SMS (Short Messaging Service) marketing is simply marketing to customers by using text messaging. Research shows that most people have their mobile phones within 3 feet of their reach almost all the time. This makes SMS marketing one of the most important communication channels for marketers, but it can be more than a bit daunting at first. Many marketers think it isn’t right for their business, are fearful that customers will respond negatively to their messages, or think that they will never master the technology. Although these are all valid concerns, they’re not worth worrying about if you run the right kind of SMS marketing campaign.

Treat Your Customers with Respect
Make sure that you treat your customers like people in each message you send. Don’t throw gimmicky pitches at them or try any ridiculous sales claims. In the age of information-overload, customers are more savvy now than ever before. It takes a lot more than that to win them over. You must be personal in your text messages and talk to your subscribers in a light, conversational tone.

Use your SMS campaign to treat your customers to special discounts and coupons only provided through your text messages. Offer a special code or password so they continue using your service to get more in the future. Incentivizing your texts every so often will keep people guessing, which in turn will keep them on your list.

Keep Up with Trends in Your Niche
One great way to harness the power of SMS marketing is to keep your subscribers in the know about new news in your niche. For example, you could write an article on your website about an event, and follow it up by sending an SMS to your list with a one-sentence blurb and a link to the article. Short, simple, and to the point. The best part? You’re staying relevant without being annoying.

Offer a Clear Way to Unsubscribe
Always make sure to provide clear instructions for customers who wish to opt out of your SMS marketing messages. Make it easy for your customers to do, and never send messages to someone after they have opted out. It’s not only unethical – it’s also against the law.

Remember Your Call to Action
Make sure you give a clear call to action in every SMS marketing message you send, even if that action is simply reading a blog post you wrote or watching a video that you’ve just uploaded. By enticing them to take some kind of action that lands them on your site, you are creating the potential for a sale.

The buzzword of the year, it seems, is mobile marketing. Everyone’s talking about it, and internet marketers and brick-and-mortar business owners alike are all clamoring to get their piece of the action. But with so many rushing to get their share of this hot new demographic, dumb mistakes are being made left and right. If you play the mobile marketing game wrong, you risk not only offending potential customers, but also possibly breaking the law.

Disrespecting Privacy and Ignoring the Opt-Out
If people agree to subscribe to your mobile marketing campaign and you don’t display a link to your business’s privacy policy, you are setting yourself up for a huge failure. In today’s age of take-no-prisoners marketing tactics bombarding every device, the resulting information overload has caused most people to guard their personal information jealously. You must explain how you intend to protect the privacy of your mobile customers in clearly defined detail if you want to win their trust.

Marketing experts agree that you should require your customers to follow a double opt-in procedure when signing up for your list. This practice ensures that every person on your list actually wants to be there. It also keeps you from breaking anti-spam laws.
You must also provide a clear, reasonable way for your customers to unsubscribe from your mobile marketing list. If you have a text messaging campaign, for instance, set it up so instructing the customer to reply “STOP” to any of your messages will automatically remove that person from your list.

Spamming
If you set out on an aggressive mobile marketing spree – sending daily messages or random, irrelevant information for the sake of having something to send – you are dooming yourself to a dead-end campaign… and possibly a bad reputation as well. The best way to approach mobile marketing is to try to create a rapport and build a relationship with the people on your list. Your ultimate goal is to get your customers to look forward to receiving your text messages. To accomplish this, make sure your messages have a personal touch, but are not overly invasive to your customers’ privacy.

Always double-check your messages for clarity, grammar, and punctuation mistakes. Nothing smells like spam more than a text message littered with exclamation points and misplaced apostrophes. Stay away from selling anything outright. Instead, offer coupons and run contests to get your customers in the door. The goal is for them to buy once you’ve led them through your sales funnel to your store or website.

Lack of Communication
Neglecting to keep an open line of communication is one of the biggest marketing campaign killers of all time. Always ask your customers for feedback about your products and services. Make them feel like they can tell you what needs improvement. This will not only build trust, it will also allow you to improve your future mobile marketing campaigns and take your sales to the next level.