Many marketers work under tight deadlines and limited budgets. Those who are more fortunate also need to plan their work in a structured manner because competitors are constantly on the move, and the market offers something new every day.
Nowadays, marketing teams have extensive capabilities and smart tools to work effectively, from advertising planning to social media analytics.
SMS marketing solutions are also gaining ground. They instantly connect brands and audiences without unnecessary manipulation.
Many consider this a very simple process. Write a standard message, send it to your audience, and reap the benefits. However, this misconception often leads to failed campaigns that end in mass unsubscribes, low conversion rates, or reputational damage.
If you want to launch a killer campaign that will truly deliver, this article is for you. Below you’ll find 9 sequential steps to achieving this goal, without unnecessary theory for its own sake.
Remember, an effective SMS campaign isn’t an impulsive decision, but a well-thought-out project with clear logic and an accessible structure.
Let’s break it down step by step.
9 steps to creating an amazing SMS marketing campaign: from initial plan to tracking results
All the steps recommended below don’t relate to formality. However, skipping any of them may lead to a project’s failure. Let’s look at each step in detail.
Step 1. Visualize a plan
Any marketer must follow a clear plan, knowing what, where, and when to execute. You can’t know exactly how customers will respond or whether sales will increase, but a good plan will help you predict.
Robust planning tools assist marketing specialists in preparing goals, defining project participants, controlling budgets, setting deadlines, and more.
Such solutions as an online Gantt diagram professionally visualize plans. They reflect the entire project on a single screen and display all required elements, including critical paths, dependencies, and milestones.
An excellent example of Gantt chart software online is GanttPRO. This popular PM program is widely used among marketing departments, single specialists, and freelancers worldwide.
Step 2. Study your target audience
It may sound strange, but many marketers genuinely don’t know their audience well.
A customer base is a living organism, and you must constantly study it. Before segmenting, you need to explore the purchase history and interactions with your brand.
You should be aware of all behavioral patterns and physical locations of everyone in your base. Also, determine the optimal time to send messages.
It will be helpful to analyze past SMS marketing campaigns and identify what was most effective for your audience. CRM systems and web analytics data can help you do this quickly.
In general, messages will only be accurate and effective if you thoroughly understand your customer base.
Step 3. Make proper customer segmentation
Customer segmentation can be a real challenge. Your base may consist of people from different countries and continents. They may speak different languages and adhere to different cultural values. You may have been interacting with them for years or just recently got to know them. All of this is crucial for dividing your audience into specific groups. If you do this effectively, each customer will receive the right message.
The content and length of offers for each category should also vary. Keep in mind that some customers constantly expect special bonuses.
Effective segmentation will positively impact message personalization, as you can easily remind the audience of a previous purchase, address them by name, or mention a local event. Respect your audience and value their time.
Step 4. Choose better time for sending
The timing of messages also matters. The right approach requires a thorough analysis of time frames when your customers are most active and when they are most likely to make a purchase. It can be a Friday morning or Thursday evening.
Hopefully, everyone understands when not to send messages. These include weekends, holidays, important dates, and so on. Another important factor to consider is time zones.
Moreover, determine how often you plan to send messages. Some customers may expect them from you once a week, while others may only need one message per month.
Step 5. Prepare compelling texts
Put yourself in the recipient’s shoes. How do you want to see the text? Short or detailed? Do you need a special emotional tone?
Remember that typical messages are limited in character length. The most important thing is to make the main idea simple and clear.
Take the time to write high-quality text. It may often contain important brand information, including special offers and discounts. Write clear and accessible messages without inaccuracies and unverified data.
Do not forget to add a catchy call to action.
Step 6. Test campaigns
A/B testing is a helpful process for collecting data about your target audience. It allows you to test hypotheses on a sample before launching marketing activities to your entire audience.
Fix the results and don’t hesitate to apply these findings to your future marketing campaigns.
Step 7. Don’t violate established standards
Rules and laws exist even in SMS marketing. Be sure to study them in detail, as they apply to each country where your brand operates.
Are you sure all your customers have consented to receive your messages? Is there an option to unsubscribe at any time within your campaign?
These details may seem insignificant. However, it’s better to pay attention to them at the very beginning of a project to avoid unnecessary problems or reputational damage.
Step 8. Perform final checks
A final check before sending messages is your guarantee of peace of mind and headache-free delivery. It’s a good idea to conduct several such checks.
Carefully examine how your message displays on different devices and browsers. Check images and captions. Ensure all links open.
Check your segmentation several times. You can ask someone on your team to help you with this.
This may take some time, but you’ll be confident you won’t encounter any errors that can’t be corrected after sending.
Step 9. Monitor results
If you think the campaign is over once you’ve sent all your messages, you’re mistaken.
Tracking key metrics is the final, but crucial, step. Your task is to check conversion rates, whether messages were delivered, what the open rate was, how many customers unsubscribed, and so on.
Check your data within the first few hours after sending. This will prevent you from panicking if you suddenly see an extremely high unsubscribe rate.
That is all.
After learning these steps, all that remains is to get started and achieve success.
Prepare an effective SMS marketing campaign plan and boost your business success
An SMS marketing campaign can have various goals. However, this complex process can only lead to business success with a professional approach.
The steps you’ve learned in this article form a unified system that works in a variety of conditions and circumstances. They don’t require huge investments or a large number of specialists.
Use them in practice to achieve great results in your marketing efforts.
