Improve your marketing engagement and ROI with high-performing bulk SMS marketing messages
Launch an SMS marketing campaign
Improve your marketing engagement and ROI with high-performing bulk SMS marketing messages
What is an SMS marketing campaign?
There’s no question that widespread use of mobile devices has exploded and will continue to do so; the number of mobile internet users exceeds desktop users by millions. With so many people checking their email and social media feeds and, more importantly for business owners, purchasing items online via their mobile devices, it’s a no-brainer that businesses capitalize on this medium — particularly in their marketing efforts.
Enter bulk SMS marketing: a means of sending your leads and customers promotional messages — coupled with your email marketing efforts — directly to their mobile phones. The value of SMS marketing lies not only in its ubiquity but in the fact that replying to customers and engaging in two-way conversations via SMS can be carried into any industry. Businesses can send coupon codes, appointment reminders and thank you messages; host contests; send special offers and more all by means of automation. Striking a chord with your audience on a personal level has never been a more attainable goal.
What is an SMS marketing campaign?
There’s no question that widespread use of mobile devices has exploded and will continue to do so; the number of mobile internet users exceeds desktop users by millions. With so many people checking their email and social media feeds and, more importantly for business owners, purchasing items online via their mobile devices, it’s a no-brainer that businesses capitalize on this medium — particularly in their marketing efforts.
Enter bulk SMS marketing: a means of sending your leads and customers promotional messages — coupled with your email marketing efforts — directly to their mobile phones. The value of SMS marketing lies not only in its ubiquity but in the fact that replying to customers and engaging in two-way conversations via SMS can be carried into any industry. Businesses can send coupon codes, appointment reminders and thank you messages; host contests; send special offers and more all by means of automation. Striking a chord with your audience on a personal level has never been a more attainable goal.
Why use bulk SMS marketing?
Transcending all other marketing mediums, SMS allows you to reach your leads and customers anywhere, any time.
A huge boost in ROI
With the right messaging, and the opportunity to reach your audience wherever and whenever, SMS marketing campaigns opens your business to big returns for minimum investment.
Competitive advantage
98% of SMS messages are read compared to 22% of emails. Synthesize the two into full-fledged marketing campaigns, and you’ve got an engagement powerhouse.
Why use bulk SMS marketing?
Transcending all other marketing mediums, SMS allows you to reach your leads and customers anywhere, any time.
A huge boost in ROI
With the right messaging, and the opportunity to reach your audience wherever and whenever, SMS marketing campaigns opens your business to big returns for minimum investment.
Competitive advantage
98% of SMS messages are read compared to 22% of emails. Synthesize the two into full-fledged marketing campaigns, and you’ve got an engagement powerhouse.
Where does Ontraport fit?
Integrating an SMS campaign into your marketing strategy using Ontraport will positively change the way you interact with leads and clients and dramatically boost message engagement. Setting up SMS in Ontraport takes as little as 10 minutes. Simply pick a phone number, then test it on your phone. From there you’re able to bake SMS into any of your existing or forthcoming marketing campaigns or automated lead and customer follow-up processes. Anyone who’s given you explicit permission to receive texts will be eligible — making them accessible wherever they happen to be. In addition to being easy to set up, SMS functionality is fully built right into Ontraport (even two-way communication), requiring no other platforms or expensive add-ons to get the most out of your marketing dollars.
“It’s important to invest your energy into things you know work, and we know that SMS works and is a thing to focus on.”
- Tom Daly, Interactive Marketing Executive
Examples of SMS marketing campaigns using Ontraport
Lead capture
Using Ontraport’s SMS feature, it’s never been easier to collect leads. In the right venue, a live event or meet-up for instance, you can showcase an offer redeemable via SMS and prompt attendees to opt in with their name and email address to claim it. The moment Ontraport receives a valid SMS from any leads in attendance, it’ll automatically add them to your contact database and to any marketing campaigns you’ve designated for that particular event or offer.
Appointment reminders
If your business runs on an appointment basis, no-shows can take a big toll on your bottom line. Sending email reminders is one way to stay top-of-mind, but it can’t be counted on to reach someone on the move or to notify someone about a looming appointment. By integrating SMS into your marketing strategy, you’ll cut down on no-shows significantly. When leads/clients visit your website and fill out your appointment request form, they’re automatically filtered into your appointment reminder automation after which they’ll receive at least one appointment reminder email. The day before their scheduled appointment, your leads/clients will receive an appointment reminder SMS message that all but guarantees it’ll be read — given that 98% of bulk SMS marketing messages are opened.
Flash sale
Playing on consumers’ fear of missing out, a flash sale/limited-time offer is a great expedited lead nurture tactic you can employ and build quickly and easily in Ontraport. This is done by adding leads to a lead nurture campaign — they’ll receive emails, SMS messages or a combination of the two notifying the lead of your sale. Each correspondence conveys a sense of urgency and directs recipients to a sales page where they can purchase your discounted goods with a personalized coupon code — also generated in Ontraport.
Customer activation
Each of your leads experiences multiple touch points with your business before becoming a customer. Likewise, customers can be marketed to using the same principles to keep them engaged with your brand and product or even upgrade their purchase or buy supplementary products — all depending on your product model. Using Ontraport, customer activation pushes leads into the next stage of the customer lifecycle, and SMS is a go-to channel to do that. Any time a lead purchases your product, drop him into an activation campaign and send him targeted SMS messages pertaining to the product he purchased to keep him engaged. Product tips, feature focuses, further steps, and even upsells are all effective activation messages.
Progressive profiling
With bulk SMS in Ontraport, you can collect helpful data to improve your business and products while also nurturing new leads. Leads typically don’t opt in to your database ready to buy. In implementing progressive profiling into your marketing, you’re able to identify your hottest leads based on survey responses and segment them accordingly. Once you've established a lead nurturing framework, Ontraport filters leads into campaigns based on their level of qualification going as far as delivering purchase-ready leads to your sales team straight away. It does this by assigning leads a point value, predetermined by you, upon which they hit a threshold and are routed to designated sales reps on your team OR added to a cold lead nurturing campaign for further attention.
Campaigns
Sure, SMS has high potency as a standalone tactic, but to really unleash its potential, integrate it into your existing marketing campaigns. Audit your marketing channels and assess where SMS can be leveraged in conjunction with other mediums to enhance lead engagement. Using Ontraport, for instance, you may send out an email with insider info and follow it up with an SMS reminder directing subscribers to open the email thus boosting your open rate by a significant percentage. A product launch or sale announcement fortified with bulk SMS marketing, for instance, will yield a higher ROI than one dependent solely on email.
Ready to launch your first SMS marketing campaign and grow your business?
“With Ontraport doing a lot of the work, I send approximately 10,000 emails and texts for my small company automatically every year, without needing a person.”
— Nora Bohanon, Rental Workflows
Ready to launch your first SMS marketing campaign and grow your business?
“With Ontraport doing a lot of the work, I send approximately 10,000 emails and texts for my small company automatically every year, without needing a person.”
— Nora Bohanon, Rental Workflows
Frequently Asked Questions
What is marketing automation and why is it so important?
Marketing automation is technology that manages repetitive marketing tasks and complex campaigns so you don’t have to. This software allows you to automate your communication with leads and customers throughout the customer lifecycle, from their first touchpoint to post-purchase.
When paired with a CRM that collects data about your leads and customers, your marketing automation software can use that data to deliver engaging, effective experiences across multiple channels. Whether you use email marketing, SMS messages, or a combination of the two, marketing automation tools will give you the power to turn more leads into customers — without managing the whole process manually.
When paired with a CRM that collects data about your leads and customers, your marketing automation software can use that data to deliver engaging, effective experiences across multiple channels. Whether you use email marketing, SMS messages, or a combination of the two, marketing automation tools will give you the power to turn more leads into customers — without managing the whole process manually.
What is a digital marketing funnel?
Digital marketing funnels are like road maps that your prospects follow until they eventually convert into loyal customers. You can create all kinds of funnels depending on your business and strategy, however most center around the five customer lifecycle stages: Attract, Convert, Fulfill, Delight and Refer.
With marketing automation, your leads and customers will move from one stage to the next based on their interactions with your business. For example, your marketing platform can bump a contact to their next lifecycle stage automatically after they reach milestones like signing up for your newsletter or making a first purchase. The best part is, it all runs on autopilot after you set it up, which gives you the power to scale faster.
With marketing automation, your leads and customers will move from one stage to the next based on their interactions with your business. For example, your marketing platform can bump a contact to their next lifecycle stage automatically after they reach milestones like signing up for your newsletter or making a first purchase. The best part is, it all runs on autopilot after you set it up, which gives you the power to scale faster.
What’s an easy SMS marketing campaign to start with?
Birthday and holiday promotions are a great place to start for your first SMS campaign. With Ontraport, it’s easy to build campaigns that automatically send a coupon or special offer via SMS or emails to celebrate your leads’ and customers’ birthdays — or any other special occasion.
What are the benefits of bulk SMS marketing?
There are lots of reasons to send SMS messages to your leads and customers, but one of the most compelling is their sky-high open rates. Research shows that 95% of SMS messages are read within three minutes of receiving them — which means you can run campaigns and encourage leads and customers to take action in real-time. Plus, leads and customers are far more likely to redeem your coupons and offers if they’re sent via SMS messages, which makes bulk SMS marketing an ideal strategy for boosting engagement.
Is Ontraport a good choice for B2B marketing automation?
Yes — Ontraport is a great fit for attracting new prospects, nurturing leads, generating sales and more for your B2B business. We offer reliable tracking and attribution, highly personalized communication channels, and ready-to-launch marketing funnels that you can kick off in minutes. Plus, since Ontraport lets you gather and store more data than most marketing automation solutions, you’ll be able to reach more potential customers and get better results from your marketing efforts.
How do I know if Ontraport is the best marketing automation software for me?
When you’re shopping for a marketing platform for your business, you’ll want to take your entire business into account — not just the marketing side of things. Whether you choose Ontraport or not, we recommend making sure your automation platform includes the following features, at the very least:
- A website or landing page builder to share your business with the world online
- A system for capturing leads and sending marketing emails
- A contact management system (CRM) to keep track of clients and prospects
- A payment processing tool to collect orders and charge credit cards/li>
Of course, you’ll probably need more sophisticated tools as your business continues to grow. With Ontraport, you’ll have everything you need now and in the future — all under one roof.
Take a look at our buyer’s guide for a complete checklist of all the CRM, marketing automation and sales features to keep in mind throughout your software search. It’ll help you find the perfect platform for your business (even if you don’t choose Ontraport).
Take a look at our buyer’s guide for a complete checklist of all the CRM, marketing automation and sales features to keep in mind throughout your software search. It’ll help you find the perfect platform for your business (even if you don’t choose Ontraport).
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