Running a small business takes some creativity.
It takes marketing savvy, too, and when you combine the two, you can come up with some great marketing strategies that are extremely beneficial to you and your company.
Mobile marketing is big now, and most businesses have some sort of SMS they are promoting.
To add contests and sweepstakes in with this is a smart move you won’t regret.
As the following article looks at, here are 5 reasons why texting contests work….
- It is easy – Texting contests just take a minute to enter and then your customer is done. Most people always have their phones on them, so it’s usually just a matter of texting a single word.
- It is easy to manage – On your end, texting contests are easy to manage. When you have an SMS service, you can incorporate contests into your service and it’s even easier. Plus texting contests are both cost and time effective.
- It offers customer data – If you incorporate a survey into your contest, you get more customer data. If entering leads customers to engage with you more often or join your social media, you’re getting more interaction with your customers.
- Everyone can win – You can offer a minor reward just for entering, like 10% off your next purchase or a dollar off a burger, whatever it is you’re selling. Of course, you’ll have a big winner, but the little stuff means something to your customers, too.
- People like contests, and people like to win – It is little effort for a possible big reward. Your customers have nothing to lose, not even much time or effort, so they’re more apt to enter. They also will be more likely to continue following you if you run contests often.
Reward Participating Customers
Through texting to win, your company can offer rewards to participating customers.
Whether you pick a random winner or state something like “The 50th person to text the word wins,” it’s easy for customers to be involved.
You can offer rewards as big or small as you like, and to as many or as few people as you want.
You set the parameters, including how often you run contests and the other rules.
Some companies, like radio stations may run them every day. Other businesses may do it once a week or once a month.
One of the great benefits is it’s all up to you.
Go Social
Social media contests have been the biggies of late, like hash-tagging a photo on Instagram or sending in a comment on Facebook, but now SMS contests are gaining prominence.
As a small business owner, you get to make these decisions.
Add some creativity to your marketing endeavors through texting contests, and you’ll see your customer base grow, as well as the engagement between you and your customers.
About the Author: Heather Legg is an independent writer who covers topics related to social media, marketing and small business.