How to Include SMS Marketing in Your TV and Radio Ads
If you are not including a text message call to action on your TV or radio ads, then you are missing out on a significant boost to your marketing efforts. Studies have found SMS marketing to be the most effective of all calls to action. When you include a text CTA in your ads, there are some important considerations to make.
Why Add a Text CTA to Your Ad?
People have their phones on them when they see your ad and take immediate action
When people see or hear your TV or radio spots, they are often doing something else. They might be in a doctor’s office, shopping, or watching their favorite show. Most likely, they do not have a computer nearby or something to write down the information. What do they have with them? A cell phone. Roughly 90 percent of cell phone owners carry their phone with them everywhere they go. When they see or hear your spot and you have a text CTA, they just have to reach to their phone and text a keyword in response. This convenience makes it easy for them to take action right away, before they forget or otherwise decide not to do so.
A texting CTA also helps you to track the efficacy of your ads. If you use a different keyword for different ads, then it is easy to compare the data and see which ones work better. This might help you to create more effective ads in the future or know what areas to target. When people text, you also have a chance to build a strong subscriber base to then launch your SMS marketing campaign.
Find the Right Keyword
The first step in developing your SMS marketing CTA for your ad is to find the right keyword. This should be something that stands out as being related to your business and ad. You do not want to make it too complicated, especially for radio and TV spots since the information will only be available for a quick moment before it disappears. You could stick with something basic, such as “subscribe” or “more info.” However, it may be more successful to use something catchy or specific, such as “disco” for a night club or “pizza” for a restaurant.
Creating a Strong Call to Action
Before you go too far into developing your radio or TV ad, it is important to develop your call to action. Consider your goals regarding the campaign. Is it to get people to buy more or is it to increase your number of customers? Alternatively, do you simply want more brand recognition or to improve your image? Goals help you not only to determine the content of the ad itself, but also what type of call to action you want to include.
When developing your call to action, it is also important to use strong language. It is best to use a command verb, such as buy, click, text, shop, download, or subscribe. This subtlety encourages your audience to take action, especially if they are already interested in doing so. For additional impact, include a sense of urgency by using time words, such as “limited time,” “now,” “before it’s too late.” Words that evoke emotion help to enhance the power of the CTA. You want to the call to action to be short, quick and to the point. For example, “text WATER to 55555 now to learn more about our water filters.”
Motivation
Another element of a successful call to action is to include additional motivation to take action. This is often in the form of a discount, special offer, or other reward. Perhaps you offer something for free to those who sign up during a limited time. It should be something that is a good deal but that does not adversely impact your profit margins. The reward does not matter as much as actually including one.
For example, your final call to action, using the example from above, would read: “text WATER to 55555 now to learn more about our water filters and get 20 percent off your first purchase.” Just be sure that the offer is exclusive to the medium, otherwise people will not feel as motivated to take action.
Placement
Your team will determine the best placement, but it is usually at the end
Once you have the content of your call to action ready to go, it is time to determine the placement for it in your ad. Most of the time, the call to action comes at the end. For TV spots, it is best to have captioning as well as someone speaking the call to action. It is common to use some type of overlay, although you might have the CTA integrated into the ad itself. For radio spots, it is beneficial to have the person say the number and keyword twice.
SMS marketing offer a strong call to action path for use in all your marketing efforts, including radio and TV ads. It also does not cost much to implement and, with little extra effort, you can even add it to ads that you already have created. The most important thing to do before starting your campaign is to ensure you build a strong CTA that motivates potential customers into acting as you want them to do.
Ready to create a more effective ad? Try GroupTexting for free and use it for your CTA. We’ll show you how to use SMS text message to build your business.
Categories: Text Message Marketing Tips