Imagup General Magazine 2024
Do you remember text messaging? You know that thing they invented back in the ’90s? well, it is now 2024 and it is arguably one of the most powerful marketing mediums right now in the mobile marketing space.
Why? Well it has to do with a few things according to Angus from Online SMS provider SMSpapa.com.au SMS comes with the following jaw-dropping stats, 97% open rate, up to 45% click-through rate, super-fast response times in fact most SMS messages are read within the first 3 minutes as opposed to email which can be up to 3 days.
Along with the above SMS is incredibly cheap and the campaigns are easy to put together in fact they can be done in minutes as opposed to hours for email marketing campaigns.
These are all very good reasons for any marketer to use such a channel to reach their audience.
When was the last time your blog post got anywhere near those kinds of stats?
Now before I go into how to get boost your audience for your blog post you need to make sure that your blog is mobile-friendly.
If you’ve built your blog in the last 5 years then it is likely that it will be mobile responsive but it is worth checking just in case, just go to your site using your mobile phone and make sure that you are not having to zoom into the text or scroll around the site too much.
Outline Your Consumer Life Cycle
You may not have thought about this but your ideal customer has a lifecycle that is they transition into various stages which means their needs change and so the information they need will change.
Segment your audience into these different life cycles so that you are sending the right messaging and offers to them at the right time.
If you are not sure then here is an easy way to segment them:
1. Potential customer
A potential customer is someone who has some level of interest in what you have and is likely in info seeking mode i.e. they are not ready to make a purchasing decision, they may not even be looking at prices but trying to understand exactly what their problem looks like so they can define the solution they need.
The best option here is to create different blog posts which cover different types of information with an option to download more information in exchange for their mobile number.
Maybe it is a checklist, a video, whatever it is it will be something directly related to that specific blog post and goes deeper into the problem with the goal of helping the customer get clearer on exactly what they need.
Once you have their mobile number you can now send them follow-up information and eventually make an offer to get them over the line and to become an actual customer.
2. Existing Customers
You have just accomplished the toughest (and most important) goal and that is converting a person who has never done business with you into an actual customer.
Now that you have achieved this important milestone it becomes a lot easier to offer them related information or upsells.
While amateur businesses may think this is too pushy it is not, in fact, it is a great way to provide more value to the customer.
Send them SMS messages that update them on a new blog post that may help them achieve a specific goal or overcome a pressing problem or make them aware of a problem they did not think they had.
3. Previous Customers
Losing customers is part of the business but it doesn’t mean that they are gone forever.
A lot of the time people just forget about you, life happens and so these people just need a gentle reminder that you can still help them in some way.
Planning is key
How far in advance do you plan your marketing campaigns? Most small businesses just fly by the seat of their pants which is a bad idea for many reasons.
Have at least 3 months’ worth of SMS campaigns ready to go.
They don’t need to offer they can be 100% value add text messages that make the customer aware of some great information you released.
Also, keep in mind that you need to map out how you are going to convert a non-customer into a customer this means thinking about where they are in the buying cycle and setting up automated SMS campaigns that move them through each stage.
Sender ID
Using a Sender ID means that your blog name will show up instead of a random mobile number which allows for instant brand recognition – just keep in mind that people will not be able to reply back to your SMS messages including trying to opt-out so make sure your service provider has a feature that allows Sender ID along with the ability to allow a person to opt-out.
Keep it personal
When we say ‘keep it personal’ most bloggers think that we are just adding the recipient’s first name into the text message.
According to Emotive, making it personal means that you are sending them a text message that feels like it was meant specifically for them.
For example, if they are reading your blog post on raring baby chickens then your subsequent SMS messages would be about raising chickens and what to expect at each stage, etc.
This brings me to my final tip…
Segment Your Customers
This loops back into my first tip about understand the lifecycle of your customer. In that stage, you were setting up different silos or categories to place people in.
If your blog is about raising farm animals then the people who read the blog about the chickens got an offer to opt-in to your ’10 mistakes when raising chickens’ report and they were added to the “Chickens SMS Group”.
This means that you know exactly what information to send to this group, if you had lumped everyone into the same pile then when you sent out an online SMS campaign on Emu’s then you would accidentally alienate anyone who isn’t interested in emus leading to unsubscribes.
