Best Practices for Text Message Marketing | Business

Text messages can be annoying when you’re getting bombarded with them faster than you can unsubscribe. On the other hand, text messaging can be brilliant when your favorite restaurant texts you about a last-minute table available on a packed Friday night. When done well, text message marketing can increase client loyalty and drive valuable repeat business.

Read on to find out why text message marketing works so well in the age of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Then, learn how your business can use text message marketing to increase sales.

Is text message marketing effective?

There are several reasons why text message marketing is effective.

It creates a sense of urgency.

When your phone beeps or vibrates to tell you that you’ve got a text, you open it and read it right away. That’s why people open 98 percent of text messages, compared with just 20 percent of emails, according to Subtext.

People trust text messages.

We trust texts far more than email, although spam texts are increasing. Text messages have a click-through rate of 20 percent, compared with just 3 to 5 percent for email, Sinch reported.

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Best Ways to Get Free Advertising | Small Business Trends

You’ve heard the old saying. “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” However, when it comes to advertising for a small business that saying is not true. In fact, there are some good ways to get free advertising. You just have to know where to look.

Free advertising methods have three advantages:

  • Cost. Obviously, free options can stretch a tight marketing budget making it go farther.
  • Creativity. Free options inspire you to be creative. They are perfect for shaking up a tired marketing strategy with fresh ideas.
  • Word of Mouth. Many “no cost” solutions involve community engagement, spurring others to amplify positive word-of-mouth. This not only drives new sales, it can powerfully counteract reputation management issues such as bad reviews.

Of course, there are trade-offs. For example, free options to advertise your business often require a larger time investment. However, that downside may appeal to you more than blowing thousands of dollars on paid ads.

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How to Write a Cold Email That Gets Results | AllBusiness.com

In today’s fast-paced world of consumerism and companies vying for attention, it can be hard to stand out in a meaningful way. But, even with the average person seeing between 6,000 and 10,000 ads every single day, it’s not impossible.

With short messages dominating modern communication and the rise of popular messaging apps like WhatsApp, the key to standing out is to capture your prospect’s attention in as little time as possible.

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Why Your Business Should Be on Instagram | business.com

Instagram is a great way to expand your business’s reach and engagement with your customers. Here are 12 reasons why you should make an account.

Since its inception, Instagram has proven to be a powerful marketing tool for businesses looking to expand their presence and the visibility of their products. While advertisement and sponsorship opportunities exist, getting started with Instagram is free and businesses can establish a significant following without spending a dime. If you have not jumped on the Instagram bandwagon yet, you may be doing your business a great disservice.

What is Instagram?

Instagram is a hugely popular photo and video-sharing social media platform. Users can share photo or video posts; temporary Stories that live on your profile for 24 hours; Reels, which are 15-second-max short-form videos; IGTV videos, and can even shop directly from e-commerce brands through the app.

Instagram is owned by its parent company Facebook and has over 1billion active users.

If you still need convincing to join, then check out these 12 reasons why Instagram is continuously rising in importance and how your company can benefit.

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Attention please! 5 interesting ways you can attract attention to your company | The Startup Magazine

You’ve got the products, the drive, and ambition. But something is missing…customers! You won’t get very far without them, and no matter what industry you might be in it’s safe to say you’re probably all fighting for every like, share, comment, and sale! Positive publicity is important to get that engagement. Gathering interest and momentum around your business isn’t straightforward, and it takes a lot of planning, forward-thinking, and creativity but when you find the right formula, the results speak for themselves. Read on for 5 interesting ways you can attract attention to your great business.

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How to Get Ongoing Media Exposure Using Seasonal Stories | Entrepreneur

Seasonal stories are events that are celebrated, often worldwide, every year such as Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Black Friday, Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Chinese New Year, Halloween, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Seasonal stories also include the 4 seasons: spring, summer, autumn/fall, and winter.

Pitching seasonal stories is a great way of getting regular media exposure and as the event happens at the same time every year, as a business owner, you can prepare for them in advance and use the same or similar angle year after year.

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The Biggest Marketing Mistake Is Forgetting Lifetime Value | Forbes

Are you flushing marketing dollars down the toilet? The biggest mistake in small business marketing is forgetting the phrase “lifetime value of a client.” Understanding this strategy can leave your cheaper competition in the dust.

Most small business owners see ad and marketing spends as a make it or break it the first time proposition. That is a big miscalculation.

“If this were dating it would be like asking for marriage on the first date,” says author Jim Kaspari. “We’re throwing thousands of dollars down the toilet with this mistake.”

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5 Things To Know About Movement Marketing | The Startup Magazine

Traditional marketing strategies focus on advertising. However, movement or cultural marketing takes a different path. Movement marketing influences customers to either rise up against an idea. As such, the proper use of this marketing strategy can elevate a brand to a brand-fueled experience that relates to your clients. Since this strategy influences the decision of the client, the result is a long-term domination of the market. Here are five things to know about movement marketing.

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58 Percent of Small Businesses Spend 5 Hours or Less on Marketing | Small Business Trends

How much time do you spend on marketing for your small business? A new survey carried out by OutboundEngine reveals 58% spend five hours or less on marketing. And stress is a major contributing factor for how much time small business owners spend.

Titled “Stress, Time & Growth: Factors Affecting Small Business Marketing in 2019,” the report looks at the marketing strategies of small businesses. And according to OutboundEngine, the complexities of today’s small business ecosystem is making marketing much more difficult.

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Why Amazon Ads Could Be a Disaster Waiting to Happen | Inc.com

When investing, it’s always a good idea to spread the wealth. Whether you invest only as much as can be insured, or you use different financial managers with unique areas of expertise, your goal is to maximize your capital. Everyone gets a piece of the pie, and within portfolios there’s still more diversification.

When it comes to digital marketing, advertisers are wise to spread their budgets around, but the places to spend in an effective way have dwindled. Over the past few years, fewer and fewer players in online advertising have a piece of the pie–especially those trying to protect consumer information–and advertisers looking for the best conversion rates have increasingly directed their ad budgets to a handful of companies where privacy practices and protections are less than stellar.

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