Ding! Is that the tone of an incoming SMS, or the sound of rising conversion rates? For those who master the art of SMS marketing, it’s both. Text messages are a versatile and effective way to engage consumers across a spectrum of use cases.
But with such potential, you can bet that many of your competitors are also ‘getting the message’. The difference might boil down to language that catches the eye and inspires a click through.
Taking full advantage of the range of text message use cases, while simultaneously applying the most attractive language, will keep your copywriters working overtime. So maybe it’s time to take the smarter approach.
The Use of Text Messages (SMS) in Marketing
SMS marketing is the creation and sending of text messages to existing customers and general audiences. Part of the advantage of SMS is that it is instantly received. You won’t see too many people lugging around a desktop computer, but most will be carrying mobile phones. Considering that people check their phones almost 350 times a day (US average), SMS marketers really do have a captive audience.
Another factor in the success of text message marketing is that it is relatively unobtrusive. Phone users are accustomed to constant messages from apps, contacts, and businesses. They can also mute notifications if they find SMS annoying and read them during a spare minute.
Improve the chance of SMS conversions by using an SMS API platform, which provides you with data about audience interests and the history of customer interactions with your company. By personalizing the content of the SMS for the audience, there is a much higher chance that they will interact with the message.
Yet another advantage is that companies using location-based text messaging can appeal to customers at the moment that they are physically near the business, or are in a location where a certain service might be desired. A classic example is receiving texts from mobile phone network providers that indicate that the user has entered their network area.
For these and other reasons, SMS marketing conversion rates are up there. At 2.65%, SMS marketing outperforms organic search (2.1%), Facebook (0.9%), and social (0.7%).
Examples of SMS Marketing Use Cases
Why do things sell? Long textbooks have been written on this subject. But some of the basic reasons for buying something mesh nicely with the properties of SMS marketing. A full list of SMS marketing use cases would be exhausting to read, so here are a few highlights:
- Promotional offers can be made highly time sensitive, so as to motivate immediate consumer action.
- For those potential consumers not prone to quick action, promotional SMS can go beyond “5% off now!” notices. An SMS can also be sent in the form of a coupon or voucher to be redeemed at a later time.
- Advising a customer of complementary products can get them to make an immediate purchase or encourage them to buy online. This is made possible by linking a customer’s recent purchases to similar items.
- Combined campaigns permit the marketer to enact the ‘rule of seven’. Through carefully chosen messages, platforms, and timing, SMS can be coupled with emails and other media to increase interaction and improve analytics about user engagement preferences.
- Text messaging can be used for branding purposes and to improve the customer experience. Product announcements can be sent to highly-engaged contacts to inform them that something new might be of interest. The same goes for content notices which encourage the contact to click straight from the SMS to the webpage or social media account of the company.
- Short surveys are ideal for sending to the supportive consumer.
- Customer service is yet another area where SMS can lend a hand. Automated responses, in answer to a service query, will give the customer a feeling that they are getting immediate attention while also reducing company support resources.
Real World SMS
Major companies have realized the value of SMS marketing. Because of this, they are deploying campaigns for a variety of use cases, such as:
Starbuck’s – The coffee giant uses SMS for marketing campaigns such as a rewards program, exclusive promotions, and gift cards.
Facebook – This mainstay social media platform manages a program for small business owners to send marketing messages through both SMS and Facebook Messenger.
IKEA – The multinational Swedish furniture store relies on SMS for a loyalty program that includes lotteries, in-store campaigns, and customer service functions.
AI Writing Assistants
Some of the above examples may have employed text messages created by platforms using artificial intelligence. Once limited to checking spelling and grammar, AI writing assistants now have a spectacular range of abilities. They can author entire blogs, create brand-specific writing styles, and produce multiple versions of headlines that match the taste of certain audiences.
Using AI for High-Conversion SMS Marketing Messages
AI is perfect for the role of supporting a busy marketer who needs an array of SMS tasks to be completed. The top copy generation platforms require very little input to build a huge variety of messages. Choose your industry, then enter a URL or product description, and the writing assistant will do the rest. Some of the more high-end technologies also let you choose tone of voice, automatically adjust the length of the SMS. They can even rewrite existing text messages to show you what’s possible.
Anyword, AI, and Conversions
Still, there’s one thing missing from many AI writing assistants. Copy generators can build thousands of lines of SMS texts, but if they don’t increase conversions, then they aren’t really worth it.
Anyword’s solution is the Predictive Performance Score. This unique feature among AI writing assistants provides a grade for each SMS text version to indicate its conversion potential. The Predictive Performance Score is based on the conversion rates of millions of ads, along with a machine learning analysis of how those scores relate to language and audience profiles.
Bottom line – Anyword allows marketers and copywriters to spend more time defining messaging than on the nuts and bolts of text generation, all while enjoying optimized conversion rates. Explore what is becoming the dream platform for marketers through Anyword’s 7-day free trial.
