¿Te interesa poner en circulación anuncios en Instagram?

Las empresas y los anunciantes, como tú, suelen tener mucho éxito con las campañas publicitarias de Instagram en lugar de centrarse únicamente en las campañas orgánicas. Si te tomas el tiempo necesario para elaborar una estrategia publicitaria en Instagram bien pensada, puedes disfrutar de un gran retorno de la inversión (ROI).

Seis consejos para poner en circulación una campaña publicitaria en Instagram con éxito

Cuando crees una campaña publicitaria en Instagram, ten en cuenta lo siguiente:

Conoce a tu público

Investiga a quién quieres dirigir tu campaña publicitaria y el tipo de contenido que quieres entregar. ¿Qué resonará mejor con tu público objetivo?

Considera la campaña

Usa campañas de alcance y reconocimiento de marca para que tus publicaciones en Instagram lleguen a las personas de tu público objetivo. Después, configura campañas de conversión para que los clientes potenciales se transformen en clientes más adelante.

Usa palabras clave

Al usar la automatización de los mensajes directos de Instagram con ManyChat, una palabra clave se refiere a una palabra o frase específica que los usuarios envían a tu marca a través de un mensaje directo. Esa palabra o frase inicia una conversación automática que forma parte de un flujo que creaste previamente. 

Además, puedes usar palabras clave para los anuncios de Instagram Stories. Cuando un usuario de Instagram te envía un mensaje directo con la palabra clave especificada, se desencadena una conversación con tu empresa. Una vez iniciada la conversación, dirige al cliente potencial por un embudo automatizado o una secuencia de preguntas frecuentes, o inicia un chat en vivo con él para ofrecerle asistencia humana.

Haz un seguimiento de los datos

En ManyChat, puedes guardar información como el anuncio desde el que las personas llegaron a tu embudo o la calidad de las conversiones mediante el embudo de chat. De esta manera, obtienes estadísticas fundamentales sobre qué anuncios están funcionando mejor.

Crea públicos personalizados en Facebook

Con la creciente preocupación por la privacidad, cada vez es más difícil obtener información externa sobre los clientes. Por lo tanto, usa los datos recopilados en ManyChat para crear públicos personalizados en Facebook basados en determinadas acciones que los usuarios realizan dentro de tu embudo de mensajes de Instagram.

Por ejemplo, una buena forma de aumentar el rendimiento de los anuncios es crear públicos personalizados compuestos por usuarios que pasan por todo tu embudo de chat.

No te olvides de los elementos visuales

Produce elementos visuales que llamen la atención y ofrezcan algún tipo de valor. Por ejemplo, si tienes una tienda de camping, publica una imagen del malvavisco asado más delicioso. ¿A quién no le gusta un buen malvavisco?

Usa la palabra clave “malvavisco” para desencadenar una conversación que ofrezca una receta y capte el correo electrónico de la persona. ¡Listo! Invertiste algo de dinero en publicidad y obtuviste unos correos electrónicos. Esa es una buena generación de ROI.

Si los anunciantes y las marcas como la tuya desarrollan respuestas automáticas a los anuncios de historias, pueden aumentar el ROI de los anuncios, impulsar la velocidad de la campaña y generar nuevos seguidores.

Para obtener más consejos sobre cómo la automatización de Instagram puede respaldar tus objetivos comerciales, consulta nuestro curso en video. O bien visita nuestra comunidad de Facebook para conocer más formas de usar ManyChat.

¿Todo listo para automatizar tus mensajes directos? Empieza a usar la automatización de Instagram con la tecnología de ManyChat.

Empezar gratis

The post Práctica recomendada: anuncios de Instagram appeared first on Manychat Blog.

Instagram’s monetization tools are constantly expanding to include more users including small business owners, micro-influencers, and even start-ups, all of whom can easily build their eCommerce presence, sell products, and make money online. 

The opportunity to tap into Instagram’s income streams is huge. And if you follow these steps, you could be well on your way to making your first sale. 

1. Partnerships

Paid partnerships aren’t anything new but they are increasing in popularity. And with Instagram, paid partnerships couldn’t be easier. In fact, there are tools to make the experience that much more robust. For example, instead of disclosing that you’re doing a “paid partnership post” you can:

• Turn posts directly into an ad.
• Get performance feedback and insights.
• Use the “Paid Partnerships Tag” to directly tag the business you’re promoting.

The benefits of using paid partnerships include:

• Get paid for your posts (duh!).
• Expanding your reach as a brand.
• Building your partnership portfolio.

2. Offer subscription-based content

Let’s be honest, you have some great content to offer the world but what if you could monetize that content on a whole other level? This is where subscription-based content comes in. Whether you have a small, dedicated audience or a vast amount of followers, you can monetize your content through subscriptions. Here’s how:

1. First, get an email list going.
2. Then curate your content specifically for that audience.
3. Give valuable insight into your niche in your content.
4. Market it as “subscribers only.”
5. Charge a monthly subscription fee in order to access your specialized content.

3. Create an online course

Actively making money on your content is great, especially when you’re engaging with  your audience and followers. But there is a more “hand-off” approach and a way to earn passive income; namely, creating an online course. If you think about it, you probably already have the content needed for an online course — it just has to be put into the right format. And using tools like Instagram automation and Chat Marketing can help you easily sell your online course to followers without breaking the bank or breaking a sweat. Utilize tools like Teachable or Udemy to create a one-of-a-kind online course that not only helps your audience but generates passive income in the process. (Win-win, right?)

4. Advertising

Traditional advertising is ceasing to be known as the only go-to for big-name brands. Now you can advertise on pretty much any social media platform for as much or as little as you’d like. For example, with Instagram ads you can create:

• Story ads.
• Video ads.
• Collection ads.
• Carousel ads.

Plus you can tailor your ad experience to fit your needs (and your budget). This includes defining your target audience, picking your ad format, and creating follow-up conversations for those that engage with your ad. 

5. Consulting

Everyone (well, almost everyone) would like to be their own boss and control how much they make and the amount of time they put into their work. And since you’ve already mastered generating revenue through Instagram, why not make some extra income by consulting. According to HubSpot Instagram consultants can make from $15 – $250 per hour depending on your services and experience :

• A consultant with 0-3 years experience and a limited portfolio will likely want to start charging between $15-$50 per hour, depending on the project scope and type of client.
• After three years, you can charge between $50 and $100 per hour.
• Once you’re an advanced consultant with an impressive portfolio, you can charge upwards of $120+ per hour.
• Social media consultants can charge anywhere from $15-$250+ an hour, so it’s important you keep in mind your prior work experience, the scope of the project, and the type of client when deciding your rate.

6. Sell digital or physical goods

Another route is selling digital or physical products that you create yourself. Selling your own product is not only a great source of passive income, but it also builds your brand and reaches a wider market. A digital product could be:

• Templates.
• E-books.
• Photography.
• Digital art.
• PDF documents.
• Applications.

And physical products could be:

• Clothing and apparel.
• Accessories or jewelry.
• Stickers.
• Books.
• Planners.
• Bags.

7. Become a brand influencer

We know what you’re thinking and the answer is “no,” you absolutely do not need to be a celebrity to represent a brand as an influencer. However, you do need to agree with the product and the brand’s values, in order to talk about them in a positive way on social platforms. Becoming a brand ambassador is easy if you have the right following and connections. Typically, being a brand ambassador means you’ll:

• Be the face of the brand.
• Collaborate on products.
• Build the brand’s audience using your followers.

8. Freelancing services

Freelancing is when you work as a contractor to provide a service to a client or customer for a set rate or fee. Freelancing gigs can be found all over the internet, from a simple Google search to job marketplaces, like Fivver or LinkedIn. Freelancing services can be pretty much anything you want it to be, but some popular online options include:

• Website creation.
• Digital marketing.
• Writing. 
• Social media management.
• Videography.

9. Affiliate income

Being an affiliate is similar to being an influencer or brand ambassador. As an affiliate, you’ll promote a product or service on your platform, and when there’s a sale you receive a kickback—which can range from a small percentage to a set rate based on sales. 

10. Fan funding

Do you have hard-core followers or fans? Why not let them pay you? Known as fan funding, fans can choose to support you and your business through donations or investments using platforms like Kickstarter or Patreon. Just be aware that fan-funding platforms take a percentage or flat fee of your earnings before dispersing funds. You can even donate part of your earnings to charity. 

Key Takeaways

There are plenty of ways to earn a living through Instagram or the internet. As a creator, the sky’s the limit. Try one of the ideas in this list or try them all — you may even have success if you diversify your income streams. The main takeaway from this is that your audience can help generate income, and you don’t need millions of people to endorse you — just a dedicated group to get you going. 

Are you ready for ManyChat ?

The post 10 Ways Instagram Creators Can Make a Living appeared first on Manychat Blog.

So, is there an inexpensive yet efficient opportunity to take advantage of this captivated and motivated group of people without dropping some serious dough?

Yes, and it’s possible with chat automation through social media accounts, influencer marketing, and an SMS campaign. Chatbots first made their debut on the big game day a few years ago and have grown in popularity ever since. Here are some popular ways to create inexpensive and effective digital marketing campaigns all geared around chat automation. 

Chatbot trivia challenge

Who doesn’t love trivia? Trivia is something that clients of all ages can enjoy—plus a trivia game or quiz is easy to set up and leads to high engagement, which in turn can lead to more accounts, followers, and brand awareness. 

Here’s how it works:

• Set up an account with the Many Chat automation tool.
• Build a flow conversation with automatic replies that replicate a Q&A format with your subscribers, followers, or clients.
• Utilize the challenge to push your social channel, introduce your founder or initiate conversions.

Here’s a pre-built flow for you to try!

Link to videos and commercials

Another great opportunity to pursue growth is to send users video advertising, a blog post, or a product offer. You can also create a video on your company’s YouTube channel and push that as well. The bottom line is videos and commercials don’t have to be aired on the big screen to get through to your subscribers and users. 

Create a video about company news, a product tip, or really anything that provides value for your followers. However, if your company opted for a specialized promotional video or commercial during the big game, be sure to showcase that first. 

Provide score updates

Keep your company and customers engaged with score updates during the game. Encourage interactions through football insights, facts, and historical player data. A few examples could be:

• The touchdown record for previous games.
• Current viewer numbers.
• Post-game news and replays.

You can also set up your chatbot to post commentary in the chat with automated responses. 

Send coupons and promotions

What better way to spread company news, push marketing strategy, or implement advertising than through coupons and promotions? While videos are great and an Instagram post has its own unique reach, coupons can turn a cold lead into a warm one with little effort. Use your automation bot to get the conversation started, then draw users in with a great promo, product, or discount that not only grabs their attention but gets them to commit to your brand. 

The big game possesses the major benefit of appealing to your target audience. With more than 96 million viewers your marketing efforts can be easily transformed from a dream to a reality. 

Create orders and upsell

If you’re in certain industries, such as food or eCommerce, creating orders is a huge part of your marketing strategy. The good news is ManyChat’s automation can be built out to include a flow that caters to this need. 

According to reports by AshWebStudio and Predictive Intent, both upselling and cross-selling can yield an additional 2%-4% of income. By using automation and steering the conversation in the right direction you can strategically place customers in front of relatable products and services. 

Key Takeaways

The big game is a perfect time to experiment with your new chatbot marketing strategy and perfect it. To wrap up your game day chatbot planning there are a few factors to keep in mind:

1. Pre-build your flows with a goal in mind, such as increased conversions, engagement, or likes.
2. The big game has a hyper-focused audience, so keep your chat automation relevant to the audience. 
3. Make it fun. Incorporating games, challenges, or discounts can steer a cold lead into a loyal customer.

Ready to collect first-party data with ManyChat?

The post Game Day Instagram Automation: 5 Ways to Captivate Your Audience During the Season’s Biggest Day appeared first on Manychat Blog.

Businesses pay for every text message they attempt to send, not every text that’s received. Carriers can block messages from your campaign for a number of reasons and leaves your company with money on the table. 

If you depend on SMS as a communication channel, knowing that your messages reach subscribers is essential for getting a good return on your investment. 

Don’t leave your marketing campaigns hanging. Master SMS deliverability with these tips. 

What does SMS deliverability mean? 

SMS deliverability is the process responsible for placing a text message into your subscriber’s inbox. It’s expressed as a percentage of all the SMS messages you send. High deliverability rates mean that your messages are successfully reaching their destination. 

Wireless carriers monitor SMS sent over their networks to prevent spam. When they consider an outgoing SMS message spam, they will block it from reaching the recipient’s phone. 

Why do SMS messages fail to deliver? 

There are a few reasons SMS or MMS messages may fail:

1. Spam filters

When you send an SMS campaign, your messages pass through carrier filters, which weed out spam. Spam messages can be texts sent:

• From alphanumeric or identical sender IDs
• With similar copy to large groups
• Without any opt-out instruction 

To avoid SMS spam filters, make sure to personalize text messages and send broadcasts over some time.  

2. Recipient issues or invalid phone numbers 

Phone issues are the most common reason for SMS delivery failures. A subscriber’s mobile phone could be disconnected or turned off, roaming, or be a landline number that can’t receive texts.

3. Gray routes

A gray route is a way to send messages outside of authorized networks, so you avoid paying network operators for delivering the message. Unfortunately, some SMS providers send messages through gray routes. If a carrier spam filter catches any message on a gray route, they won’t deliver it.

That’s why it’s important to find an SMS provider, like ManyChat, that uses an SMS API that goes through compliant to maximize delivery. 

More often than not, SMS deliverability issues are because of incorrect phone numbers. If a subscriber changes their number or gives you the wrong one, your message won’t reach their phone. And you’ll still have to pay for the message. 

How to improve SMS and MMS message deliverability

1. Clean your contact list

Go through your SMS subscriber list and remove incorrect phones and unengaged contacts regularly. You want to ensure your text messages are sent to an interested audience. This will boost your SMS metrics and improve your sender reputation. 

2. Set up double opt-in to your subscriber list 

Send new SMS subscribers a confirmation message after opt-in. It’s required by law and can help set expectations for contacts, plus, it establishes your identity. Unfamiliar phone numbers increase the likelihood of being blocked or reported as spam. 

In the example below, Fletcher Goods, an outdoor eCommerce store, sends the standard confirmation message as a double opt-in. After the subscriber confirms their subscription, Fletcher Goods follows up with a warm welcome from a Customer Success representative. 

Double opt-in keeps you compliant and ensures a new subscribers number is active and that they’ll likely engage with your texts, which can increase your SMS delivery rate.   

3. Don’t send spam messages

For each message you send, include opt-out instructions, concise language, and proper capitalization and punctuation to avoid spam filters. Also, try to include your name in messages and explain why a receiver is getting your texts. 

Here’s an SMS example of how not to text subscribers if you want to send a promotion:

Here’s a good example of a personalized message that will likely get delivered:

4. Don’t send bulk SMS too fast

Many people begin their SMS marketing efforts with a broadcast to their entire list. When high volume SMS messages are sent from a number, carriers can flag the broadcast and block your messages.

A common myth is that SMS is for mass texting like this, but it’s rarely as effective as you may think. If you want to send bulk SMS, make sure to time your messages throughout the day to improve deliverability. 

5. Avoid sending links from domains you don’t control

One thing carriers look for when deciding to deliver your SMS is the link domain name. If it’s mysterious or public, they can block the message and your contact will never see it. 

Bit.ly and similar link shortener services can trigger this red flag by carriers. The worse part? If flagged domains like bit.ly are in a timeout state, and you send a message with a bit.ly link, the carrier may keep your money, but never send the message to your recipient.  

If you want to send links, try to use your domain for shortening links to build a reputation with carriers and improve deliverability. 

6. Two-way text with your customers

A two-way SMS Live Chat with customers is a smart way to improve SMS deliverability and increase sales. When carriers see recipients in an active conversation with your business, it shows your credibility and can improve the chances of getting your messages through in future campaigns. 

How to measure SMS deliverability

There is no exact timeframe to measure SMS deliverability. You can record delivery rates daily, monthly, or quarterly.

The deliverability rate equation is:

(TOTAL MESSAGES DELIVERED / MESSAGES SENT) x 100

If you’re using an SMS provider like ManyChat, you can find your SMS delivery rate listed in your SMS message block in Flow Builder.

Note that message delivery isn’t how many messages are sent. It only measures how many messages were delivered versus the number intended in a specific time frame. 

SMS Deliverability FAQ

Are text messages guaranteed to be delivered?

No, text messages are not guaranteed to be delivered. Many factors — such as SMS API, incorrect numbers, and spam filters — that influence whether your SMS message gets delivered promptly. 

How reliable is SMS?

SMS is one of the most reliable forms of communication with a high delivery rate. Research suggests that 90% of text messages are opened within three minutes of receiving it. 

How do wireless carriers filter messages?

Wireless carriers place a cumulative score on messages based on:

• How many texts come from a phone number during a given period.
• How many similar messages have traversed the carrier’s network.
• If the content in your message is a high match for spam.

Getting the most from your SMS messaging

Now that you have a good understanding of how to optimize SMS communication,  it’s time to start messaging with your subscribers. With these tips in hand, you’ll get higher SMS delivery rates and show better ROI for text messaging strategy. 

Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Please always consult your own attorney before engaging in text marketing.

Want to get better ROI from your SMS marketing efforts? Get ManyChat today. It’s free to get started.

The post What is SMS Deliverability and How To Improve It appeared first on Manychat Blog.

One great way is a seven (or three or five) day SMS mini-challenge. No matter the industry, customers want to learn — how to get abs, how to improve their social media marketing, how to build a Messenger bot, etc. 

When you use SMS to run your challenge, you continually refresh the 24-hour Messenger window so you can sprinkle in a promotion here or there, get feedback on your content, and build closer ties with your subscribers. 

Because you can build multi-channel flows inside ManyChat, you can easily set up and run an SMS challenge all from one place. If you want to start mastering SMS marketing for your online business, here’s how to set up a high-converting, seven-day SMS challenge.

It starts with getting people excited about your challenge

Every business should start by creating challenge content that helps your ideal client solve a problem. Whether you call it a challenge or mini-course, helping participants overcome a common problem in seven days creates trust between you both.

For example, a gym can run a seven-day abs fitness challenge. An agency can run a bot building or SEO challenge. This serves as a way to educate potential clients and customers who are looking into your product or service. It’s a nice freebie that guides them towards what they need and come out on the other side on top. 

By creating a challenge people get excited about, you can drive traffic from a Growth Tool. Once they enter the challenge, you can gather their phone number, get SMS opt-in, and get started on engaging with your audience. 

What are the best Growth Tools for the challenge?

While you should experiment with what works best for your business, there are a few Growth Tools we recommend testing to drive people into your bot:

• Messenger Ref URL: Create a lead magnet for your challenge on any channel, such as YouTube, email marketing, Facebook Live, or Twitter, and then link your Messenger Ref URL to the call to action button. People will drop right into your bot and automatically become a Messenger subscriber if they aren’t already.
• Comments Growth Tool: Create an enticing Facebook post and have people comment with a keyword on the post. This will bring them right into your challenge sequence. 
• Widgets: If you want to get new challenge participants from your website or landing page, use a widget. You can choose different overlay widgets such as a floating bar, page takeover, and slide-in. Or use widgets that embed on your site as a button or a box element. 
• QR Code: For marketers promoting out in the physical world, drive people into your bot with a QR Code. People can easily scan your code and start the challenge! Learn how to use QR codes in your Messenger bot. 

Overall, creating your free challenge sequence will be just like making any other sequence. The difference is making sure you get permission to text and driving people back into Messenger so they engage with your content.

Setting up your SMS opt-in

After someone enters your online challenge through a Growth Tool, you want to get their phone number and opt-in. 

Your SMS opt-in will take place inside Messenger. Here’s what that flow looks like:

Step 1: Create a welcome message

In this case, a marketing agency is running a seven-day SEO challenge through SMS. They start the flow with a welcome message and set expectations for when the user should expect a text from them. You can use this sample text below, or adjust depending on where participants enter the bot from; the goal is to make it relevant and contextual. 

Step 2: Get phone number and opt-in

The next step is to collect the phone number and opt-in. It’s important to include three things in this message:

1. A benefit to giving you their phone number.
2. A request for their full number with country code.
3. An example of a phone number including “+” and country code

On the back end, make sure “Save Phone to System Field” is toggled on to save the phone number to your bot. 

After a user confirms their opt-in, you want to create two action blocks to send subscribers to your seven-day challenge sequence successfully:

1. Set SMS Opt-In.
2. Subscribe to Sequence.

After, send a follow-up message indicating they’ve subscribed to the challenge, in this case by saying, “We’ll see you tomorrow,” and continue the challenge.

Want to create your first SMS challenge? Go Pro with ManyChat today.

Creating your daily challenge flow

When it comes to creating the day-by-day flow for your challenge, it’s good to practice collecting information you might use to improve your content. This way, more people will engage with your challenge and become better quality leads. 

You can use this same flow for each day. Just adjust the text and content accordingly. 

Step 1: Set your condition block to send the first text.

To stay safe, you want to set a condition that the only people who can enter the flow have given permission for you to text them. You can do this by starting the flow with an “Opted-in for SMS” condition block.

Make your text brief and state who you are in the message. Then include your Messenger link to bring people into your Messenger bot to watch the day’s content. 

In the example above, we chose to engage participants with a video series. However, you can also use downloadable content, online course, a branded app, or whatever works best for your audience. 

Step 2: Add a Smart Delay to follow-up

Regardless, you want to follow up with your subscribers to see if they enjoyed the content. To do this, set a Smart Delay for however long your task will take, and send a short message asking for feedback. This shows you actually care about the subscriber,  and you can get feedback for improving future challenges. 

Now, this is a very general example. You may or may not want to use more relevant text depending on your audience. But what’s important to remember is how you’ll collect feedback. 

Step 3: Set Custom Fields to determine content success 

In this case, we set a custom field to update a content score based on how people respond. If they click A+, we assign 3 points. For a B -, we only add one point. And if a user unsubscribes, we decrease the count by 1 (and now know we have some work to do to make our content better). 

You can collect as much or as little information as you want. A great example would be to add a lead score for each day a person finishes the challenge and gives feedback. This can help you get a better idea of who could be a high-value customer based on their engagement with your company. 

As always, don’t forget to follow-up with a message thanking users for their feedback. Or if they unsubscribe, send a warm reminder that they can always message you if they want to restart the challenge. 

A few considerations for your SMS challenge

Now you’ve got a repeatable model you can use to create SMS challenges as a lead generation strategy for your company. A few pointers to keep in mind:

1. On the final day of your challenge, indicate that the challenge is over. Some people may forget it’s the last day. You want to be clear that this challenge is ending, but there are still a ton of ways to engage with your brand: take another challenge, sign up for your email list, check out your YouTube Channel, or continue to get emails with promotional messages and discounts. The challenge might end, but don’t let the interactions stop there.
2. Don’t be afraid to send promotions during the challenge. There’s a fine line between spam and genuine promotion, so be careful when and how you decide to send an offer. For example, if you’re a gym and doing a fitness challenge, you could offer those who complete Day 3 a discount on protein powder or a workout supplement inside Messenger. You have an open 24-hour window that keeps refreshing, but use it wisely. 
3. Make your flows fun and inviting. It seems obvious, but remember, your audience needs to feel the excitement each day to keep them motivated. You can use a mix of GIF’s, images, or emojis to liven up your bot copy and create an exciting experience for people taking your SMS challenge.

Final thoughts

With ManyChat, it’s easy to set up and run your own challenge through SMS and improve list building in your business. You can create engaging flows that span across SMS, Messenger, and even email if you want to get a little crazy. 

Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Please always consult your own attorney before engaging in text marketing.

From the messages you create to the challenges you run and the promotions you offer — and everything in between — ManyChat’s platform can help you build closer ties with your audience through the power of chat. 

The post How to Create a 7-Day SMS Challenge appeared first on Manychat Blog.

That’s a lot of customers, and if your business taps into the power of SMS marketing, you can get in on a share of that revenue.

Not quite sure where to start with mobile marketing?

Here are five SMS marketing examples from worldwide corporations and local businesses alike to inspire your SMS marketing campaign.

Jack in the Box

Fast-food chain Jack in the Box has a text club where it sends “top-secret stuff” to recipients. Using SMS messaging to share mobile coupons, discounts, and sneak peeks at new products is a great way to draw people in; everyone wants to be part of an exclusive club. Like Jack in the Box, work to make your SMS messages sound exciting and alluring.

Another thing to note is that Jack in the Box tells people upfront about what to expect (five messages each month). As you get your text message marketing off the ground, make sure people know what they’re getting into when they sign up.

Subway

Subway does two successful mobile marketing practices in its SMS campaign. The first is tailoring their messages to a specific area. Does your business have multiple on-the-ground locations? If so, ask for subscribers’ zip codes so you can figure out what discounts and news will be most relevant to them.

The second practice is offering a one-time discount to hook people into signing up. Since consumers redeem mobile coupons delivered by SMS messaging 10 times more than other types of coupons, this is an effective way to make sales.

IKEA

IKEA is a powerful SMS marketing example: After obtaining your zip code and promising you great deals to come in four messages a month, they ask for your email address.

Similarly, you can kill two birds with one stone and get email addresses via text if you don’t have them already. That way, you can get your business in front of people as much as possible. SMS marketing and email marketing aren’t mutually exclusive — they both should be integral parts of your SMS marketing strategy. So why not let them work together?

Local Therapist

Your automated SMS messages don’t have to be purely promotional. Many local businesses such as doctor’s offices and therapists (pictured here) have started using SMS messages to send appointment confirmations and reminders. Since most people tend to check their text messages more frequently than their email inbox (90 percent of SMS messages are read within three minutes), this is an effective tactic.

If you send an SMS confirmation or automated text message for a reminder, make sure to include both the recipient’s and company’s name, the date and time of the appointment, the office location, and a mobile phone number where the recipient can cancel or reschedule if needed. Sending this text 24 hours in advance is ideal.

Stellar Media Marketing

Get creative about the way you use SMS marketing software. Text message marketing is a great marketing channel to promote a course you’re selling, keep people updated on company news, or send them to your most recent blog post. You can even use automated SMS messages to send people to Messenger. That’s what one company did here: Recipients of this SMS marketing message are invited to open Facebook Messenger and receive details on a good discount. 

Ramp Up Your SMS Marketing

Consumers want to be contacted via SMS by their favorite brands: 75 percent of consumers are open to receiving text messages from brands, and six in 10 consumers have a positive impression of brands that send them SMS messages. As this channel begins to grow, don’t be left behind. Roll out an SMS marketing strategy and start texting your customers. 

For a list of tips and tricks that will help you improve your text campaign, check out our guide on SMS marketing best practices.

Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Please always consult your own attorney before engaging in text marketing.

The post Best SMS Marketing Examples That Will Inspire Your Campaigns appeared first on Manychat Blog.

The answer? Yes. 

SMS marketing is still the most widespread, direct, and effective communication channel. 

The fact that SMS engagement rates are 6 to 8 times higher than email marketing engagement rates is reason enough to include it in your marketing plan and not dismiss it. 

However, it’s not as simple and straightforward as it seems. There are several errors companies make which hinders performance and costs them a great deal. 

So, if you’re wondering why your SMS marketing efforts haven’t paid off, here’s a look at what you might be doing wrong — and how you can improve. 

Not taking permission

Imagine having to pay $47 million for a marketing mistake? 

That’s what happened with Jiffy Lube, a car maintenance company. It was accused of sending text messages to customers without their permission. Having violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), Jiffy Lube was fined a whopping $47 million. 

Now, that is one costly blunder. 

It’s imperative to take customer permissions before you include them in your campaign (no, taking phone numbers from invoices does not count). 

Explicitly ask for their permission by including a clear opt-in or opt-out code in your text message. 

You can also leverage other communication channels such as email and social media, encouraging people to opt-in by sending a code to the designated number if they wish to receive messages from you.

Sending mass messages

Whether it’s email or SMS marketing — there is no place for mass, generic messages today. Customers want to receive valuable messages that are tailor-made to their needs and interests. 

Personalization goes beyond just greeting customers with their name. It’s more about segmenting your audience and sending them relevant messages. You can segment them on the basis of demographics, buying behavior, and location to name a few.

SMS is a highly personal medium and that makes it important to add a personal touch to your communication too.

No clear call-to-action

A call-to-action is an integral element of any marketing campaign. After all, you cannot expect to see results if you don’t clearly tell the customer what’s expected of them.

So, whether it’s availing a discount, or directing them to a landing page — make sure you add a clear call-to-action, encouraging them to take the desired step.

Another mistake marketers make is adding too many messages and call-to-actions. Don’t confuse the customer. Insert a single call-to-action and you’re likely to see better results.

Neglecting visuals

Visual content is being increasingly used across all marketing channels so why should text messaging be left behind?

Once in a while, it’s a good idea to support your communication with rich media such as images or GIFs to engage customers and generate interest. This is called MMS (multi-media messaging service). 

While MMS marketing is more effective, it’s also a costlier option. So, make it count. Use it to accentuate your communication and send it to those who will be more interested in what you’re offering. 

Poor timing

Want to convert customers? You have to catch them at the right time. 

SMS is a very time-sensitive medium. You need to send texts when your customers are able to take immediate action. 

Let’s say, you’re running a one-week offer Mother’s Day. Sending the SMS too close to Mother’s Day is not a good idea because customers might have already made their purchases. So, send it at least a week before your promotion starts, allowing people to consider your offer. 

Apart from aligning it to your business goals, you also need to be sensitive about the time of the day. Sending a message at odd hours such as late at night or early in the morning is likely to put people off and make them unsubscribe. 

Not integrating SMS and email

It’s not about SMS vs. email marketing. It’s about using the two in conjunction to strengthen your marketing efforts. 

So, how do you use the two in conjunction? You leverage each of their strengths. 

Let’s say, you’re hosting an event. You can send an email to introduce the event, generate interest, and gather RSVPs while a text message can be sent as a reminder, a day prior to the event. 

The key lies in knowing when to use each of the mediums to amplify your communication. At the same time, don’t make the mistake of replicating the communication on email and SMS because that’s just a waste of time and money.

From generating buzz to creating a sense of urgency, text messages help induce quick action, enhance engagement and boost sales. 

So yes, SMS marketing is certainly a powerful tool but it’s important to steer clear from these six mistakes to make it work for your brand, optimize campaigns, and yield better results. 

The post 6 Reasons your SMS Marketing Efforts Are Failing appeared first on Manychat Blog.

The best way to ensure that customers are satisfied is to engage with them and let them know you’re listening. Compare your company to a car: Customer engagement is the fuel that propels your business forward.

So, how can you adopt customer engagement best practices? 

Offering various opportunities for customers to opt-in is the best way to ensure they’re aware of new promotions, developments, and chances to leave feedback. Customers may be given the chance to join an emailing list, follow the corporate account on social media, subscribe to physical mail, or reach out to customer service via the company’s website.

That said, some companies opt for SMS as a customer engagement technique … but is it effective in reducing customer churn? 

Yes! Not only is SMS a means to reduce customer churn, but it’s also surprisingly effective and current with trending marketing strategies. Like any marketing strategy, SMS needs to be methodically crafted and executed strategically to avoid further customer churn.

What is Customer Churn?

Customer churn is when a company loses the business of current customers. The importance of using customer churn as a metric of losses and profits is immense. As many marketers know, retaining loyal existing customers is much cheaper than obtaining new customers.

You can use metrics like email unsubscribes or opt-outs an indicator of customer churn. If you’re a SaaS business, customer churn might look like stagnant or deactivated accounts.

Why Does Customer Churn Occur?

While customer churn may seem like a bad thing, the simple truth is that some attrition is a natural cycle for many companies offering goods and services. And while you obviously want to avoid high rates of customer churn, it is possible to decrease the amount of customer loss by keeping an eye on certain factors and make sure to monitor:

Poor Customer Service

Not surprisingly, the most common reason that customers end their relationship with a company is that they encountered poor customer service. There aren’t many factors that can cause a customer to leave quicker than feeling that they aren’t being heard or that their concerns are not being taken seriously. 

Lack of Brand Loyalty

What makes you feel loyal to a certain brand? In a competitive market, simply gaining customers isn’t enough to keep them coming back. A company that finds a way to retain customers and win the privilege of their loyalty will have a better chance of finding long term success and winning repeat customers. You can develop marketing strategies to accomplish this, of course, but continuing to offer exceptional customer service will be one of your best strategies. Customers that hold deep loyalty to a brand do so because of trust, consistency, and price. Forging brand loyalty is one of the most difficult parts of the customer experience. Regardless of how difficult it is, not putting forth the effort to create brand loyalty is a leading cause of customer churn.

Low-Quality Communications

Customers want to be kept up to speed on changes in the company and/or product(s) — especially the ones that may affect them. When you make major changes to the functionality of your app, for example, without keeping users in the loop (which Instagram did when it changed its scrolling pattern from up and down to left and right), they may feel as if they’ve been blind-sighted. 

Often, customers find these changes difficult to swallow if they weren’t informed about them first. Again, this brings us back to the realization that customer service is king. The truth is that customer service isn’t just a department within your company. It’s a shared responsibility across the board. 

Poor Quality Product

It may be best to perfect a couple of products before marketing your new release. Troubleshooting can test your patience, but that process can lead to higher rates of customer retention. Marketing for the masses has its place, but following the old adage of “quality over quantity” truly applies. Customers will rarely stick around for an inferior product even if it is cheaper than the competitor’s. 

SMS Marketing and How Can it Help You Reduce Customer Churn

In simple terms, SMS marketing allows businesses to use text messaging to advertise and communicate with their existing or potential customers. Text messaging may seem like an outdated marketing technique in today’s advertising world, but it’s actually very effective.

Benefits of SMS Marketing 

Instantaneous Communication

One benefit of onboarding an SMS marketing strategy is that you can instantly access your customers. With SMS, you don’t have to wait for customers to come to you; you’re able to meet them where they already are, in their preferred channels. There are many platforms you can use to compete for your customer’s attention, but SMS adds a personalized touch. A simple text to remind customers of a sale or to thank them for their loyalty goes a long way.

For example, you have the option to send an SMS message to your chat marketing subscribers in your ManyChat dashboard. This provides a great opportunity to re-engage with customers you haven’t heard from in a while with a personal message.

VIP Promotions

An effective strategy for existing customers that utilize SMS marketing is to make them feel special. Texting discount codes to your VIP customer base is a great way to make positive impressions. Everyone loves a sale, and everyone appreciates being appreciated!

Minimal Costs

Anyone in marketing loves to see trending options that are also affordable. SMS marketing is just that.

Having a tool that you can utilize with minimal costs isn’t just great for the internal budget, but it can also perpetuate longevity. Maintaining this marketing strategy for longer can work to ease customer churn.

SMS Marketing Strategies to Avoid Customer Churn

As with any marketing strategy, this one comes with best practices. But SMS marketing is not unique and can be very simple to employ. Here are a few strategies to keep in mind when mitigating customer churn via SMS:

1) Limit Your Texts

You don’t want to abuse your SMS capabilities, which can be easy to do if you’re sending too many texts. Customers don’t want to be bombarded with texts — especially repetitive texts. Too many texts can come across as spammy and may turn your customers off to the point that they stop listening. 

Think before you text. Create a strategy for text cadence and reason for texting. There always needs to be a clearly defined purpose behind the content of each message you send.

2) Identify Yourself

Don’t send your subscribers unsolicited texts. Every text should clearly identify your company and the purpose of your message. Customers don’t want to guess who you are or why they’re receiving your texts in the first place.

If you built a flow in your ManyChat dashboard that encourages SMS opt-ins, effectively break the ice with a warm welcome message that introduces yourself and lets them know that you’re here when needed. After that, keep your SMS messaging sparse and intentional.

3) Be a Real Person

Your customers are used to reading SMS messages from real people throughout the day, so that means that your SMS marketing should follow suit. There are a few ways you can do this:

• Assign a real or fictional persona to maintain communication with your customer base. Example:
  • Hey Kelly, this is Lauren from Second Chance Retail. I hope you’re well! We haven’t seen you in the shop for a while, so I wanted to pass along this 10% discount on your next purchase. Just show us this text when you come in to say hi
• Humanize your brand’s SMS messaging as best as you can. This means having a voice, tone, and genuine message that effectively creates an image of your brand as a person or a group of people. Example:
  • Hey Kelly, it’s Second Chance Retail. We haven’t seen you stop by in a while, so we wanted to send over a 10% discount on your next purchase with us. Just show us our text when you pop in. We can’t wait to see you again!

4) Be Consistent

The tone of your messages should always have the customer’s best interests in mind. Remember that your texting campaign is not just a chance to make a sale. It’s an opportunity to build rapport with your customer base by being warm and conversational. Some companies work diligently to achieve consistency and they find success. Be sure to use a consistent brand voice and tone throughout your SMS campaigns.

Key Customer Churn Takeaways

SMS marketing can help your company bounce back from a recent spike in customer churn — or you can use it as a preventative measure. It’s not magic; implementing it will take time, and trial and error. It can allow you to meet your customers where they are at a minimal price in comparison to more expensive advertising platforms.

Prevent customer churn with SMS and Messenger.

The post How to Lower Customer Churn with SMS appeared first on Manychat Blog.

You’re in for luck. ManyChat has rolled out SMS’s new marketing channel. You can build SMS marketing campaigns right into your ManyChat flows or send them as broadcasts. SMS marketing is a huge deal and it’s only going to get bigger in the years to come.

Not sure where to start? We’ve got four good ideas, and not so good ideas to help you master SMS marketing campaigns.

Master SMS Marketing Campaigns

Good idea: Build a text club with top-secret SMS-only deals to recipients. 

This can be coupons, discounts, and sneak peeks at new products. It’s a great way to draw people in. Everyone wants to be part of an exclusive club. Work to make your SMS messages sound exciting and alluring. 

Bad idea: Build a text club with top-secret SMS-only deals with an international drug cartel. 

Good idea: Localize your SMS campaigns. You can tailor your messages to a specific area. 

By gathering your audience’s zip code or preferred location, you could focus on sending them the most relevant news and discounts. Recipients get a more personalized experience and you rake in more profit. 

Bad idea: Hyperlocalize your SMS campaigns to target only your one annoying roommate. 

Good idea: Set expectations before signup. 

While you’re collecting location info, you should also set expectations for how often you’ll be sending messages their way. For example, you might collect their zip code and email address and let them know to expect four messages a month with exclusive coupons. This way people don’t freak out when they start getting messages from you. 

Bad idea: Setting expectations before every conversation interaction. 

Good idea: Use SMS to send people back to Messenger. 

Get creative with how you use SMS marketing. Text messages are a great channel to promote what you’re selling, keep people up to date on company news, or send them to recent blog content, but you can also use it to send people back to Messenger, where you can engage in a more rich chat environment. And bonus: each time people swing back into Messenger it restarts the 24-hour message window timer. 

Bad idea: Use SMS to send people back into time. 

Final Thoughts on SMS Marketing Campaigns

Consumers actually want to be contacted via SMS by their favorite brands. In fact, 75% of consumers are open to receiving text messages from the brands they love. And six in 10 consumers have a positive impression of brands that send them those SMS. 

Don’t be left behind. Roll out an SMS marketing strategy today as part of your omnichannel approach.

The post [Video] 4 Tips to Master Your ManyChat SMS Marketing Campaigns appeared first on Manychat Blog.