Top 5 SMS Marketing Mistakes

There are plenty of benefits associated with SMS marketing, but if you want to get the best results from your campaigns, you’ll need to elevate your strategy and avoid the common pitfalls. To improve your returns and send your campaign stats soaring, check out the top five SMS marketing mistakes to avoid:

1. Not Segmenting Your SMS Database

Creating a list of your target audience is the first step to executing a campaign, but don’t stop there. Most companies and organizations target different audience segments, so the same messaging won’t necessarily be relevant to your entire database of contacts. By segmenting your marketing lists, you can send content that’s more tailored and more relevant, which will have a positive impact on recipient behavior and optimize your campaign outcomes.

2. Not Using an SMS Marketing Platform

SMS technology has been around for quite some time but sending individual messages isn’t going to cut it when you’re launching a large-scale campaign. With a dedicated SMS marketing platform like Tatango, you can easily create SMS content, customize your messages, send messages instantly and monitor campaign performance. By streamlining your campaign management, you’ll maximize efficiency and increase open rates.

3. Not Automating Your Messaging

Automation gives you the chance to reduce the amount of time and labor it takes to prepare and release campaign materials, including SMS messages. When you set up automated SMS messages, you can identify the ‘triggers’ you want to use to dispatch messages. If a user signs up to your website, for example, a welcome SMS message can automatically be sent to them.

Alternatively, if a user makes a purchase or donation, a thank you text can be sent instantly. With automation, you can avoid delays and get messages to your target recipients straight away, so be sure to take advantage of the opportunity to engage with your audience in real-time.

4. Not Monitoring Key Metrics

When you plan new campaigns, it’s important to incorporate key metrics, analytics, and KPIs into your strategy. By monitoring performance from the get-go, you can optimize your campaigns while they’re still in progress and improve your ROI. Furthermore, capturing and analyzing data enables you to enhance future campaigns and make data-driven decisions to improve campaign results.

5. Not Getting a Recipient’s Permission

Before you launch any type of marketing campaign, it’s important to ensure that you have the appropriate permissions to contact your target audience. When it comes to SMS marketing, recipients need to opt-in to this type of contact before you can send text messages to them. Of course, this is nothing new in a digital era and gaining your audience’s consent isn’t a difficult task. However, don’t overlook the importance of obtaining consent if you want to protect your liability.

Launching a Successful SMS Marketing Campaign

Now you know what to avoid, you’re all set to begin creating an engaging and effective SMS marketing campaign! With relevant content, inspiring CTAs, and accurate targeting, you’ll find that SMS messages can be one of the most effective ways to engage your target audience and motivate them to act.