You can enhance the interactive nature of your outdoor advertising with help from SMS marketing. Outdoor advertising for SMS includes your business signage, billboards, vehicles, and more. Keep reading for tips on how to make the most of your outdoor advertising for SMS.
Technology is advancing to the point where it is becoming increasingly possible to have your potential customers interact with your marketing efforts on a more personal level. And, thanks to cell phone technology, it is also possible to reach your customers no matter where they go. With cell phones increasing in number — almost everyone carries a cell phone now — it is little surprise that SMS marketing is becoming so popular. With SMS marketing, also called text message marketing, short messages are sent to cell phones, offering something or advertising something. Your customers are likely to see these messages because most cell phones do something to attract attention at the arrival of a text message.
But you do not have to plan to always be sending something to customers; you can integrate outdoor advertising with SMS to encourage your customers to interact with your brand, and perhaps even drive a little more traffic to your store. If smart phones are involved, you might even be able to prompt a purchase almost immediately as customers order from their phones.
Interactive Outdoor Advertising for SMS
Cell phone technology makes it possible for potential customers to interact with your advertising while they wait for something. Billboards outdoors, signs on bus stops and in subway stations, and in other outdoor, public places, can provide something for your customers to do while they are waiting. There are some companies that offer to embed certain “tags” in your outdoor advertisements. These work through blue tooth or some other method to alert the cell phone user of something nearby. This can be access to a game, a special promotion, a digital coupon, or an offer for an immediate discount on something. It is a great way to gain customer loyalty by providing a distraction while the person is waiting for a bus or train.
This can even be used to draw foot traffic to your store. Special tags on outdoor advertising near your place of business can alert those with smart phones and GPS availability to a special. This might prompt a customer to walk into your store in order to take advantage of the deal notice he or she was just made aware of. This potential is great, allowing you to target people who are already in your area, and more likely to make a small detour for savings, or a product they are looking for.
You don’t even have to get that high tech to incorporate your SMS marketing into outdoor advertising. You can place a message on your outdoor advertising that says something like, “Text us to get 25% off on your next purchase.” Customers send a text to the number given, and an automatic reply with a code for 25% off is given. Customers can then bring their phones into the store and show the proper code to get their discount. This can accomplish two things:
- It gets people into your store.
- It helps you build an SMS marketing database. You have the customer’s cell phone number, and you can periodically send notifications of promotions, sales and special offers or discounts.
The point of advertising is to prompt potential customers to take action. Outdoor advertising for SMS is a good way to do this. Cell phone users can take action immediately, and they do it simply. There is not a lot of effort involved to engage in this type of interaction, and the customer will appreciate it if you are offering something that seems “exclusive”, or if savings are part of the equation.
In the end, it is up to you to determine whether SMS marketing will work for you. However, it is important to note that the growth of cell phone use is likely to result in more opportunities for those who use SMS marketing. With some careful thought, it should be possible for you to integrate text message marketing into various facets of your advertising campaign. This includes outdoor advertising for SMS.