How to generate a 156x return from your outbound text messaging

It’s 2021, and harder than ever to reach people. That’s why outbound text messaging is your new best friend. 

This year, 79% of consumers subscribed to texts from a business. Brands that have a list of phone numbers are turning the 98% open rates of text messages into a winning outreach strategy.

Done right, text messaging lets you reach your customers quickly and efficiently. 

But there’s still a line you’ll need to toe. Nearly 60% of consumers listed too many messages as the reason they’d unsubscribe from texts.

So, how do you find the happy medium and unlock a 156x return on your texting channel like our customer Toroe Eyewear?

Offer value to your subscribers

Texting is an effective way to reach your customers because of the trust it involves. After all, people don’t give their phone numbers to just anybody. 

So, when someone subscribes to texts from your business, recognize that for the sign of trust that it is. You now have a chance to build a valuable—and long-lasting—relationship with them.

How do you go about building that relationship? Treat your text subscribers like VIPs.

Keep the focus of your outbound messaging on giving value. Send texts with exclusive offers that your other marketing channels don’t get. 

Toroe Eyewear’s keyword, “VIP”, immediately highlights the exclusivity of its SMS marketing program. (A keyword is a word, phrase, or other combination of numbers and letters that allows people to subscribe to your text messages.)

When people click the button within the pop-up, their native text app opens with the keyword and number prefilled. When they tap send, they immediately receive a 10% discount on their first purchase.

The value Toroe Eyewear provides its text subscribers is one of the key factors behind the company’s impressive results.

Personalize your messages

Another way to provide value to your subscribers? Craft your outbound text messages with your audience in mind. 

Generic messages advertising special offers or directing customers to your website won’t have the same impact as highly personalized ones. For example, imagine receiving this message:

That message might sound upbeat, but it won’t grab anyone’s attention.

And while there’s nothing wrong with the occasional notification to your entire list, there’s a better way to talk to customers. 

Personalization in outbound text messaging usually comes down to organization. With SimpleTexting, you can easily separate your contacts into segments. This allows you to break your lists up into sources of traffic, people who bought a certain product, and so on.

This is also a great strategy to make your customers feel that you are genuinely interested in them. 

Consider the following: you sell wetsuits for triathletes. You decide to send a message to all the people who bought winter wetsuits with an offer for a waterproof change robe.

Not only are people more likely to buy, but you’re also sending them highly relevant messages that they’ll appreciate receiving.

Combine SMS with other channels

We’re big believers in the power of outbound text messaging. But taking a “one size fits all” approach to your marketing is never a good idea.

That’s because people who view a consistent message across multiple channels are 90% more likely to buy from you.

For example, good things happen when businesses combine outbound SMS and email: Blue Baker increased its coupon offer redemptions by 162% by combining both channels.

Your SMS subscriber list is often an engaged group of customers because they actively opted into receiving text messages. On the other hand, email lists are usually larger and allow you to reach a broader audience.

By leveraging the broad reach of your email lists and the high engagement of text messages, you can drive even better results.

Use outbound SMS to cut through the noise

At the end of the day, effective marketing is simple. You need to offer people value, in a way that feels personalized, through as many channels as possible.

If you can do this, you’ll be well on your way to a 158x return.

If you have questions about sending your first outbound text, email us at support@simpletexting.net. If you want to learn more about SMS marketing for a particular industry, you can read our guides here. You can also sign up for a 14-day, risk-free trial.