Lately, Tamara has been receiving a lot of unsolicited messages from some new bakery on the block. They apparently have the best dough balls and serve the most delicious chocolate brownies, but she needs no reminding every two hours.
It is not like Tamara is indifferent to brownies. She loves them, and garlic dough balls are amongst her favorites. Plus, the bakery is only 2 kilometers away.
In fact, she has attempted ordering a few times, but the experience has been unsatisfactory. They keep transferring her call and never give a discount. In short, their messages have been unreliable.
On top of that, the abbreviations are enough to put anybody off, and some messages are just blank texts. Tamara decides to dismiss them and moves onto another bakery.
Classic Mistakes
Our bakers were making the classic SMS marketing mistakes that we take no notice of sometimes.
NO CTA: There were hardly any clarity on CTA or call-to-action in the promotional SMSes that Pristina bakery was sending to its customers. While they introduced discounts and coupons, nobody knew what to make of them because there was no mention of time and day. A typical message from them went: “Hi. We been missin u. Come by. Grab a discount on your next order.” They never mentioned on what and when. Poor Tamara chose the wrong day.
Unorganized SMS List: First of all, you do not say you miss somebody on the first meeting. Pristina Bakers made this blunder. Perhaps Tamara did not notice, but many of us would realize that the bakery was sending uncustomized generic messages to every person on their database. Considering that she had never bought anything from them, “we been missin u” was highly inappropriate.
Forgot to Keep a Clock: Nobody needs to remember croissant and donuts every two hours. Not during dinner, in the middle of a meeting or before going to bed. The bakers did precisely that. They kept sending uncustomized messages to people too often without any profound CTA. Also, they did not give their leads the option to unsubscribe or opt out, causing many of them to dismiss the promotion.
Isolated the Campaign: People scroll through food delivery apps and social media accounts even before noticing any SMS. Social media trends and updates influence our buying decisions, and promotional SMSes act like the “final button.’ Plus, one can integrate WAP links into SMSes that direct people to their site or app. Pristina Bakers had done none of that and made a leap of faith with SMS marketing. They seemed like intruders.
In conclusion, no matter how convenient or cost-effective SMS marketing may be, one has to tread carefully. It needs extensive research much like any other form of marketing. Part of the effort will also involve choosing a credible SMS marketing service provider.
Despite best measures, marketers often fall short, and it is safe to have an SMS marketing system in place to assist in the implementation.