If you’re a graphic designer, then you know that the industry is constantly changing. You also know that in order to stay ahead of the competition, you need to be using the latest tools and technologies. SMS marketing is one of those tools – and it’s something that you should be taking advantage of! In this blog post, we’ll discuss the benefits of SMS marketing for graphic designers, as well as how to get started using SMS in your business. So what are you waiting for? Start using SMS marketing today!
Introduction to SMS Marketing for Graphic Designers
It’s vital that you employ text messaging appropriately, setting boundaries and all the other things in between, so today’s post will go through SMS marketing for graphic designers and how it can help you attract more customers and long-term clients. In this article, I’ll demonstrate the power of SMS to you, but before we get into it, let me explain what SMS marketing is and how to use it.
Types of SMS Marketing for Graphic Designers
There are three different types of text message marketing: direct, group, and mass. First, you have direct text messaging, which is what you use to communicate one-on-one. Next, you have group text messaging, which starts a single conversation between yourself and several other people. Finally, you have mass text messaging, which is very common for businesses to use to get reviews, give out offers, and all that fun stuff.
- Direct SMS: 1 conversation, 1 recipient, personal messaging
- Group SMS: 1 conversation, many recipients, collaborative messaging
- Mass SMS: Many conversations, many recipients, boilerplate-style messaging
So, those are the three that are used, and how they work in terms of recipients, conversations, and messaging type. I wanted to set the standards for you first, so you can decide which format fits your needs. These are three popular methods by which businesses expand their client base. With that all being said, if you’re finding this content helpful, I want to help you get even more value from Adrian Agency. If this is the kind of stuff that you’re looking for, definitely check out our articles on other marketing techniques, like my EPL Marketing technique. Also, don’t forget to check back regularly because we have some great content that will be coming your way soon.Â
SMS Marketing Statistics
The second thing I want to get into is some statistics you need to note and know when it comes to text message marketing, which will validate why it’s so important for you to start doing SMS marketing within your business. Now, the first stat is absolutely mind-blowing. I think you would probably know that the status is high, but I don’t know if you thought or knew that it is this high. 95% of text messages that are sent out are opened within three minutes – I repeat, 95% of text messages are opened within the first three minutes. That means people are seeing your stuff when you send a message; they’re going to get it. That’s a really high level of visibility. Emails never get that kind of visibility, so it’s really important to note and something to think about when it comes to SMS marketing for graphic designers.
Now, I know that I text a lot. Earlier today, I went to check my text messages and saw that I had 1675 saved conversations. That’s a lot of texting! The truth is Americans text twice as much as they call. I would love to do the research and see how much that is worldwide but that would take a long time. At least on the American side, I can tell you that Americans text message twice as much as calling, so this is a big deal if you’re trying to reach your customers and build relationships and build rapport. I’m finding myself more commonly having to message with my clients via text back and forth instead of doing phone calls. It can be helpful sometimes. It can be a little bit daunting sometimes when I’m stuck behind my text messages, but you need to set boundaries and that’s a big part of what I wanted to talk to you guys about today as well.Â
How to Use SMS Marketing for Graphic Designers
The value of SMS marketing for graphic designers is the versatility and utility of text as a medium. It’s a brief, non-invasive form of communication that many people, at least in the United States, prefer over the time obligation and personal nature of a phone call. You’ll use text messaging in three different ways in your company: for nurturing, for prospecting, and for loyalty.
Using SMS Marketing to Nurture Leads
Let’s first talk about the nurturing aspect now, when it comes to nurturing. You’re not just going to generally just send them text messages randomly. That doesn’t happen that often. They’re typically going to text you and you’re going to respond back, and all of a sudden that string will start to begin that conversation will start to build from there. I want you to set boundaries at the very beginning. Hey, I’m available via text Monday through friday nine to five. If they text you at eight o’clock, they should not expect you to answer their text message at eight o’clock at night.
As a business owner, I feel like one of the things that you want to set you apart is being able to offer that high level of service. But it’s not realistic, especially if you have a family, to be answering text messages at 8 pm. If you’re a single person going to college and you’re doing graphic design, and you feel like it’s the right thing to answer your text messages at 8 pm or on a weekend, by all means, do that. But for the average family man or woman, I really want to encourage you to set those boundaries when it comes to text messaging.
Using SMS Marketing for Prospecting
Now the second thing to keep in mind is prospecting. I would not recommend you do any cold prospecting via text messages; you want to go after your warm prospects instead. The way to do this is by getting an email list together and sending emails, and then saying, “Hey, text me on my private line.” You can also set up a dedicated line where you can text message back and forth with people that way.
There are a bunch of different programs out there that offer that shield of anonymity for very affordable (sometimes even free) rates now. Community is one of them, where you can text back and forth with those people. But make sure they already know who you are before you text them. Don’t just call prospective people and cold text them unless you have some sort of familiarity or know somebody close to them in their business or in their life. This is really important because people are just going to shut you down and block you and say don’t text me again or remove me from your list.
Using SMS Marketing for Brand Loyalty
The third thing I talked about is loyalty. This is really, really important. You can do random text messages for loyalty, so if you’re just feeling generous and you want to put out an offer, you do a random offer. The other way is having special events, whether it’s their birthday or a holiday or an anniversary. If you sent me a text message on my birthday and I had never heard from you before, in terms of sending me a text message even to say hello, it would definitely have my attention. I’d be thinking to myself, “Who is this? Did I forget to save a contact in my phone? Who knows my birthday?”
If I didn’t have your number saved on my phone, it’s going to catch my attention. Therefore, it’s going to start a conversation. I need you to understand that the key to successful sales, behind everything else, is starting conversations. You can also use it for loyalty and rewards by asking people for reviews. It’s part of the nurturing process, and also a little bit of the loyalty side. But getting reviews and rewards, and giving out offers to people who already know you, are really great ways to get more sales and business coming through the door.
Why SMS Marketing for Graphic Designers Works
So if you’re not using text messaging inside of your business, I want to encourage you to start doing that now. A lot of people call me on the phone, still, and I send them to voicemail because I’m in a meeting or I’m recording a video, like the one above. Voicemail goes directly to my voicemail which is not set up, and a lot of people tell me all the time that man, why don’t you have your voicemail set up? It’s unprofessional. You know what? If it’s that important, they’ll text me. As a matter of fact, I usually use an auto-reply that says “Please, text me.” That auto-reply is active most of the time because I’m always busy in consults and doing videos. So don’t feel bad if you hate voicemail because I hate voicemail myself. I’m not a fan of it – I think that the technology has advanced way past voicemail and way past mailboxes. I would love to save the paper, but I don’t know about you.
I don’t want to harp on this too much; I just want to encourage you to do random text messaging also. Do some special event campaigns on holidays and Christmas and birthdays and anniversaries. People feel valued when you do things like that. When someone’s been with you for a year, just send them a nice text message saying “Hi, I just wanted to send you this message and say thank you for working with me. It’s been a year that we’ve been working together, and that means a lot to me.” People are going to notice that you’re just going the extra mile for them. Text messaging is going to allow you to do that a lot easier than picking up the phone and calling them.
Final Thoughts on SMS Marketing for Graphic Designers
That’s what I wanted to leave with you. SMS is a super powerful tool for text message marketing; you can do it directly, you can do group, and you can do mass. Make sure that you understand the data and how important it is, and use it in those three ways. I want to personally invite you to join the Instagraphics Pro Network. It’s a community of the best designers on the planet who are focused on becoming three-dimensional. What I mean by three-dimensional is not 3d art but health, wealth, and relationships. This is very important because if you don’t have your health, what good is money, right? Make sure you fill out all the information or I won’t let you in. That’s just how it goes; we want the best of the best and I look forward to seeing you guys there. Thank you so much for reading. I’m Adrian Boysel and, as always, keep looking up.