There is commonly a prevailing myth among the companies that offering SMS marketing services require heavy investment. But the truth is exactly the opposite. It is actually much easier to connect to mobile users by sending short personalized text messages than by emailing or telephoning. The reach of SMS has increased manifold and this has become possible because of the popularity of cellular phones. The biggest advantage of SMS is that it is an affordable way of communicating with customers. It can be very cost effective as well.
There are many things that you need to consider when opting for sms marketing services from the financial institutions. One of the most important things is the software that is offered by the financial firm. Since most of the financial institutions have the software for desktop messaging, it is essential to have your own customized messaging platform. In this regard, it would be advisable to have the latest version of the Microsoft outlook. This will be easy for you to install and configure in order to send and receive text messages from your subscribers.
Another important thing is the bulk sms marketing services offered by the company. In most of the cases, a company will not offer bulk sms services. If you want to send a massive number of SMS, it is necessary that you use an outsourced service provider. This will ensure that you get the best return on your investment. Though this may cost you a little more initially, you can be rest assured that it will be worth the cost in the long run.
Before you opt for any sms marketing services, you should make a list of the top notch marketing companies that offer to this service. There are several players in the market who offer bulk sms systems and they include the likes of RingCentral, Get Response, OneTime, TwiMLer, InfoCheck, InfoTrace, InfoJet and many others. With this list in hand, you can assess the real value of each company and choose accordingly. If you have multiple email campaigns, it is important that you opt for a platform that allows you to track and analyze all the activity in real time. For instance, one of the best platforms that allows to do so is Mailchimp. Other considerations include payout and terms of service.
In order to avoid any possible future misunderstandings and complications, it is important that you create a standard format for your bulk sms marketing strategy. Remember that there are no strict rules regarding what should be included in your campaign and what should not. Depending on the nature of your business and industry, you can also make use of caller ID and even ask for permission before sending any SMS. Most of the companies offering bulk sms marketing strategy have advanced software that helps in identifying the right subscriber for any particular SMS and this can definitely help in avoiding unwanted spam mails.
Apart from creating a standard format for your SMS campaign, you can also ensure uniformity in terms of the phone numbers that are involved in your campaigns. Many companies tend to use the same or similar numbers for both their SMS and landline campaigns. If you want to make sure that you send relevant messages across to the right people at the right time, it is important that you make sure that they are all assigned the same phone numbers. This will ensure that the content you are conveying across is consistent. It is also possible to add or delete Phone numbers as per requirements.
Apart from this, it is also important that you carefully plan the timing of your SMS campaign. As far as mobile SMS is concerned, there is really no fixed time for launching a campaign. It could be anywhere between two to four weeks depending on the availability of your prospective customers. For instance, if you intend to launch a mass sms campaign towards Valentine’s Day, it is advisable that you do it about six weeks before actual date of celebration. This will help you make adequate preparations regarding the marketing strategy and will give you enough time to make any necessary modifications.
The other important thing that you should consider while planning your sms marketing campaigns is the right kind of SMS that should be sent. Even if you think that you have an efficient SMS marketing strategy, it is important that you keep adding to it based on the customer response. Otherwise, if one aspect of the strategy is not working properly, you will never know about it and have to go in for another mass email campaign instead. You can also hire third party companies for SMS marketing campaign consulting services and hence improve your business growth prospects.
Benefits of Bulk SMS Marketing
Bulk sms marketing is an effective new means to reach your clients directly. Unlike email marketing, it’s a closed loop marketing channel, just like phone marketing, whereby companies can instantly send promotional messages or transactional messages to prospective consumers using SMS or by using text messages only. When you’re selecting the bulk sms marketing services for your company, there are several tools to get the most from your investment. Here are five of those tools.
In earlier times, bulk sms marketing services used to be offered only through toll-free numbers. The days of waiting on hold with annoying agents are over. New technology has made bulk sms marketing services available in over 180 countries and all of them are toll free. So even if you don’t have a virtual phone service, you can still use SMS bulk messaging to advertise.
You should make sure that the bulk sms marketing services you’re looking for have the capabilities to deliver messages at any time – not just during business hours. This means that these messaging solutions must be flexible enough to accommodate whatever needs your business may have. For example, some services allow you to create individual lists for individuals and groups, while others can keep groups in one place and offer messages to each member of the group at specific times. Be sure that your chosen services have this capability so that you won’t waste your time responding to messages that aren’t meant to be responded to.
Your sms marketing strategy should be able to incorporate customer feedback. A good provider will offer tools for tracking customer responses, including such tools as analytics, surveys, and web-based reporting. With web based reporting, you can quickly identify which messages are not being read and categorized, which is the most often read messages, and which campaigns are the most successful. In addition, you can look for campaign performance by geographic region. These reports can provide a wealth of information about where your customers are located and which areas they live in.
In addition to customer feedback, bulk sms marketing software offers many other features that can help your business. For example, some services provide the ability to send text message coupons, which are a very popular promotional tool. By using bulk sms marketing software and the right advertising campaigns, you can easily target consumers in certain areas or demographics and reach them with special offers or discounts. You can also use bulk sms marketing software to test your messages before sending them out to customers. You can track which messages are the most effective, which are bringing in the most sales, and which are less effective. This allows you to make necessary changes before you ever even hit the mailboxes.
Another feature offered by bulk sms marketing software is data protection. If you don’t want your subscribers to be able to see your address list, the private data you collect about them may not be safe from abuse. Some service providers offer data protection even when the subscribers are not actively receiving messages, allowing you to protect the private information without ever needing to send out spam. If you’re wary about your subscribers’ reactions to marketing tactics, you can use a number of tools to determine how likely subscribers are to be affected by certain activities, such as sending an email or promoting a product to a list that has never received that particular promotion before.
Finally, some bulk sms marketing services include support for third party applications. Many sms marketing APIs provide functions to create survey questionnaires, track customer responses, and analyze data. With the right API, you can even receive customer feedback in real-time, which can help you make important decisions before you ever launch a campaign. If you’re unsure about what API’s are best for your business, you can always use the help of a customer support specialist to help you assess your needs and find the most appropriate bulk sms marketing solution. This doesn’t have to be expensive; most reputable vendors offer free trials of their API’s, which allow you to test and implement new features without being required to invest money in new equipment.
Bulk sms marketing offers many benefits for businesses. For example, sending out messages to large groups of people who’ve never even heard from you before can be incredibly persuasive. In fact, it’s become so popular that more companies are starting to include this functionality as a part of their bulk sms marketing strategy. In order to send promotional messages to new contacts, though, you’ll need to use one of the bulk sms marketing services available. When you do, you can rest assured that the messages you’re sending are both unique and compelling, and that the people who receive them will respond in kind.