It may only be mid November however Christmas, like every year, will be here before you know it. What’s more is a new study published by the Daily Mail has shown October 24th is now our favourite day to start Christmas shopping! So right NOW is the prime time to ensure your SMS Marketing is in place.
People are eager to prepare early in order to search and hunt down early festive deals. November is known for massive sale saving offers such as Black Friday which according to IMRG saw British pre-Christmas shoppers spend an estimated £810 billion online. It seems November is a month which will not only benefit shoppers in massive savings but boost retailers with ‘end of the month’ profits.
With this in mind now is the time for businesses to start preparing and implementing their marketing strategy for Christmas. With statistics revealing 76% of people are more likely read a text message rather than an email, SMS should be part of your marketing strategy.
To ensure your SMS Marketing Campaigns are effective this season, see our handy checklist:
Prepare messages early!
Start writing your campaign messages now! The earlier you prepare your messages allows you to communicate the right message out to the correct audience and you can proof read them fully for accuracy. With TextAnywhere you can schedule messages which allows you to sit back and relax whilst our system does all the hard work for you.
Inform customers of opening times
Around the Christmas season opening times can vary for businesses. Keep customers informed of when your business is open and closed. Opening early? Closing early? Late night evenings? A swift and simple way to keep your customers informed and up to date is to send a bulk sms detailing this useful information.
Start giving back!
Traditionally Christmas is a time for giving so why not reward your customers with a special gift. For instance you can run a festive competition during the Christmas period using a short-code and keyword. For example, encourage your customers to participate by texting XMAS15 to 81025 for a chance to win a special prize. This way you will benefit by building your valuable SMS client list plus the opportunity to drive additional purchases due to brand awareness!
Send event invites
Are you hosting an event around the Christmas period? Send invites via SMS so your customers are the first to know about your exclusive event. With 90% of text-messages being opened within 3 minutes, sending an SMS invite couldn’t be more fitting for this purpose.
Send exclusive discounts/deals
Everyone loves to make sure they are getting the best deal, so make sure you alert your customers of any exclusive deals you have. Why not send a discount code exclusive to customers who are signed up to your SMS service? Not only will you be increasing sales but customers will value being signed up to your SMS service even more.
Send reminders
Christmas is a very busy period for many, although people are increasingly becoming more organised; many still underestimate how fast Christmas approaches. Send a text reminder to your customers to help them out. A little prompt to collect a gift, or schedule in their Christmas deliveries for instance. Your customers will be grateful for the reminder and value your service all the more.
Be compliant
Always make sure you’re always abiding by the rules when sending marketing messages. Take a look at ICO’s direct marketing checklist which you can use to make sure your messages comply with the law and don’t annoy your customers. It also includes an at-a-glance guide to the different rules on marketing calls, texts, emails, faxes and mail.
Contact us today to learn more or discuss how SMS marketing can help your brand on 0845 122 1302 or email us at [email protected].