Taking Advantage of The Neglected Power of SMS

 TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE NEGLECTED POWER OF SMS

There are two things that always resonates in the psyche of man – the forbidden, and the neglected. For instance, Eve, at the garden of Eden was only drawn to the argument of tasting the forbidden fruit, because the fruit was forbidden and neglected. Imagine how you would cherish today, a personal handwritten letter bearing your name as the recipient.

In a digital world, suffocated by a plethora of social apps and inundating emails of information, brands must seek to cut through the competition by taking advantage of the neglected power of SMS – the neglected.

SMS – The Advantage

Statistics from Facebook, Google, and other Marketing Platforms, have shown that efficacy of consumers attention to online ads and email marketing, is declining. While part of the reason hinges on the quality and style of the strategy, a major reason is that consumers are just tired of too many ads. It is estimated that an average consumer receives about 5,000 ads daily, in various forms. With the unbearable increase in spam, there is a proportionate decrease in consumer response.

So, what can your brand do differently to get the attention of your consumers?

SMS (Short Message Service) marketing is a strategy used by businesses to send short text messages in bulk to consumers. In most cases, these text messages will include some sort of written ad or promotion. Savvy brands, like Jumia and Konga, still send SMS to their customers to thank them for buying or pre-inform them of discounts or promotions.

Over the years, SMS marketing has proven to be beneficial to businesses, and amongst other benefits posed by SMS marketing are its global reach, high level of interaction and engagement, personal touch, multiple opportunities for usage, fits business of all sizes, Instant contact with users, and interestingly, no tedious skills required.

Brands seem to have forgotten that the mobile phone is this generation’s best friend. Consumers are no longer surprised to receive messages from companies that they have opted into, in fact, they have come to accept it as a way of life.

One of the joys of SMS is that you don’t need to involve every department in your company to get a campaign off the ground. You can simply compose your text and your message can be landing on customers’ mobiles within the hour. Every mobile marketing text sent will receive a delivery report, letting you know whether the message has been delivered or not. How efficient!

SMS – The Caution

Brands cannot just send SMS to anyone. Countries all over the world, including Nigeria and the United States, clearly states that businesses can only text-message consumers if they have the consumer’s permission. This protects consumers from text message spam from businesses and ensures privacy.

Thus, a brand strategy must first provide an opportunity for consumers to voluntarily subscribe to information about the brand’s product or services, either directly or through the brand’s partners. This in no way limits the ability of the brand to reach out to unknown customers, as consumers would often and naturally, spread the word.

SMS – The Strategy

It is important to get consumers phone numbers legitimately, so as to minimize possible alienation of consumers. Yet, experience has shown that even when unsolicited SMS is used, much depends on the construction of the message – the power of copywriting!

An SMS marketing is meant to be in all sense, brief and should have a call to action attached to it. In the briefness, a lot depends on the composer’s skills. Behavioural psychology comes to play. The composer must leave his/her body and mind, and take that of a neutral potential consumer, so as to understand the likely perception of the composed SMS. The message is not about you. It is about the other person.

In as much as SMS marketing works, let us not turn a blind eye to the fact that it fails when businesses fail to employ the right strategy. Some brands and marketers understand the delicateness of SMS and thus collaborate with copywriting agencies to handle SMS composition so that they could focus on other stuff.

You have about 30words to write, to convince and call a potential consumer to action. What will it be? Tick tock… tick tock…

You better call De Critic – a copywriting agency, critics and PRs, awarded by Sortlist International as one Nigeria’s best 10, and nominated for MEA Africa Excellence Award – Copywriting Agency 2020. contact@decritic.com +234 811 983 2176.