Brighten your holiday strategies with mobile

The holiday season brings with it cherished memories and traditions. It also brings an abundance of advertising noise to consumers and anguish for retailers. We don’t have to tell you that, in today’s changing market, it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd. How will you convince consumers to shop with YOU, rather than the competitors?

Know anyone with a mobile device?

With mobile sales growing an astonishing 44% in 2016 and poised to grow even more this holiday season, there’s no better way to reach your customers than through mobile promotions. Before you put the final touches on your holiday campaigns, consider implementing an SMS strategy. Adding this mobile solution to your digital marketing mix provides a direct connection to customers as well as that competitive edge. What’s more – it’s an ideal complement to email campaigns.

Mix Wisely

Rum and eggnog mix well, but they pack very different punches. Likewise, just because email and SMS work so well together doesn’t mean you should use them similarly. We’ve done the work for you by making a list of best practices and checking it twice:

While emails can go out daily – or even multiple times per day – SMS should be used sparingly; ideally, no more than once a week.
SMS should include your best offers or discounts.
SMS should have a feeling of exclusivity as well as a sense of urgency / immediacy that motivates the customer to act immediately.
Great SMS campaigns include immediate flash sales, new product releases, coupons, local event alerts, reminders and language like, “ends tonight” or “last chance”. Campaigns that don’t work well include upcoming sales, future events and coupons that aren’t immediately enabled.
The content of your SMS campaigns should be direct. You’re limited to 160 characters, including the mandatory legal messages such as “Reply STOP to end”.
It’s also wise to send a single message at a time – don’t send two or three messages in a row to cram in a lot of text. If the message is too lengthy, send an email instead.
Don’t overdo it with abbreviations. Some common abbreviations are acceptable, such as “Txt STOP 2 end”.
Use a URL shortener such as bit.ly for your call-to-action links; allot 10 characters of the 160-character limit for your link.
Unlike email, which can be sent any time of the day, SMS campaigns should ideally be sent from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm local time.
Your emails and SMS messages should work together, but shouldn’t compete. Don’t send different offers in the two channels the same day.
Remember that mobile marketing is highly regulated, so be sure to follow all the current rules, regulations and guidelines around signage, promotion and messaging.

Conclusion

This holiday season, make the most of your mobile presence by taking advantage of the time consumers spend with their mobile devices. When you engage your audience with mobile messaging, you can generate tailored messages, promote your campaigns, and cut through the holiday clutter while building customer loyalty and driving sales. Implementing an SMS strategy will not only brighten your holidays but ensure success with your future campaigns.