texts, you need to make it easy for customers to opt-out of receiving future texts. But customers will also be more inclined to sign up for text messages, to begin with when they know that they can easily stop them later if they become too annoying. Include opt-out instructions in every text message. Most companies achieve this by instructing customers to text the words “STOP” or “OPT-OUT” to a special code.

Mass texting can be a great way to promote your business. You can send coupons, time-sensitive promotional offers, sneak peeks, company news, and more directly to your customers, right on their phones, which they’re probably looking at anyway. Find your customers where they are, and engage with them on a deeper level, thanks to SMS marketing.