Common SMS Marketing mistakes and how to fix them Part 2

by | Feb 11, 2015 |

How difficult can SMS Marketing be? Well, it is fairly easy actually, but that doesn’t imply that you can’t make mistakes or use it in the wrong way. The following common mistakes are best to be avoided. Not providing an Opt-out option Not only will this drive customers insane who no longer wish to receive your messages (resulting in the boycott of your business) but it will land you in hot water. According to the WASPA guidelines, you must always give your subscribers an opt-out option. The solution: Tell customers that they can reply “stop” or “no” at the end of your text.  Spamming your customers You are excited about your products/ services and you can probably talk about it all day long. Unfortunately you can’t apply that to SMS Marketing. If you send too many texts, customers will get annoyed and angry and unsubscribe from your list. Always remember that you are entering your customer’s personal space by texting them. The solution: How many is too many? Put the shoe on the other foot and ask yourself: How many times a week would I want to hear from MY favourite brand? Not telling your customers what action to take Your customer opens your SMS Marketing message and all it says is: “Summer sale now on.” Your customer is most likely thinking: “Okay, so what?” Why? Because you didn’t tell her what to do with the info. Should she visit your store or order the goods on your website? Oops, you just wasted a golden opportunity! The solution: provide a clear call-to-action telling your customer exactly how to respond...

Common SMS Marketing mistakes and how to fix them Part 1

by | Feb 9, 2015 |

Mistakes are part of life, but when it comes to you business, unnecessary mistakes can affect your bottom line. We take a look at a few common SMS Marketing mistakes and how you can avoid them. Not telling customers who you are You might put your company’s name in your texts the first few times, but then you either forget to do it again (you assume your customers know who you are by now) or you simply don’t have enough characters to spare for a name. Don’t assume the message receiver automatically knows the message is from you. The solution: If your problem is that your business has a lengthy name, simply shorten it. E.g. “Johnny’s Car Repairs” can become “JCR”. Sending out error-filled messages Spelling and grammar might not seem like a priority for SMS Marketing, but it could actually make customers opt out of your messages. It creates a bad image if you don’t pay attention to details. Who wants to spend their hard earned money at a company that can’t even spell – how will their service be? The solution: Always double check your texts before you send them out. Having a second pair of eyes to scan your messages, is a must. Not using all the marketing tools in your arsenal Okay, so you might think that running a SMS Marketing campaign across all your channels, defeats the purpose of it being a mobile based campaign. While there might be seem truth to this, the actual mistake you are making is creating exclusivity – and not in a good way. The only people who will...

Spread the love with Bulk SMS marketing

by | Feb 4, 2015 |

It’s February and everybody is getting ready for the next big thing on the calendar: Valentine’s Day. The competition is fierce and the time is limited. How can you make sure that your brand’s voice is heard? With Bulk SMS marketing! Love it or hate it, but Valentine’s is a big deal for restaurants, jewellery shops, the clothing and perfume industry, chocolate manufacturers, florists – you name it. But what makes this day a little different than Christmas for instance, is that the hype doesn’t begin three months in advance. Your brand has a few weeks tops to get your message across while making sure it doesn’t get lost in all the marketing noise. You need a medium that is fast and on the money – like Bulk SMS. You can count on the fact that consumers are just as pressed for time. Last minute gifts will be bought and those who ordered products in advance will want insurance that their gifts will be delivered to their loved ones in time. Having staff scramble to help impatient customers on the phone and in your shop could lead to mistakes or delayed customer service – and yes, grumpy customers. Why not try thing a bit different this year. Try it the mobile way. Use Bulk SMS marketing to: Inform people of exclusive Valentine’s Day specials. Notify your customers that you will be open a few hours later on 13 February for emergency Valentine’s shopping. Invite people to order your products or make use of your services by texting you. Keep customers in the loop about their purchase orders. Confirm that...

USSD: everything you have always wanted to know

by | Feb 2, 2015 |

Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, USSD Push, Premium USSD, USSD shortcodes… what does it all mean? Let’s find out! What is USSD? USSD is short for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data. It is a menu-based technology that a mobile user can interact with. Typically this is used for product purchases or to answer general enquiries that have set answers. The number (called a USSD Shortcode) that the user dials usually starts with an asterisks and ends with a hashtag. Are there different types of USSD shortcodes? Yes: there are three. The standard rate: the end-user pays a standard fee for using it. The premium rate: the end-user pays a premium fee Reversed billed: the end-user can use the code for free Is USSD the same as SMS? Not quite, although all mobile phones can receive these messages. Unlike a text message, you can’t store a USSD message on your phone, because USSD is session based. When the session ends, the message disappears. This makes USSD a popular method for sending sensitive info to clients like passwords or pins. Also, USSD messages can contain 22 characters more than a SMS Is it fast? For sure! In fact, it is almost three times faster than SMS. It is also not dependant on things like internet connectivity. How does a user gain access to a USSD menu? There are two kinds of USSD messages: Push and Pull. A mobile user accesses a Pull menu by dialling a shortcode, while a Push message is “pushed” onto the user’s phone by the sender (business). Push is usually used for things like sending pins or marketing messages,...

10 Reasons to use a SMS Platform for customer communication

by | Jan 28, 2015 |

The days of phone calls and emails for customer communication are long gone – having a SMS Platform is the ultimate way to go. And we can give you ten very good reasons why! 1. It is the new “word of mouth” because it is so easy to forward text messages to friends and family. 2. It helps to create customer loyalty because you can provide users with any information they want, and at the drop of a hat. Keep them up to date or wish them a happy birthday. 3. It improves communication with consumers because it enables you and the customer to exchange info in real time. Problems are resolved quicker, which results in happier customers. 4. It is one of the best forms of mass communication available. You can reach thousands of people at the same time – without breaking a sweat. 5. It gives you a foot in the door. If someone is already willing to give you their phone number, it won’t take much to convince him/ her to purchase your products. 6. Opting out of SMS Platform campaigns is easy. Even though you don’t want people to unsubscribe, it will save you money in the long run because you won’t be marketing to people who aren’t interested in your brand. 7. Text messages are very cheap, especially if you buy them in bulk. Compare it with traditional marketing methods and you won’t believe how big the gap in cost differences is. 8. It is a good marketing tool on it’s own, but can play well with others too. Combine it with your other...

Use Wholesale SMS to collect your payments

by | Jan 26, 2015 |

Are you still trying to get your payments from clients the paper-based way? Step into the 21ste century and use Wholesale SMS to easily send mobile statements right to your customers’ phones. If you have been relying on snail mail to communicate with your clients, the recent post office strikes must have been extremely frustrating. And who knows when (or how many times) it will happen again. The country’s electricity problems aren’t helping either, because emails and faxes can’t work without power. But there is no need to struggle and lose money and sleep because your statements, invoices or other documents don’t reach your clients in time. Wholesale SMS will take care of this in a way that is both cheap and very efficient. Customers on the lower end of the LSM scale might not always have access to emails. Those with browser capabilities on their phones are more likely to spend their money on airtime than data for browsing. Also, they often live in areas that don’t have a fixed address, making it difficult for them to receive any paper-based communication. Mobile communication benefits both the customer and the brand. Customers can receive their statements in a way that suits them best, and the business can have a better grip on their communication processes. Why waste money on printing and postage costs when Wholesale SMS is cheap and trackable? Yes, you can actually see if your customers are receiving your texts, unlike a letter in the mail. It also eliminates the human error factor – mail gets lost, addresses are written down incorrectly etc. If for some reason...