How to start a SMS system for your business is the question I get asked a lot. We all seem to struggle with starting a SMS system for our business opportunities, small businesses and so on.
How To Start a SMS System for Your Business by Kevin James Culp
Why I wondered when it seemed so straight forward to me when the idea first came up. It was so much more entailed doing it on my own that it quickly became clear SMS was something that was better suited to bring on with a partner who is an expert in the field. Possibly multiple partners in the field who might specialize in variants for particular customer needs. Basically, you need to work with experts in SMS and you really need to be working with an expert to get to full impact for your money. More goes into it than you might think and it isn’t as cheap as you might think either so having a pro driving our program is critical. Read on…
So, let me first share with you that simply starting to send messages to phone number you might have amassed isn’t something that is actually done with true effectiveness or even legally in most cases. Campaigns that have a purpose do well. Campaigns that are well-planned in advance, have all opt-in data; single or double factor is up to you I like double do well.
I know, I know you are sitting there reading this and saying to yourself – HELP me! I understand, and you need pro help to get from where you are now, aka a bunch of numbers some on cocktail napkins, some friends & family and some are leads and those leads you want to mine for money I assume no? Then, it is critical that you have a plan to get permission to send your first message as your starting point. The next big step to think about is how you can alter your existing system to get all new leads, data, friends, friends dog’s cell number whatever opted in with permission from here forward. This is a key planning step to take into consideration first. Go back to your site, lead capture pages, lead form pages, pages upon pages who knows – just anywhere you collect data and see what form options that you have. If you can add in a radio button for instance that would allow you to send them a SMS message you my friend are in business in that respect and can now focus on the future!
First step is always a massive data collection from every source that you have. Every online portal like LinkedIn for instance and so on – everything – every lead and every data point that has a cell phone number – get it and start putting all of that data into an Excel file or some sort of CRM system or both. But how do I get permission for all of these numbers that I have? My suggestion is to email or even call first to get permission to send a SMS in writing person-by-person, company-by-company a little bit each day with consistent growth over time can yield a treasure trove of possibilities.
Next item to consider is message frequency. Frequency is a huge consideration with any type of program and while some are more forgiving with emails, SMS text programs don’t have the same tolerance level. Your leads, your gold essentially can be undermined rapidly if you send a ton of messages each month and that is especially true from the gate. Take it slow and steady and always stay consistent. Pick a time and day of the week or day of the month to send your messages with updates and maybe some flash message in between.
Onto message type, tone and consistency issues many seem to face when they’re not exactly sure what to send. The key here is to talk to the pros who do this for a living and allow them to look at your product, service, business opportunity, distributorship, licensee opportunity, partner program, affiliate program, small franchise and just about any other business that I can think of that will benefit from a SMS program should sit down and take a serious look at what you want to send.
Getting that professional input can make all the difference to your messages being opened and your call-to-action acted on. Speaking of which your call-to-action should be very clear. I can’t emphasize this enough. Super clear, super branded so they know whom the message originates from and why they received the message. Then you can get them to open, do something, click, call, buy, walk, talk and chew gum – all I know is these steps are critical from minute one.
The last basic item to consider as you get started is that you need to dig deep for your specificities about your business to understand what will work best for you from data collection, to opt-in, to confirmation, to frequency, to message tone, to call-to-to-action and so much more that a well-palled SMS system is an effective SMS system in my opinion. YOU need to sit down and really try to understand this to best of your abilities before simply calling a pro and throwing it all in their lap for obvious reasons.
For this article featuring C3 Digital Marketing, I reached out to Dyson Barnett: Restaurant Digital Marketing | Special Occasion Marketing | Mobile Marketing | Email Campaigns | Loyalty Marketing shared his experience with mobile marketing with ShopABizOp.com as owner of a successful SMS company from an article he wrote that caught my attention and sparked this blog post on LinkedIn. Here is a link to it if you would like to read the entire post>> CLICK HERE.
“Mobile Marketing Today. Is the ability to send bulk messages to a contact list or subscribers that have permitted you to send them messages. Be careful and know your responsibilities as a marketer! Mobile Marketing is more than a text message, a keyword, and a short-code.
- It’s the ability to develop a customer contact list making it easy for a business to stay connected to its customers;
- It makes it possible for sales reps to generate leads, develop relationships and sell more;
- It’s the ability to reach customers instantly;
- It’s the ability to virally share your message.
IT IS THE MOST VALUABLE LOCATION FOR ANY BUSINESS, Become A Digital Marketing Expert Start Your Own Business in Digital Marketing! You can work from anywhere, creating a recurring revenue stream and helping your clients grow their business with our feature rich marketing platform, says Dyson.“
If you would like to start your SMS System with confidence call Dyson at C3 Digital Marketing toll-free 1-800-775-6751 today your friends in the Mobile marketing business. You will be glad that you did. If you would like to view their ad on shopABizOp.com CLICK HERE NOW.
WANT TO START YOUR OWN BUSINESS & BUY THE C3 DIGITAL MARKETING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY? Great! Talk to Dyson toll-free 1-800-775-6751 and tell him ShopABizOp.com sent you.
Thanks for Reading and Carpe Diem My Friends!
SOURCES: C3 Digital Marketing – SPECIAL THANKS: Dyson Barnett
Related Additional Reading Suggestion: COVID19: Who Will Survive, Who Will Thrive and Why
