By Brooklin Nash
It’s not hard to understand that marketing is important for small businesses. It can be much harder to think of effective low-cost marketing techniques that won’t break the bank when you’re on a budget.
Here, we dive into the benefits of three effective and affordable marketing methods for small businesses that cater to a device that almost 4.7 billion people have: a cell phone. These techniques include mass text messages, call broadcasts, and email blasts.
1. Mass Text Messages
It may seem obvious, but it’s important to keep in mind just how prevalent text messages are. People of all ages and walks of life regularly use text messages to communicate — so why should businesses be any different?
Text messages are instantaneous, can be sent to many people all at once, and are easy to use to direct customers towards more information. For example, a text message can include a photo, a video, a map, or even a link to your website.
This versatility makes text messages a great marketing tool, because they can be used for so many different types of marketing: notifying customers of a new store opening, sending coupons or discounts, kicking off a new product campaign, and so many more.
Even better, mass text messages can be used to start a dialogue. Listening to customers is just as important as conveying information to them, and text messages are an easy way to ask for and receive feedback. This can be via polls, open ended questions, or even the creation of a text hotline that customers can text in to at any time. Receiving feedback allows you to make changes that build trust and confidence between you and your customers.
2. Call Broadcasts
Sometimes, text messages won’t cut it. Often, voice broadcasts can be a huge benefit because customers are hearing your message in a human voice. This can increase the felt connection between your business and your customers.
Of course, voice broadcasts are less versatile than text messages. The only way to provide more information than what is in the original message is to think of potential questions in advance and have those answers available at the click of a button.
Voice calls also require that the recipient remembers or writes down any important information, as once they’ve hung up, there’s no way to hear it again. This makes voice calls more suited to more general information. The ability to express emotion in the caller’s voice, though, is a huge benefit.
What’s more, call broadcasts can be left as messages if the recipient doesn’t answer, so they too are not dependent on the availability of your customers.
Voice calls can also be used to gather feedback from customers with hotlines, phone polling, or direct conversations. In fact, conversations facilitated by voice calls can be more personal, and therefore more beneficial, than those done over text message.
3. Email Blasts
Email blasts are nothing new on the marketing scene. But just because they’re well-established as a marketing tool doesn’t mean that they aren’t still useful. In fact, in many cases they can be more useful than newer marketing techniques simply because both the sender and the recipient are more accustomed to them.
The greatest benefit of emails over text messages or calls is that they lend themselves to a longer form of communication. Like text messages, they can include a variety of attachment types. But unlike text messages, you can assume that many people will read these emails on a desktop or laptop computer instead of a phone.
Emails are also easy to share with others. If you want to increase your reach, engaging emails may be the way to do it. Recipients that are already on your mailing list may forward these emails to others, allowing you to communicate with more than your existing customer base.
Emails are also often seen as the least intrusive means of mass communication. While calls and texts usually notify the recipient immediately, emails are more likely to be read at the recipient’s leisure. This may mean that the recipient has more time to take action based on what they read, whether that means ordering a product or adding an event to his or her calendar.
A Varied Approach for a Consistent Response
Mass text messages, voice broadcasts, and email blasts are each important marketing tools for those looking for low-cost options for their small business. Each tool becomes even more important and beneficial when used in conjunction with all the others.
People have different learning styles, meaning they learn and remember information differently. This means that some are more likely to remember the date of a big sale if they see it written down, and others if they hear it spoken aloud. This is one of many reasons that text messages, calls, and emails can combine to form a more effective marketing plan.
What’s more, none of these options are exceedingly expensive or difficult to arrange if you find the right service. Do yourself and your small business a favor by looking into how mass text messaging, voice broadcasting, or sending email blasts could benefit you.
