The majority of us communicate through short message services commonly referred to as SMS thanks to information communication technology. Marketers and advertisers quickly realized that the same service can be used to reach out to potential and existing customers and went on to bombard the markets with adverts and notices. Unfortunately not all of us can admit appreciating this sometimes unconsciously solicited advertising mode. It can be a nuisance when completely irrelevant, boring messages are loudly imposed on our cell phones when we least expect it. This defeats the objective of the advertiser, which is simply to communicate positively. The good thing however is SMS marketing can be made very attractive. The article seeks to highlight some of the things that can make it so. Thanks to the ever-evolving cell phone technology, SMS marketing can be made much more interesting to the point that clients cannot wait to receive the next message. This can be made possible by taking advantage of the little cell phone things that really interest people. It can be observed that funny ringing tones do impress people of all ages and a clever SMS marketer may wish to incorporate one such a tone into their communications. A successful marketing ring tone can become a cheap freely circulated advert that moves from client to client ringing from time to time. Also interesting logos, toons and icons can freely circulate the market courtesy of impressed clients. Now isn’t this free advertising? Interesting, is the magic word. If you can do more then it’s even better. It is a must for the sender to create excitement of both the context and content of their messages. By context I refer to all other things besides the textual or graphical or audio aspects of the message. This constitutes things like timing, quality of presentation, relevance, audience etc. The content aspect is the common aspect involving the actual message being communicated. The article is mostly on the contextual side of SMS marketing. Contextually, when communicating through SMS it is better to get a database of willing respondents than to cascade to all subscribers of the advertiser’s cellular network. Relevant client data can be collected when a client applies for an account. At non-account businesses, simple request forms collectable at the point of sale or other strategic points can be left for the client’s voluntary filling-in. Meeting of the minds between subscriber and the advertiser is important. It reduces unnecessary costs incurred by sending short messages to everyone where the majority will still delete them without reading them anyway. Also, on the part of the receiver, a positive attitude towards the message is created and this is important for getting the receivers attention. Still on the database, use this to segment customers by carefully collecting data that allows discrimination amongst client groups. Customers can be segregated by product, age, gender, region etc. As an example, for specialized sellers like car dealers, a database can query the clientele which drives a particular make and use this to promote a specific car-model related product rather than pushing it to everyone in your database, or list. This increases the relevance of your SMS marketing making it more cost-effective and appealing to your target. But still remember, the cellular communications market is highly competitive. Making exclusive agreements with a particular service provider may be restrictive as it may allow you access to your target market on the cell phone provider’s grid. This closes part of your market even if it may appear cheaper .You need to access the cost of opportunities lost by such exclusion. Make such arrangements where you’re dead sure you a greater part of your target market is serviced by this provider. Another important matter is timing. Do not send your SMS any time you wish. Consider your market and the time it is slightly relaxed if this is ascertainable (as it is for certain market groups). Do not SMS during peak hours, as your messages are likely to be less preferred to more social gossip etc and will obviously cost you more. As of what time this is, it is up to you as a marketer to research so that you get to know your customers. This highlights albeit emphatically the importance of market research not only in SMS marketing but also in marketing in general. Marketing is communication. As a result, there is need for feedback and interaction between the client and marketer. A good message will provide a link through which to communicate with the sender equally cheaply and personally. Remember, SMS is primarily, though not ultimately, a person-to-person communication hence must allow urgent responses from the advertiser where the receiver opts to request further information to mimic the general interpersonal communication pattern. If this is not within the SMS marketer’s capacity, then they must restrict their SMS to simple non-technical reminder adverts rather than technically complex information that needs much explanation otherwise they create an incomplete communication process. However, an advertiser can refer the client to a secondary data source. An advertiser must support SMS marketing with an easy to access data source that may explain further the technicalities of the product or service being marketed. Under such a scenario, the objective of the SMS must only be to make the customer aware of this source and not to make SMS the ultimate information source.The secondary source then becomes the feedback of the communication process. Amongst other things, feedback enables a marketer to measure the rate of success or failure of the SMS campaign. The response rate from the SMS marketing programme highlights the effectiveness of the whole programme in reaching out the intended target group. A strategic marketer will use this information to perfect their game. Impressive results need to be reinforced whilst a poor response rates calls for a return to the drawing board. But to measure success a standard is necessary and it is the duty of the marketer to research such response rates. Lastly it matters for an SMS advert to meet the precepts of any communication documentation. It must be precise, complete regardless of its conciseness, relevant and timeous. Avoid controversial messages unless you’re sure you targeting an equally controversial target group which won’t take it personal. Once again, avoid being a nuisance unto our cell screens. Refuse agreements where your service provider wholesales your adverts to everyone in their database. Remember, they say persuasion not coercion!
Article Source:http://www.resourceschool.com
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