Text Message Marketing

I first began to study text messaging for lead generation. In addition to my marketing business, my wife and I own salons and spa's.

I thought that text messaging our customers might be a good way to get them to come into our salon's during slow times, and to help build a valuable text message list that we can market to over and over.

I also quickly discovered that some online marketers are using text message advertising to enhance their teleseminar and webinar sign up rates by texting their online list an hour before the teleseminar or webinar.

I decided to model dive in. I took a little bit of my retail marketing experience and online lead generation experience, and applied a few simple but effective techniques and tested them.

Here is how to quickly get started with sms text message marketing for your small business and online marketing campaigns.

Text message marketing is one of the best ways to reach your prospects and customers quickly, it's inexpensive, and you can start a campaign in minutes.

You can use text message marketing in your store, offline, and on your website.

Here is how to get started...

Get an account at EZTexting. They are very inexpensive, their sms platform is reliable (you don't want to lose leads as a result of a failed sms gateway).

Once you login to your account click on 'keywords on the navigation menu. See the red arrow below...



Next, click on Add new keyword (red arrow below).


Search to see if the keyword you want is available. Keep searching for a short, easy to remember one and GRAB IT! Red arrow below shows you where to click...


Now, click on 'Group' (yellow arrow below), and then create a group. This group you create will be where you store all your phone numbers of people who text your 'Keyword' to 313131. In other words, this is your list (and it is a valuable list at that). The red arrow below shows you where to click to create your Group.



The next thing you do is click Keywords on the Navigation menu (yellow arrow below)...



Then click 'Edit' (see the red arrow below)



After that, go to 'Select Groups' and choose the group you want to apply toward your new Keyword you chose earlier, write your ad copy, and then click save. See the three red arrows below to help you navigate.


Your ad copy can be anything you want it to be. Assuming it's for your small business, use this area as your 'coupon' for a discount or freebie.

This ad copy is what your customer or prospect will get after they text your keyword to 313131.

Any future text messages can be sent by logging in, and then simply typing a message and clicking send to your entire list, or segmented portions of your list.

Now that you have an account set up and you have a keyword, it's time to build your list.

Here are two ways you can get instant results with text message marketing:

1. On your website. Get a picture of a cell phone like the image to the right and create a page where a customer can sign up to receive a coupon. You can even create a banner ad that uses the cell phone image on your main page, or your most popular pages as well.

So basically, you ask them to type in your keyword to 313131 and then they will get their instant coupon or freebie texted to them. All they have to do is present it to one of your sales representatives.

I recommend iStockPhoto.com for cheap, but quality cell phone pictures.

2. In your store. You can place signage in your store where people can sign up for a special offer, contest, or coupon, and all they have to do is text your keyword to 313131.
This way you build your list fast.

There are just two ways you can use this basic text message marketing idea to build you list, and make more money.

Now that you have a list, you can start sending text messages to them to remind them of upcoming deadlines, offers, and to get them to come in when business is slow.

There is no faster way to reach your customers!

One of the most common ways to build an online email list is to create an opt in form on your website for visitors to fill out and recieve your special report, mini course, teleseminar, webinar, video etc. etc.

The two most common form fields are: Name, and Email Address. You can see an example of a form for my free mini marketing course here.

Some forms have many more fields for mailing address, phone number etc.

But why not include an area for their cell phone number? This way you can instantly text message your prospect. Thank them for signing up. And follow up all of your autoresponder emails to them as well.

One of the new methods that online marketers are using is to follow up with prospects who signed up for a teleseminar or webinar before it starts to be sure that they maximize the number of people on the call or webinar.

Lots of people sign up for things online and forget. So why not give them a little reminder in the form of a text message in case they are not in front of the computer when you send out your email blast reminder? After all, most people don't leave their cell phone more than a few feet from them at all times.

I hope you found this Lens helpful. If you have any questions or comments please leave them below...