In B2B marketing, catching the attention of decision-makers can be challenging. With inboxes full of unread emails, social media feeds overrun with advertisements, and numerous other distractions vying for their attention, standing out to your audience takes a lot of work. However, one avenue continues to offer a unique opportunity to connect with these influential individuals: SMS marketing.
While text messaging is commonly used in consumer settings, it remains largely unexplored as a B2B marketing tool. SMS marketing can open a direct line of communication to high-level executives and decision-makers. This article explores strategies for using SMS marketing in B2B scenarios, discussing ways to create campaigns that resonate with this audience while fostering long-term business connections.
Why Use SMS Marketing for B2B?
SMS (short message service) marketing, or text marketing, including SMS texting allows, your business to send discount codes, promotions, sales, transactional messages, appointment reminders and confirmations, and other messages to your audience. These text messages are designed to be short and informative, and they often provide a call-to-action (CTA) to engage and motivate audiences, potentially leading to more conversions. There are three benefits to using this engagement method with your audience.
Higher Open Rates
SMS for B2B marketing allows you to use an immediate, highly effective medium because smartphones are ubiquitous regarding accessibility and reach. Almost 54% of web traffic comes from mobile devices, and SMS texts have a high open rate of 98%. Many people keep their smartphones within reach and often read and respond to texts within minutes of receiving them. Customers who are familiar with or have an established relationship with the brand texting them may respond quickly, thinking the message may be worth opening.
Offers a Personalized Feel
SMS marketing is permission-based marketing, meaning recipients opt in to receive your company’s messages. This generally means they are interested in your product or service and want to learn more about it.
When the recipient receives the SMS marketing text, they will recognize the brand as one they chose to communicate with. This action creates a personal connection between the sender and the audience. Customers can form a bond with the brand, allowing that personalized touch to increase revenue.
Increases Conversion Rates
The average click-through rate (CTR) for marketing SMS falls between 20 – 35%, most likely due to how often people check their smartphones. SMS messaging requires concise and focused texts, which increases the chances that the audience will understand the main point or CTA, resulting in higher response rates.
The immediate nature of SMS texting means that businesses can reach customers instantly upon message delivery. Marketing texts are ideal for communicating time-sensitive offers or reminders when customers are likely to act, leading to higher conversion rates.
Identifying and Understanding Your Audience
Successful implementation of SMS marketing for B2B begins with identifying and understanding your audience, their problems, and their needs. Lead generation is critical at this stage, although it can be complicated. Here are some tips for where to start:
Defining Your Target Audience
The first step to a successful campaign is to know your audience. Determine what industries can benefit from your service or product, then find out the names of the decision-makers who will ultimately decide whether to become your customer.
Consider how your services can help another business achieve its short- and long-term goals. Showing customers your company’s willingness to put in extra effort, deliver top customer service, and emphasize excellent product-building will win over those customers. It’s also beneficial to know where your product offer stands regarding cost and strategic value to the business you wish to approach.
Identifying key decision-makers can be tricky, but here are some ways to figure out who to contact:
Consider how your services can help another business achieve its short- and long-term goals. Showing customers your company’s willingness to put in extra effort, deliver top customer service, and emphasize excellent product-building will win over those customers. It’s also beneficial to know where your product offer stands regarding cost and strategic value to the business you wish to approach.
1. Research people with job titles that typically indicate players with decision-making authority, such as CEO, CFO, CIO, and the VP of Sales;
2. Use LinkedIn and other social media channels to determine B2B decision-makers within an organization;
3. Identify and reach out to influencers in targeted businesses who may be able to sway the decision-makers from the inside;
4. Employ account-based marketing (ABM) software to create content designed toward specific customer prospects at particular businesses you want to work with. ABM allows you to target multiple decision-makers at one time.
You can also use the subscriber list you’ve built with the information from decision-making customers who have consented to receive SMS messages from your business. That list can come from email, social media, or website opt-in campaigns encouraging customers to sign up for SMS alerts and communications.
When you have identified the decision-maker, your next step is to determine how you will use SMS marketing to get them to connect with your brand.
Crafting Your Message
To create effective SMS marketing messages, you must have a buyer-centric mindset. Ask yourself what your target audience or ideal customer profile (ICP) needs and how your company’s service can fulfill those requirements. Ensure that your message is communicated correctly to your audience and relevant to your business, i.e., does it align with the decision-maker and match your brand narrative?
When you craft your message, keep these helpful tips in mind:
1. Keep messages short, descriptive, and professional: The message should be brief and employ clear language to the audience. Steer clear of cutesy content, slang phrasing, exclamation points, and emojis.
2. Personalize the messages: Address the recipient by name and consider using birthdays or other methods to give the message a personal feel.
3. Use CTAs to create a sense of urgency: Encourage recipients to take the next step by including a CTA in the message. Use phrases such as “shop now” or “get started” to encourage them to act.
4. Test your messages: Test send or A/B test content and timing before sending texts as a campaign. You can find and fix errors, avoiding mistakes that may cost you customers.
5. Use analytics to monitor the results: Track the open rate and engagement results and use that data to adjust and improve future SMS texts.
SMS has significant marketing potential, but customers may perceive it as spam if you don’t craft your messages carefully. After receiving customer contact consent, keep the messages brief and engaging, and measure results after the SMS campaign ends.
Automation, Timing, and Frequency
Time management is a critical factor in business marketing, and management software or automation tools are excellent methods for scheduling your company’s marketing tactics, especially SMS texts. Scheduling out marketing plans in advance and keeping up with constantly evolving business trends is challenging, but spending hours each day creating text content isn’t necessary. Instead, set aside one day for content creation for the whole month.
You may also save time using SMS marketing automation software to schedule and send your SMS messages. This tool makes the creation and delivery process more efficient and time-saving. It eliminates the need to send SMS messages manually to each customer and is a simple process that doesn’t require human intervention once it’s set up. Additionally, you can create recurring automated drip campaign messages at various intervals to nurture customer prospects and assist them with purchasing.
Timely and Precise Message Delivery
While automated messaging tools save time, messages can fall flat if sent at inappropriate times or with excessive frequency. The best times to send SMS marketing texts are noon and early afternoon (12–5 PM EST) and early evening (6–8 PM EST). With an automated messaging platform, you can send messages to subscribers’ local time zones, keeping your messages timely no matter where your audience lives.
According to a Klaviyo customer survey, 40% of consumers prefer that a company contact them via SMS only once weekly, while another 30% were open to one to three times a week. Staying between these numbers and respecting customers’ time allows you to find the best time to reach out to your audience without annoying them or causing them to unsubscribe from your brand’s texts.
SMS marketing allows companies to make an excellent first impression and build brand loyalty with audiences that become long-term relationships. Service quality through personalized, tailored, and effective SMS messaging requires quick responses and high-quality customer service. Fast fulfillment and order tracking time information communicated through SMS keeps customers apprised of their orders, minimizing missed deliveries and unhappy customers.
Compliance and Legal Considerations
SMS marketing has laws and regulations that differ from other communication channels, such as email and physical mail. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), initially passed in 1991, established regulations for text messaging, telemarketing, and the Do-Not-Call list. The law protects individuals from unsolicited phone calls and text messages. To avoid breaking this federal law, always obtain written consent from customers before sending them SMS marketing texts. The TCPA allows for electronic consent, so opt-ins like web forms and text-to-join messages are acceptable representations of customer consent.
Another key player in SMS marketing legalities is the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA). This organization represents various entities in the telecom industry, including wireless carriers. Their Short Code Monitoring Program Handbook works with the TCPA by establishing additional guidelines for SMS marketing messages.
CTIA compliance protects people from unwanted text messages but goes a step further to assist marketers in making SMS marketing more customer-experience-oriented. Messages must display a clear CTA so customers know what they are opting into, and there must be a transparent opt-out process. Additionally, all SMS texts must include your company’s name.
- Use precise language, including the kinds of texts customers may receive, such as company news texts, abandoned cart texts, and promotional sales texts;
- Offer an easy method for customers to opt out of your SMS communications on your web form or in the text messages, using terms such as “STOP,” “UNSUBSCRIBE,” OR “CANCEL,” and then include the opt-out in each text sent,
- Provide an unchecked checkbox to ensure the customer checks the box, permitting them to receive SMS messages from your business.
Ultimately, SMS compliance is easy, provided you remember that you must obtain written consent before sending SMS texts to customers. Always clearly establish what people will receive from the texts and offer a simple way to unsubscribe.
Examples
There are various ways that SMS marketing strategies can benefit your company’s B2B brand and boost conversions. Here are examples of some of the most popular kinds of SMS texts:
Lead Generation Texts
“Hi Caleb, this is Melissa from Nexus Venture Marketing. We help businesses like yours improve their market reach with data-driven, customized marketing strategies. Can we schedule a quick call to discuss how we can increase your leads by 25%? Let me know a convenient time, or call me at 888-222-3333. Looking forward to connecting!”
Surveys, Polls, and Feedback Texts
“Thank you for choosing Pinnacle Growth Strategies, Sarah! How did you feel about our B2B growth services? Text 1 (bad) to 5 (great) to let us know. Text STOP to unsubscribe.”
Promotional Texts
“Hello, Jim! Great news from Vertex Vision Consultants! We’re offering an exclusive offer for our valued partners — 30% off our latest suite of analytics tools tailored to improve your operational efficiency. Don’t miss out! Details here: [link].”
Content Sharing Texts
“Calling all B2B marketers! Check out our new white paper on “Emerging Trends in B2B Marketing for 2024.” Learn the secrets to increasing conversions in your industry. Read it here: [link].”
Appointment and Reminder Text
“Hi Ryan, This is a friendly reminder about your appointment with us tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. Please confirm your attendance by replying ‘YES.’ To cancel or reschedule, reply ‘NO.’ See you soon!”
New Product Launch Texts
“There’s only seven days until Quantum Reach Solutions training begins! Who’s ready to improve their KPIs? Enjoy this exclusive sneak peek of our course while you wait!”
SMS Marketing: A Smart Choice for B2
As B2B marketing strategies continue to evolve, your company can embrace SMS messaging to identify and establish contact with customers and connect them to your service or product to fulfill their needs. Capturing decision-makers’ attention is never easy; however, SMS marketing allows you to create direct, personalized connections with these leaders and foster lasting relationships based on brand value and trust.
