8 Tips to Grow Customer Trust with SMS Marketing

It’s said that necessity is the mother of all inventions. In digital marketing, a field that's full of technological innovation, SMS marketing is a good example.

Many businesses fail to recognize the value of SMS as a marketing channel. It took a while before SMS marketing picked up, but it has now developed into a strategic and powerful digital marketing channel.

Do you want to grow your business? Do you want to get new leads and successfully engage with existing customers? Do you want to get ahead of your competitors? No matter how big or small your business is, using digital marketing tactics such as SMS can really help in improving sales and overall customer loyalty.

Why SMS marketing is a great strategy

SMS marketing is becoming more and more critical. It stands out compared with email, social media and even online marketing because it grants brands a level of personal interaction and a sense of intimacy that sometimes doesn't show through other forms of digital and brand marketing.

SMS marketing is one of the best methods to communicate with your customers and generate leads. It's a proven strategy and a great way to engage with your customers. Here are some of the benefits of adding SMS to your marketing strategy:

• Reach: With 98% open rates, texting is an excellent way to engage with customers and quickly share information with them.
• Speed: SMS is a great way to interact with your customers and get immediate feedback about their experience with your business.
• Loyalty: Research shows that consumers are 35x more likely to open or interact with mobile messages than email.
• Promotion: Sending out a text message from your business is a great way to send a quick reminder to buy your products and promote deals and discounts to your customers.
• Convenience: SMS messages can be read on any device. Around 77% of consumers said they use SMS messaging more than other messaging tools. This means that you will reach your potential clients no matter where they are and what they use to communicate.
• Direct: Text messages go directly to customers' phones. There's no need for them to download an app or visit a website.

In customer retention campaigns, you don't have the luxury of time. You want the customer to come back and remain loyal for the long run. Sending out SMS campaigns can help retain consumer trust and keep them engaged with your brand.

Effective SMS marketing can provide tremendous benefits to your company, including customer trust, loyalty and brand advocacy. Their trust is your most valuable asset, but it can be tough to earn. It's also easy to lose if you aren't careful.

8 tips to grow customer trust with SMS marketing

As we all know, customers are more likely to buy from businesses they trust. Using SMS messages can be an excellent way to build trust. Check out these valuable tips to make your customers feel confident about your brand and utilize SMS marketing as part of your strategies for conversion:

1. Get permission first

The keyword here is "permission". Your brand can't send text messages to anyone who hasn't asked to receive them. It's the most important rule in SMS marketing—and one that's easy to break if you don't stay vigilant. If a customer did not opt-in to receive texts from you, do not send them.

Some customers who subscribe to your SMS may opt-out for personal reasons. Be open with them about how they can stop receiving SMS messages from your brand or change their preferences.

2. Send valuable content

Another important SMS marketing rule is that the messages must be valuable for the customer—otherwise, they're just spam. Don't waste their time by sending them boring content or irrelevant information.

Every time you reach out to your customer via text message, it must provide value to them, or they’ll unsubscribe. Your SMS campaigns should focus on providing information relevant to their interests, such as promotional offers, discounts and news about your products or services.

If all you're sending is sales messages, people will get annoyed and opt-out of your campaigns.

3. Be respectful of your customers' time

Don't send too many messages. Treat your customers how you want to be treated. They don't want to feel like they are constantly being sold something, but they do appreciate the occasional updates and relevant promotions. Remember not to abuse SMS by spamming people with unwanted messages.

You must also be purposeful with the timing of your messages. Send messages at times when they’re most likely to see them. Be actionable, and most importantly, respect their privacy and time. Otherwise, your campaigns would be counterproductive and hurt your business in the long run.

4. Use short, simple texts instead of long, complicated phrases

What you say and how you say it matters. People want information that's easy to read and understand. In the case of SMS, that means keeping the message short and direct.

It's a good idea to set up your SMS campaigns with automation software that detects when you've gone over the limit and splits your message into multiple texts automatically. Sending clear, concise and easy-to-understand messages in a single glance shows that you respect their time.

Creating effective SMS campaign templates can also help you follow a direct approach to your messages. This can make planning campaigns easier, so you can focus on crafting the right message.

5. Try not to upsell every single time

Let's face it: one of the main reasons you have an SMS marketing campaign is to upsell your products and services. But that doesn't mean that you have to do it in every single message.

Upselling too often will only make your customers stop reading your messages altogether, so you want to ensure that the content you send them is relevant, personalized, and informative.

Send a special offer or exclusive discount code but keep it at that. Now and then is okay, but if you end up sounding like a used car salesperson, no one's going to listen to what you have to say. You can make an SMS content calendar to help you plan your campaigns efficiently.

6. Respond quickly to inquiries and questions

Your customers are searching for a brand that they can trust. Business owners who want to establish a relationship of trust with their customers should respond quickly to inquiries and questions. The response speed gives the customer an idea of whether they can also expect a fast service or not.

They want a company that will be there to answer questions right away. If you take too long to respond, they'll lose trust in you and seek help elsewhere. Listening to your customers and responding appropriately to their inquiries is a great way to establish trust and nurture relationships.

7. Avoid sending too many texts

It's easy for a customer to opt-out of all text messages from a business. If they feel like they're receiving too many texts, they can get annoyed and decide to never accept anything from you again.

Too many SMS messages can overwhelm consumers, making them feel bombarded. Just because someone has given you their phone number doesn't mean you should send them texts whenever you want—even if the content is relevant.

Instead, try sending texts when convenient for people, and they can take action. Only send out as many messages as needed for each campaign—and make sure there is enough time between texts, so you don't become invasive.

8. Be human

To build a trusted connection with consumers through text messaging, be sure to include your business' name in the sender ID. This allows customers to easily identify who the sender is and helps personalize the message.

Automation is great, but don't forget that humans like talking to humans. Make sure that your automated messages sound like they were written by a person, not a bot.

Try including emojis and other symbols that show a real person is behind the screen or keyboard. But be careful not to overuse them, and follow the same rules of etiquette that you would use in email or social media. Keep it personal without being overly casual; this is how you can foster a language of trust.

Establish trust with SMS marketing

Some people find SMS intrusive, preventing them from signing up for any text subscriptions. However, you can prove these customers wrong with the right SMS marketing approach and practices.

When it comes to growing your customer base and sustaining long-term relationships, trust is crucial. Hopefully, these steps can help you communicate with your clients in a way that builds a lasting bond of trust and respect.

It's easy to acquire customers with aggressive tactics and cheap offers but getting them to stick around is the real challenge. When you build trust with your customers, you can communicate more effectively, sell more products and keep them coming back for more.