When SMS Text Messaging Actually Makes Sense for Marketers

SMS, or "short messaging service," is an oft-touted component of mobile marketing that, though simple in concept, is difficult to execute correctly. It seems easy -- shoot a text message out to leads and customers to increase sales. But as an inbound marketer, doesn't that strike you as a little intrusive? When, if ever, is it a good idea to incorporate this type of communication into your inbound marketing strategy? This blog post will break down how you can successfully use SMS as part of your inbound and mobile marketing program, and provide a few words of warning to make sure you don't use SMS in an ineffective or brand-damaging way.

Ways to Make SMS Work

According to Techipedia, 98% of SMS messages sent are opened, and 83% of them are opened within 3 minutes. That not only shows the opportunity behind texting as a communications medium, but also how crucial it is to get it right -- because you're talking with people in a medium they clearly find extremely important. Do you really want to be the brand that interrupts eager texters with irrelevant, useless messages? I think not.

And although SMS is relatively low cost for marketers, it's also important to remember that it actually costs some people money to receive text messages. That means not only is it crucial you only use SMS with an opt-in list specific to your text program (that means no stealing from your opt-in email list!), but also that every message you send is highly relevant to prevent rampant opt-outs.

So let's take a look at some SMS campaigns that can provide content people actually want, instead of those spammy text messages we've all received that do more harm than good for your brand.

Fundraising and Raising Awareness

If you're a non-profit organization, you have a unique opportunity to use SMS for fundraising. You're probably familiar with popular fundraising campaigns like the Haiti Earthquake Relief or President Obama's campaign fundraising; these offer pretty straightforward text-to-donate opportunities via SMS that have been very successful, because they use other marketing channels to generate campaign awareness, and simply use text messaging as a means of collecting donations.

But non-profits (and any other businesses that are looking to create awareness around an issue or campaign) can also leverage SMS. For an example of an SMS campaign that went beyond the common text-to-donate, take a look at 'The Cove' case study from Msgme. The documentary film had a "digital social action" campaign associated with it with the goal to reach other socially conscious people, get them to join a mobile subscriber list by texting in a short code, sign a petition to send to President Obama and Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Ichiro Fujisaki, and then continue to receive updates about the cause.

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