Having been in the business for over a decade now, we have seen just about every type of Bulk SMS Marketing strategy, with varying levels of success. The one common denominator between all the strategies employed is that companies who embrace this relatively new (for businesses anyway) communication channel is that they are almost always successful.

Often the first thought when people hear, “business text messaging” is, OH NO, you’re not going to be one of those spammers are you!?
True, in the past Bulk SMS for businesses usually consisted of getting a big list of mobile numbers and sending them all a spam SMS message! Nowadays though, the law and the savvy UK customer has caught up with these rogue companies and they are virtually non-existent.
In fact, here are some recent “Business Texting Fast Facts”

65% of people send business text messages from their mobile phone on a daily basis
50% of people receive business text messages from a member of their team/ department/ office
47% of people receive business text messages from a colleague
36% receive business text messages from a customer or client
71% of people use business texts for setting ‘reminders of meetings and appointments’
18% of people used business texts for ‘notifying people about new meetings and appointments’
14% of people use business text for ‘chasing up suppliers or new orders’
A third of respondents (36%) said that they receive text messages from a customer or client
11% of people receive text messages from suppliers.

So, what are the most effective ways to gain increased sales using Bulk SMS?

In reverse order of success rating;

Number 5
Start a text club. Allow people to text in to a keyword to receive special offers from you by text message.

Number 4
Keep a customer informed during the order process. Text them when you have received the order, when payment has been taken & when it has been despatched with a delivery time estimate. This has been proven to dramatically increase repeat orders and positive word of mouth.

Number 3
Text enable your adevrtising. Allow people to respond by texting you. On average around half of respondents will choose to do so if you include a text response on your advertising and often those people wouldn’t have responded so you increase response rates.

Number 2
Text lapsed customers. Try to get a list of customers from your database who haven’t bought for X months and text them out an offer to encourage them back to you. So long as they had a good experience last time, this is one of the fastest ways to gain new sales.

And, in at Number 1 …..
Follow up your sales. Customers like nothing more than to be assured they have made the right choice buying from you. Text them X days after the sale thanking them for their business and offering a number to call if they need any help or anything further. We have seen this increase recall rates, increase repeat purchase and hugely increase positive word of mouth amongst peer groups – essentially free advertising!