SMS marketing is a great tool for sales and promotions; it is instant, so your customer base will receive your message very quickly.
There are various ways to use SMS marketing to drive sales; here are just a few of them:
New product launches: informing people when you have the latest, or new season, products available in-store or online. This is a great way to create interest that gets people into your store or on your website to check out the products and shop.
Make people aware of a sale: text messages can be sent out to your customer base to let them know when you have a sale on, with quick information on what your offer is. A reminder text can also be sent out when the sale is soon to end.
Send out exclusive offers: you can send out coupons (e.g. for money off or BOGOF offers) via text message to your customer base, adding a discount code to your message which customers can then show at the till. This works well for retailers, restaurants, theme parks and cinemas alike, and could also be used in the travel industry to offer discounts on rooms or flights.
Time sensitive offers: a variation on the above point that may work best for the service and travel industries is to offer an exclusive discount to customers if they renew their contracts or book with you before a specified date.
Incentives to shop online: offers such as free shipping or a free gift when customers buy online can boost sales. This can be done by adding a special code into your SMS message which can be entered at the online checkout.
Content promotion: magazines could send out teasers of what the reader can expect in upcoming issues, ie: interviews or special stories with the aim to encourage the purchase of their publication. Magazines may also partner with music, film or stage promoters to offer their customers a first look, or listen to snippets of the latest track or albums, which could boost sales or attendance on the official release.
Event promotion: SMS text messages can be sent out to promote your event, offer discounted entry or access to V.I.P areas. They could also incorporate competitions where people reply to enter for exclusive backstage access or to meet key people/performers at your event.
A running theme is exclusivity, people like it when they can get great deals which are not available to everyone. Sending out offers to your customers encourages brand loyalty and makes for a good consumer experience.
To take the idea of exclusivity further, you could divide you mobile database to create a list of your most valuable customers (shop online: find regular shoppers via their account number; shop in-store: find regular shoppers via their store card activity; magazines: subscribers, etc), and then send out special deals just for them to reward their loyalty to your brand.
For more information on getting started with SMS marketing, call a member of the TextAnywhere team on 0845 122 1302 or browse the rest of our website.