What if your best marketing tool fits right in the palm of your hand? Low-cost bulk SMS marketing is still very effective for just about every business. Unfortunately, many businesses don't know how to make the most out of this type of marketing. Wondering how your own business should approach SMS marketing? Keep reading to discover the answer!

1. Right Customers and Right Time

On the most basic level, you want to make sure your texts are reaching the right customers at the right time. But doing so takes a lot of work from behind the scenes. The "easy part" is determining the right time to send messages. For example, a restaurant sending out text offers for free appetizers should time those messages for close to dinner time. But to do so accurately, you must make sure your provider can queue and dequeue efficiently enough to handle thousands of messages all at once. It might take hours to send out all of these texts, so you need to time everything accordingly to get customers in for dinner.

2. Check Those Numbers

Whether automated or by hand, it's easy enough to text a phone number. But are you actually texting the right numbers? It's possible that your list of numbers includes landlines and VOIP numbers that cannot receive your SMS messages. And any time and effort spent texting those numbers is a complete waste. And on top of that, you may even be paying for the "privilege" of texting the wrong number! Our advice? Make sure your provider can verify that a phone number can receive SMS messages. If your current one cannot, it may be time for a new provider!

3. Manage Consumer Responses

Obviously, a lot of low-cost bulk SMS marketing goes into simply sending the messages. But have you ensured a quality experience once they actually respond? For example, your text may prompt customers to enter "y" to enter into a promotion. It's important that your provider gives them a real-time response, especially if the promotion is limited to the first 1,000 or so people who respond. Over the years, we've found that integrating keyword responses can make it easy and intuitive for customers to respond to your messages.

4. Always Ensure Compliance

We saved the best piece of advice for last. What is it? Making sure you are compliant with all SMS messaging rules and regulations. For example, consumers typically have to "opt-in" to your SMS marketing. On top of that, you must ensure you are complying with the relevant regulations of wireless companies, local law enforcement, and any other relevant parties. It may sound basic, but your SMS marketing will never go far if you don't understand the ins and outs of compliance regulations.

Low-cost Bulk SMS Marketing: What Comes Next?

Now you know the best practices for low-cost bulk SMS marketing. But do you know who can help you get the most out of each message? We specialize in helping companies of every size master SMS marketing. To see what we can do for your own business, contact us today!