Social Media Marketing for Business

If you use text message marketing to promote your business, you know how crucial subscribers are to the success of your campaigns. If you don’t have enough subscribers, or they’re ignoring your messages, then why even bother investing in this promotional tool? At Slicktext.com, we recommend you follow these ten important methods to target new subscribers and grow your list.

1. Target the right group of people.

If you’re an old fashioned burger joint, but trying to get vegans to sign up for your list, then you’re wasting your time. Make sure all your text marketing promotions are geared towards people who will find them valuable. For example, if you sell a sports drink, post a big sign at an athletic event. It’s not about how many people are on your list, it’s about how qualified they are.

2. Don’t be afraid to use MMS (picture messaging).

Pictures are everything, especially in the modern marketing world. That’s exactly why social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram have taken off. They give the user a visually enhanced experience, which encourages them to engage.

3. Offer a great incentive.

Let’s be clear, 10% off is not a great incentive. It’s great as an everyday promotion, but for your text marketing list, use something that seems exclusive, and offers great value to the new subscriber. For example, “Text to Win” is always a great incentive.

4. Encourage employees to ask customers to subscribe.

Sometimes, face to face interaction is the best way to encourage customers to engage with your text marketing list. This makes subscribers feel like you and your staff actually care, and want to make a connection with them by offering an exclusive discount.

5. Couple your text marketing campaigns with other promotional tools.

Don’t just launch a campaign, and hope that people will somehow hear about it via word of mouth. Make flyers, table tents, bag stuffers, etc. Use all of these marketing materials to promote your text marketing campaign.

6. Use paid advertising.

If done right, paid advertising can greatly increase your text marketing list. For example, create a Facebook ad, or buy banner space on a relevant blog, encouraging users to join your text marketing list.

7. Treat new subscribers like VIP’s, only offering them exclusive promotions.

Don’t use the same promotion twice. For example, don’t offer 50% off for both your text and email subscribers. If you feel comfortable, you can even call your text message subscribers VIP’s. This way, they feel good about joining your list because there’s an element of exclusivity.

8. Offer current subscribers an incentive for getting friends to join the list.

Don’t just stop your incentives once you get someone to subscribe. Encourage their friends to join your list. You can even run an in store promotion, something along the lines of “Bring a Text Friend, Get a Free Shirt”. You want to connect with as many qualified subscribers as possible.

9. Don’t underestimate the power of personalization.

We love using our text marketing birthday feature to make subscribers feel like we care. We want them to know that they aren’t just a number on a running list. They are people, and we want to build great relationships with them.

10. Integrate your text message marketing campaigns with Facebook.

At Slicktext.com, we have a feature that allows you to integrate your text marketing campaigns with Facebook. With just the click of a button, you can make sure all your text messages are posted to Facebook. That way, you can encourage all your Facebook fans to take interest in your promotion and subscribe to your list.

Meet Matt Baglia

Matt Baglia is the CEO of SlickText.com, a leader in the SMS marketing industry. They provide businesses and organizations all over the United States with an easy and cost effective platform for sending targeted, opt-in text messages.