Tips to quickly and easily build your mobile number database and grow your SMS marketing lists.

SMS is still one of the most effective ways to communicate with your customer database. Using bulk messaging software provided by mobile messaging providers, it is incredibly easy to set up and send personalised, highly relevant messages to your customers in a number of minutes.

In comparison to print advertising, direct mail or even the cost of a phone call, SMS is by far the most cost effective medium. And while SMS is not the cheapest direct response communication medium when considering competing channels such as email, it is by far the most effective. How many unopened emails are sitting in your inbox as you read this? My guess: several. Now consider your SMS inbox and I’m almost ready to bet the farm on the fact that there are no unread messages there.

The challenge that you, and most other small businesses and marketers face, is how to gather mobile numbers to market to. Purchasing lists of mobile numbers from a third party is not likely to win you any friends, or more importantly customers, as unsolicited messages are both spammy and ineffective. Here are some quick and easy ways to help you build your mobile number database.

Quick Win: Mining your existing customer base

Unless your organisation is just starting out, chances are that you already have a base of customers that have made use of your products or services before. This is a great place to start gathering mobile numbers.

• Send an email campaign offering customers an incentive for replying with their email address, or updating their existing online profile.
• Include a blurb at the end of all outgoing communications incentivising customers to provide their mobile number. Do this with your newsletters, statements and don’t forget your invoices – in both print and electronic format.
• Add a mobile number capture field to your website offering access to exclusive, mobile only promotions. This will enable you to capture the numbers of both your existing purchasing customers, as well as unconverted traffic – all your potential leads.

Text to win: Gathering mobile numbers outside of your current customer base

To acquire mobile numbers for potential customers that are not yet familiar with your organisation, rent a shortcode and run a ‘Text to Win’ promotion. Offer a bundle of your most sought after products as prizes. To enter, prospects simply text their name and the answer to an easy question. Or you could start by give away free samples of your product to prospects that send their name and address to the shortcode.. This enables you to promote your product and grow your database at the same time.

If you have a big budget you can promote your shortcode using television, radio or print advertising. If not, you could also promote your shortcode at all of your existing customer touch points including:

• Your website
• Your storefront
• At the bottom of all email communications
• In your private email signature

Practice Safe Text

As with email best practice, it is important to make sure your prospects understand that you will be making use of their mobile number to selectively send them relevant, valuable communications. Customers need to opt-in to receiving your marketing messages, so make sure that you get their permission before you damage the relationship and risk a slap on the wrist from WASPA. It is also advisable to keep a record of how and when you acquired the customers mobile number.

Once you have built up your mobile database remember to respect your customers mobile numbers. This will keep the mobile channel of communication open and encourage a mutually beneficially relationship between your organisation and its customers.

About the Author

Storm Buckingham is a digital marketer with hands-on experience in generating and implementing results-driven integrated marketing campaign strategies across a variety of online channels including email, display, search, social media & mobile.

To contact Storm connect with her on LinkedIn or follow her on Twitter. You’ve already found her blog, so you might want to leave a message for her in the comments box at the bottom of this page

5 Basic Tips for Writing Effective Google Paid Search Ad Copy

You don’t need to be an expert ad copy writer or hold a marketing degree to be able to write copy for Google Paid Search advertisements that will successfully  get prospects clicking.

Writing effective copy is simple and if you stick to the basic tips below, you will be able to put together ads that will contribute to a positive ROI in no time.

Let’s say, for the sake of this post, that your business sells accessories, such as handbags online. We’ll take a look at the simple tips below and see how to apply them practically to Google Paid Search ad copy.

1. Use your keywords in your headline.
This is a pretty basic tip, but you’d be surprised how many copy writers seem to overlook it. If we were targeting searchers looking for “genuine” or “pure” leather handbags, we would want to include that as part of our headline text.

2.  Don’t waffle – include the most relevant information about your business first.
When writing your copy, remember to focus on user benefits. In addition to the standard descriptive text about quality and style, make your ad stand out from the competitors by telling buyers why they should choose your product instead of anyone else’s. What sets your offering apart? If you are the only online handbag retailer in your area to offer 24 hour delivery free of charge, put this information in the ad copy.

3. Make sure you have a clear call to action.
Don’t leave your prospects guessing – be clear about what you want them to do after reading the ad, and, more importantly, why they should do it. Continuing with our online handbag retailer example, we should include an instruction telling potential customers to “View online catalogue now” or “Order online today.”

4.  Choose the most relevant landing page – or build a new one.
Prospects don’t like to have to work to purchase your product or sign up for your services. Make it easy for them to find what they are looking for. If they searched for “genuine leather handbags”, don’t send them to your homepage which lists all the other accessories you have for sale – point them straight to a nicely optimised handbags landing page. And if you sell both genuine leather and imitation leather handbags, make sure you point them to the page for genuine leather handbags.

5. Write more than one ad copy variation per ad group, and test the results.
Come up with a couple of variations of ad copy and see which versions work best. With time you will learn which phrases or variations generate the best click through rate and will be able to put these learnings to use.
Now, let’s take a look at examples of the type of ads we could put together to test based on the tips we have just read:

Pure Leather Handbags
Imported brands. Next day delivery
View full range online. Order now.
StylishAccessories.com/leather_handbags

Genuine Leather Handbags
Real Italian quality. Free 24 hour
delivery. View online catalogue now
StylishAccessories.com/leather_handbags

Handbags – Pure Leather
Match style with quality. Free delivery
within 24 hours. Order online today
StylishAccessories.com/leather_handbags

See how easy that was? By sticking to the simple tips above, you will be well on your way writing effective Google paid search ad copy and soon begin to enjoy a return on your investment!

Remember, according to Google, “ad text is a crucial distinguishing factor in luring a user to your website. Successful ads are clear, well-written, specific, and compelling.”

Happy writing – and to your prospects, happy Googling!

———————————————————-

About the Author

Storm Buckingham is a digital marketer with hands-on experience in generating and implementing results-driven integrated marketing campaign strategies across a variety of online channels including email, display, search, social media & mobile.

To contact Storm connect with her on LinkedIn or follow her on Twitter. You’ve already found her blog, so you might want to leave a message for her in the comments box at the bottom of this page.