How to Avoid Spamming with Mobile Marketing

Whether you’re running a major corporation or a start up, SMS messaging and other mobile marketing tactics should form a major part of your overall marketing strategy. The overwhelming popularity of cell phones – and the high open and read rates associated with texting – means mobile marketing is the most efficient way to reach large numbers of people. It just happens to be one of the most affordable types of consumer engagement, leveling the playing field for smaller businesses to compete with the big fish.

Trouble is, all these positive attributes means it’s tempting to overdo your mobile marketing strategy. Sure, you want to offer your contacts something of value, and send them personalized messages with coupons and special offers attached, but you don’t want to be a pocket-sized irritant, vibrating your way into the daily lives of loyal customers. Without realizing it, your texts can go from being welcome notifications to spammy intrusions. So you need to plan your mobile marketing campaign carefully and thoughtfully.

It happens all too often. Even well-established brands have made the fatal mistake of overdoing their ad campaigns. Once the annoyance you provoke reaches a tipping point, people will simply opt out of your list – and you’ll probably lose them for good. The effectiveness of your campaign depends wholly on the way your customers view the messages you send. Even if the message is sent in good faith, as soon as it’s labeled as spam in the mind of the reader, it’s game over for your relationship.

There are a number of ways to protect your company from being associated with the dreaded term. First and foremost, your messages must be relevant and succinct. That’s a given. Take the time (and resources) to craft a snappy message and your ROI will increase. After that, avoid the following spam pitfalls and you won’t go far wrong:

• Buying lists of numbers. It’s not only bad business, it’s illegal. Remember, every customer must explicitly opt in to your list before you can send messages to their phone.
• Sending pointless information. You might think that transmitting news about your latest company social event is a good way to impress clients with your corporate culture, but this information is of no use to them. Every text you send takes time out of their lives, so you’d better be offering them something of value.
• Texting too often. Bombarding customers with messages - even useful ones – will eventually annoy them. Don’t let your SMS campaign become part of the white noise that customers filter out, or you might as well not bother launching a campaign in the first place.

Do it right, and text is an invaluable strand to any mobile marketing strategy. Do it wrong, and you’ll cause more harm than good.