By Dan Slavin, CodeBroker
With millions of promotion text messages read every day, text message marketing software is a powerful, and often under-utilized, marketing tool. Clearly it makes sense to employ text promotions, but the challenge for marketers is that text marketing software is often technical and complex to use, and with so many options to evaluate in the market it can be daunting, making it difficult to choose one.
To engage your audience with promotion text messages, and drive positive campaign results, here are 10 criteria to consider as you shop around for the ideal text message marketing platform.
Ease of use
Look for text message marketing software with an intuitive interface that’s easy for marketers to use. How much in the way of self-service does it offer? Don’t be swayed by a great sales pitch – make sure that you take your chosen system for a test drive. A hands-on demo is essential, and you’ll want to inquire about aftersales service.
Account support
A truly great text marketing software vendor will be available whenever you need them. When tight deadlines loom, you’ll want to reach out and get instant answers. They should also provide training, recommendations on effective techniques, and any other information you might need to fully leverage their text message campaign software.
Frictionless SMS sign-up
For a successful text message marketing program, you need to be able to grow your SMS list swiftly and the right vendor will help you do that with a slick SMS sign-up process. Run through the sign-up yourself to assess it. Flexibility is important, too, so look for a sign-up that can cover email sign-up and collect demographic information, deliver SMS coupons, and a digital loyalty card.
SMS coupons
SMS coupons can be a powerful way to boost customer engagement, increase store traffic, and enhance basket size. Let customers use SMS coupons directly from their phones at checkout. You should also consider incorporating single-use coupons, particularly when offering higher-value discounts, to limit their redemption to one per customer.
Integration support
The text message marketing software you choose must play nicely with your other systems with minimal IT support. Look for robust APIs and simple integrations.
Compliance
It’s crucial to ensure that your promotion text messages adhere to relevant legal regulations, which are constantly changing. Look for a partner with TCPA expertise and ask about CTIA compliance.
Data security
Protecting your customer’s data must always be a priority, so look for strong security credentials. Your chosen text message marketing software should support PCI level 1 security — the same security required for processing credit cards. You should also conduct your own security audit, don’t take the vendor’s word for it.
Omnichannel scalability
In today’s evolving landscape, an omnichannel approach is vital. You need to use text message marketing software that can scale as your needs expand. Look for text message marketing software that goes beyond the basics; consider single-use coupons, loyalty program access through SMS, and transactional alert capabilities. When Codebroker surveyed 1,287 US shoppers the top preferred channel for loyalty programs on smartphones was text message.
Tracking and reporting
To measure SMS marketing success or assess the effectiveness of SMS coupons, you must be able to accurately track their performance. Look at the reporting system and ask your prospective vendor for examples of the data you can extract. The ideal text message marketing platform will give you a real-time big picture view of campaign performance.
Proven results
If you want to know how effective any text message marketing software might be, then you need to ask the vendor for real metrics that show what they’ve achieved for other companies. Ask about new adds per week or month, the monthly opt-out rate, and how quickly a list can be grown. Look for the sign-up completion rate, the redemption rates for mobile offers, and revenue from similar programs to yours.
There’s a lot to think about when you’re shopping for text message marketing software but taking time out for due diligence will help you pick the right tool for your business.
For more tips, download the eBook, “How to Evaluate SMS Marketing Solutions for your B2C Enterprise.”