4 Common SMS Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

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.

Missed Call Marketing: Unravelling the tale of a Sleeper Hit

Do you know that the idea for missed call marketing originates from a very general practice of ‘leaving missed calls’? A habit that millions of people have acquired ever since mobile became commonplace.

Although we all leave missed calls now and then, emerging markets like India and Africa have invented their unique codes to convey messages via missed calls.

For a significant number of the populace, talk time rates are still unaffordable and leaving missed calls is a recognized mode of communication.

However, little did we know that a purely price conscious practice would become one of the most widely-used inbound marketing tools.

In this article, we will do our best to explain what missed call marketing is, what it isn’t, its unique benefits and ways to leverage campaigns.

Let’s begin!

What is Missed Call Marketing? Understanding its Unique Advantage

Missed call marketing is an inbound marketing solution where the user leaves a missed call on an advertised number to express interest in a product or service.

It is a pull marketing strategy that draws only interested customers.

With the help of missed call marketing tools, brands can create a new inbound channel for their customers to reach out to them.

For example, Kirusa Konnect has an inbound communication tool calledSnapCallthat helps in creating successful campaigns.

As an inbound marketing medium, missed call campaigns can build high quality leads for the sales team. It enables better recognition of one’s target audience and heightens prospects for a productive brand-customer engagement.

Unlike most other channels that directly reach out to assumed buyers, missed call marketing generates interest without being intrusive. It is the ‘buyer’ who signs up for information because they are aware of your product, which is the point where consumers enter the awareness stage of your marketing funnel.

Hence, missed call marketing has the advantage of pulling a relatively more informed and decisive customer.

How does Missed Call Marketing work?

Missed call marketing is a cost-effective mechanism and starting your campaign is not difficult. One has to remember that it is not a typical brand awareness campaign. Following are the steps that you can execute on an inbound marketing platform.

Start by purchasing and configuring a set of numbers.

Advertise a specific number for people to leave a missed call which is the call-to-action. Remember that the number has to be circulated via other communication channels.

Set up a response SMS as an acknowledgment or confirmation of the missed call being received. Some consider this step optional, but it is highly recommended. Also, enable a mandatory feedback SMS from the customer.

Following these exchanges, you can measure the number of incoming calls and responses or analytics on your inbound platform. Kirusa Konnect’s SnapCall can help visualize and monitor the progress of campaigns in real-

You can use SnapCall as an effective communication platform to supercharge your missed call marketing campaigns. It is a versatile medium to generate awareness of the brand.

However, the utility of missed call campaigns extends beyond general commercial purposes. Following are the various uses cases:

Lead generation – Brands can implement missed call marketing as an efficient way to generate quality leads for their business. Following is a typical example of an insurance agency.

Agency advertises a new insurance policy across various media channels, along with a phone number (this is called the CTA or Call-To-Action).
People who view the advertisement can give a missed call to the number to express interest in the insurance policy.
As soon as the missed call is received, the insurance agency captures the phone number of the caller, which is how a lead is generated.
The agency sales team then reaches out to these leads to turn them into customers.
Examples of brands using lead generation include insurance companies (life insurance, health insurance, home, vehicle, electronics, ), loans, etc.

Contests and voting

During contests or elections, people can leave missed calls on a given number to vote and make their votes count.
Typical examples include voting for your favorite participants on a reality show.
Governments and regulatory bodies can use missed call marketing to gather votes, support and public opinion for socio-economic or environmental causes.
Simply put, missed call marketing can be used for multiple purposes-from extending support to an individual to advocating a particular cause.

App downloads

Brands can increase their app adoption by employing this classical marketing technique. One can leave a missed call he/she wishes to download an app, and will be sent an SMS containing a link.

Service requests

Customers also leave missed calls if they require some service. For example, users frequently request checkbooks from their bank by first leaving a missed call on a given number. This is usually followed by a callback in a defined period or an SMS message.

On-demand information

Bank balance, shipment status, flight details, personalized information, are some of the details that can be gathered via missed calls.

General Awareness

Missed call campaigns can also be applied to generate awareness campaigns against epidemics and natural disasters. Users can leave a missed call and indicate interest if they want further information. For instance, Kirusa Konnect has played a role in facilitating the Ebola Education Campaign to educate Ghanaians on the Ebola epidemic.

What does Missed Call Marketing not Mean?

Conceptualizing a missed call marketing campaign is only half the job done because the exercise is not an end in itself. One must explore and utilize various media/communication channels to generate a robust campaign, including print and electronic media.

Let’s take the example of uniBank which is offering a zero percent payment plan for a comprehensive policy on motor insurance. This message is advertised in print, electronic or social media, TV radio, billboards, etc. A SnapCall number is also popularized with the content to encourage interested customers.

Through the Konnect SnapCall portal, the customer service team of uniBank can access the database of interested people. The team calls back customers to sign them up for the motor insurance policy and other UniBank bank assurance services.

Once the leads are generated, brands become aware of their audience. This is the point where one needs to watch out for conversions and ensure constant communication along with impeccable customer service.

Successful implementation of missed call marketing campaign also requires a regular tracking of metrics and the demography of users. The results can be further used to discover other channels of communication and reach out to newer prospects.

In conclusion, we have learned that missed call marketing is a unique method that assists other forms of advertising for strong marketing ROI. It is an empowering mechanism that makes use of very general practice by letting users reach out at no cost.

The combined effect of auditory/visual communication like Radio and TV with missed call campaigns can inform and educate the buyer. Consumers with limited access to data/internet can make better decisions and understand their needs.

To top it all, the possibilities are limitless, and one can discover innovative ways to further utilize the power of mobile.

The Anatomy of a Great CPaaS

As we know, Communications Platform as a Service or CPaaS is a cloud-based delivery model that allows organizations to add real-time capabilities such as voice, video, APIs, etc.

However, choosing the most effective CPaaS for your business is a challenge. You must remember to look for the following while making that decision:

Wide Variety of APIs: Assess the scalability of the API that your vendor offers. Its length, breadth, and depth should be able to accommodate your organization’s evolving needs. For example, if you have to include touch-to-video-chat features in a customer-facing smartphone app within a year, you don’t want to go to another vendor.

Cloud Infrastructure: A consistent network along with robust cloud infrastructure is a must. Check if your vendor has partnerships with enough network carriers so that it is easier to carry out inbound and outbound communications. For example, Kirusa’s Konnect CPaaS Portal which offers a comprehensive suite of inbound and outbound communication tools enables you to connect with the target audience via mobile phones through its partnership with several network carriers.

User/Developer Community: There has to be constant interaction between the vendor-developers and those who use it, one that surpasses traditional support channels. An active user/developer community thrives on shared practices, codes, tools, and skills. Developers who are more willing to share the same with their users are more capable of implementing their features well.

Presence in the CPaaS Market: The CPaaS market has seen accelerating growth over the last few years. Naturally, we have several big and small players with vibrant API tools and cloud services who claim to be “disruptors.” While making your decision, examine the longevity of a potential vendor because it determines whether they have been adaptive or not.

The above factors are sufficient indicators of what is cpaas and how that has reliable anatomy. Pricing and affordability also play their part, but that’s not something users continuously worry about because CPaaS has a competitive market.

The Konnect Guide to SMS Marketing for Restaurants

Aimen has a cosy little diner that serves the best meatloaf. Weekends are usually packed with long queues in waiting; weekdays are not. She wonders why and decides to do something about it. Her meatloaves deserve better than weekend queues and a weekday dud.

This is when she overhears a customer reading out an SMS to her friend. The SMS says something about a 15 per cent discount on pizza rolls every Monday at a restaurant. Aimen knows the place because it is only a couple of blocks away. The girl reading out the SMS looks elated and suggests they visit the restaurant next Monday.

“Now, why haven’t I thought of it earlier?” thinks Aimen. She decides to look up SMS marketing ideas on the internet and perhaps some SMS marketing tools that could help with the implementation.

Implementing a Successful SMS Marketing Campaign

Aimen decides to promote her meatloaves. Most people stop by her place because no other diner serves meatloaves as succulent as her’s. It is time to capitalize on what she does best.

Aimen signs up with Kirusa’s Konnect portal and gains access to its SMS marketing platform. She buys a shortcode 660758 and reserves a keyword ‘LOAVES.’ After the configuration, Aimen creates a text for customers in her database.

Outbound Messaging

She begins with Konnect’s bulk SMS service and sends out promotional messages to all those who regularly visit the diner. The SMS contains a coupon code, which allows customers to avail a 25 per cent discount on meatloaves between 3pm-6pm every weekday.

With the help of SMS tagging, Aimen also inserts the coupon codes within billing details that she sends to people after every delivery.

So far, she has targeted every customer on the database and word gets around quickly. The diner is located on a popular street, and nobody wants to resist the attractive discount on meatloaves.

Inbound Messaging

She also puts up an advertisement outside the diner containing the shortcode for free deliveries. Sure enough, people start catching up, and within a few hours, Aimen starts receiving orders.

In fact, more people start visiting the diner on weekday afternoons for a taste of Aimen’s new item on the menu, the weekday meatloaf pizza special.

So we see that SMS marketing is crucial for small businesses, especially restaurants. It works wonders for the brand, particularly if you want to keep customers in the loop about discounts and coupons. The little perks and loyalty points will always keep them coming.

The analytical tools over platforms like Kirusa Konnect also enable international SMS marketing for overseas customers. A lot of restaurants and food chains are located across different countries and location is extremely crucial. Customers need to know where they are going to redeem offers.

Why Use Konnect’s SMS Marketing Service

In 2008, an unassuming 47-year-old stunned the audience with her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Misérables. Susan Boyle became an overnight sensation in the first round of ‘Britain’s Got Talent.’

Following this, she was one of 40 acts that were put through to the semi-finals. In the public vote, she received the highest number of votes and went through to the final.

The phone vote, which occurred after all the semi-finalists had performed, determined the first winner of the semi-final and took place via an exclusive phone line.

Does that ring a bell? Many of us have voted for our favourite performer in reality shows at some point, and we have used voting channels like SMS.

Didn’t the sheer act of voting keep us glued to the show? Did we eagerly wait for the latest episode to air? Weren’t we all increasingly engaged?

This happened because many shows nowadays deliberately adopt SMS marketing strategy to heighten their TRPs.

Leveraging an SMS Marketing Campaign

In the previous article, we suggested five essential tactics for an enhanced SMS marketing strategy. Having a USP, integrating your SMS campaign, location-based promotional SMS, etc. all sound good. Hence, it is equally important to adopt an SMS marketing solution for better implementation. How about an enterprise communication suite? Especially one that offers a complete set of SMS marketing solutions.

Let’s talk about Kirusa’s enterprise communication suite called Konnect. Apart from enabling the best marketing tactics, it helps you monitor, visualize and manage campaigns over a smart analytics portal.

It has a set of unique inbound and outbound communication tools, designed to carefully leverage the ideologies of classical push and pull marketing.

Inbound SMS

The voting codes that are displayed onscreen encourage the audience to send an SMS for their favorite participant. This is called an inbound SMS. Similarly, users send SMSes to learn more or subscribe to an advertised product. Later, the audience receives a customized message from you, as a response to the inbound SMS.

Kirusa Konnect’s inbound SMS solution can be availed to create a dedicated SMS communication channel for its users. One has to simply SMS a predefined message to a short code to connect. It has multiple applications ranging from lead generation campaigns to voting contests and information on-demand services.

Bulk SMS for Cheap SMS Marketing

Bulk SMS Marketing is one of the most prolific forms of communication in the 21^st century.

As a cost-effective push marketing medium, Bulk SMS marketing reaches out to maximum users over the most personal platform – the mobile phone – leaving room for personalization and emotive value.

Kirusa Konnect’s CPaaS portal offers a reliable platform for bulk SMS messaging, enabling marketers to send bulk SMS messages with just a few clicks. Konnect provides a classic SMS outreach campaign, using which promotional, informational and transactional messages can be easily communicated

SMS Tagging

Transactional SMS tend to have a higher click-through rate (CTR) compared to promotional SMS because they contain personalized information about the client’s account and transactions. What if there was a solution enterprise could use to leverage higher impression and mindshare of transactional SMS and use them for promotional messaging?

At Kirusa, we offer a service called SMS Tagging as part of our enterprise messaging suite. In essence, a solution that enables promotional SMS to piggybank on transactional SMS platform and gains audience mindshare.

Apart from that, companies can also save SMS bandwidth at an optimized cost, and there would be no need to send additional push messages. They can leverage on shorter promotional missives that blend with the existing transactional SMS.

In essence, Konnect offers multiple use value to the brand. In an era of aggressive marketing, Konnect is the best SMS marketing service for an omnichannel experience.

Tag: sms tagging