Text campaigns often flow like other marketing initiatives. It takes a little while to get traction, then you see a big spike in business. After a while, though, business starts to slump again.
In print advertising, this can be because the ad has faded from the public eye. In text message marketing, the problem is more often internal. You may be losing momentum on what was once a new and exciting mode. You could be running out of ideas. Whatever the reason, stay on the lookout for these early warning signs that your texts are losing their punch and power.
- Sluggish List Growth - How fast your list grows is a direct sign of how punchy your SMS messages are. They more they impress subscribers, the more excited they'll be -- and the more they'll bring their friends on board.
- Reduced Coupon Redemption - Coupons are the "killer app" of SMS marketing -- those surprise, real-time offers that bring people to your door today. If people aren't responding to your coupon SMS, it's a good sign they're not paying attention to your other messages.
- Slower Response Times - Unless your SMS program is in serious trouble, you'll get a response or two to all of your broadcasts -- and maybe even many responses. By measuring the time between broadcasting and the first subscriber response, you can gauge how compelling your different messages are. If you're losing your punch, expect them to get longer.
- Test Events - If you're not sure how your messages are doing, re-skin a wildly successful message from last quarter. Look at the response and compare it to before. If your campaign is losing its mojo, the response will be much lower -- despite the practically identical message.
- Comparative Analysis - Losing revenue might be due to failure in your other marketing programs. By running the numbers for all of your initiatives side-by-side, you can tell whether the problem is because of, or unique to, your SMS.
- Repeating Yourself - Look at the last 10 to 20 messages you've sent out. Do you detect a theme? Do they consist of the same three templates? This sort of thing means you're running out of ideas -- and practically guarantees your messages are losing punch as you lose your passion.
- Bored Employees - How does your team respond when you talk about the SMS campaign? If they're excited, you're probably still going strong. If they're bored, you can bet your subscribers are just as tired of what you're putting out.
Comments