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Today, mobile marketing is the way of the future. By 2016, more than two billion smartphones will be in use worldwide, ensuring that mobile marketing is here to stay.

To reach this vast marketing audience, businesses need to understand the tried and true ways to reach these customers. A text messaging campaign is one such proven strategy for reaching a mobile audience, and these 11 SMS marketing best-practices will provide your business with the insight needed to run an effective sms texting communication campaign.

1. Get the Customer's Permission, First and Foremost

There are a few key reasons to always get a customer's permission before texting. First, legal liabilities can arise depending on the jurisdiction in question. Second, customers can view the texts sent as spam, which will annoy them and do unnecessary damage to the brand name of your business.

New Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) rules ensure that each unsolicited text can lead to fines as high as $1,500 per text. The risks of incurring stiff legal penalties and damaging the reputation of your business is simply not worth texting customers without their permission.

2. Avoid Bombarding Customers with Too Many Texts

Once you have gained a customer's permission to send texts, avoid texting too frequently. As a general rule, send no more than a few texts per month as part of a text messaging campaign. Too many texts will annoy even the most ardent supporters of a business.

Instead of spamming texts, make sure that each text is focused on quality and provides value to your customers.

3. Clearly Communicate to Solidify Customer Expectations

Since it is best to focus on quality messages rather than spamming large quantities of texts, it is imperative to clearly communicate in the texts sent to customers. In the first text campaign message sent, clearly indicate how many messages customers can expect per month, and give them an option to stop the texts at any time.

In this way, customers will feel that they are truly choosing the text messaging campaign rather than having the campaign forced upon them.

4. Consider the Time of Day for All Text Messages Sent

For most businesses, text messages should never be sent in the early morning hours or late in the evening. As a general rule, only send texts from your marketing campaign during normal business hours.

The benefits of a text marketing campaign are clear when customers can take immediate action. By texting when customers are asleep or winding down for the evening, the potential benefits of the campaign are immediately unfulfilled. Since every text matters, it makes no sense to send messages at a time when customers will only be annoyed to receive the texts.

5. Stay Consistent with the Mobile Approach

Businesses with a mobile approach should link texts in a mobile-friendly approach. For example, in the texts you send, link to a mobile-friendly website that will increase conversion rates and allow customers to interact with your brand in meaningful ways. This approach provides marketing benefits that go even further than a single text message can do by itself.

6. Connect with Customers Before Valuing Their Data

While understanding customer preferences and getting valuable data is essential for a marketing campaign, understanding how to connect with customers is the heart of any successful campaign. Offering valuable connections that have meaning to customers will ensure your business collects the meaningful data it is targeting.

Provide value and valuable incentives to loyal customers, and the data your business needs will follow.

7. Consider What Customers Are Expecting from Your Business

In order to connect with customers, contemplate what customers are likely expecting from your business. Customers gave texting permission for a reason, and a business needs to find out what these reasons are.

In general, exclusive deals and freebies are great ways to ensure customers are getting value from the text campaigns they are choosing to accept.

8. Limit Liability by Adding Disclaimers to Texts

Always limit liability by including disclaimers that can shield your business from legal problems. The classic liability limitation states that "messaging and data rates may apply", and this disclaimer lets customers know that the texts may come at a small cost.

9. Use Basic Language to Communicate Effectively

Over text, clear and concise messaging is paramount. Avoid texting shorthand since many customers will be unfamiliar with texting lingo. Similarly, avoid overly complicated words that customers will not understand.

Stick with easy to understand, basic language for effective communication that will pay off for your business.

10. Get Customer Preferences and Data As Soon As They Choose to Receive Texts

Customers will react best to overt requests for data when businesses ask at the outset. As soon as customers opt-in to receive texts, be sure to get the time zone, zip code and other essential information at the start of the campaign.

11. Set Your Texts Apart from Competitors by Providing Exclusive Value

Finally, it is important to remember that businesses are in competition with other businesses. Set your business apart by providing exclusive value with your campaigns that no other business provides.

In the process, customers will look forward to your texts and marketing strategies since you are providing clear and tangible benefits that no competitor has matched.

For more best-practice campaign strategies and proven marketing tactics, download the complimentary Mobile Marketing Success Kit to see how Trumpia can tailor the perfect text-focused marketing campaign that delivers results.

Download the Mobile Marketing Success Kit

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