5 SMS Fundamentals to Help You Master Customer Engagement

According to MobileSQUARED, 90% of the SMS customers receive are opened within the first three minutes. 

SMS are no doubt one of the best marketing approaches. Businesses all around the world are using it to target their customers. But as beneficial as this marketing approach might appear, it's not everyone's cup of tea. If you are a small business or a startup planning to get the most out of SMS, you need to take care of certain things. 

SMS marketing can be highly profitable if you keep certain fundamentals in mind. In today's blog, we're going to talk about the top five fundamentals to keep in mind to master customer engagement. Without making you wait any longer, let's jump straight to our...

List of 5 SMS Fundamentals for Better Customer Engagement

1. Be Mindful with What You Send to Your Customers

No one wants to read an SMS that isn't engaging and is delivered at an incorrect time. For customer engagement, you need to consider when to send it. When and how regularly you send messages to your customers highly influences customer engagement.

A well-crafted text needs to be delivered at the right time to receive responsive actions. When we talk about well-crafted SMS, it must contain CTAs or action buttons. If your SMS has CTAs, its customer retention rate will automatically increase. 

Once you're sure that your SMS is perfectly crafted, it's time to decide when to schedule it.

Here are some of the tips to optimize the timeliness of your SMS.

• Send your text during the socially acceptable hours of your customer's time zone. 
• You can automate your SMS during night-time when customers are most active
• Make sure don't spam them by sending too many messages continuously

Keep these things in mind, and your customer engagement will shoot to the sky. Just make sure you don’t overdo anything. A perfectly timed and well-crafted text always gives great returns. 

2. Add Emojis, GIFs and Imagery

Sending SMS to your customers is a powerful marketing tactic. However, using MMS could be even more advantageous and can enrich your communication. Customers feel emotionally connected when visuals of services and products are shown to them.

According to studies, MMS offers a 15% higher click-through rate than SMS. Thus, make sure to add GIFs and images to your messages to make them even more engaging.

Here are some key advantages of including emojis, GIFs and imagery in your SMS.

• When you include images in your SMS, it becomes easier for customers to imagine what it looks like in real life.
• The average character limit of SMS is around 160, including spaces. So using images, GIFs and emojis allow you to say more in less.
• Emojis add little splashes of colors into your SMS, making your brand appear fun and engaging. 

3. Offer Your Customers Assistance

Convenience is the best way to boost customer experience. If you expect instant replies from your target audience, include basic and clear options. When you include clear instructions, you make it easier for them to act or make any moves. The easier you make for them to act upon anything, the more likely they will engage with you. 

All your marketing messages are crucial to have opt-out options. Whenever your customers reply 'STOP', their mobile number must automatically move out from the active SMS list. Moreover, including other options like CATALOGUE, CONTACT US, etc., allows them to engage with you better, which is what you want. Customer assistance makes your SMS more engaging and convenient to act upon. 

4. Make Sure to Ask For Feedback

Getting honest reviews and opinions about your service or product is an integral way to grow your business. You will be able to optimize your products continuously by learning about things that matter to your target audience. Moreover, asking for feedback gives you the opportunity to please those who weren't satisfied much.

Including a feedback form or CTA of feedback will help you improve customer loyalty. Furthermore, it'll spread more word-of-mouth when customers realize their voice and opinions matter to your business. At the end of an interaction, sending a feedback text is basic yet essential for your customer engagement strategy.

In that context, here are some tips to consider.

• Whether you choose a 5-star feedback system or link to external surveys, make sure there aren't too many fields or steps. Less is more!
• Make sure to have an incentive. This way, customers will be more likely to share their thoughts with you. Consider including vouchers or discounts for their future purchase.
• If you receive positive feedback, politely ask for their permission to post the testimonials on your eCommerce store or website. 

5. Ask Your Customers For Text-To-Vote Survey

SMS polls are undoubtedly one of the best SMS marketing tactics to enhance customer engagement. And it's probably one of the most underrated ones too. But you don't have to miss out on the wonderful power of SMS polls because it's the key to making your customers feel valued. 

If you are new to SMS polls, you might face complexities in understanding the concept in the starting. To help you understand how an SMS poll works, let's take an example. Suppose there's a microbrewery. 

They have decided to upgrade their flavor list and add a new flavor. So in their SMS, the brand can ask the audience what flavor they want to try. Let's suppose if it's orange, ask them to text ORANGE to you. Don't forget to give proper assistance because that's an integral part of the poll. 

Once you receive their vote, you can forward them an automated follow-up text. The text will reflect their submission. After the voting time is over, you can also share the results with them over the conversation. 

Moreover, you can also consider adding any new updates your customers might have missed. This way, your SMS will be more engaging, and your target audience will be more likely to engage in a conversation.

Final Words

SMS marketing is a newly introduced digital marketing channel that helps brands gain more potential customers. Not just new customers, but it's also a wonderful method to engage the existing ones. 

However, it can only benefit a brand if done right. Therefore, make sure to keep the above fundamentals in mind while creating an SMS marketing strategy. They will help you keep the customer engagement rate high.