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How effectively are you reaching your customers? If you’re struggling to see growth, or are looking for a new marketing tactic that has better ROI than the one you’re currently using, you might want to consider text message marketing for your franchise.
Text message marketing involves sending an SMS to a customer who has opted in to receive messages from you. It’s non-intrusive and highly effective. These are five reasons you might want to consider this strategy.
1. Reach Customers in Your Area
Text message marketing enables you to send out text messages to people who have opted into your business to receive your messages. These people typically come from local marketing efforts, which means they’re in your area and could be shopping for something you’re selling. Reaching out to them via text message empowers you to capitalize on proximity and be of value to your neighbors.
2. You Can Personalize the Experience
Mass marketing messages just don’t cut it anymore. Today’s consumers want personalization from the businesses they work with and text message marketing empowers you to deliver. When you collect your customer’s data upon sign-up, you’re able to then use it to personalize the experience. Ask for a first name. Ask for location or any other details that can help you segment the people on your text message list. When you reach out, personalize the experience by making the message you send feel like it’s being sent from one person to another.
3. Text Messages Have High Open Rates
Email marketing has become such a struggle for businesses because open rates have plummeted. Consumers are getting used to seeing sales messages land in their inbox. When they do, they’re more likely to hit delete instead of open if the email is not relevant to their needs.
Text messages are much different. 98% of text messages are read within 2 minutes of sending. If you ever run a last minute flash sale, or hold event-related promotions, text messaging can help you reach your customer faster.
4. It’s Rich With Data
Marketing is all about testing and tweaking your message so you’re sending just the right thing at just the right time to the right people. That doesn’t take guesswork. It takes data to get it right.
Text message marketing allows franchise owners to access click-through rates of the messages sent, opt-out and churn rates, response rates, and ROI of campaigns. You can instantly see what people in your area want to hear from you and adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.
5. Consumers Aren’t Inundated With Text Message Noise
So far, the text message space has been largely untouched by businesses. Only 21% of businesses use SMS for loyalty program updates. As a franchise owner, that means you can break through the clutter people are seeing around them in their daily life and show up in a more personal setting where there’s less noise.
Susan Guillory is the President of Egg Marketing & Communications, a marketing firm specializing in content writing and social media management. She’s written three business books, including How to Get More Customers With Press Releases, and frequently blogs about small business and marketing on sites including Forbes, AllBusiness, The Marketing Eggspert Blog, and Tweak Your Biz. Follow her on Twitter @eggmarketing.