6 Promotional SMS Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

SMS marketing can be a game-changer for your business. If used correctly, you gain many customers, but one small mistake and you lose them.  

Imagine this scenario: It’s 2 AM, and you are sound asleep only to be woken up by a notification on your phone. You check your phone to see if it’s something urgent, and you find out it is just a promotional text. 

It’ll annoy you, right? It’s the same for your customers. 

You risk losing potential customers and increasing opt-out rates through such promotional SMS mistakes.

This article discusses the promotional SMS mistakes to avoid. 

You will also get experts’ opinions, the dos and don’ts of promotional SMS campaigns, and tips for writing an excellent promotional SMS. 

Let’s begin!

What are the promotional SMS mistakes to avoid?

Save yourself from losing potential customers by avoiding the following promotional SMS mistakes: 

1. Not asking for permission 

Taking a customer’s numbers does not mean they have consented to receive promotional texts. Many marketers think obtaining a phone number allows them to send customers promotional text messages. 

Solution: There are two ways you can ask for permission from your customers: 

1. If you already have customers’ phone numbers in your records, give them the option to opt in or opt out of receiving communication from you via SMS. 
2. Advertise a discount with a short code and ask customers to mention that code.

2. Not adding value to customers

One of the most crucial promotional SMS tips is to take advantage of SMS marketing’s immediacy to offer real-time value to your customers. Most marketers mistake using SMS marketing only to market their services or products, which isn’t enough for your customers.   

Solution: You can provide immediate value to your new customers by offering them personalised discounts while sending them a welcome SMS. 

Here’s an excellent example of a welcome SMS that provides value to a customer:

3. Not adding relevant CTA 

Another common promotional SMS mistake is not adding a relevant call to action (CTA). If your recipient does not take that crucial next step, your SMS remains incomplete and ineffective. 

Failing to provide a clear CTA in each message makes it more difficult for your subscribers to understand what to do. In turn, you will have a higher unsubscribe rate.

Solution: Use words such as register here, shop now, or book now in the promotional SMS. Also add a link where your customer can complete their buying journey. 

4. Not shortening URLs

No one likes receiving long, extensive links via SMS. Be sure to shorten the links that direct your customer to your website. It is not only unprofessional to include a long link, but it may also be misinterpreted as spam by the receiver.

Solution: You can shorten your website links using the bitly tool that shortens URLs. 

5. Bombarding customers with SMS  

There may be those who think sending too many texts is a mistake. Instead, try to avoid sending more SMS than your subscribers expect. 

For example, if your customers opt-in to receive texts once a week but you bombard them with SMS daily, they will surely get annoyed. Tell your customers in advance how many SMS they will receive.

Harish Ruparel, Business head of CPaaS Business at Netcore, says, “SMS marketing frequently fails to lay the basis for future communication. When you fail to inform your customers how and when you’ll be in touch, they may become angry and surprised when you send them your next message.” 

Kumud Sharma, Global Sales Manager at Sinch India, believes that promotional messages are primarily sent in bulk, often without the recipients’ consent (via grey routes). Text messages like these are considered unsolicited. On top of this, sending too many messages means spamming the recipient’s inbox. 

She further adds, “It increases the chance of customers unsubscribing from your mailing list. Hence, it is crucial to limit the number of messages per user to 1-2/week and make these SMS appropriate to the user.”

Solution: Tell your customers how many texts you plan to send them. 

Also Read : Best Time to Send Promotional SMS: According to Industry Experts

6. Not introducing your business 

You must introduce yourself in every promotional text you send to your customers, as SMS marketing doesn’t offer up-front brand visibility. Doing so will let your receivers know which brand they are receiving the messages from. 

Solution: You can start your promotional SMS by mentioning your business name. See the example of NY&C how they mentioned their business name first and then proceeded with the promo offer. 

6 dos and don’ts of promotional SMS Marketing

To make your SMS marketing more effective, cut out the things that don’t work or negatively affect your promotional SMS marketing. 

Here are some common dos and don’ts that you can follow to enhance your promotional SMS marketing.

Promotional SMS marketing dos

Following are the dos of SMS marketing. 

1. Choose the right time to text 

It’s all about timing in text messaging. People pay more attention to texts than emails, so they will notice if you send messages too frequently. Show your customers you are relatable, concise, and direct when you text them. It is essential not to misuse the privilege of direct communication.

“Respect time zones and schedules of your subscribers”, advises Harish. In addition, he explains how to resolve this error and says, “SMS stimulates urgent action, so the timing of the promotion SMS is crucial.”

2. Craft the point message 

Ensure you don’t write long messages while presenting promotional offers to customers. Try to keep your messages concise but informative. A message that is too long might annoy or turn prospects away.

3. A sense of urgency goes a long way – offer immediate value

For your product or service to succeed, it needs a call to action. Since prospects rarely revisit text messages after seeing them. You want them to take action immediately on reading the SMS. Therefore, you must be direct and clear by using words that direct them to take the next step and complete their buying journey. 

Promotional SMS marketing don’ts

1. Avoid texting at inappropriate times

You can reach out to your customers instantly through SMS. Majority of the messages are read less than five minutes after being sent. To increase response rates, send messages when you want recipients to read and act on them. 

2. Don’t forget the opt-out option

It’s comforting to spot an exit door wherever you are – the more prominent, the better. Your SMS subscribers will appreciate this feature. Let them know that they can opt out of your SMS campaign. 

3. Don’t keep your conversation one-sided

Making one-sided texts is pointless. Engage your customers in a conversation. You can use short and long codes to receive SMS responses from customers. You can also send surveys for them to complete. In this way, you have the opportunity to build your opt-in list.

Also read: Promotional SMS Best Practices That Will Boost Your Sales and Revenue

How to write an excellent promotional text

SMS sent out by your business must be incredibly thoughtful and intentional. A poor message will render your most valuable marketing communication tool useless.

Be sure to run through this checklist before sending a promotional text message to your customers: 

• Add the name of your business.
• Be aware of the timing.
• Keep it concise.
• Include an “unsubscribe” option.
• Avoid using slang.
• Provide mobile-friendly links.
• Add an air of urgency.
• Personalise your message.

Also Read: A Complete Guide on Writing Effective Promotional SMS

Ready to start your promotional SMS campaign? 

Now that you know what promotional SMS mistakes to avoid, you might be searching for the best bulk SMS providers. You can also check our blog on the best OTP provider to solve your one-time password related issues.  

SMSCountry is a fast, reliable, and compliant SMS service provider that allows you to run promotional SMS campaigns with high ROI. Thanks to detailed analytics, you can keep track of promotional SMS marketing performance directly from the SMSCountry dashboard. 

So what are you waiting for now? Get in touch with our SMSCountry team today and get any bulk SMS related questions answered. Try our platform for free by signing up today.