Our Guide to Text Message Marketing for Small Businesses

Never play phone tag with your customers or wonder if that latest batch of 4,000 mailers reached anyone again. With text message marketing for small businesses, you can send messages right to the palm of your customer’s hand and connect with them in ways that make your business stand out and build trust.

What Is SMS Marketing?

SMS marketing is a form of advertising that takes place largely over text. SMS stands for “short message service,” and it’s a way to send promotional texts to customers or clients who have opted into receiving messages from you.

Brands use SMS marketing platforms like TextSpot to send marketing messages, appointment reminders, special promotions, exclusive offers, and much more.

Why Use a Text Message Marketing Service?

Text marketing for small businesses is an unmatched tool you can use to personalize your customer experience. Unlike emails or social media posts, text messages have high open rates and levels of engagement. You have a direct line of communication with your customers and messaging that truly resonates.

Because texting offers instant communication, you can easily reach out to your customers when and where it’s most convenient and allow them to use your services. This helps them feel valued and appreciated and makes them more likely to purchase from you.

Benefits of SMS Marketing for Small Business

Personalization

In marketing, personalization is power. Nowhere is that power more evident than in SMS messages. You can use variables like your customer’s name, state, or nearest store to create an experience that’s just for them and comes right to their inbox in a matter of seconds.

Instant Communication

It doesn’t get more instantaneous than text messaging—you can reach a person’s inbox and get your message in front of their eyes in a matter of seconds, rather than hours or days. That’s how brands like Mountain Dairy and Hope Pantry keep their community members and customers aware of when to put in orders or pick up food.

Because of TextSpot, these two organizations can instantly interact with their customers and reduce missed orders or forgotten pickup dates.

Customer Engagement

Your customers and community are less likely to ignore a message that comes directly to their phone. As an example of this in action, the University of Kentucky gets more responses from research participants and increases its response rates for surveys so it can more accurately understand the needs and concerns of its community members.

Versatility

Use TextSpot as a way to communicate with clients across all types of needs and methods. For example, while using it to send promotional messages is one option that can help your business grow, you can also use it to send surveys or ask for reviews.

How to Choose the Right Text Message Service

There are plenty of text message marketing services for small businesses out there. However, some have better features than others for your business. These are some of the proverbial “green flags” to look for in your SMS marketing partner.

Prompt and Accurate Delivery

Your small business text message service should have a proven track record of delivering messages promptly and accurately. You can’t afford valuable business communications getting lost in the digital ether or delayed for hours at a time. Services like TextSpot have high delivery success rates and a large array of positive customer reviews across all industries and business sizes.

User-Friendliness

Having a user-friendly setup is essential for managing your text messaging campaigns. It’s also important to have features like message scheduling, autoresponder capabilities, and organization for contacts so you have a program that meets your unique needs. With TextSpot, you get all of these features under one application so you can take your business communications to the next level.

Business-Focused Features

• Message scheduling: Chances are, you’ve got too much on your plate to focus on sending out a message at the precise moment your customers are most likely to receive it and take action. With message scheduling, you can set your marketing messages up in advance and send them to the masses at the exact time you want, no matter when that may be.

• Autoresponders: Setting up automated replies based on keywords and phrases provides instant information for things such as business hours and frequently asked questions, whether it’s 2 p.m. and your team can directly respond or 2 a.m. when they’re fast asleep.

• Contact organization: As your customer base grows, you need to have a system for managing and organizing your contacts effectively. Text messaging services like TextSpot allow you to create groups or segments in your contact list so you can easily send targeted messages to specific subsets of your audience and send personalized, relevant messages.

How to Use Text Marketing for Small Business

• Opt-in: Get permission from your customers and subscribers to send them messages with a process that simply involves them voluntarily providing their phone number. It’s also helpful to provide incentives at this phase.

• Build your contact list: Only take this step once you have permission from your contacts. Manually input their information or upload their information through a spreadsheet all at once.

• Craft engaging messages: Keep your messages concise, informative, and personalized to maximize their impact.

• Analyze and adjust: You may as well be sending text messages into the void if you’re not tracking your analytics. Use the analytics that providers like TextSpot offer to track the success of your campaigns and make any adjustments to your messaging, send times, and other factors.

5 Common Challenges for SMS Marketing

Even if you’re a seasoned text marketing veteran, there are some common challenges you may need to address with your campaign. These are the most common obstacles you may experience with your campaign.

Challenge 1: Building Trust

Establishing trust with your customers is one of the biggest challenges you’ll face when you start using SMS message marketing. Take steps to reassure them that you’ll protect their personal information and privacy with a clear privacy policy that you adhere to at all times. By being transparent, you can become more trustworthy and establish a strong foundation for an effective small business text message marketing strategy.

Challenge 2: Content Strategy

Developing a solid content strategy for your SMS marketing campaigns can be challenging for companies of any size. For small businesses, it’s essential to strike a balance between sending promotional messages and valuable content. Your customers want to feel like they’re receiving something of value from your messages, whether it’s helpful tips and insights or exclusive discounts.

Plan and create a content schedule to ensure your messages always provide real value to your subscribers.

Challenge 3: Opt-Out Process

Have a clear, easy opt-out process for customers who no longer wish to receive your text messages. Include instructions on how they can unsubscribe in every message and provide simple ways for them to opt out, such as replying with a specific keyword. Carriers require this.

Challenge 4: Regulatory Compliance

It’s essential to comply with regulations such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) from the moment you begin creating your text message marketing campaign. Otherwise, you could receive severe penalties—and damage to your reputation that isn’t easy to repair.

TextSpot’s AI message review also gives you one less thing to worry about. It acts as a safety net to ensure you’re only sending compliant messages.

Challenge 5: Continuous Improvement

Text message marketing is not a one-and-done task but an ongoing process—just like other parts of your marketing strategy. To stay ahead of the competition and engage with your customers, you need to continuously adjust your approach for improvement. Review your analytics and performance metrics regularly to find areas of improvement.

Experimenting with message formats, timing, and targeting strategies can also help you optimize your results. By embracing a culture of continuous improvement, you ensure that your text message services are effective and deliver continuous value to your business.

Overcoming Common Implementation Challenges

Implementing any new technology can be challenging, especially if you’re doing it on your own—starting to use a text message service is no exception. However, overcoming these challenges is easier with proper planning and preparation.

One of the most common challenges businesses face is getting their customers to opt into receiving text messages. Clearly communicate the benefits of receiving your messages to your audience and provide incentives like exclusive discounts or early access to new products to entice them to subscribe.

How to Maximize the Benefits of Text Message Services

Once you’ve begun using your text message service, there are ways you can get more out of your investment and put these powerful tools to use:

• Personalization is key: Personalize your text messages whenever possible. Address your subscribers by name and adjust the content of your messages to their needs and interests. By doing this, you’ll show you care about their individual experiences.

• Timing is everything: Always be mindful of when you send your messages. Avoid sending texts late at night, during commuting hours, or other times they may be busy with life.

• Tracking is critical: Text message services like TextSpot provide analytics so you can track the success of your campaigns. Pay attention to metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and website conversions to gauge how effective your messaging is.

Future Trends in Text Message Services for Small Businesses

The capabilities of SMS marketing platforms are constantly evolving. Therefore, it’s important to stay ahead of the curve and prepare your business for future innovations. These are some of the emerging trends to watch.

Rich Media Messaging

While traditional text messages can only have texts or links at most, the field is changing quickly. You can send images, videos, audio, and other interactive content with rich media for a more engaging experience right from your subscriber’s inbox.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Integration

As the presence of AI continues to grow in marketing, it’s also on the way for text message services. It could include chatbots that respond to customer queries, personalized recommendations, and much more to enhance the customer experience.