In a world of emails and social media notifications, you may be surprised that bulk text messaging is a fantastic way to reach prospective customers.
However, as a marketing channel, it makes a lot of sense. and this figure is set to increase in the near future.
So how can you do bulk text messaging and most importantly, do it well? Here’s our guide to getting your message out there.
Why bulk text messaging is a great way to connect with your customers
Text (or SMS) messaging can be a cost-effective and efficient way to connect with new customers, as well as nurture existing ones.
With bulk text messaging, you can send a message to hundreds, even thousands, of people at once from your computer. No more sore fingers hitting that send button or worrying that you’ve sent a typo!
From the latest business news to exclusive offers, bulk text messaging is great for keeping your customers up to date.
Here are just some of the ways bulk text messaging is one of the best marketing channels around.
- Your message has a high chance of being read. 97% of text messages received are read within 15 minutes of being sent. This means the marketing messages you push out are more likely to be acknowledged
- It’s reliable. Unlike emails where there is a risk your content is marked as spam; all SMS messages will be placed in front of your customer.
- Over 6.6 billion people worldwide own a smartphone. Even if your customer’s phone is off or they don’t have a signal, they will still eventually get your message
- It’s easy to scale. No matter whether you have ten phone numbers or ten-thousand, bulk text messaging grows as your business does
- It works well alongside your other marketing channels. You can use SMS marketing alongside your email and social media channels to ensure that wherever your customers are, you can reach them
- It’s easy to measure results. With text messages, you can see precisely how many customers are reading and replying to your content. If you’re selling something, a referral code will help you gauge your return on investment
How to bulk message like a pro
As one of the top bulk messaging service providers out there, we know a thing or two about producing SMS campaigns that bring results!
Here are some of the things to consider when creating your first bulk text messaging campaign
1. Build your messaging list
Before you start your campaign, you will need to have a list of numbers to send messages to.
It’s vital to ensure that everyone on this list has given their permission to be messaged, in line with regulations such as PECR and GDPR. You will also need to provide customers with a way to unsubscribe from any communications you send.
One of the best ways to build your SMS marketing list is to let people sign up alongside your email marketing list. Include a box for people to give you their mobile number, and you’re well on the way towards a healthy text messaging list.
2. Think about your message
The character limit for an SMS message is 160 characters. This means you need to think carefully about your message to make sure your customer engages with it.
To put things into context, the last paragraph you read was 159 characters long!
Keep your message short and have a clear call to action at the end. This can be a link to your website, a discount code or a phone number to call.
3. Choose the right time to send
The good news about bulk text messaging services (like Outlasted Data) is that you can schedule your messages to go out when you like. It’s essential to make sure your messages are pushed out at a time most convenient to your audience.
Let’s say you run a takeaway. You’ll want to send your messages out just before dinner time, to entice your customers to pick up the phone and order a pizza!
If you’re sending messages to other countries, you need to consider different time zones. You don’t want to wake someone up with a mistimed text.
4. Consider which platform is right for you
We’ve talked about bulk text messaging a lot in this article. However, there are also other bulk messaging platforms to consider. It’s important to understand your target audience and know which platform will bring in the most business.
For example, Telegram is a popular social media messaging system with over 550 million users worldwide. It’s currently the most popular messaging app in Cambodia, Belgium, Latvia and Venezuela. This means that if you have a presence in these countries, Telegram is a smart choice.
Do your research and understand who your target customer is. You’ll then know how best to connect with them.
5. Prepare your team for bulk messaging
As you can send thousands of text messages out at any given time, you need to let your team know just in case they are inundated with calls or emails off the back of your campaign.
Alternatively, it’s a good idea to send your messages out in batches, to give your business a little breathing space if needed.
Need an exceptional bulk text messaging service? Call on OutlastedData
If you are looking for a bulk text messaging service provider to help boost your brand and bring in sales, Outlasted Data is here to help.
We’ll set you up and take care of all the technical details meaning all you need to do is reply to your brand new customers.
As well as bulk text messaging, we also can help with all your bulk messaging needs, including:
And with mobile messaging starting from $0.15, you’ll find it’s a cost-effective way to get in touch with your target audience.
Find out more about our bulk messaging services and see which marketing platform is the right choice for your business.
