Top 7 Tips and Tricks to Power your Self Storage SMS Marketing Success

Text messaging isn’t just for keeping in touch with family and friends. It can also be a valuable marketing channel for your self-storage business.

If you’re looking to diversify your marketing efforts to cast a wider net, engage with your customers, and attract new ones, SMS marketing may be exactly the solution you’ve been looking for.

Here’s a closer look at what SMS marketing is, why it matters, and how an SMS marketing campaign can help you drive business for your self-storage business.

What Is SMS Marketing?

“SMS” is short for “short message service.”  SMS marketing refers to using text messages to communicate with customers. It can be delivering helpful news to existing clients or sharing your promotions with prospective customers through text messages.

SMS marketing is similar to email in that it’s an “owned channel.” This means that your business maintains complete control over it. From the content you share to recipients to timing, all of these parts of the puzzle remain in your control. This allows you to create the exact customer experience you desire from beginning to end across this channel.

Specifically, SMS messages for business fall into two categories:

1. Promotional messages, which are used to build brand awareness, promote products and services, and increase sales.
2. Transactional messages, which convey information your target audience needs, such as order confirmation information and shipping details. In doing so, they enhance your relationships with your customers and build brand loyalty.

Here are several specific SMS marketing tactics your self-storage business can use to attract, engage, and retain customers:

• Send opt-in texts to boost engagement and optimize your lists
• Conduct billing conversations
• Encourage referrals and social sharing
• Deliver local news and initiatives
• Survey customer satisfaction

Is Text Message Marketing Effective?

Text messaging platform Klaviyo shares several advantages your self-storage business can get in on by incorporating SMS marketing into your comprehensive marketing plan. These include the following:

1. You’ll give your customers better experiences.

   Giving your customers what they want plays a vital role in keeping them satisfied. SMS delivers in this aspect. In fact, while 54 percent of consumers say they like receiving promotions via text, just 11 percent of businesses are using this strategy. Not only can you give them a more satisfying experience, you can also out-perform your competitors.

   The speed, personalization, and two-way attributes of SMS marketing all add up to better customer experiences.

2. You can communicate quickly with your customers.

   In our era of instant gratification and high consumer expectations, speedy communications can be the difference between business success and failure. Not convinced? Data indicates that a staggering 72 percent of customers are more likely to purchase from brands whose employees use text messages to communicate with them in real time.

   Of course, fast communication is only the start. You’ll also be able to answer their questions and solve their problems in an easy and convenient way. This can help you seamlessly support the buyer’s journey.

3. You’ll get results.

   Because people are more selective about who they’re willing to receive text messages from, you’re already ahead in the engagement game with SMS marketing. This is evidenced by sky-high 95 percent open rates.

   But the benefits don’t end there. Promotional text messages also have extremely high click-through rates — exceeding the CTR rates of email eight times over.

   All in all, the engagement facilitated by SMS marketing is associated with a revenue per recipient (RPR) increase of 187 percent after brands incorporate text messaging into their marketing plans.

4. You’ll grow your customer base.

   As an owned channel, SMS doesn’t rely on third-party data. This means it’s not subject to the same data privacy issues as other marketing channels.

Not only do you decide and control exactly how and when recipients see your messages, you also don’t have to worry about privacy regulations pertaining to collecting phone numbers, email addresses, and other personal data.

7 Tips for Optimizing Your SMS

SMS has profound potential benefits for your self-storage business. Use these seven tips to make the most of your self-storage business SMS campaign:

1. Include incentives

   The best way to attract customers to your business? Make them a deal they can’t refuse by offering coupons and other deals to your SMS subscribers. Just be sure to make it sound exclusive. People like feeling like they’re “in the know.”

2. Convey a sense of urgency

   Similar to creating a sense of exclusivity, FOMO (AKA “fear of missing out”) drives action. Including an expiration date or other motivating factor can nudge consumers out of complacency and into action.

3. Be brief and to the point

   No one wants to read a long and complicated text message. Keep your SMS communications short, to-the-point, and packed with value.

4. Give clear instructions

What action do you want recipients to take after receiving your text message? A call-to-action (CTA) tells them exactly what to do next.

For example, if you want recipients to opt in to your campaign by texting you a keyword and 5-digit number, make sure these are obvious and visible.

5. Integrate multimedia

There’s a time and place for text alone, but consumers tell us again and again that they love video. Integrating MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) alongside your SMS tactics lets you send images and videos, as well.

6. Time your texts

We’ve all heard the saying, “Timing is everything.” SMS marketing is not immune. Make sure you’re sending texts at opportune times, such as before work, after work, and during the lunch hour.

Also, avoid sending text in the early morning and late in the evening.

7. Make it personal

Customization supports engagement and responsiveness. In addition to personalizing your texts with subscriber names, use SMS segmentation to send relevant messages to target audiences.

One of the best things about an SMS campaign is how well it plays with others. At the same time, harnessing its full potential hinges on the degree to which you understand the ever-changing digital marketing landscape. That’s where The Light Digital comes in.

While you’re busy handling the day-to-day operations of running your storage business, we’ll do what we do best: design, implement, and manage a comprehensive digital marketing strategy for your self-storage business.

To start deriving all the benefits of a multichannel marketing approach, contact us today.