The newest and most buzzed-about technology in the marketing world is SMS marketing. SMS (Short Message Service) or text marketing allows you to communicate with your audience individually or at scale. Text marketing offers a reach beyond any previous marketing method since almost everyone has a cell phone these days. The best part is that almost every cell phone can use SMS, whether it is a smartphone or not.

Community lets you send text blasts to your subscribers so that you notify them of your marketing news instantly and directly. By using text blasts, you can connect with your clients in a digital yet personal way, unlike ever before. We’ll talk about the best ways your company can use a text blast, but first, let’s look at which types of businesses benefit from them.

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Types of Businesses That Can Use Text Marketing

Every type of business can benefit from incorporating texting into its marketing tool belt. From large chains to small, locally-owned businesses, there is a clientele out there waiting to connect personally with you through the convenience of texting. 

Here are a few examples of businesses that can utilize SMS marketing to gain subscribers, promote their company, and communicate with their audience.

• Restaurants
• Beauty Salons
• Clothing and Fashion Brands
• Real Estate Agencies
• Food Trucks
• Gyms, Yoga Studios, and Personal Trainers
• Retail Stores
• ECommerce Businesses

Whether you’re selling a product, a service, or an event—text marketing can get your message into the hands of your leads and customers instantaneously.

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Ways You Can Use a Text Blast

After you get your Community number for your brand, where do you start? Your company has more reasons to text your clients than you might realize. 

Here are ways to get started using text blasts. Try them out and see which works for your audience(s).

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Welcome Members Into Your Audience

Be sure to welcome all of your new subscribers when they join your squad. Treat your audience like a family, and welcome them with a warm, welcome text message. 

Text messages are a personal form of communication that will build stronger relationships with your clients, kick off the conversation by sending them an instant hello text blast that thanks them when they join your community.

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Website Sign Up

One convenience of the Community platform is the ability to have your website visitors become audience members instantly. Community allows you to add a website sign-up unit that can be custom designed to offer visitors the option to opt-in to text messages. 

Similar to joining your email newsletter, the website sign-up unit can display offers, and exclusive content audience members gain by instantly joining. The benefit of the website sign-up unit is threefold: 

• It matches your brand's look and feel, so visitors are not put off or think it's a third-party offer.
• It's a creative way to offer exclusive incentives to visitors.
• It offers another channel for you to grow your Community rapidly.

You'll configure the sign-up unit on the Community Web Dashboard. There, you'll modify your form's appearance and then easily install the sign-up using the code snippet provided. Install your sign-up unit on your Shopify store to encourage your visitors to join your audience from there, too.

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Sales and Special Deals

Use bulk text to send out details of your clearance sale or special promotion. Your audience will feel like a V.I.P. when they receive exclusive deals just for your text subscribers. You’ll see results quicker than having to wait for them to check their email when you notify your contacts via text about your clearance event.

Research on online shopping showed that 75% of Americans abandoned their shopping cart due to cost-related issues. In that same study, 62% of users replied that they don’t complete a purchase without searching for a special offer. 

Discounts provide the nudge that many of your customers may need before deciding to complete their purchase. You should provide them with incentives through a text blast that offers an exclusive deal.

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Announcements and News

Want to announce a last-minute change of hours for a holiday or build anticipation with a new product line count down? Text blasts are the perfect method of communicating important information and breaking news about your business. 

Your audience will get your updated hours, information on your latest product launch, and more—directly in their hand. Easily contact your entire audience at scale with a quick text blast.

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Polls & Feedback

Text blasts make for a convenient method of collecting feedback from your audience. Whether you are sending out a quick poll, a longer survey, or a specific question regarding feedback for your business, your customers can reply in almost no time with a short text message. 

Encourage your clients to engage with your business by showing them you care about their time and experience with an SMS customer service survey. See the responses you get and use that data to improve your product or see what people love.

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Refer a Friend

A unique way to use a text blast, and get more subscribers, is through a friend referral program. Out of the consumers surveyed in a recent study on consumer trust in advertising, 84% said that recommendations from their friends and family were the most trustworthy source of advertising. 

With a text blast, you can send current subscribers a keyword or custom link to give to their friends to get them to subscribe. Offer a special discount to both the original subscriber and the referral as an incentive to join your network.

This is an easy and modern way to grow your audience quickly over a simple text message. Customers will be excited to get a discount in such a low-effort way, and you’ll be happy to see your contact list grow.

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Don’t Overdo It: Keep Time and Frequency in Mind

One important rule to keep in mind before you send a text blast is to be respectful of the hours and frequency that you’re sending messages. Keep your SMS marketing in regular business hours of the time zone that your audience is in. Just like the old days of cold calls, no one wants to be texted by a business late at night or early in the morning. That’s a big “don’t” in text message marketing.

Also, be sure not to text too frequently in order to avoid your audience feeling like they’re constantly being sold to. Aim to send a text blast about every other week and definitely never exceed texting once a week. This will allow you to stay in front of your audience but not overwhelm them. If you stay respectful of people’s time and only send them relevant content, then they’ll never have a reason to unsubscribe. Text blasts offer a powerful way to connect but take caution not to abuse that connection, and you’ll be able to keep your audience happily returning to your business.

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Only Blast Relevant Segments of Your Audience

Keep your text blasts relevant by segmenting your audience. This will allow you to only send content to the portions of your contacts that are interested in it. 

For example, be sure to move users that have already referred a friend or completed a survey to another subgroup in your audience that won’t receive that SMS any longer. This is a great way to avoid repeatedly texting recipients the same question they may have already answered or completed the request for. 

It’s also important to keep text blasts relevant to the receivers to prevent them from unsubscribing. Keep your audience interested in what you’re sending them by subgrouping your contacts.

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Summary

To summarize how your company can use text blasts, remember that there are a wide variety of methods, and you’ll want to try out different ones for your specific business model. Using SMS marketing allows you to send out text blasts to your entire audience all at once. So, the benefits of using Community are unlike any other marketing strategy or channel. 

Stay connected to your clients by offering exclusive text message discounts, requesting quick feedback, and gently reminding your audience of their upcoming reservations—all lightning fast to the palm of their hand. Your customers will feel included and up to date on all the happenings for your business, which will lead to higher customer retention and satisfaction. Just be sure to keep the content relevant, never text too often, and remain inside of typical business hours. Let text marketing optimize your business strategy and build your audience, starting today.

Sources:

How The 3-3-3 Approach Revolutionizes Appointment Confirmation Rates | Healthoutcomes.com 

New Study Shows Deals and Promotions Affect Every Part of Shopping Experience | Inc.com 

Under the Influence: Consumer Trust In Advertising | Nielson.com

Photo by Timi David on Unsplash