It's one of our most popular features because it provides numerous benefits and is unquestionably one of the most trustworthy communication methods. If you haven't yet included SMS in your marketing strategy, we've compiled a list of the essential benefits as well as the necessary compliance requirements to assist you get started.
1. It’s direct & immediate…
“90% of SMS messages are read within 3 minutes of receipt”(Conversational Advertising)
2. Open rates & response rates are typically higher…
“Marketing text messages have a 98% open rate” (Techipedia)
3. Times have changed, today consumers are very open to SMS marketing…
“77% of consumers are open to receiving text messages from businesses” (Corvisa)
4. It’s fully trackable…
Here at LeadByte we offer full click tracking enabling you to report on CTR’s for specific messages or indeed sources that provide you with leads (eliminate sources that do not perform). The best bit about our tech is that you can use your own domains in your SMS messaging rather than some random “popular” shortening URL service or domain that does not relate to your brand.
5. There are less barriers…
You aren’t up against junk folders and spam filters like with email marketing.
6. We all have a mobile (nearly)….
…and we all check them far more frequently than we should!
7. We provide complete opt-out management when using LeadByte so you do not SMS consumers that do not want your SMS moving forward.
It goes without saying that integrating SMS marketing into your marketing mix is a valuable step to take, but it’s also very important to note that with it comes some rules and regulations that you absolutely need to stick to.
To take the headache out of compliance, we’ve outlined the process in four simple steps to help ensure that your SMS marketing remains compliant. (We do also recommend that you read up further with the ICO for all the finer details)
1. Ensure that you have obtained the customers details direct from the customer during a sale or through a direct enquiry regarding the sale of that particular product or service.
2. Provide a clear opt in process at the point of data collection.
3. Follow up with a very clear opt out process at every stage of your marketing communications
4. Ensure that your sender details are clearly visible, the customer must know who they are receiving marketing messages from and be able to respond directly if required.
It’s worth noting that a successful SMS marketing campaign does need to go one step further than just compliance, to keep you customers happy (and more likely to convert!) it’s also about respect.
1. Keep it timely – Respect time zones, no-one wants a 3am sales text!
2. Don’t bombard them – Hounding customers with SMS messages will get you nowhere, schedule respectfully and stick to it!
3. Keep it relevant and make sure its personal – You’re far more likely to generate a response, and a positive one!
We’ve been working within the SMS industry for multiple years, and as a platform we’re hugely progressive – in this market you have to be. We’re always evolving the platform to ensure that we keep our clients ultra-complaint, and their marketing ultra-successful! Here’s just some of the ways that we’ve developed the platform to work with you…
• Here at LeadByte we offer multiple opt-out features:
1. Universal website STOP (we can customize stop page for you)
2. STOP keywords
3. STOP long numbers
• We offer both automatic & manual opt out processes
• We offer suppression list builders (and support MD5)
• We also enable you to process leads against your suppression lists as an optional feature
• Time Zones – We enable you to use a ‘pause between time’ function which is configured to your local time zones.
• Scheduling – Send event based or time based triggers to ensure that you schedule the right level of communication out to your customers, and nurture rather than bombard!
• Relevance – We keep it personal by offering personalization fields for SMS
If you’re looking to add SMS to your marketing mix, or would simply like to discuss matters of compliance in more detail then please drop us a line directly.
Whilst the information supplied here relates directly to the UK market, we’re well advised in data protection laws globally, so please do get in touch with us to talk over the specific rules and regulations related directly to your geographical location.