As with any platform you use for marketing your business, when you use SMS text messaging to reach out to customers, it’s important that you keep proper call center phone etiquette in mind. Without it, you may leave customers frustrated, ultimately causing you to lose their business. Here are 5 important rules to abide by as you utilize SMS text marketing.
1. Paint a Clear Picture
As a way to both attract customers to your SMS marketing services and give them a good idea of what signing up with your texting service entails, it’s important to paint a very clear picture of your program. Let customers know up front about how many texts they can expect to receive from you each month—some customers only have an allotted amount of texts for the month. Letting customers know what to expect ahead of time is a polite way to help them avoid being overcharged.
2. Set Up a Way to Subscribe
Rather than automatically sending text messages to customers when they request more information, or perhaps even when they make a purchase, you need to ask permission. Make subscribing easy, but also be very clear so your customers know what they’re signing up for. Being upfront with customers is the best way to keep them happy and avoid complaints and confusion.
3. Don’t Go Overboard
Once you’ve established some subscribers, you may be tempted to rapid fire text messages at them on a regular basis to remind them of what a great company you have, but you must fight this urge. Sending too many texts will result in customers being turned off, and ultimately ending their subscription with you. A few texts a month should be sufficient, but definitely no more than one a week.
4. Be Polite
Think about the last time you received a phone call from a telemarketer during dinner time, or perhaps late at night as you were falling asleep. Did that improperly placed call make you more likely to buy their product? If you’re like most peo
ple, then no, it actually probably made you feel annoyed.
Schedule texts to be sent out only during acceptable hours. With text message marketing, you have some leeway in that texts aren’t quite as disruptive as phone calls. However, you don’t want a customer to wake up to the sound of a text and see your company name through their groggy eyes and frustration.
5. Make It Worth Their While
Now that your customers have done something for you and agreed to receive your advertisements via text, you should do something for them in return and nothing makes a customer feel more appreciated than a good discount. Consider sending coupons with your messages—there’s nothing like the promise of a good deal to get a customer into your store or shopping on your website. And knowing they’ll only continue to receive these special discounts as long as they subscribe to your company’s text messages will motivate them to maintain their subscription.
Using SMS text message marketing is an excellent way to reach out to your customers. Contact ROI Solutions and get help utilizing this powerful marketing tool today!
