Why you need and SMS Marketing
Have you thought about adding text messaging marketing to your business? If not, here's something to think about. Emails have an open rate of 20%.
Text messages have an open rate of 98%, and on top of that, 90% of all text messages are read within three minutes of receiving them.
So in this video I'm going to show you how easy it is to get started with text messaging marketing and give you tips and tricks along the way. Hello everyone, Scott Friesen here at Simpletivity helping you to get more done and enjoy less stress. And if you are wanting to engage
with your customers that much more directly and increase your sales, text messaging marketing might be the best solution for you. Whether you want to have a two-way conversation or if you want to communicate with thousands of people at once, text messaging may be the best solution for you.
Text messaging software is easier than you think
In this example, we are using a tool called SimpleTexting which, as the name suggests, keeps things nice and easy for those of us who may not be so technically inclined, but still want to take advantage of the most recent technology including SMS marketing.
So here within my SimpleTexting interface, you can see I can manage all of my conversations here on the left hand side. Here in the middle of the screen, you can see an example of a conversation that I'm in right now between a potential customer.
And then on the right hand side, I can easily view all of that contact's information and include additional details, including notes, birthday, and other vital details.
So here, from the comfort of my own desk, I can text an communicate directly back either with an individual customer or with customers on mass. "Yes, you can come in tomorrow and pick these up."
So I can send my text whenever I need to and keep a complete history of that conversation right here on my desktop. How to acquire your text messaging audience But before we go any further with the specific features, the very first question we need to answer is
"How do we start communicating with our contacts?' And this is very, very important when it comes to text messaging. You must receive consent, or in other words, you must ensure that the people that you're communicating with have opted to communicate with you via text messaging.
And for that, we're going to make use of a keyword. Now, you've probably texted a keyword before, or at the very least you've seen other businesses invite you to text a certain word to their number.
The reason for this is that this is the most common way to opt-in to a text messaging service. So let me show you how easy it is to set this up. In this case, I'm going to select a new keyword. And because my business is all about being simple, I'm going to choose that word "simple."
Anyone who text the word "simple" to this number above will be added to my list. Now I can either choose to add it to a new list or to an existing list, and in this case, I'm going to choose to add it to a new list called Subscribers.
So anyone who texts the word "simple" will be added to this list, and then I'll be able to send them campaigns or specific messages in the future. Now down below, here is going to be
the Auto confirmation message. So what do I want them to receive after they've texted this word to me? And an added benefit of using SimpleTexting is that yes,
they have AI built in. So if I don't want to write the message myself, I can always come up here to Generate message. And so I'm going to give the AI assistant the following prompt, "Thank them for joining the list and stay tuned for special offers."
I can next select Generate a message, and then down below in just a few seconds, it will generate several messages for me to choose from.
Now as I scroll through the selections here, I like this sound of exclusive, it makes people feel special, so I'm going to select that one and say Select message. And of course, I can always continue to edit it or add more details down below.
Remember, you can always add links to your messages. So if you want to direct them to a certain landing page on your website or to another resource, you can do that here as well. But I'm going to keep it rather simple in this particular message. Now, I'm not going to add any further details.
I'm going to select Save this keyword in this case, and here you can see it has been added to my list. Anyone who texts this word to this number will be added to my subscriber list. So let's go and test it out. I'm going to go back to my inbox here,
and on my phone, I'm going to text the word "simple" to this number. Here you can see what I texted, and instantly I received this message back, "Thanks for joining,
stay tuned for exclusive offers and more." And now when I come over here to my contacts, I can take a look at my Subscribers list, and look at that, we have one new subscriber, which would be me and my test account.
So that's how easy it is to both set up a keyword and invite people to join your list.
And don't forget, you can add as many keywords as you want and have them trigger new things, either trigger specific responses So maybe in this case, I have a keyword of "apply" or "jobs", and these are people who are seeking to apply for a position within my organization, something very different than maybe just a general marketing list Getting consent to send text messages Now, adding a keyword is not the only way to have people opt-in to your text messaging list. Another common method is to include it on a form.
So if you're already collecting phone numbers, you can include an opt-in checkbox so that they give you permission to text with them. But here, within SimpleTexting, you can also create your own web signup forms.
So for example, I've created a form called New Customer Form where I can include as many details as I want including first and last name, their email address, maybe I want to capture their birthday.
If I want to send them a special birthday message via text messaging, I can do it all here. I can then send them directly to my form where they can fill out the required information
and then select Subscribe now.And here you can see we have that policy built in
that by selecting this, they agree to receive promotional messages. Remember, in order to keep your number and more importantly your brand in good faith, make sure that you have some way for them to explicitly agree to receive SMS messages from you Creating SMS marketing campaigns But enough about consent, let's move on to one of the most powerful features when it comes to using text messaging marketing and that is creating your own campaigns.
This gives you the opportunity to communicate with thousands of your clients exactly when you want to and have them act on those requests in a matter of minutes. So here I have a number of campaigns set up already, including this 25% Off Sale. So I can see when it was sent,
I can see what the message was, but I can also keep track of that history in terms of how many people received it, I can also keep track of the link that was used and how many people actually clicked that link. But let's go ahead and create a new campaign from scratch.
All I need to do is select this New button here and let's give it a campaign name. I'm going to say "Buy 1 G One", that's going to be the name of the campaign. This is just for my own reference here.
Once again, we can use AI to assist us, but in this case, I'm going to put in my own messaging. So in this example, I've said the following, "This weekend only, Buy 1 course and Get a 2nd course for FREE!
Make your picks now." And then I've included a link to the landing page. Now here on the right hand side of the screen, it's going to give me a helpful preview of what that message will look like. And the first thing that you will notice is that this big, long link
is going to look rather ugly and maybe a little intimidating, and actually maybe take away from the rest of the message. Well, SimpleTexting has a feature called Shorten URL. So all I need to do is select the URL, and I'm going to select that Shorten URL.
And here's an example of what it will now look like to the recipient. Nice and short, the focus is on the message, and they are still just one click away from making their selection.
Now, immediately down below, you will see that there's a section called Unsubscribe message, and this is also a best practice, reminding those whom you are communicating with that they have an opportunity to unsubscribe or stop receiving messages from you.
In this case, the word is "stop", so as long as they text the word "stop" in reply, they will be removed from this list and no longer receive messages. I'm going to come down here and just hit Enter on my keyboard just so there's some separation between that message and the link that I want them to click.
Next, I need to select which group I want to send this campaign to. So I'm going to select this and come down and choose Subscribers. Now, I can choose multiple groups if I want to, but in this example, we're going to stick with just subscribers.
Lastly, I can choose if I want to send this campaign immediately, if I want to schedule it for the future, or if I want to set up a recurring schedule for this particular campaign. In this example, I'm going to stay with Immediately and hit Next.
I am then brought to the summary screen where I can review one last time what this message will look like, and when, I'm happy I can hit Send now, and then brought back to the campaign screen. And if I go back to my inbox, I can see with this test user account
that yes, this campaign has been sent, including this very nice and short and very clickable link rather than the very long and intimidating link that I first pasted in.
Free resources & pricing options Now, if you're still not sure if text messaging is right for your business, SimpleTexting has provided a vast library of guides for each and every industry. So no matter what type of business you are running, you can get started and see best practice examples. For example, maybe I run an accounting firm
and I want to see what others are doing and how they are using text messaging
within their particular business, this is a great resource and will get you off and running in a matter of minutes. In addition, if you are worried about pricing and how much this will cost you, SimpleTexting makes it easy. All you need to do is figure out how many messages you will be sending per month so you'll know exactly how much
you'll be spending in the future. I particularly like their Build a Plan screen where you can type in exactly how many contacts you plan to message, whether you're going to be messaging consistently or maybe just seasonally, and how often per month
you'll be messaging that client as well. This will give you a very accurate number,
so you can eliminate any future surprises. So to learn more and to get started for free, go to SimpleTexting.com or select the link in the description down below.
And if you have any questions, be sure to let me know in the comments. Thank you so much for watching. And remember, being productive does not need to be difficult.
In fact, it's very simple.
Why you need to consider SMS marketing Have you thought about adding text messaging marketing to your business? If not, here's something to think about.
Emails have an open rate of 20%. Text messages have an open rate of 98%,
and on top of that, 90% of all text messages are read within three minutes of receiving them. So in this video I'm going to show you how easy it is to get started with text messaging marketing and give you tips and tricks along the way.
Hello everyone, Scott Friesen here at Simpletivity helping you to get more done and enjoy less stress. And if you are wanting to engage with your customers that much more directly and increase your sales, text messaging marketing might be the best solution for you.
Whether you want to have a two-way conversation or if you want to communicate with thousands of people at once, text messaging may be the best solution for you.
Text messaging software is easier than you think
In this example, we are using a tool called SimpleTexting which, as the name suggests, keeps things nice and easy for those of us who may not be so technically inclined, but still want to take advantage of the most recent technology including SMS marketing.
So here within my SimpleTexting interface, you can see I can manage all of my conversations here on the left hand side. Here in the middle of the screen,
you can see an example of a conversation that I'm in right now between a potential customer.
And then on the right hand side, I can easily view all of that contact's information and include additional details, including notes, birthday, and other vital details.
So here, from the comfort of my own desk, I can text and communicate directly back either with an individual customer or with customers on mass. "Yes, you can come in tomorrow and pick these up." So I can send my text whenever I need to
and keep a complete history of that conversation right here on my desktop.
How to acquire your text messaging audience
But before we go any further with the specific features, the very first question we need to answer is "How do we start communicating with our contacts?' And this is very, very important when it comes to text messaging. You must receive consent, or in other words, you must ensure that the people that you're communicating with
have opted to communicate with you via text messaging. And for that, we're going to make use of a keyword. Now, you've probably texted a keyword before, or at the very least you've seen other businesses invite you to text a certain word to their number.
The reason for this is that this is the most common way to opt-in to a text messaging service. So let me show you how easy it is to set this up. In this case, I'm going to select a new keyword.
And because my business is all about being simple, I'm going to choose that word "simple." Anyone who text the word "simple" to this number above will be added to my list.
Now I can either choose to add it to a new list or to an existing list, and in this case, I'm going to choose to add it to a new list called Subscribers. So anyone who texts the word "simple"will be added to this list,
and then I'll be able to send them campaigns or specific messages in the future.
Now down below, here is going to be the Auto confirmation message. So what do I want them to receive after they've texted this word to me? And an added benefit of using SimpleTexting is that yes, they have AI built in.
So if I don't want to write the message myself, I can always come up here to Generate message. And so I'm going to give the AI assistant the following prompt, "Thank them for joining the list and stay tuned for special offers." I can next select Generate a message, and then down below in just a few seconds, it will generate several messages for me to choose from.
Now as I scroll through the selections here, I like this sound of exclusive, it makes people feel special, so I'm going to select that one and say Select message. And of course, I can always continue to edit it or add more details down below.
Remember, you can always add links to your messages. So if you want to direct them to a certain landing page on your website or to another resource, you can do that here as well.
But I'm going to keep it rather simple in this particular message. Now, I'm not going to add any further details. I'm going to select Save this keyword in this case, and here you can see it has been added to my list. Anyone who texts this word to this number
will be added to my subscriber list. So let's go and test it out. I'm going to go back to my inbox here, and on my phone, I'm going to text the word "simple" to this number.
Here you can see what I texted, and instantly I received this message back, "Thanks for joining, stay tuned for exclusive offers and more." And now when I come over here to my contacts, I can take a look at my Subscribers list, and look at that, we have one new subscriber, which would be me and my test account.
So that's how easy it is to both set up a keyword and invite people to join your list. And don't forget, you can add as many keywords as you want and have them trigger new things, either trigger specific responses or have them added to a particular list. So maybe in this case,
I have a keyword of "apply" or "jobs", and these are people who are seeking to apply for a position within my organization, something very different than maybe just a general marketing list.
Getting consent to send text messages
Now, adding a keyword is not the only way to have people opt-in to your text messaging list. Another common method is to include it on a form. So if you're already collecting phone numbers, you can include an opt-in checkbox so that they give you permission to text with them.
But here, within SimpleTexting, you can also create your own web signup forms. So for example, I've created a form called New Customer Form where I can include as many details as I want including first and last name, their email address, maybe I want to capture their birthday.
If I want to send them a special birthday message via text messaging, I can do it all here. I can then send them directly to my form where they can fill out the required information
and then select Subscribe now. And here you can see we have that policy built in
that by selecting this, they agree to receive promotional messages. Remember, in order to keep your number and more importantly your brand in good faith,
make sure that you have some way for them to explicitly agree to receive SMS messages from you.
Creating SMS marketing campaigns
But enough about consent, let's move on to one of the most powerful features
when it comes to using text messaging marketing and that is creating your own campaigns. This gives you the opportunity to communicate with thousands of your clients exactly when you want to and have them act on those requests in a matter of minutes.
So here I have a number of campaigns set up already, including this 25% Off Sale. So I can see when it was sent, I can see what the message was, but I can also keep track of that history in terms of how many people received it, I can also keep track of the link that was used and how many people actually clicked that link.
But let's go ahead and create a new campaign from scratch. All I need to do is select this New button here and let's give it a campaign name. I'm going to say "Buy 1 G One",
that's going to be the name of the campaign. This is just for my own reference here.
Once again, we can use AI to assist us, but in this case, I'm going to put in my own messaging. So in this example, I've said the following, "This weekend only, Buy 1 course and Get a 2nd course for FREE! Make your picks now." And then I've included a link to the landing page.
Now here on the right hand side of the screen, it's going to give me a helpful preview of what that message will look like.
And the first thing that you will notice is that this big, long link is going to look rather ugly and maybe a little intimidating, and actually maybe take away from the rest of the message. Well, SimpleTexting has a feature called Shorten URL. So all I need to do is select the URL,
and I'm going to select that Shorten URL. And here's an example of what it will now look like to the recipient. Nice and short, the focus is on the message, and they are still just one click away from making their selection.
Now, immediately down below,you will see that there's a section called Unsubscribe message, and this is also a best practice, reminding those whom you are communicating with that they have an opportunity to unsubscribe or stop receiving messages from you.
In this case, the word is "stop", so as long as they text the word "stop" in reply, they will be removed from this list and no longer receive messages. I'm going to come down here and just hit Enter on my keyboard just so there's some separation between that message
and the link that I want them to click. Next, I need to select which group I want to send this campaign to. So I'm going to select this and come down and choose Subscribers. Now, I can choose multiple groups if I want to, but in this example,
we're going to stick with just subscribers. Lastly, I can choose if I want to send this campaign immediately, if I want to schedule it for the future, or if I want to set up a recurring schedule for this particular campaign. In this example, I'm going to stay
with Immediately and hit Next. I am then brought to the summary screen where I can review one last time what this message will look like, and when, I'm happy I can hit Send now, and then brought back to the campaign screen. And if I go back to my inbox, I can see with this test user account that yes, this campaign has been sent,
including this very nice and short and very clickable link rather than the very long and intimidating link hat I first pasted in.
Free resources & pricing options
Now, if you're still not sure if text messaging is right for your business, SimpleTexting has provided a vast library of guides for each and every industry. So no matter what type of business you are running, you can get started and see best practice examples.
For example, maybe I run an accounting firm and I want to see what others are doing and how they are using text messaging within their particular business, this is a great resource and will get you off and running in a matter of minutes.
In addition, if you are worried about pricing and how much this will cost you,
SimpleTexting makes it easy. All you need to do is figure out how many messages
you will be sending per month so you'll know exactly how much you'll be spending in the future. I particularly like their Build a Plan screen where you can type in exactly
how many contacts you plan to message, whether you're going to be messaging consistently or maybe just seasonally, and how often per month you'll be messaging that client as well.
This will give you a very accurate number, so you can eliminate any future surprises. So to learn more and to get started for free, go to SimpleTexting.com or select the link in the description down below. And if you have any questions, be sure to let me know in the comments.
Thank you so much for watching. And remember, being productive does not need to be difficult. In fact, it's very simple.
