SMS Usage Tips

Bulk SMS is a direct, cheap and efficient communication and marketing tool. However, in order to be effective and have the best possible results, it has to be used correctly. Through our extensive experience in the bulk SMS business, we have gathered and present you below a few tips that will help you optimise your SMS campaigns and communication with your customers.

SMS recipients:

Avoid using illegal recipients lists that you found on the internet or that you purchased from other companies or organisations. If you send SMS to users that have not opted in to receiving messages from you/ your company, you risk creating a negative image for your brand/ company, and in the worst case senario you risk legal actions against you because of violation of the Personal Data Act.

Reason for communicating:

It is very important to send SMS to your customers/ partners only when you have something important or interesting to communicate. Your SMS communication must have an added value that the users will appreciate and look forward to, ex. an offer or a discount. By sending SMS too often and without offering something of value to the users, you risk being characterised as a spammer by the users which will want to opt out from your recipients list.

Segmentation:

In order to optimise your campaigns and have the best possible results, it is highly recommended to segment your customers/ partners lists and send different messages to each segment according to their specific characteristics. For example, depending on the type of product you advertise, you may segment your target group according to where they live, their consumer behaviour and habits, their age group, etc. It is very possible that each group needs to be approached in a different way and with a different SMS text.

Personalised Communication:

By sending personalised messages to each customer/partner, you maximise the impact of your communication by offering greater added value through your communication, creating a sense of intimacy with your company/brand and ultimately creating loyalty. In order to be able to personalise your communication you must collect the correct details from your customers/partners.

Timing:

It has been observed that the timing of the SMS sending has a significant impact on the results of each campaign. Specifically, depending on the type of promotion and the product or service that it is promoted, there are a few aspects of the timing of the campaign that may influence its outcome. For example, whether the SMS was sent during office hours or not, during weekdays or in the weekend, in the morning or in the evening or at night, on Monday or Friday, etc.

Avoid annoying the users:

It is important to avoid sending messages during times of the day that are inappropriate or that users may be annoyed. It is common to avoid sending messages between 14.30 – 17.30 and from 21.00 until 9.30 the next morning.

Message content:

The SMS text must have the correct length and provide the user with all the necessary information regarding the campaign. The information regarding the offer/discount, store details, etc. must be clearly stated and not confuse the users. However, the text must not be too long and with unneccesary information, because users may lose their interest. Users expect SMS to be a relatively short message, as its name states (Short Messaging Service).

Customers/ Partners contact details Collection:

Use every opportunity to gather contact information and details about your customers/partners, that you can use in future campaigns. The most important details are the name and mobile phone number, but any further information you can gather for each customer (the store they usually visit, how often they buy your products/services, how much they usually spent, which product or service they purchase, etc.) will help you segment your target group and create personalised campaigns with better results.