This past week I focused on the one mobile program that I feel is still the most underused eCRM tool, and that is SMS Marketing. No other tool has a 90% open/read rate within 15 minutes of receiving – that is powerful and shows how important your messaging needs to be.

When running SMS programs, you do need to become familiar with the rules and guidelines set forth by the CTIA & TCPA. SMS is very personal and on your customers personal device, so the importance of following the rules will keep your programs compliant.

SMS is a fun eCRM tool and one you can really engage with your customer with – just do it right!

 

Monday Update

Mobile and SMS Programs… SMS is still, in my opinion, one of the most underused eCRM tools to engage with your customers – Over 90% of text messages sent are opened and read by your customers in 15 minutes. No other advertising medium has that relationship with the consumer. The SMS redemption rates can be anywhere from 20% to 70% – compare that to print, TV or even direct mail and you can begin to see how good SMS can be for your brand.

Tuesday Update

To run successful SMS programs, you must have programs that are CTIA & TCPA compliant and you must understand the rules and the guidelines.

Who and what are the CTIA & TCPA? Please also reference their websites for more, but in short…The TCPA is federal law, the CTIA are guidelines that are enforced by a private entity that is hired by the wireless carriers to help police the industry. The only risk under CTIA is that the carriers can block you from sending to their networks. The rules should not be interpreted within a grey area. They are straightforward and should be followed.

Tuesday Q& A
This Weeks Q&A – looking for good questions from professions around Digital and eCRM (email, SMS and Push notifications) programs and will provide my feedback based on what I have experienced. Please message me and I will post it here and on my blog

Wednesday Update

The Difference Between Email and SMS Subscribers – With text messaging being much more intrusive than email (and personal) and a common way to communicate with family and friends, consumers are still a bit hesitant to sign up for SMS programs from brands. With that in mind, your SMS subscribers are more likely to be some of your most loyal and engaged customers, as they have chosen to receive your communications on such a personal channel. This gives you the ability to treat these customers different than your email customers with the type of offers, alerts and communications.

Thursday Update

SMS offers 1 and 2-way communications with your customers – today I will hit on 1-way communications.

1-Way SMS communications are pretty easy as these are the messages that you push out to your customers more around awareness & promotional offers that are used to stimulate transactions and sales. For this special groups of customers, look to send slightly more aggressive offers and messages with a very limited reception window – think “Flash” sales or offers that are only available for a couple hours.

Friday Update

SMS offers 1 and 2-way communications with your customers – today I will address 2-way communications.

2-way SMS communications are a great way for your customers to engage with your brand and for you to get a feel on the type of information your customers are wanting. Some examples of 2-way communications; Text-to-subscribe, Text for information, Survey, Polls and Contests or Sweeps. Each of the examples are easy to set up and easy to act on the behavior of your customers.

Sunday Update

SMS keywords are short words or letters that can be sent to your short code in order to trigger an offer or response. These keywords can be used to promote your mobile application, offers, contests and more – you can respond back with a predetermined response or link.

About Bernie

With more than 23 years of experience in marketing, Bernie is the Director of Digital Marketing at Papa John’s International, based in Louisville, KY. His current focus is building and scaling a progressive digital marketing foundation that balances the needs of both consumers and national/local stakeholders —  all while delivering measurable ROI to the business.

Additionally, Bernie oversees brand representation for Papa John’s digital properties and manages direct-to-consumer channels including email, SMS and push messaging. Recent initiatives have centered around bringing together larger promotional efforts with targeted campaigns to engage the consumer at the precise moment of interest.

Follow Bernie on Twitter @B2the7 or @B7_Design & the B2The7 blog @ http://b2the7.com/b2the7

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