With technology changing so fast, it is easy to get behind on all of the nuances that each new marketing channel brings. SMS marketing, sending out marketing via text messages, is one of the newer marketing channels that not everyone knows a lot about. Therefore, you may not be aware of all of the tips to help you improve your SMS marketing success. While there are many ways you can add to your message, let's start with some of the important ones. These four tips can make a significant difference in your conversion rates.

1. Segment Your Audience

Not everyone is aware of how much some people hate getting messages that they don't need. Tolerances for this type of thing range in any group of people, but some of your customers may almost froth at the mouth when they get what they perceive as spam. Therefore, it is important to maintain your decorum when you message your opt-in list. Send only messages that have value for the recipients, or they will opt-out. One way to accomplish this task is to segment your list in a manner that makes sense for your business. You may separate people by age, interests or recent purchases, to name a few possibilities. Segmenting your list means that your customers will only receive messages that are important to them, instead of all of your messages.

You should also personalize the messages as much as you can for each segment. Segmenting can be done by several methods, but if you can use the knowledge of each segment to personalize the message, then do so.

2. Use Timing to Your Advantage

Timing is important with all marketing strategies including SMS messaging. One of the factors that works best with SMS marketing is to send messages with an expiration date. Examples are:

• Get 2 for the price of 1 if you get to our restaurant by 3 PM today.
• Reply to this message by 5 PM to get entered into the contest.
• Email us with this shortcode by Friday at noon to register for our seminar.

The deadline acts as an incentive, and it builds excitement at the same time.

3. Integrate SMS with Other Channels

SMS is a great marketing channel by itself but it works even better in conjunction with other channels. Since SMS messages are answered more quickly than most other methods of communication, you can send out a reminder about your latest sale, newsletter or event via SMS. Then ask your customer to go to a specified URL or call for more information.

This integration is a good way to get people to engage with your monthly newsletter. Send out an SMS message to tell customers that your newsletter is out, with an incentive such as “check out the article on President Obama's visit to Cleveland."

You can also use your SMS marketing services as the secondary part of a channel mashup. In your television ad, for instance, you can tell people to send a text with short code "XYZ" to get a free gift.

4. Use a Call-to-Action

While it may seem that a CTA is a gimme, many times brands forget this step. They get the scheduling all sorted out, and segment their list properly, but then when they send the message there is no CTA. The purpose of the SMS message is to get your customer to act, therefore it is important to call them to action or tell them what to do. Therefore, think about what it is that you want them to do, and include it in your message.

Examples of CTA's include:

• Call us by 5 PM
• Order it now
• Visit our website
• Sign up for a free gift
• Watch the video

Then give them a clickable link or a clickable phone number to take the action requested. Adding a CTA makes your message clearer, and let's the customer know exactly how to take advantage of your offer.

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