This post highlights eight best practices for leveraging MMS messages as part of your mobile marketing strategy.

MMS. vs. SMS: What’s the Difference?

Before covering the best practices, let’s take a quick look at the differences between MMS and SMS messages.

• Short Message Service (SMS): SMS is a service for sending short text-based messages of up to 160 characters to mobile devices. SMS messages are the standard, text-based messages that just about everyone uses and is familiar with.

• Multimedia Message Service (MMS): MMS messages are handled by the same native apps used for text messaging. The key difference is that MMS can include multimedia such as pictures and animated GIFs. MMS messages also don’t have a standard text limit, allowing for longer messages of up to 1600 characters.

Make sense? OK, let’s dive in!

1. Get the Opt In

First things first: marketers must get permission before sending MMS or SMS messages to a customer, as well as keep track of opt-in and opt-out requests. The good news is that if you’re already using SMS marketing, you can also send MMS messages to your opted-in audience.¹ 

2. Use MMS Selectively

Some messages are a better fit for MMS marketing than others, so it’s important to consider your goals and the type of content you plan to send. 

SMS messages are great for simple transactional messaging, time sensitive updates, and other concise information that requires less than 160 characters of text. Whereas MMS is well suited for promotions and creative marketing messages that rely on visuals to engage your audience. If you’re not sure which works best for your message, the way to find out is to test, test, test!

3. Time it Right 

You’ve heard the adage: send the right message at the right time. It’s especially true for text messages, because most people read them within just a few minutes.

Automation is key to timing your SMS messages right. With intelligent automation and event triggers, you can respond to specific user actions with messages that are relevant and useful. For example, by sending a welcome coupon after a customer’s first interaction with the brand or delivering a loyalty card immediately after sign-up. You should also ensure you’re respectful of factors like time zones and holidays.

4. Rightsize Your Images

Although MMS messages don’t have a standard text limit, you’ll need to be mindful of media file sizes. Large images take longer to load or may not load properly depending on the device and other factors. With Airship, you can add images to MMS message content or templates of up to 2MB for JPEG or 1MB for PNG or GIF files, however, as a general rule we recommend keeping those files under 650KB.

5. Test & Optimize

As with all marketing channels, testing and optimization are essential to making every MMS marketing message and customer experience the best it can be. With robust A/B testing, you can run experiments with different variations of your MMS messages, determine which ones perform best and optimize your campaigns.

6. Take a Global View 

Knowing where MMS is most effective and where it’s not can save your company money and optimize your MMS spend. Your customers in Europe may not respond to your promotional messages in the same way as customers in the United States. That’s why it’s important to not only localize your MMS but to also optimize the content by country.¹ 

7. Use SMS Keywords 

When a brand encourages customers to text them a word or phrase like LOYALTY or SAVE to participate in a promotion or sign up for a loyalty program, they’re using SMS keywords. With SMS Keywords, you can identify and act on specific text in SMS messages that your users send you. Those handy keywords work in MMS messages too, and make it easier for customers to respond to your calls to action and stay connected with your brand.²

8. Use Fallback Text

While a majority of phones are capable of receiving MMS messages, a small percentage cannot. Fallback text ensures that users who can’t view the original MMS message still receive a message that makes sense. Read more about how it works in Airship’s documentation.

Airship’s customer engagement platform gives you everything you need to use MMS and SMS to create better, deeper and more valuable connections with customers. Orchestrate your text campaigns as part of a multi-channel engagement strategy, segment your audiences, manage opt-ins/outs, schedule personalized messages, monitor performance, and more—all in one convenient package.  

For more insights and ideas, check out our SMS playbook. And if you’d like to learn more about using MMS in your strategy, get in touch!

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We can help elevate your mobile marketing strategy with MMS.

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1. Airship MMS is currently available in the United States only. 

2. Current U.S. regulations require that SMS are two-way, allowing for the end user to respond to marketing SMS or MMS. In other regions this is not required and messages can be one way. Make sure to check for regional/local regulations.

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Apple’s iOS 14.5 update offers more choice when it comes to users’ privacy. But it means big changes for advertisers, brands and their mobile apps. That’s because until now, they relied on Apple’s Identifier for Advertiser (IDFA) to track iOS users’ cross-app activity to better target and re-target digital ad campaigns, and attribute conversion events to ad spend. However, with its latest update, the world’s second most popular OS requires apps to explicitly ask user permission to track their activity across other companies’ apps and websites, allowing people to opt out at the app level or through settings at the device level.

It’s a major shift that reflects changing consumer preferences around data privacy. When Apple announced these changes, experts were unsure just how big of an impact this might have on advertisers. However, after the update rolled out, one analysis found that only 6% of U.S. users have opted-in. Even if this figure creeps up over time, it’s clear that brands must adapt their approach to mobile app acquisition, leaning much more heavily on engagement and retention to learn about and effectively serve their iOS customers. 

Here are four key areas to focus on as you adapt your mobile strategy for iOS 14.5.

Product Teams Must Put on their UA Hats

Previously, app User Acquisition (UA) teams relied on the IDFA to zero in on a highly targeted audience to drive to their mobile apps via ad networks like Facebook. Now, without the benefit of the IDFA, UA teams will bring a higher volume of less targeted users into the app. In response, app product teams will need to do more of the work that UA teams used to do. That means redoubling efforts to build a great User Experience (UX). It also means leveraging technology within the app to understand, segment and target your audience with the right messages and customer journeys to effectively monetize the app.

Optimize Onboarding and In-App Marketing

A great app onboarding experience was already essential to a positive UX. Now it’s even more valuable, serving as a crucial touchpoint for identifying customer preferences and behaviors (zero-party and first-party data) in-app. That customer understanding is fundamental to segmenting the most valuable users into the right journeys—guiding them both inside and outside of the app.

The key is to strike a balance between providing value for customers and collecting data that empowers you to create more precisely targeted and relevant experiences. For example, by:

• Educating users about the app and the benefits of opting-in for push notifications, which drives 3X higher 90-day retention rates on average
• Leveraging the app to opt users in to email for re-engagement
• Making it easy for users to tell you their preferences and information about themselves

Those customer insights allow you to follow on with targeted and personalized email, SMS and push notifications that are more likely to deliver results.

And it’s not just about onboarding. Your product teams should also leverage in-app engagement at each stage of the customer lifecycle to better understand customer needs, segment, and reach them with relevant, personalized and engaging messages.

Prioritize In-App Experimentation 

Robust experimentation and testing within the app is exponentially more important in this new environment. Brands will need to use ongoing testing (A/B, multivariate, and programmatic testing) to help optimize essential touchpoints like onboarding and checkout flows, as well as recommendation algorithms, ensuring a great experience for users that also drives toward your business goals. 

Our Apptimize experimentation platform can help, allowing marketers and product teams to run powerful tests within Airship. With robust segmentation and A/B testing, you can identify and reach the best users to monetize through in-app purchases or even purchases of physical goods through the app.

Keep Users Engaged with Event-Triggered Journeys

Once you’ve identified and segmented those high-value cohorts, you need to keep them coming back to the app and lead them toward your goals. In-app events and milestones like an opt-in or a first purchase provide a perfect launching point for contextual, personalized messages that mean more to customers. In fact, customers are up to 5X more likely to respond to event-triggered messages!  

Airship’s next generation solutions provide the tools you need to keep customers engaged with highly targeted, event-triggered customer journeys. With Airship, you can segment customers based on tags, lists, attributes, and custom events in the app, and trigger intelligent Airship Journeys across your customers’ preferred channels. 

For example, if they don’t complete a specific onboarding screen in the app, you can automatically orchestrate an email and SMS journey that drives them back to the app and toward the next milestone. You can also use features like Airship’s predictive AI to trigger messaging that re-engages customers who are likely to churn. That’s a win for customers, who demand a truly personalized experience. It’s also a win for brands working to adapt to iOS 14.5.

Conclusion

There’s no doubt that Apple’s new OS changes the mobile engagement equation for brands, who must adapt their mobile strategy for iOS 14.5, and their app product teams, who must take on more of the work previously led by UA. However, the good news is that even in a post-IDFA world, you can still build great experiences that provide value for your customers and empower your brand to effectively monetize your app. 

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The post How to Adapt your Mobile Strategy for iOS 14.5 appeared first on Airship.

Order Confirmation

Personalized SMS and email messages are no-brainers for order confirmations and pickup details. But if you want to build a next level experience, try delivering personalized Mobile Wallet passes via email or SMS. Wallet passes make it easier for customers to keep track of their orders. And they tend to hang onto those passes, giving you another way to stay engaged! You’ll also want to encourage app downloads and opt-ins so that customers can take advantage of BOPIS 2.0 features like arrival detection and live in-app chat.

Pre-Pickup

Next, leverage location to create a more seamless pickup experience for customers and staff with Airship’s integration with Radar. Radar’s trip tracking functionality lets you track an order and a trip to a store for order-ahead and send events to Airship when a customer is on the way, approaching and arriving. With Airship, those events can be used in real-time to trigger personalized messages that provide incredible value to both customers and brands. 

For example, when a customer is close to a store, send an automated push notification with pickup information. Or launch a Live Chat opportunity with an agent who can help answer questions and provide details about the order or pickup process. Plus, these events are surfaced in existing in-store systems or a turnkey Radar dashboard, enabling staff to start prepping the order at the right time, cutting down on wait times and improving CX. 

On-premise

Once a customer arrives, whether they’re collecting a BOPIS order or just browsing, use geofencing to drive on-premise Mobile App and Mobile Wallet engagement. Send a personalized SMS message to encourage them to download your app or sign up for your loyalty program. Target push notifications with special offers, loyalty features and information that drives more app opens. Or use purchase history to upsell or add on products during order fulfillment.

Post-Pickup

The post-pickup period offers a wealth of often underutilized opportunities to engage and upsell. Improve CX through helpful follow up messaging with assembly instructions or prep details. Use in-app, SMS and email driven surveys to understand customer sentiment. Create a lasting connection by updating Mobile Wallet passes with coupons and offers after orders are picked up. And drive continuous engagement by orchestrating personalized post-purchase Airship Journeys to upsell, cross sell and drive repeat purchases. 

With Airship’s customer engagement platform and Radar’s location solutions, you can create seamless end-to-end experiences that customers love, driving store traffic, building long-term relationships and more. To learn more about how Airship can help power a winning BOPIS experience for your brand, contact us today!

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The post How to Build Better BOPIS Experiences with Airship + Radar appeared first on Airship.

SMS is an attractive, impactful and cost-effective channel for marketers and organizations to engage with customers. Why is SMS so effective? Because consumers don’t let text messages go unread. Texts don’t get buried in an inbox or blocked by spam filters, and they reach people quickly and conveniently on the devices at the center of their digital lives — their mobile phones. Plus, just about every phone in the world can receive text messages. 

Benefits

• Massive engagement: SMS is considered one of the most effective channels for engaging with customers. 98% of SMS messages are opened, and 90% are read within three minutes. 68% of consumers say they check their messages regularly throughout the day.

• Immediacy: SMS marketing solutions empower organizations to send time-sensitive notifications quickly and easily to an audience’s mobile device, without any app or development work. 

• Reach: SMS makes it possible to contact customers who don’t have your mobile app, or re-engage customers who are inactive on other channels or at-risk of churn.
  
• Personalization: Today’s mobile consumers expect personalization. Bulk text marketing allows organizations to send personalized and timely messages at scale.
  
• Mobile wallet integration: Pairing SMS’ wide reach with the convenience of mobile wallet creates seamless mobile-first user experiences for using loyalty cards, tickets, boarding passes, coupons and more.
  
• No app required: SMS is one of only two mobile channels (the other one is mobile wallet) that allow you to message users directly without an app.

Strategies & Use Cases

• Transactional Messages: Delivering transactional details via SMS helps brands make those messages more useful and visible for customers. Examples include order confirmations or alerts about account activities, appointments, flight changes, reservations, shipping and payments due.

• Promotions & Campaigns: SMS marketing helps spark action and results with personalized promotional messages such as sale alerts, upsell opportunities, partner promotions and more.

• Multimedia Messages: Adding a visual touch to text messages can make a big difference and SMS’ media rich counterpart MMS allows brands to add images or animated GIFs, as well as longer text. Industry stats indicate an increased click-through rate of 15% when using an MMS message.

• Multi-Channel Engagement Strategies: Coordinating SMS with email, push notifications, and mobile wallet passes can increase the reach and effectiveness of any campaign or promotion. Our revolutionary solution Airship Journeys make it easier than ever to orchestrate seamless customer journeys that drive deeper engagement — and exponential growth.

• Transforming Brick-and-Mortar Visitors into Digital Customers: Leverage in store experiences to motivate customers to opt-in to SMS so you can create more opportunities to get to know them, spark loyalty and encourage additional sales — both digital and in-person.

About Airship’s SMS Solution

SMS campaigns offer incredible potential to drive action, adoption and loyalty. Given its massive engagement and reach, it’s no wonder so many leading brands leverage SMS to create deeper connections with customers.

Airship’s customer engagement platform provides everything you need to connect with your audience via SMS. Orchestrate your text campaigns as part of a multi-channel engagement strategy, segment your audiences, manage opt-ins/outs, schedule personalized messages, monitor performance, and more—all in one convenient package.  

To learn more about can Airship can help power your SMS strategy, get in touch! And be sure to check out some of these great SMS resources:

• SMS Playbook
• SMS Regulatory Compliance: What You Need to Know About Text Messaging
• Level Up Your SMS Engagement with Retargeting and Customer Context
• What You Need to Know to Create a Global SMS Strategy
• Get the Timing Just Right with Automation For SMS and Email
• Why SMS Should Be a Strong Focus in Your Customer Engagement
• How to Personalize SMS and Email Messages with Dynamic Content
• How You Can Use SMS Keywords and MMS to Drive Customer Engagement

Let’s Connect

We can help you with your SMS Marketing strategy.

Contact us today!

The post Bulk SMS Marketing – Benefits & Strategies appeared first on Airship.

When celebrities, airlines, retailers, and journalists are all on the same page, call it a trend.

The pandemic has accelerated the practice of one-to-one digital relationships for all kinds of brands. A lot of progress in digital transformation has been made in a matter of months that would have otherwise taken years, and it’s happened across industries. The advancements have been due to brands pivoting to help consumers deal with the shelter-in-place and work-from-home situation most everybody has had to endure to stay safe during the pandemic.

The upshot: digital intimacy has become part of everyone’s professional and personal lives. To stay connected, we’ve needed to embrace virtual-but-direct relationships. From a longer view, this is a technology story, and it is, interestingly, part Zoom, part SMS, and part Substack.

Live Video Goes Hollywood

The shelter-in-place period has affected people at all social strata, and it’s caused hundreds of millions of people to use live video platforms such as Zoom for the first time. Friends are holding virtual happy hours, bicoastal baby showers on Zoom are now a thing, and families are catching up “face to face” via the apps on the weekends.

The phenomenon has even led to stars from classic movies like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Goonies, and The Princess Bride getting into the act. Via Zoom, cast members have gathered with their fans to share behind-the-scenes stories about their famous flicks. Everyday folks have gotten to peek into the apartments of actors like Matthew Broderick and Billy Crystal, achieving a digital intimacy neither the actor or the fan gets via a tv or in theaters. When celebrities are using the same software platform as you and can see your presence in real-time via video or the text-chat box on Zoom, it’s a special connection.

Such extraordinary digital intimacy and engagement have also been growing on Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms. Pop artists like Adele, Rihanna and Taylor Swift are answering fans’ direct messages, and singer John Legend and artist DJ D-Nice are taking song requests from fans via Instagram Live.

SMS Delivers Meaningful Connections

I shouldn’t do this but… Text me (917)746-1444. That cheeky message was the caption of an Instagram video from hip-hop artist Diddy, in which the multifaceted mogul aptly described why SMS marketing has made a huge comeback. “On [Instagram], everybody knows about everything,” he explained in the clip. “I want a deeper connection with my fans.” Indeed, celebs are recognizing the one-to-one power of SMS. Jennifer Lopez, Ashton Kutcher, Cardi B, Karlie Kloss, and Mandy Moore are some of the other famous entertainers launching dedicated SMS channels (which, of course, do not represent their personal cell phone numbers).

SMS, born in the 1990s, is having a renaissance because it allows brands to go direct with fans and customers better than email and other digital platforms. Consider that 82 percent of consumers say they open every single text message while the average email campaign open rate is 32 percent.

Brands started the SMS trend. Alaska Airlines was one of the first airlines to offer flight notifications via SMS, and the channel has become pivotal to its customer service. Fliers can message “82008” to connect with a rep for answers to simple travel questions. As another example, Brookshire Grocery Company, a chain with 180-plus supermarkets, pharmacies, and other stores in Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, runs a growing SMS program to alert customers of new deals in a timely fashion. The Tyler, TX-based brand segments its text list into groups such as beer clubs and wine clubs where members only get relevant content (text and images), depending on which club they opted in to. Additionally, Brookshire employs experimentation to find out which content outperforms other messages for the greatest SMS engagement.

Journalists Bypass Middlemen

Another one-to-one branding development during this pandemic has been journalists going it alone. A number of popular writers have left notable publications to launch newsletters on platforms like Substack and Patreon. Tech reporter Casey Newton left The Verge, political columnist Andrew Sullivan departed New York magazine, climate reporter Emily Atkin exited The New Republic, and, most recently, investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald fled The Intercept, a publication he co-founded. They all left for Substack, a newsletter subscription platform that lets journalists be their own bosses and cuts out the middleman.

These writers, brands unto themselves, are eschewing publications and channels and embracing one-to-one relationships with their readers. Right now, they are delivering their newsletter content via email, and they should be A/B testing types of subject lines to get the best open rates. With that in mind, I predict Substack and Patreon will eventually introduce text-message newsletter delivery because the SMS trend isn’t going away.

A Direct Response

Indeed, one of the most powerful post-pandemic trends is all about the digital intimacy that can be achieved by going direct. Eight months into this crisis, the whole idea of one-to-one connections has morphed and mutated and impacted industries in ways that few if any of us saw coming. People have been able to stay connected while still staying apart.

All of that has led to the marketing of celebrities, airlines, retailers, and journalists leaning the same way. Yeah, you can call that a trend.

The post Celebrities and Other Brands Lean into Digital Intimacy appeared first on Airship.

Yet despite widespread use, many consumers may not realize that the messages ubiquitously referred to as texts actually come in two distinct formats: Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Message Service (MMS). 

So, what’s the difference? And how are SMS and MMS used by marketers and brands? Read on to learn more.

What is SMS?

When you think of a typical text message, it’s probably an SMS. First developed in the 1980s, SMS is a service for sending short text-based messages of up to 160 characters to mobile devices. SMS messages are typically viewed through a device’s native messaging app. If a text exceeds the character limit, it will appear as successive messages to the user.

SMS is growing rapidly as a marketing channel due to its high engagement rates. The success of SMS marketing comes down to one simple fact: consumers don’t let their texts go unread. Texts aren’t caught in spam filters, forgotten in an inbox or lost somewhere in the mail. Studies have found that 98% of SMS messages are opened, and 90% are read within just three minutes. 

What About MMS?

MMS offers all the benefits of SMS – and then some! Like their SMS counterparts, these multimedia messages are handled by the same native apps used for text messaging. But as the name implies, the key difference between SMS and MMS is that MMS can include multimedia. That includes pictures, animated GIFs, audio clips and video. MMS messages also don’t have a standard text limit, allowing for longer messages of up to 1600 characters.

Organizations that use SMS marketing can also send MMS to their audience of opted in users. Plus, MMS messages include a fallback, ensuring that users who can’t view the original MMS message still receive a message that makes sense.

Key Takeaways

• When we look at MMS vs SMS, both have incredible read, open and respond rates, making text messaging one of the most effective channels for reaching and engaging customers.
• Texting is an extremely low barrier option for communication because users do not need to download an app before receiving SMS or MMS. 
• Because many mobile carriers offer unlimited SMS and large or unlimited data plans, text messaging is an inexpensive medium for consumers. 
• Users need a data plan or internet connection to receive MMS messages.
• Before sending SMS or MMS to customers or prospects, organizations must get permission, known as opt in.
• Organizations must also provide a way for people to opt out of receiving text messages.
• Both MMS and SMS messages are a convenient way to communicate fast and timely information to customers.
• Adding a visual touch to text messages can make them more effective, with an increased click-through rate of 15% when using an MMS message. 
• SMS is particularly well suited for simple, urgent, transactional messages.
• Both SMS and MMS are effective channels for supporting loyalty programs.
• Using text messaging in combination with other channels, including email and mobile wallet, can increase marketing effectiveness.
• Text messaging is a very personal channel. To avoid coming off as spam, marketers must carefully control frequency and timing, while ensuring messages provide value.
• Personalization can help SMS and MMS messages stand out from the crowd.
• With the right partners and solutions, text messaging is an easy communications and marketing tactic for organizations to employ.

About Airship’s SMS Solution

Airship’s customer engagement platform provides everything you need to connect with your audience and leverage the strengths of MMS vs. SMS. Orchestrate your text campaigns as part of a multi-channel engagement strategy, segment your audiences, manage opt-ins/outs, schedule personalized messages, monitor performance, and more—all in one convenient package.  

A great text message marketing strategy opens up a world of possibilities for creating better, deeper and more valuable connections with your customers. For more insights and ideas, check out our SMS playbook. And if you’d like to learn more,  get in touch to discuss how Airship can help!

Let’s connect!

Learn how Airship can help expand your reach with SMS and MMS

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The post What’s the Difference Between MMS vs. SMS? appeared first on Airship.

Here are 10 tips to help make your next text campaign a massive success.

1) Get Permission

Before texting customers, you need their permission. Not only is it a legal requirement, it’s an opportunity to earn trust and distinguish your messages from unwanted spam. Start by making opt ins and opt outs easy, and be sure you have the right partners and guardrails in place to ensure compliance.

2) Time it Right

Timing is everything, and with today’s martech solutions you can deliver perfectly timed messages to your audience in the moments they are most receptive. For example, send a welcome coupon after a customer’s first interaction with your brand, or a loyalty card immediately after sign up. And be sure to consider your audience’s habits, time zones and other local factors.

3) Orchestrate Across Channels

Many marketers still treat SMS as an entirely separate channel. But to get the most out of text campaigns, they should be orchestrated seamlessly across all of your channels. Thoughtful, data-informed orchestration of SMS, email, push notifications, and mobile wallet can increase the reach and effectiveness of any campaign or promotion.

4) Personalize It

SMS is a very personal channel on which overly generic text campaigns run the risk of coming off as spam. The key is to personalize the experience. Use segmentation and tagging to organize and target your audience so you can deliver messages that are timely and relevant to users and their preferences.

5) Finesse the Frequency

Over messaging erodes trust and leads to churn. To earn customer trust on SMS, you need to respect their personal space and ensure that you’re providing value in every message. Avoid blasting them with texts by testing for the best frequency. And make sure your martech is up to the task of coordinating messages across all of your engagement channels.

6) Use SMS Keywords

SMS Keywords make it super simple to engage with your text campaigns. Empower customers to text back a keyword like DEAL to take advantage of a special offer, or HELP to request support. Not only does this improve CX, it provides valuable customer data that enables you to provide an even more tailored experience!

7) Leverage Location

Location-based text campaigns are a highly effective way to incite action and engagement. Leverage location and SMS to drive traffic with tailored offers at the customer’s favorite brick and mortar location, offer locally relevant news and alerts, or encourage them to sign up for a local service. 

8) Make Every Character Count

Text messages work best when they’re short and sweet. Use link shortening to open up valuable message real estate so you can make every character count, while also tracking performance and controlling costs.

9) Retarget for Results 

Pairing text campaigns with retargeting is a great way to tackle a variety of marketing challenges, from abandoned carts to churn. Once you’ve established branded links and unique link tracking, use click retargeting and segmentation to create even more contextual experiences by tracking engagement and personalizing future messages based on that engagement.

10) Go Multimedia

Take customer engagement to the next level with MMS messages. These multimedia messages include pictures and animated GIFs. Plus, they aren’t limited to 160 characters like their SMS counterparts. Adding that visual touch to your text messages can make a big difference. Industry stats indicate an increased click-through rate of 15% when using an MMS message.

About Airship’s SMS Solutions

Airship’s customer engagement platform provides everything you need to connect with your audience. Orchestrate your text campaigns as part of a multi-channel engagement strategy, segment your audiences, manage opt-ins/outs, schedule personalized messages, monitor performance, and more—all in one convenient package.  

A great SMS marketing strategy opens up a world of possibilities for creating better, deeper and more valuable connections with your customers.

For more insights and ideas, check out our SMS playbook. And if you’d like to learn more,  get in touch to discuss how Airship can help!

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Learn how Airship can help make your next text campaign a massive success

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The post 10 Tips For Successful Text Campaigns appeared first on Airship.

Plus, virtually all mobile phones support SMS. And it’s one of only two mobile channels (the other is mobile wallet) that allow you to message users directly without an app.

Given the massive engagement and reach, it’s no wonder so many leading brands leverage SMS to create deeper connections with customers.

How Businesses Use Text Messaging

Welcome and Onboarding: SMS is a direct and personal way to make a great first impression and deliver a warm welcome. Onboarding with SMS also helps brands learn more about customer needs, educate them and lead them to the next steps in the process. 

Transactional Messaging: Delivering transactional details via SMS helps ensure messages are useful and visible for customers. Examples include order confirmations or alerts about account activities, appointments, flight changes, reservations, shipping and payments due.

Promotions & Campaigns: SMS is a powerful channel for sparking action and results with personalized promotional messages such as sale alerts, upsell opportunities or partner promotions.

Customer Support: SMS is also used for delivering great customer service to today’s increasingly mobile consumers. Brands often use SMS keywords like HELP or SUPPORT to help customers easily connect with an agent or find information.

With Mobile Wallet: Mobile Wallet is more popular than ever and mobile wallet integrations with SMS allow brands to easily deliver personalized passes, loyalty card updates, tickets or coupons.

Churn Prevention: You don’t need an app to receive SMS. That makes text messaging ideal for reaching customers who don’t have your app, helping re-engage customers who are inactive on other channels, or reaching those at-risk of churn.

Multimedia Messages: Adding a visual touch to text messages can make a big difference. MMS allows brands to add images or animated GIFs, as well as longer text. Industry stats indicate an increased click-through rate of 15% when using an MMS message.

Multi-Channel Engagement Strategies: Coordinating SMS with email, push notifications and mobile wallet passes can increase the reach and effectiveness of any campaign or promotion. Our revolutionary solution Airship Journeys make it easier than ever to orchestrate seamless customer journeys that drive deeper engagement — and exponential growth.

To learn more about can Airship can help power your SMS strategy, get in touch! And be sure to check out some of these great SMS resources:

• SMS Playbook
• SMS Regulatory Compliance: What You Need to Know About Text Messaging
• Level Up Your SMS Engagement with Retargeting and Customer Context
• What You Need to Know to Create a Global SMS Strategy
• Get the Timing Just Right with Automation For SMS and Email
• Why SMS Should Be a Strong Focus in Your Customer Engagement
• How to Personalize SMS and Email Messages with Dynamic Content
• How You Can Use SMS Keywords and MMS to Drive Customer Engagement

SMS

Want to learn more about how Airship’s SMS solutions can help power your strategy?

Contact us today!

The post SMS for Business: How Texting Drives Engagement & Results appeared first on Airship.

Two major components of that experience are awareness (letting your customers know that SMS is an option) and onboarding (getting the opt-in). 

I recently visited a pharmacy chain store and was asked if I would like to opt in to receive their text messages. I spent the next few minutes trying to complete the opt-in process, which wasn’t exactly smooth. After trying to navigate multiple required steps, duplicate confirmation screens and a three-minute interruption while checking out, it was easy to see how most customers might give up at any point during the process. 

It doesn’t have to be this hard. And the upside is huge: motivating customers to receive SMS messages while they’re in your space can create more opportunities to get to know them, spark loyalty and encourage additional sales — both digital and in-person.

So how can brands take advantage of their foot traffic to motivate customers to connect on via SMS? 

First, make sure it’s incredibly simple to sign up. Set up your SMS opt-in to allow customers to: 

1. Text a short code or a keyword to a number to opt in
2. Use interactive QR codes that automatically compose an opt-in message and make opt-in a breeze. 

1) Spark SMS Interest with Signage and Calls to Action in the Store 

The moment customers enter the store, they should see reminders of the benefits of signing up for SMS promotions. Use signs, fliers and posters that feature positive messages showing how easy it is to register and start enjoying the perks: describe program benefits, registration instructions and easy-to-remember steps. 

While customers are waiting in line to check out, be sure to remind them to sign up and opt in. Leaving printed info cards near the checkout area also gives customers a chance to learn more and opt in later. 

2) Make Use of the Register Experience

When customers reach the register, sales associates can help them opt in by keeping the process clear and simple. Let the customer self-serve their opt-in on a pin pad, entering and confirming their own phone number, rather than continuing the opt-in process on the register. 

When integrated with your point of sale (POS) system, Airship technology will send a confirmation message to the consumer to confirm their opt-in. There’s no need to require the double opt-in confirmation at the register, which will let the sales associates focus on the transaction taking place. 

3) Remind Customers of Opt-in Keywords or QR Codes on Mailers and Receipts

Brands have lots of opportunities to remind customers about the value of opting in. Consider adding opt-in instructions to: 

• Direct mail fliers
• Package inserts
• Instructions
• Credit card statements
• Receipts
• and more! 

This gives your customers time and opportunity to sign up before or after visiting your store. 

Test out multiple keywords and codes to test out which one is the most effective. You could even incentivize sales associates to drive opt-ins by giving them unique keywords. 

Don’t Forget About Other Digital Channels, Too

In short, keep the SMS registration process simple and stress-free while keeping the customer’s checkout experience smooth and easy. Show them reminders while they’re in line and allow them to enter their number and the register and finish the process with Airship technology. Positive, clear communication will keep them coming back. 

You’re not limited to brick-and-mortar experiences to get SMS opt-ins. Email is a great way to let your customers know about text messages, and SMS works really well when combined with other channels such as your app or mobile wallets. You can learn more about SMS Power combos in this webinar and for more SMS inspiration, download our free SMS playbook to see examples of how you can use SMS marketing to wow your customers at every moment of the customer lifecycle. 

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The post Transforming Brick-and-Mortar Visitors into Digital Customers with SMS Opt-Ins appeared first on Airship.

As daunting as SMS compliance requirements may seem, when done correctly, SMS can be a powerful messaging tool to reach and engage with your customers.

Here are some features and processes we have included as part of our SMS offering that you can use to help you start your SMS marketing strategy.

Some Background on SMS Regulation

Meeting regulatory requirements and maintaining best practices to support customer relationships are critical for brands that use SMS in their marketing mix. Regulations such as the U.S. Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA), the Canadian Anti-Spam Law (CASL), and the EU Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications (the ePrivacy Directive), include strict requirements for sending SMS marketing messages. 

Additionally, industry guidelines, such as the Mobile Marketing Association’s Consumer Best Practices for Messaging and the wireless industry association CTIA’s Short Code Monitoring Program should be carefully considered when implementing SMS campaigns and activities.

Under the TCPA, and other laws, a business must provide clear and conspicuous information about its practices and get the recipient’s express written consent to receive text messages before sending an automated message. Businesses should check for the legal age of consent based on where the recipient is located. If a business is using a purchased phone list, consent and opt-out requirements still apply.

Airship Supports Two Opt-in Methods for SMS:

Double Opt-In for Mobile Phone Opt-In– In response to a call to action from the brand, a consumer texts “JOIN” from their mobile device. This triggers Airship SMS to send a double opt-in request (with adjustments made if requested by the brand)

Double Opt-In for Non-Mobile Phone Opt-In – To initiate a double opt-in when a consumer opts in to receive SMS messages via a website, app, paper form or any means other than sending a text from the mobile phone, the brand provides that opted-in phone number to the Airship platform. This triggers Airship SMS to send a double opt-in request. The consumer doesn’t get added to the opted-in list until they respond with a “Y.” Once added to the list, Airship SMS sends an automatic confirmation alert.

Airship also gives brands options to send SMS to their managed opt-ins:

Uploaded to Airship SMS via API –After the consumer opts in to receiving SMS messages, the phone number and opt-in date/time are then passed to  Airship, and  Airship SMS tracks the opt-in date/time in our database along with the phone number.

Uploaded to Airship via CSV File – After the consumer opts in to receiving SMS messages, the phone number and opt-in date/time are then passed to  Airship by the brand via the  Airship Message Composer, and  Airship SMS tracks the opt-in date/ time in our database along with the phone number.

Transactional Messages – Transactional messages are messages that are closely related to the service being provided, such as delivery updates for a package or appointment reminders. Once the consumer provides the brand with legally appropriate consent to receive transactional messages, the brand triggers sending the transactional message by providing the phone number and opt-in date to  Airship SMS via our API.

The Option to Opt-out Is Just as Important as the Option of Opting In

 Airship supports these opt-out methods for SMS:

Mobile device originated opt-out request: When a consumer texts the brand with a keyword like STOP (or any of the other opt-out keywords specified by law or best practices), Airship SMS automatically responds with a confirmation and adds an opt-out date/time to our database (example message below, marketers can tailor the content of this opt-out confirmation message to fit their workflow and brand requirements):

{Brand Name}: You have opted-out and will no longer receive messages. Reply HELP for help

Airship does not send messages to any numbers that have opt-out dates associated with them. If the consumer decides to opt in again, the Double Opt-In or Brand Managed Opt-In methods described above will register a new opt-in date.

Opt-out via website or app: If a consumer changes their preferences in a Preference Center—or in some other way via the brand’s website or app—the brand must pass the opt-out information to the Airship platform using the Airship API. Airship then adds the opt-out date/time to our database.

Carrier deactivation handling: Mobile network operators in the USA (like AT&T, Verizon, etc.) provide Airship with a list of deactivated phone numbers on a daily basis (i.e., consumers who have disconnected service with that operator). Airship SMS automatically uninstalls these numbers (removes them from our database entirely) so that the brands don’t inadvertently message the wrong person if that number gets reassigned. 

Some Things to Keep in Mind:

Make sure to maintain all consent records that provide relevant details.  Airship makes it easy to do with reports that give brands the ability to view opt-in and opt-out status for consumers who have provided consent to receive SMS messages from the brand. It’s also important to drill down to see details — and/ or stream opt-in and opt-out events into other business systems.

Make sure to do your research. In addition to country-specific laws and regulations governing SMS messaging, industry groups have published best practice guidelines for companies engaged in text marketing. These include the Mobile Marketing Association’s Consumer Best Practices for Messaging and the wireless industry association CTIA’s Short Code Monitoring Program.

Please note that the above content is provided for information purposes only and is not intended to and should not be relied on as legal or compliance advice. Please consult with your organization’s legal counsel or regulatory compliance team for compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

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The post SMS Regulatory Compliance: What You Need to Know About Text Messaging appeared first on Airship.