By John Toston, Tan-Link

Did you know that about 98 percent of the messages that are sent via SMS are opened within 5 minutes? This means that…

• You’ll be bypassing the email unread/spam filter.
• Almost a guaranteed open rate.
• And, for many of your customers, it is actually a preferred method of communication. So they will enjoy it better than an actual phone call or plain email.

They will also respond in as little as 90 seconds! Meanwhile, an email has a response time of 90 minutes and an average open rate of only 22 percent.

So instead of spending a lot of time, money, and effort carefully crafting emails to end up in the spam or unread folder, start utilizing text messaging for your marketing. This will truly ensure you are engaging and creating a direct line of communication between you and your customers.

Below are a few types of text message campaigns to help increase engagement for existing and potential customers:

Offer Exclusive Deals:

 You can easily offer discounts, plus other specials only to people subscribed to your text message marketing list; in addition, segment your target audience within Tan-Link, such as just active members. This will help create a personalized message and make them feel like they are receiving something special. When offering an exclusive offer, it must remain exclusive and very unique. Just make sure that you change it up throughout the campaign and never repeat the same exclusive offer. Also, try not to use this offer on any other marketing channel to make it more exclusive.

Exclusive Insider Information:

In addition to offering exclusive deals, consider sending complete insider information to your active and subscribed customer list, making it feel like they are receiving something exclusive. Send out targeted insider information on brand new products or access to announcements before anyone else receives them. You could even consider allowing early access to early sales on new products just for people that are subscribed or just active members.

Start Running Contests:

 Running a contest is a great way to get people excited about your tanning salon and brand. This will also get people to take direct action. However, you will have to make sure that the prize is enough to get people to participate in the contest. Your tanning salon can run a contest for most referrals or have people text a keyword to your number to be entered to win! This can be used as a very low friction way to collect someone’s information and subscribe to your texting list. Not to mention offering small prizes like special coupons or discounts just for entering.

Surveys:

 Numerous studies have shown how effective asking a question can be in a marketing campaign. Humans are naturally wired to respond. As soon as a question is asked, you will start thinking of the answer. When I ask a question such as “What is your favorite color?” you immediately thought of the response. For example, your tanning salon could send out a message to your customers asking what additional or new products or services they would like to see at the salon. You can quickly glance at which option received the most votes and include it in your tanning salon. Then, you can send an announcement out to your customers, letting them know which one got the most votes and which product or service to be included in your salon.

Master Text Message Marketing

There are many advantages and benefits of text message marketing, which can be easily super creative.

This can help your tanning salon increase customer engagement, deliver more reliability than email, integrate your online and offline marketing channels, gather unique insights about your customer base, and enjoy a lower cost and higher ROI.

Click here to read a few types of text message campaigns to help increase engagement for existing and potential customers.