Mass texting isn’t what it used to be. A decade ago, mass texting was all “spray and pray,” with marketers sending thousands of people generic texts that got very low reply rates. With the help of today’s powerful SMS marketing platforms, teams can send customized messages to receptive customers and secure high reply rates.
While texting technology has changed for the better, businesses also have to face new challenges. Additional federal regulations and increased customer expectations put more pressure on these campaigns. Brands have to plan and execute enterprise SMS marketing campaigns more carefully than before. But the rewards are higher than ever, too.
To help your team plan a successful large-scale marketing campaign, we’ve rounded up a 5-point checklist.
Let’s dive in.
Enterprise SMS Marketing Checklist Item #1: Customer Opt Ins
Before you begin your enterprise SMS marketing campaign, you have to ensure that list members have opted in. This is a critical part of SMS compliance.
If you already require opt ins before adding customers to your contact list, you’re halfway there. If you don’t, be sure to ask all contacts to opt in to your SMS services by either texting in a specific keyword or filling out a web form.
Then, review your list of opted-in contacts and remove those who haven’t connected with your team for a while. These phone numbers might have been reissued without the carrier alerting your business. By deleting inactive contacts, you are preventing your brand from texting unwelcoming consumers.
Once you’ve ensured that all of your targeted customers have opted in and deleted any possible reissued numbers, you can feel comfortable sending mass texts.
Enterprise SMS Marketing Checklist Item #2: Segmented Lists
If you have a mass SMS marketing text ready to send to thousands of people at once, hold that thought. Without narrowing your texting lists, your SMS text marketing campaign might not resonate with recipients.
Your texts should be sent to segmented lists of contacts. This way, your message can be as relevant as possible to recipients.
Your team can segment lists a variety of ways. For example, you can use contacts’ custom fields to segment by:
- Past purchases
- Region
- Buyer persona
- Loyalty status
- Satisfaction index
The narrower your audience, the more carefully you can target your texts. As you’ll see in the next section, targeted templates can help boost engagement rates.
Enterprise SMS Marketing Checklist Item #3: Targeted Templates
With segmented lists, you can tailor each SMS template to your audience. Make sure each message template is tweaked to appeal to recipients, whether it refers to their location or acknowledges their loyalty status.
To personalize your SMS marketing templates 
further, include custom fields information. Leave a space for names and other items like loyalty statuses and past purchases. Your enterprise SMS marketing platform will automatically add this information to outgoing mass texts, using merge tokens to draw from the custom fields.
A successful SMS text marketing template might look like this:
Hello, {{first name}}, Swift Shoes here. It’s customer appreciation week. We’d like to thank you for being a {{loyalty awards level}} Awards Member! Come into our {{closest location}} store, show this text, and receive a free consultation with our Perfect Fit Counselor. Reply with questions, or text STOP to stop receiving messages.
A highly targeted message is sure to resonate with recipients. For example, marketing specialist Christine Johnson of Spartan Water Removal uses targeted messages to connect with her leads. These messages resonate so much that her current opt out rate is a low 3.5%.
Enterprise SMS Marketing Checklist Item #4: Valuable Content
Every single SMS marketing campaign should offer some value to customers. Otherwise, they’ll receive your text, think of it as spam, and opt out of your SMS marketing list.
When sending mass texts, focus on strengthening the customer relationship by offering SMS list members special services or VIP information. Alternatively, you can send:
- Industry-related tips
- New product reveals
- Purchase follow-ups
Avoid sending blanket SMS marketing messages spouting coupons or deals. Customers might opt out if they think you will continually send them advertisements.
Enterprise SMS Marketing Checklist Item #5: Automated Responses
Customers might respond to your SMS text marketing campaign—and you might not be around to reply. To keep leads engaged, automate responses through your business SMS platform.
Your business SMS platform can send a general automated response as soon as a customer texts you. Additionally, your team can set up a keyword-based auto reply. For example, if a customer texts in with a word like “purchase,” the response can mention the sales team’s hours. To make your response as useful (and approachable) as possible, be sure to include:
- Business hours
- Response times
- An agent signature
Automated responses will let customers know your team is responsive—even if they’re not available at that very moment.
Want to learn more about enterprise SMS marketing? Check out our SMS resources.
