SMS/text messaging is one of the most effective ways of communicating with busy people. A short and ‘to the point’ message takes seconds to read and can generate a response just as quickly, whereas traditional means of marketing communications; emails and newspaper advertising, even a telephone campaign, take a great deal of time to organise and can be costly too.
From around 4p per message, texting is also by far the cheapest means of communicating with your customers,which  means a much greater proportion of the money you’ll make from an SMS campaign comes back into your business. Take email for example. It will take someone time to create a great email marketing campaign. Unfortunately, only 25% of emails are read compared to 95% of text messages.
As well as generating more people into your shop, you can also use the 2ergo mobile solutions to promote your jewellery line for traditional gift-giving occasions, interact with your clients via text messaging and even create a mobile presence on the web.
The benefits of this are that it looks very professional, you create customer loyalty through regular offerings and updates, and you can reach consumers immediately via the most effective means of communication…the mobile phone.

Is texting right for my business?
The simple answer is that SMS/text marketing can be beneficial to any jewellery business. The real advantage of SMS marketing is that it’s cheap and scalable; anyone can do it and to any number of contacts so it really doesn’t matter how big or small your business is, texting can benefit you. We recommend sending birthday messages, reminders about upcoming gift-giving occasions, anniversary messages and lost client promotions; offers sent to consumers who haven’t been into the shop for a long period of time.
Once these essential areas are covered, you can consider sending more specific promotions, such as seasonal holiday offers, although we recommend introducing the basics first before creating a more complex ongoing schedule of SMS marketing communications. We will be happy to discuss with you which method of SMS marketing would be best to start with.

Choosing when to use SMS
We have already mentioned the everyday marketing communications which can be made using text messages; occasions, birthdays and lost clients. As well as these essential areas, texting can also be used for more specific communications, such as;

• Seasonal promotions; Christmas, Mother’s day,
• Valentine’s day
• Offering rates for consumers to sell you gold and precious gems
• New product lines
• Recommend a friend

It’s best to start small and then gradually expand your use of SMS marketing according to your marketing plan and feedback you gain from clients as they get used to receiving your text messages.

Knowing what to write
Text messages can only be 160 characters (including spaces) long, so there’s no room for waffling. It’s important that you get to the point quickly and that the client understands exactly what you’re offering them. As a rule, you should make sure that once you have created your message, it answers these three key questions;

• Why you are contacting them – e.g. what offer are you making to the customer?
• When should they act? – e.g. is there a closing date for your offer or promotion?
• What do they need to do next? e.g. Should they call or visit your shop!

It’s important to keep the style of your messages friendly and chatty but at the same time, your message is clear and concise.
How do I use mobile to interact with my customers?
Interactive text messaging enables you to engage with your customers by encouraging them to text in a short-code to receive a variety of offerings. Imagine growing loyalty by asking customers to take part in valuable feedback on their recent jewellery purchases, or enhancing your current advertising by prompting customers to text in a keyword for a special limited time offer. These are just a few of the ways that businesses are taking advantage of the shift in consumer behaviour regarding the use of mobile phones as a way of life. It’s also a great way to build your mobile database, and allows consumers to opt-in to your mobile marketing campaigns.

Why should I have a mobile website?
80% of Smartphone owners regularly access the internet via their phone. Chances are, before long your customers will try and access a traditional website via their mobile. If your website is not optimised for mobile, your customers will receive a clumsy, unformatted experience. Research shows when consumers are faced with this, they simply click away to one that is formatted for mobile.
With 2ergo, we can create an m-site for your business in a matter of hours. It can include your branded logo, the location of your business, information on your jewellery lines and contact information. We’ll even reserve a mobile URL that will be recognised as an m-site on smartphones, which will give you a higher relevance listing on search engines! If you do not have a web presence yet, we will guide you through the process to develop an m-site from start to finish. All businesses today need to adapt to how consumers are using the web to make buying decisions, so now is the time to get your shop found by customers who are looking for your products.
How much is too much?
People these days expect to receive offers on their mobile devices, but they may not be so pleased to hear from you if your messages start to become too regular. We recommend contacting clients not more than once per month with offers or promotions in addition to your everyday reminder texts and an annual birthday message. For the majority of jewelers, one product promotion or special offer per month is enough to satisfy the sales targets set within the business.

Thanks

themobileexpert