Wednesday, 9 January 2013

Top Two Ways to Avoid Spam in SMS Text Marketing

It’s most likely that you are aware of SMS text marketing, and all of the benefits it provides for your business. Each day, it seems as though more and more industries are taking advantage of an SMS text platform – obviously for marketing, but also for organization and simplicity. Text message marketing allows you to speak directly to your ideal clients or customers - targeting the right audience is one of the best aspects of this marketing method. Despite all of the versatility the simple technology brings to your business, the most important thing to remember is that there is definitely a level of responsibility. Reaching customers or clients via their cell phone is highly effective when it comes to creating a personalconnection, however there are laws to abide by for this level of communication.
We all know it, and we all hate it. Spam! Nobody likes getting junk in their email box. Even with all the filters you can set up on your computer – it seems as though something always sneaks through. Unwanted cyber solicitation. Spam is awful because not only is it annoying, it can be potentially dangerous should a link be clicked on that may compromise the security within your computer. Spam is very rare when it comes to text message marketing communications, so the ultimate goal is to keep it that way. There aren’t any filters on text messaging, and hopefully there won’t need to be! Your business must research best practices for text marketing, and be sure to get it right.

Firstly, if someone isn’t already your customer, you must get their permission first. This is one of the most important things to remember about a new SMS text marketing campaign. The individual to whom you plan to connect with on a future basis must text-in, or opt-in in order to receive messages from your business. Quite often this can be accomplished through a very simple traditional marketing method, such as a sign or flyer encouraging the customer to text-in for a promotion. From here, a follow up message can be sent confirming the customer’s permission to get marketing messages from you in the future.

Secondly, you must give your customers some control. By control, I mean options. Nobody likes to feel trapped, so be sure to always include a disclosure at the end of each text message that provides the customer with an option to opt-out. Usually it can say something like “Text STOP, to quit receiving messages from us.” If you get this right, you’ll be on your way to creating a solid database of loyal customers, but if you skip this step – you will be opening the door to prosecution for unsolicited SMS text messages. Yikes!

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