Bulk SMS campaigns are not all created equally. Some companies use them in their marketing campaigns, while others view them as a side hustle. However, you can take several actions to ensure that your bulk SMS campaign is lucrative.

You can search the web endlessly and get “guru” tips all day, but with over 2 decades in the mobile marketing space we wanted to round up some excellent tips for campaign success so you can apply them to your business.

Create an SMS Marketing Team

An SMS campaign can be a substantial project, and you will want to have a specialized team ready to support, manage, and optimize it. Many individuals will slide into multiple roles, but you’ll want to make sure you have a complete team. At minimum, this might comprise an ROI and budget allowance analyst, an SMS marketing expert, a retail marketing expert, social media expert, digital creative designer, and a promotions specialist.

Consider a Stable SMS Cooperative

When you have a project that is too large or time-consuming for your team to handle, consider outsourcing your campaign and seek advice from a reputable SMS company like NOC Solutions. You can designate your budget, packages, and what platform you’d like to use for sending the bulk SMS campaign. There are often no commitments or contracts to worry about, however we strongly suggest you research all your options extensively. That way you can profit from discount opportunities to decrease your costs, increasing your ROI even more.

Keep it Short and Direct

Fact is, nobody will read through pages of SMS to get to the point of your campaign. If your campaign is longer, your target audience may not even make it to the end before deleting it. With only 160 characters, you want to make them count. Be short, direct, and to the point. Your clients should recognize the reward or benefit by the end.

TIP: Consider that your average client is consistently busy and on the go with a limited attention span. Can your message suck them in the first 8 seconds?

Leverage Call to Action Opportunities

It’s vital that you engage your clients from the first point they open your SMS campaign. Your goal is to keep them to interested throughout the entire campaign. Setting up call to action prompts can raise your client engagement rates.

Not sure how you can do this? Consider these:

• Buy Now
• Text to Win
• Text to Vote
• Click Here

Follow Rules and Regulations

POP Quiz: Did you know that there are rules and regulations that relate explicitly to SMS campaigns? Notably, who you can and cannot contact? Believe it or not, people have a right whether to receive unsolicited SMS, opt-out of receiving SMS, and also provide authorization for receiving SMS.

Get acquainted with:

• CAN-SPAM Act
• Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
• Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)
• GDPR

Add a Personal Touch

Clients want to feel you’re talking to them. Adding small personal touches can go far when engaging your clients during a campaign. Try using your client’s name instead of a generic term. Also, infuse your brand into your SMS campaign. Be cautious not to overdo it with ALL CAPS, exclamation points, or spam type messages.

Timing is Key

Your clients’ responses to your SMS campaign often work best when you set them up to deliver as last-minute impulses. For instance, have a showroom opening Friday night, send the SMS out on Friday afternoon. Maybe your SMS campaign promotes a new bistro grand opening on a Wednesday evening. Send the SMS toward the end of that workday. This approach keeps your campaign fresh in your client’s mind and is more likely to take action, ultimately leading to the conversion you were seeking!

Less is More

Once your SMS campaign’s delivery to a group of recipients is complete, make sure you don’t resend it repeatedly. With these campaigns, less is always more. If you over send and agitate your potential clients, they may delete the messages without reading them or worse, opt-out altogether. Not to mention, it can also give your company or business a poor reputation and lead to potential legal issues.

Build a Solid List

To maximize exposure with your campaigns, you’ll want to combine your past and present clients. It’s important to think about your target audience. When you target relevant clients, your campaign can intrigue them. Target the incorrect clients, and they may perceive it as spam.

Clean Your Databases

It’s important that you clean your database at the start of every campaign. This will help decrease sending costs as you won’t be sending to old or inactive numbers. Adhere to the three strikes, and you’re out of rule. If you try to send to a number three times with no success, delete it from your database. In addition, we highly recommend a SMS validation service, such as Subscriber Verify.

Use Keywords to Grow Your List

Use an SMS keyword to help grow your campaign list. For example, you could have potential clients text DEALS to 9998** to get discount codes and coupons to a retail store or coffee shop. Collect the list of responders, compile your list, use this list to send out your next campaign.

We hope these SMS hacks will support you when thinking of your next campaign! Start off strong and prosper. You can use the strength of this campaign to broaden your brand’s influence, boost your engagement, and improve your ROI.