Since its inception, mobile marketing has been successful in reaching millions of people that other advertising mediums often fail to reach. Almost every American adult owns a cell phone and 90% of them use text-messaging. Americans typically carry their phones with them everywhere they go, which means that SMS marketing can reach consumers anytime, anywhere. And while you want to make sure all your subscribers know about your current promotions, alerts, and discounts, you should also remember that no promotion will be equally valuable to every subscriber. You can maximize the effectiveness of your marketing strategy by segmenting your subscribers according to their indicated preferences and purchase habits. Then use these lists to send out targeted offers guaranteed to produce the highest ROI.

Segment Your List According to Interest

Don’t miss opportunities to learn about your customers’ preferences. Let them communicate with you by inviting them to rate a purchase or service via text. This lets you know which products are most appealing and satisfying, while also letting your customers know that their feedback is valued. Additionally, make regular use of voting campaigns that invite users to vote for a preference among several choices. To make sure that people respond, include a giveaway or make sure that the winning choice gets translated into a special offer. For instance, a restaurant or bar may invite people to vote for a favorite dish or drink and then offer that week’s winner as next week’s special. Retail and entertainment establishments can do the same with their products by offering a limited-time discounted price for winning items. These kinds of campaigns are fun and give subscribers a say over product offerings. It also gives your business valuable opportunities to learn about your customers’ preferences. An application like TextBoard will keep track of each voter’s choice, allowing you to tailor future offers to them based on indicated preferences.

Segment Your List Based on Click-Tracking

A click-tracking feature, which is available in TextBoard, enables you to keep track of subscribers who followed a URL from a text to your mobile site. Customers who click on links contained in text messages obviously own smart phones, and in pushing them from text to site, you can learn about their purchase habits and follow them all the way to the point of sale. Users who own smart phones can be marketed to in ways that take fuller advantage of mobile websites; send them offers that can be redeemed immediately, while offers to those owners without smart phones can be for things purchased later, either online or on site. Take the analysis one step further by utilizing User Agent data to discern the actual type of device being used, letting you know about your subscribers’ technology preferences.

Segment Your List Based on Level of Engagement

Tracking the indicated interests and purchase habits of subscribers is great for those who participate, but what about your users who don’t click a link or register a vote in your campaign? TextBoard, and other applications that analyze data from SMS campaigns, can segment subscriber lists according to subscribers’ active engagement with your brand. Every single person on your list is there because he or she opted in to your campaign. Therefore, at one time you offered something relevant. And every single person is still with you because he or she has not opted out. Therefore, your business is still capable of reaching them. Some users are simply less engaged with text marketing than others, but if you find that you have a sizeable number of subscribers who haven’t visited your site or engaged your SMS campaigns lately, TextBoard can send a message to just those people inviting them back with a special incentive.

Once you have executed one or more successful SMS campaigns, take advantage of sophisticated analytics that let you segment your lists in ways relevant to your product offerings. With usefully segmented lists, you can send more customized offers and follow-ups. You can also measure level of engagement and see which subscribers pass your offers on to their friends and family. Knowing about the usage habits of your clients allows you to reach them in ways most beneficial to both of you

People would rather do business with companies that support causes they believe in. So why not show your customers that you’re giving back to their favorite charities? Organizing a text message charity campaign lets your corporate halo shine.

The phrase “corporate halo” was coined by marketing expert Marti Barletta, author of Marketing to Women. She defines it as “the sum of a company’s acts of social responsibility and community citizenship for the benefit of the whole community.” The corporate halo is particularly important when marketing to women, Barletta says, because 85% of women say that one of their main ambitions is to make the world a better place.

With a text-for-charity campaign, your business can do well by doing good. It’s a way to let your customers know that your company cares about helping people… and in the depths of the Great Recession, getting that particular message across is more important than ever. Plus, you’re helping your customers help other people as well, which makes them feel better about themselves. How can they not want to work with a company that makes them feel good?

Then there’s the fact that a good text-for-charity campaign actually can provide a lot of help and raise a lot of money. Back in 2007, before text message marketing was really considered mainstream, Virgin Mobile launched a text-for-charity campaign to support homeless children. Within the first six months they received over 84,000 donations… particularly impressive considering they were a month-to-month service provider!

So how do you organize a charity texting campaign? You’ve got three basic options. First, you can pick one charity and create an ongoing campaign. Second, you can have a “charity-of-the-month” campaign. And third, you can let your customers pick the campaign.

The first and simplest campaign is to pick a charity and stick with it. Ideally, you’d choose one that is important to you or to your company. Aside from the personal satisfaction of arranging a stream of donations, this allows you to put a more human face on your business. So a realtor might donate to Habitat for Humanity, while a business owner whose parent died of lung cancer might choose to campaign for the American Lung Association. If you choose this type of campaign, you will definitely want to explain to your customers why you picked that particular charity… a personal letter from the CEO prominently posted to your website is ideal.

The second option, to campaign for a different charity each month, is somewhat less personal but will appeal to a wider range of customers. You can make up your own charity list or use the National Charity Council’s calendar. Setting a fund-raising goal is a great idea for these limited-time campaigns – it motivates people to participate and to get their friends involved if they know you are trying to raise X dollars for their favorite charity within the next two weeks.

The third option, letting your customers choose the charity, can start with a voting campaign. You give your customers an opportunity to vote on which charity they want to support, with the understanding that each vote constitutes a donation, and then either the winning charity gets all the donations or you parcel them out by percentage of votes received. You’ll also have the option of staging a new vote after a while to pick a different charity or group of charities. The competitive element of a voting campaign really gets customers interested and involved, but it takes more time and effort on your part to set up.

In all of the above cases, promote your text-for-charity campaign as much as you can. Social media is a great way to keep people up-to-date on how much you’ve raised. Don’t neglect your mobile website, either… many of your customers will drop by your site after sending their donation, so post regularly on how much you’ve raised and how grateful you are to your customers.

Just letting the world know that you’re conducting a charitable effort will boost your company’s reputation. It’s a perfect way to get more people opted in to your text marketing lead lists. And you can get your customers and prospects actively involved with your company.