Between the buzzes, the dings, and the trademarked ringtones, our phones demand hours of attention every day. Using a text marketing software can help take advantage of those hours to maximize the ROI of your text message marketing campaigns.
Text marketing is one of the most potent marketing strategies available, boasting a nearly 98% open rate. Beyond this 50% of consumers will make a purchase after receiving a single text. Furthermore, SMS marketers generate an average of $71 for every dollar spent.
As you can see, text message marketing is powerful. The return on investment is high; however, so are the steaks. Creating the perfect text campaign can be tricky.
Consumers get multiple texts per day. Because of this, they can be quick to opt out of services they feel annoyed by or see as spammy. This means that you have to be tactful in carrying out your campaign.
Between getting high-quality opt-ins to knowing when to use a GIF, there is a lot to learn about maximizing the efficacy of your strategy.
In this article, we’ll go over nine ways to maximize your ROI from text message marketing and how text marketing software can help you get the most for your money.
9 Ways to Boost Your Text ROI
Text message marketing has an impressive open rate, but it also has a high opt-out rate. This means that you can’t afford to make mistakes.
Here are nine simple strategies to make sure you’re hitting the mark every time.
Get More High-Quality Opt-Ins
Kicking off your text message campaign begins with opt-ins. From both a courtesy and a legal standpoint, collecting opt-ins is a necessary step.
There are a few ways you can ensure that you’re getting high-quality opt-ins.
Capture their attention the second they walk in
Use a welcome mat to offer SMS sign-up the moment they walk in. You can even offer a discount or small promotion to bolster the sign-up value.
Promote SMS updates across social media
Instagram has over 1 billion users, most of which signed up using a phone number. Use this to your advantage to identify quality leads and offer them the opportunity to opt-in to your SMS services.
You can also post a story like this from the jewelry company Simple & Dainty.
Stories are only posted for 24 hours, so you can use them over again to promote your text message marketing.
Use exit-intent choices
If someone is leaving your website, there’s a small chance they’ll be back. Whether you use a side banner or pop-up offer your text opt-in before they walk away.
Segment your audience effectively
Text message marketing is intimate. Your texts should reflect that level of intimacy. The best way to achieve a highly personalized message is to leverage market segmentation in order to determine what products will best appeal to each customer.
Segmentation allows you to select groups of consumers and identify how and what products or services can be most effectively presented to them. In this way, you are able to appeal to each consumer’s interest and make them feel like a VIP.
Each text should include:
- Customers name
- A location-based suggestion
- Individual-specific detail (i.e. purchase history)
The best way to do this is with surveys and questionnaires. Utilizing text marketing software can then help to organize the information you have and optimize your segmentation. Software such as Gleantap’s will allow you to segment consumers by engagement levels, demographics, or even location.
Segments can (and should) be dynamic. You want to tailor the content you send to each group based on the number and frequency of interactions they have with your business.
For example, you don’t want to be sending a greeting text to a loyal customer who has already subscribed. Instead, you would send them a loyalty discount code or inform them of your referral marketing strategy.
A/B Test Your Text Copy
An A/B test is essentially an experiment that allows you to compare the performance of two versions of the same message. This allows you to determine which will yield a higher ROI.
When conducting an A/B test, it is important to only change one element at a time. This is important for determining the impact of each change and how it corresponds to your ROI.
A/B tests can compare things like keyword variations, time of day sent, emoji usage, abbreviations, etc. Once you determine what you want to be testing for, determine potential variations that could have an impact.
A/B tests can be based on a variety of different aspects, but it’s important to make sure that, when combined, your message still makes sense and that you’re being respectful of people’s time.
While it may seem like we’re splitting hairs here, small details can make all the difference. Take Grene, for example. The Polish eCommerce brand found that a high number of users were abandoning their carts.
After an analysis of their cart page, they decided to increase the size of the “Go To Cart” CTA to make it more visible. After 36 days of testing, they saw an increase in cart page visits and a 2X increase in total purchase quantity.
Send Texts at the Right Time
A big part of text message marketing is knowing what to send and when to send it. As we just discussed, the best time to send a text will vary based on your clientele, so you might have to play around with what works best.
In general, you’ll get the most positive results:
- Between 12 and 1 p.m.
- Mornings after 10 a.m.
- Tuesdays and Saturdays
- Paydays
Depending on where you are sending your text messages, you may need to be aware of regulations limiting the times you are permitted to send promotional messages. Florida, for example, restricts promotional texting to between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
For more general promotional offers, between two and six messages per month is a good rule of thumb. This keeps you at the forefront of their attention without risking becoming annoying.
In addition to monthly messages, you may also find that action-triggered messages can be helpful in keeping your consumers engaged. These can be:
- Class signup reminder 24-48 hours prior to the scheduled class
- Discount code after they have purchased a certain amount
- Offering a loyalty program after several purchases or instances of engagement
- Abandoned cart messages
Of course, context is important. To determine what works best for your customers, you may need to conduct several A/B tests.
Cleanse Your Numbers and Routes
Trying to maximize ROI without cleansing your number database and routes is like trying to fill a cup with a hole in the bottom–it just doesn’t work. Not only are there obvious financial consequences, there can also be reputational consequences.
If you’re unable to follow up with leads because you have incorrect information, your leads will move on to competitors. Cleansing your numbers can help you optimize your text marketing ROI by ensuring that your text is being received by the people they’re intended for.
To do this, you will need to use a Home Location Register (HLR) in order to verify that a number is active. HLR’s authenticate:
- Registered country
- Related networks
- Originally registered network
- Network and country codes
- Error indications
By checking your contact list against an HLR, you are ensuring that you are not wasting money or time by pursuing dead-end leads.
Use a Cost-Effective Text Messaging Provider
When it comes to choosing a text messaging provider, there is a lot to consider. All of these considerations can impact the cost.
On average the cost of one SMS message sent locally lands at around $0.03. Now, if you are looking for a provider who offers you more flexibility as a business, you may find that it becomes a bit more expensive.
Here are some things you may want from your provider:
- Messaging Rates: Messaging rates will vary for local, regional, or long-distance messaging. Be aware of your providers parameters and cost when it comes to each.
- API integrations: API integrations allow you to combine your SMS strategy into your CRM or other platform. This can be helpful in building targeted lists, comparing tests, collecting data, and so forth.
- Customer Support: Many text message software can offer you personalized support in order to help you build the perfect, on-brand text campaign.
- Mobile number portability: Mobile number portability is the ability to send information from one operator to another. A provider with a good portability tool allows you to determine exactly how much it’s going to cost to send to any number.
When choosing your text messaging provider, it’s important to remember that cost-effectiveness is better than cheap. Odds are, you’ll save money in the end by having a high-quality provider that won’t nickel and dime you for services you needed in the first place.
Build a targeted list
As you’re getting started, it may be tempting to simply send out a mass text to your consumers. However, you’ll be able to create a much more effective text campaign by building out a targeted list.
In order to begin building your targeted list, you need to aim your opt-in advances toward those who have already shown interest. You can do this by:
- Offering opt-in text messaging to your email list
- Including a ‘promotional opt-in’ button upon sign-up
- Place an opt-in form on your website
Once you’ve collected your Opt-in list, you’ll want to use metrics collected by your CRM, text messaging software, or surveys. These metrics will help you break up your list into smaller cohorts based on shared attributes–also known as a segment.
These segments can help you better target specific products and services based on purchase history and other attributes. Once you’ve got your targeted list, you can then build your text message.
Keep messages short and sweet
The key to an effective text message is to keep it short and sweet. Long text messages can quickly seem overwhelming and may come off as aggressive or needy.
Try to aim for around 160 characters or 30 words. This is the perfect amount of text to engage your customer without sending them a novel. This will keep their attention and peak their interest in learning more.
While it’s important to keep it brief, you don’t want to compromise clarity for conciseness. If you need to exceed 160 characters, remember to use short sentences, bullet points, and–if absolutely necessary–subheadings.
You may also want to use multi-media elements such as pictures, GIFs, or emojis. While these are cute and trendy ways to capture attention, they should be used sparingly. Excessive use of these elements can make your text seem spammy or unprofessional.
Use a strong call-to-action
You’ve gotten the opt-in approval. You’ve segmented your list. You’ve done all the A/B testing to build the perfect body message. Now, the final element in maximizing your ROI with text message marketing is crafting a strong call to action (CTA).
Your CTA is what motivates people to move to the next step. A good CTA should be direct, short, and conversational. When it comes to a good CTA you can add some flair, ask a question, or keep it classic.
Some traditional CTAs may say something like “learn more,” or “start your free trial.” More creative CTAs might say something like “Sign up in 30 seconds,” or “Give me the deets.”
Whatever you choose to go with, it is crucial that you include a link to sign up. The easier it is for your clients to sign up, the more likely they will be to do so.
Final Thoughts
The ROI from SMS marketing is as high as 13x, with the average falling between $5 and $10. Why? Because a short burst of attention-grabbing information appeals to a wide variety of phone-attentive consumers.
SMS messaging puts your message right at the forefront of consumers’ minds by being on their phones. Furthermore, SMS has such great ROI because its one of the cheapest marketing strategies available, so you don’t need to be a Fortune 500 company to utilize it to your advantage
Interested in learning more about how you can maximize your ROI with text message marketing? Gleantap has a team of experts ready to help you optimize your SMS strategy. Schedule your free demo today and find out how you can take your business further.
FAQs:
How can text marketing software help me maximize my ROI?
Text marketing software can help you determine powerful segmentations, run A/B tests, build targeted lists, and field customer interactions to optimize your text strategy and maximize ROI.
What are some best practices for using text marketing software to maximize ROI?
Effective text marketing software should be affordable, flexible, and easy to use for both businesses and consumers.
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