Texting has grown to become a part of everyday life for most people, and when most people are using a tool consistently to communicate, businesses will always look for ways to use that tool as a way to market their businesses.
The first time I was exposed to using text to communicate with a company was in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. After seeing a telethon and the requests for donations to help the victims, I felt moved to make a donation, so I pulled out my cell phone and texted whatever word we were supposed to, responded with my donation amount, and confirmed my donation amount, all in a matters of minutes (maybe even seconds), I had made my donation to the American Red Cross.
Since that time, companies are starting to realize how powerful text marketing can be, and we are seeing more and more companies jump on board with text marketing. The great thing about text marketing is that it is affordable for the small business owner and 95% of text messages are opened and read within minutes of receipt, so as an independent business owner, coach or consultant, it can be a great way for you to reach out to your customers or prospects. [Tweet “The great thing about text marketing is that it is affordable for the small business owner.”] [Tweet “95% of text messages are opened and read within minutes of receipt”]
So with that said, how does text marketing work for independent business owners, coaches and consultants? The first step is to select a mobile marketing service provider. Once you have signed up with a mobile marketing service provider, you will need to:
- Build your opt-in mobile phone list– this is important because the goal of any successful marketing is to have your customer or prospect opt-in to receive your information, so it is important that the individuals on your mobile phone list have given you permission to text them. You don’t want to be a spammer!
- Have your customers or prospects text a keyword to a short code/number that is provided by your mobile marketing service provider. A keyword is one single word that your customer or client can text to your short code number (i.e. FREE, JOIN, SPECIAL, etc.). A short code number is a number (typically 5-6 digits long) that is provided by your mobile marketing service provider in which your customers or prospects can text the keyword (i.e. 72404, 54465, 33031), so a request could be Text “FREE” to “72404”.
- It’s always good to provide something of value for joining your list (i.e. special discount coupon, free eBook, etc.)
- Once the prospect or customer has gone through the process, they have opted in to your mobile phone list and you now have permission to communicate with him or her via text message.
- Send text campaigns to your customers and prospects. This can include:
- Special offers and coupons
- Announcements
- Messages
- You can get as creative as you would like as to what you can send your customers and prospects via text.
Are you using text marketing in your business? Are you thinking about using text marketing in your business? Share your comments below.
If you need help with getting started with text marketing or taking your text marketing to the next level, click here to contact us.