Customers subscribe to your SMS messages because they expect some kind of value. This could be unique offers, discount codes, news, or early access to new products and services. The reasons will vary from customer to customer. It’s your job to identify what different customer segments value most.

You can also create value via SMS by offering something exclusive. Customers will be less likely to unsubscribe if the messages contain deals or updates exclusive to SMS subscribers. Therefore, ensure the messages you send are primarily relevant, informative, and offer customers value they can't get anywhere else.

There are several ways you can personalize your messages and ensure they're relevant to customers. The most obvious method is segmentation. Segmentation allows you to send targeted messages to the right customers, preventing your messages from seeming irrelevant and reducing the likelihood of unsubscribes.

Another approach to personalization is giving customers the opportunity to choose which types of messages they're interested in receiving. They might only want offers and promotions, news, reminders, or exclusive access to new products and services. Providing this option gives customers control over the content they receive, significantly reducing SMS unsubscribe rates.

Be clear and transparent with your customers. Inform them of what to expect when signing up for SMS from your business. Clearly indicate how frequently they can expect messages and what types of content will be sent. This ensures messages won't surprise or irritate your customers.

It’s equally important to deliver on the promises you make to your customers. The frequency and content type of your SMS campaigns should match the information provided at registration. During certain periods, like Black Friday or holidays, it's common to send messages more frequently. Make sure your customers are informed and aware of what to expect during these times. And monitor your SMS unsubscribe rate.

The beauty of SMS campaigns is that it only takes recipients a few seconds to decide if the message is relevant to them. That's why, as the sender, you need to convey the value quickly. SMS isn’t a novel—don’t create suspense; get straight to the point!

Invest time in crafting short, punchy messages that immediately capture the reader’s attention. Personalize messages by including the recipient's first name and ensure the message is relevant to the recipient. If you have additional information you wish to share, include a link or file in your message. Doing so will also provide additional insights into relevance by measuring open and click-through rates.

The goal of SMS marketing lists isn't to trap customers in a system they can't exit. That approach only creates irritation and harms your company's reputation. Make unsubscribing easy for customers who are no longer interested. Not only is this required by consumer protection regulations, but it also enhances customer trust in your business.

Intellipush offers businesses a modern SMS solution with advanced integration options and powerful security features, including OAuth 2.0 authentication and IP locking. This ensures that sensitive data stays protected while seamlessly integrating SMS into existing business systems, such as CRM and marketing tools.

With Intellipush’s two-way messaging, businesses can create interactive conversations, dramatically improving customer engagement compared to traditional one-way messaging services. Real-time tracking and unique URL tracking further enhance campaigns, enabling businesses to make smarter, data-driven decisions.

Switching from outdated providers to Intellipush is straightforward and provides immediate benefits. Businesses gain access to more innovative features, flexibility, and robust security measures that empower growth and customer retention.

Adopting Intellipush as your modern SMS solution ensures your business stays ahead of the curve, delivering effective and secure communication that meets today’s customer expectations.

The use cases we most often talk about is, of course, SMS marketing. It's a simple and effective way to reach your customers without distractions. You can convey your message with a simple and short sentence, and lead your customers directly to an offer or a website with a link. SMS marketing is personal and if used correctly can be highly engaging! But you have to be smart when it comes to your messages and how you formulate them. You have to write engaging messages that make your customers want to take action! You can read more about how to engage your customers in the article "Appeal to emotions in marketing".

SMS is naturally used as a communication tool. It started with personal communication between two individuals, and has evolved into a communication tool for businesses as well as individuals.

Companies can use SMS both for internal communication, but also to communicate with partners and customers. By using SMS to convey information, you can be sure that the recipient sees the message, and it is much more likely that they will actually get the message.

You can use SMS to inform your employees about everything from meetings, changes or important information. Have you heard the saying "This meeting could have been an email"? If you are efficient enough, the meeting can be an SMS. The magic of SMS is that it forces you to boil down your message and get straight to the point. Forget all the fluff that comes with meetings and in an email, instead send an SMS where you are straight to the point and save your employees from wasting their time.

Another few use cases for SMS is notifications. SMS is a perfect notification system. The messages reach the recipient quickly, and unless they have turned off notifications (who does that?) or turned on airplane mode, they will receive the SMS. All messages that are urgent or essential should be sent by SMS!

You can use SMS to notify emergency situations, changes or urgent meetings, for example. Have you changed your opening hours? Send an SMS to the customer! Has an unexpected situation taken place? Keep both your employees and customers informed! You can also use SMS to send reminders. It can be a reminder of a meeting or an appointment. You can also send reminders of deadlines and other time-sensitive topics.

If you have an online store, SMS can be a great tool to use to notify your customers about their orders. You can send out an order confirmation, notify customers when items are packed and shipped, and keep them informed on when they can expect to receive their items. The better informed your customers are, the safer they will feel.

That´s a word we have not used in a while (cough Covid), but visitor registration does not always have to be in connection with a global pandemic. There are many reasons for wanting to have an overview of who visits your premises. It would be interesting for you as a shop owner, for example, to know who your customers are, where they come from and when they prefer to visit your shop. All this information helps you run your store more efficiently.

When are the rush hours in the store? Which days, months or holidays attract the most customers? This information can be crusial for how you choose to run and staff the store. Visitor registration can be easily done using QR codes. All the customer needs to do is scan the code with their mobile phone and send a already filled out SMS.

The same technology can be used to sign up for a customer club. A perfect way to reach out to interested and loyal customers is by talking to them when they show interest in you and your business. This can be by hanging a QR code in the checkout at the store or by having it visible at the online store so that the customer can easily join your customer club.

SMS is not only used to communicate. One of the newer use cases for SMS is access control! You can use SMS to give both permanent and temporary access with SMS codes sent to mobile. Inlet is a very good example of how this can be done. This function is highly suitable for those who work in the renting business.

If you need to rent out equipment, property, office premises or other rental objects for a limited period of time, temporary access codes on SMS can be a perfect solution for you. It saves you both time and resources, and it makes the customer journey much easier for your customer. With SMS codes, you can decide the duration of the codes yourself. You can change and delete codes whenever you want, and have full control over who has access to what.

In addition to access, you can use SMS for verification and authentication. It is very common to use SMS as part of a two-step authentication process to access accounts on various websites and apps. By receiving a code via SMS, the customer can use this code to verify themselves. This is a very simple way to verify users and customers, and usually quite secure. There is always a certain risk associated with authentication in this way, as there is a risk that unwanted people may have access to your phone number. For more advanced and sensitive verification, it may therefore be wise to use 2FA codes or third-party apps.

High Open Rates:

One of the main advantages of SMS sending is its high open rates. Most people carry their smartphones with them all the time, and most text messages are opened within minutes of being received. This gives businesses a unique opportunity to capture the audience's attention and deliver important messages quickly.

Immediate Delivery:

SMS messages also have the advantage of immediate delivery. There's no waiting time or risk of messages not being delivered, as there can be with email or social media posts. This makes SMS an ideal channel for sending important updates, offers, and reminders to customers.

Personalized Communication:

SMS sending allows businesses to communicate in a personalized way with customers. Messages can be customized with the recipient's name or other relevant details, creating a sense that the message is tailored specifically for them.

Consent and Privacy:

Before sending SMS messages to customers, make sure to obtain their consent. Respect their privacy and give them the option to opt-out if they do not wish to receive further messages. Building a trusted relationship with your customers is essential for maintaining a positive perception of your brand.

Short and Concise Messages:

Keep SMS messages short and concise. You have limited space available, so ensure that the message is clear and captures the recipient's attention immediately. Avoid technical jargon and use simple, straightforward language.

Call-to-Action (CTA):

Always include a clear call-to-action in your message. Whether it's clicking a link, replying with a code, or visiting your physical store, a clear CTA is crucial to encourage the recipient to take the desired action.

Audience Segmentation:

Segment your customer list based on relevant criteria such as interests, purchase history, or geographical location. This allows you to send more targeted messages that are relevant to the recipient and increases the chances of a positive response.

Automated Messages:

Use automation to send time-sensitive messages, such as birthday greetings, order confirmations, and delivery notifications. This saves time and resources while providing a personalized experience for the customer.

Measure Results:

Analyze the impact of your SMS sending by measuring open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. Use insights to optimize your messages and improve future campaigns.

SMS is a powerful communication channel that allows businesses to reach the target audience in a personalized and efficient way. With high open rates, immediate delivery, and the ability to customize messages, SMS sending should be a crucial part of your marketing strategy. Remember to follow best practices to ensure that your messages are relevant and desired by recipients. By implementing SMS effectively, you can strengthen your brand, engage customers, and increase conversions.

The mobile phone has gone from being a tool to becoming an essential part of our everyday life. New research shows that we spend an average of two and a half hours on our mobile phones every day. And many spend far more time than that. The mobile phone has become an extension of our arm. No matter what situation we find ourselves in, our phone is by our side. The irony is that companies on average only spend 13% of their marketing budget on mobile marketing. And of the 13 percent, even less are mobile optimized.

Nevertheless, many companies have realized that the future of marketing is mobile. This has resulted in companies now throwing money at this form of marketing without having thought this through. This results in marketing campaigns and SMS marketing that neither produce results nor are of value to the customer.

In order to achieve good results with mobile marketing, you have to have a conscious relationship with the mobile marketing and its purpose. First, you need to set some goals for your marketing. What do you want your customers to do when they get your message? Without a clear target, you are shooting blindly.

The next step is to find out who you are talking to. An effective mobile marketing campaign is targeted and well thought out. To achieve the best results, you need to segment your customer groups into smaller groups. Secondly, you need to send targeted campaigns that interest them.

Before you send the SMS, you need to make sure that the message is appealing enough for the customer to read it. In the same way that lawyers in series like Suits have a strong "opening statement", you need to start your message with a bang! Tell the customer what they will get out of reading your message right away. In addition, the rest of your message must be well designed and impress the customer. You can do that by including emotions in the message. What do you want the customer to feel when they read your message?

The last thing you need to keep in mind is a Call-To-Action! Tell the customer how they can get more information, or buy the product or services you are promoting. If you include a short link at the end of the message, you will also receive specific feedback on the effectiveness of your messages and CTAs.

Mobile marketing is the marketing of the future. If you want to succeed in a digital world full of information, you have to have well-thought-out mobile marketing campaigns. Now that you have all the information you need to succeed, are you ready to get started?

With an SMS gateway and an API, you can easily integrate the SMS platform with your existing system. It can be a website, CRM system or other essential systems for your company.

Most companies that send out SMS to their customers use a gateway or API. This is the technology that makes bulk sending of SMS possible! With this technology, you no longer need to have countless pages and accounts. Everything you need to communicate with your customers is in one place!

In the beginning, SMS gateways were physical hardware with SIM cards. That is no longer the case, and today's versions are a bit more advanced. Today, these work through a cloud-based system and an SMS API. The gateways send the SMS through a network and what is called a Short Message Peer-to-Peer (SMPP) protocol.

SMS gateway makes the job easier both for you as the sender and for your customers. Instead of sending an individual message to all the people registered in your contact list, you can now send the right message to the right customers with the press of a button.

This makes it possible for you to send the same SMS to several people, wherever they are in the world. In this way, you can send messages in bulk, event-specific SMS and SMS based on customer actions, all in one system. The gateway saves you time and ensures that you can communicate with your customers exactly when you want and how you want.

1. How do I change my password?

Once you are logged in to Intellipush, you can go to the menu option “Settings”. At the bottom of the page you will find the option to enter a new password for your account. When a new password has been entered, click save and you will see a box where you enter the old password to confirm the change.

 

2. Can I get an invoice?

Yes, we can offer this to large customers with significant volume. Contact us for inquiries about this. Click here to find our contact information.

3. How does Intellipush comply with GDPR?

Intellipush only uses the information of the customers who have entered their information. No other customers have access to this information, and this is not sold or distributed to any third party. We only use the necessary information to complete the sending of SMS.

 

4. How long is the lock-in period at Intellipush?

Intellipush has no lock-in period. We believe that our customers stay here as a result of good prices and good service over time, and do not want to bind our customers.

5. How much does Intellipush cost per month?

Intellipush has no fixed monthly fee. There is only a monthly fee for invoice customers with special agreements. Or you can see our prices here.

1. Can I become a reseller / partner for integration and resale of the solution?

Yes, we are constantly looking for new partners, and are happy to talk to you about this. Contact us to talk more about a possible collaboration. Click here to find our contact information!

2. Does Intellipush have an API?

Yes, we have a modern API with OAuth 2.0 authentication and Swagger documentation. This means that we can possibaly integrate with all possible solutions, and these solutions can integrate with us. Read more about our SMS API.

 

3. How can I use SMS in WordPress?

Intellipush has a Plugin for WordPress, this can be installed easily and makes it possible to send SMS directly from WordPress. Contact us for more information!

4. Does Intellipush have any integrations ready today?

Yes, we have integrations ready for WordPress and WooCommerce. Feel free to contact us for assistance with your integrations.

5. Can Intellipush be integrated with my system?

Yes, it can be done in most cases. Get in touch with us for further inquiries

1. What information should contact lists contain?

You need the name and phone number of your contacts to be able to send out messages. You can choose to include additional information such as email address, birthday and customer number if you would like. If you have not included the country code in the imported list, it can be selected in the menu below before the list is imported. You can import contact lists as an excel file or .xls and .xlsx files. You can import the contacts into a new contact list, or into an existing list.

2. How do I add tracking to a link?

After creating an account and logging in, tap “New message” to create a new message. Then enter the link, and the text that will accompany the link, then click on “Shorten the link”. This way, each link gets a unique code that can be tracked, no matter how many people you send the message to.

3. Can I have my own short number?

Yes, we do offer that. Contact us for further inquiries. Click here to find our contact information

4. How do codewords work?

Codewords allow you to receive messages from your customers. We register this with the operators on your behalf. You will then receive all messages that are sent to the codeword on the short number where you have registered the codeword. You can also have the messages forwarded to another number or platform.

5. Can I schedule SMS messages?

Yes, you can set when you want your messages to be sent. They can be sent immediately, or on a date and time you specify.

 

6. How can people unsubscribe from a list?

By sending “codeword” and “Stop” to the number belonging to the company, the customer will automatically unsubscribe from the list and will be added to a “blacklist”. Then the customer must manually subscribe again to be able to receive messages from the company.

7. Can I import contacts from another system?

Yes, you can import contacts via excel or a csv list.

8. Can I see the status of sent messages?

Yes, you can see the complete status of all messages by clicking on the menu item “messages” and then selecting “Sent”. From there you will see a list of sent messages, and can click on the message you want to see the status of.

9. Can I send files via SMS on Intelipush?

Yes, you can upload files and send them via a link in a SMS via Intellipush. You can also get an overview of the statistics on who clicked on the link and who did not.

10. How do I create a new contact list?

You can create a new contact list by clicking on the menu item “contact list” and then on “new contact list”.

We hope this answers your SMS questions. If you still have unanswered SMS questions, just get in touch and we can answer you directly.

When you send SMS to your customers, it is important that you are aware of how many characters you use. Some people prefer to stay within the limits of one SMS message (160 characters). Here is where short links play a huge role. Let's use this article as an example: the normal link looks like this https://www.intellipush.com/en/everything-you-need-to-know-about-URL-shorteners/. That corresponds to a whopping 80 characters. Using a URL shortener, you can send customers to the exact same web address with just 20 characters.

One advantage of shortlinks is that they are more aesthetically pleasing than regular URL links. Regular links contain a lot of information, from command structures to data hierarchies. This results in long links with many complex characters and combinations that make it difficult to memorize and share. With today's technology, this is easily solved by copying and pasting the link, but why make it harder on yourself than it needs to be?

One of the most important advantages of short links is that they make it possible to acquire information that are made available with such technology. The URL shortener that we at Intellipush have developed allows you to gain insight into the CTR and gives you information about who clicked on your link and when. This is information that is absolutely essential for you when you use SMS as a marketing channel. You can use this information to improve the messages you send, optimize the time of sending as well as reward customers for their loyalty.

If you do the latter point right, this can also act as an incentive for other customers to take action and become loyal customers. You do this by gaining insight into which customers open the messages, when they are opened and by producing your own contact lists based on the click-through rate.

There are certain pitfalls you should stay away from when it comes to shortlinks and link shorteners. Certain link shorteners are public and available to everyone. It sounds really great, but it involves some risk. Links created on public sites, such as Bitly, are often met with skepticism and flagged by systems that work to detect attempted fraud. There is a good reason for that, because such links are often used to hide fraudulent attempts. This type of fraud attempt has increased drastically with the use of SMS as a communication tool for companies.

This, in addition to the information gathering capacity, is why we developed our own URL shortener. Short links produced with our link shortener are more secure and are less likely to be suspected of fraud. That is because only our customers have access to the technology, and every customer we have is thoroughly verified. Therefore, we recommend all our customers to use the technology they have available on our platform, both to avoid suspicion from fraud detection systems and to gain insight into the information that optimizes their communication strategy.

Would you like to test our link shortener? Log in or create an account today and we'll help you get started!

Before you start thinking about sending campaigns via SMS, there are certain things that need to be in place. If it is not obvious, the vast majority of SMS are received on phones. If the aim of the SMS you send out is to increase traffic to your website, you must therefore ensure that you have a good and functional website. It is especially important that you check and double check how your website works on mobile.

Mobile optimization ensures that your website looks and works as well on mobile as it does on a laptop. It is easy to drop the mobile optimization, but long term it will hurt your comapny. If you are not sure how well optimized your website is on mobile, you can easily test it on PageSpeed Insight or other similar tools.

If you want to increase traffic to your website with SMS campaigns, you need to make it easy for your customers to get to your website. What could be simpler than a link? With the push of a button, customers can visit your website and make a purchase there and then.

Many companies are reluctant and in some cases choose not to include a link in their SMS to save characters. Such a strategy can, in the long run, do more harm than good. But the problem is real, you'd rather not use more characters than necessary! But dont worry, we have a solution. If you are going to include a link to your website, you can use our link shortener and save on the number of characters in your SMS. In addition, you will gain valuable insight that you can use to optimize your future SMS campaigns.

Why should customers click on the link and visit your website? You need to give your customers a reason to take action. Good questions to ask yourself when planning an SMS campaign are:

• Is this a good offer?
• Is the offer adapted to the target group?
• Is the message relevant?
• How exclusive is this offer?

The more relevant and the more exclusive an offer is, the greater the chance that your customers will visit the website and seek out more information. You can also include a time limit in the SMS to create a little extra excitement and a sense of urgency. You have to arouse their curiosity and interest enough for them to follow the carrot all the way to the finish line.

You have to tell your customers what you want them to do. It is important to be as clear and upfront as possible. At the same time, it must be attractive and relevant to the customer. How do you do it? Well, with good Call-to-Action of course. Without a Call-to-Action, you can't expect action either. The type of Call-to-Action you write in the message you send out determines the action the customer takes. Do they click on the link and visit your website, or do they cross off the message and continue as if nothing happened? A good Call-To-Action is essential to increase traffic to your website.

When you have sent out a number of campaigns and collected data, it is important that you analyze it. What worked, and what didn't work? This allows you to optimize your campaigns. You can repeat the success stories and improve the campaigns that did not give as good results as you had hoped for.

By sending the link through Intellipush, you will get insights that can help you optimize the messages you send out, who you send them to and when you send them. The time for shooting in the dark is over. Use the tools you have available to achieve your goals and increase traffic to your website with SMS.

The recipe for success is simple. You must plan, think through and confirm that your campaigns are desired and create value for your customers. How do you do that? You need to talk to your customers! For many customers, Black Friday is about good deals. At the same time, we know that many people can be bombarded by good offers and far too much information at once. Black Friday is the only time when almost all companies send out SMS campaigns at the same time. It is therefore important that you choose the campaigns you send out carefully.

The last thing you want this month is for your customers to perceive your marketing as intrusive and superficial. Use tools such as segmentation and customer information to tailor campaigns to different customer groups. Black Friday is not about selling everything to everyone, it's about giving the right customers offers they can't refuse.

This shopping holiday isn't about profit, it's about the customer. It is easy to think of Black Friday, Black Week or Black Month as the wild west where everything is legal. That's not how it is. The same rules that apply to SMS marketing for the remaining 11 months of the year also apply in October. Be aware that your customers will receive many different inquiries and SMS campaigns, and prove with action that you have your customer in mind with each campaign.

Use the large influx to your advantage and let your customer know that you are aware of the enormous pressure they are facing. It is also important to remember that this part of the year is largely characterized by economic pressure and a focus on holiday-shopping. This year it is more important than ever to keep that in mind considering the financial challenges most people face. Take a conscious stance against shopping for shopping's sake, and instead focus on value creation.

The history of SMS started in 1984, when the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) formed a group of engineers to develop GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications). This system was to be used to standardize mobile phone technology and make it easier to communicate across borders. Originally, this technology was developed to utilize free space in the system, but eventually it developed into an important communication tool.

One of the first goals of GSM was to develop a simple messaging service that could send short messages to mobile phones. This was a difficult task, as mobile phones at the time were large and expensive, and the idea was difficult to implement in practice. But if there was anyone who could make it happen, it was the engineers at GMS, and they did! They developed the technology and called the service SMS, or "Short Message Service".

SMS was introduced in the 1990s, but it was not an immediate success. One of the biggest challenges was that messages were limited to 160 characters. This limited the use of SMS, and it took a few years for the technology to become popular.

Another limitation was that SMS only worked as one-way communication. You could send a message to someone, but you couldn't receive a message back. This limited the use of SMS, and it took a few years before two-way communication was introduced. Despite these limitations, SMS began to take off in the late 1990s. This was, among other things, a result of Nokia launching SMS-supported handsets in 1993. This was also due to several factors, such as the increasing number of mobile phone users, cheaper prices for mobile phones and increased availability of SMS services.

During the 2000s, the popularity of SMS reached new heights. Mobile operators began offering subscriptions that included unlimited SMS messages, making it cheaper for users to communicate via SMS. At the same time, several mobile phones with keyboards were launched, which made it easier to write SMS messages. This resulted in over 500 billion SMS messages being sent worldwide in 2004.

SMS was also increasingly integrated into other technologies. For example, it became possible to send SMS messages from computers using SMS gateways.

Today, SMS is still one of the most important communication tools we have. Although other alternative forms of communication have been introduced such as WhatsApp and iMessage, SMS is still the most reliable way to send messages. It requires no internet connection and anyone with a mobile phone can receive SMS messages.

In addition, SMS has gained an increasingly important role for companies. It's easier than ever to send bulk SMS messages to customers, which is why SMS marketing has become increasingly popular over the past few years. SMS has become a central part of the communication strategy of companies, and contributes to more personal communication with customers.

So next time you send og recieve an SMS, think of that faithful Christmas in 92´ that made the history of SMS possible.

The language is the most important tool you have in an SMS. The message have to be short and concise, and you have to make yourself understood. You should use language that resonates with your customers and shows that you know who you are talking to. The language and wording of the messages will vary depending on your target group. There are many different factors to take into account, but you make your job significantly easier if you know which generation your target group belongs to.

Here are three things you should do to formulate understandable and effective sms messages:

The first sentence of the message determines whether the customer spends time reading the rest of the SMS or not. Start by capturing the customer's attention. If there is a campaign or information that you know the customer wants, then it must be made clear straight away.

Don't be afraid to be creative with the way you encourage your customers to take action. As long as you have a clear goal behind the CTA, you can use everything from humor to FOMO to give your customers a final nudge over the finish line.

Personalization is key to ensuring effective SMS communication. Incorporate the customer's first name, relevant information about products or services they need, and personalized offers based on their interests and shopping patterns to increase the likelihood of your messages being read.

Some strategies may work well for one target group but not for another. With that in mind, here are two things you should do, but with caution:

Slang and abbreviations can be very effective if you know your target audience well enough to know that they understand them. If not, you risk using words and expressions that make your message incomprehensible or that could be misunderstood.

If you are targeting Gen Z, a reference to pop culture or a popular TikTok trend can make your message stand out and be perceived as relevant to the target group. If, on the other hand, you use a reference that your customers do not recognize, it can do more harm than good.

Having a fantastic offer won't matter if your target group doesn't understand the language. This is especially true for effective SMS marketing. It's like shouting "fire" to a group of tourists and expecting a reaction. If your company directs its SMS marketing towards an international audience, the safest bet is to use an international language such as English.

When I say speak the same language, I´m not referring of their mother tongue. It´s more metaphorically as in using the terms and slang that are current and relevant for their generation. Especially Gen Z tend to reference pop culture phenomena and circulating trends on social media.

There is always a new word or term on the rise, and they die out just as quickly as they came to be. If you want to shift your focus towards millennials and gen Z, it´s important that you spend some time talking to them and getting to know how they speak. You´ll have to figure out what words to use and how to formulate your message, because there is nothing more cringy than trying too hard to fit in with them. If you don´t know what cringy means you should defiantly seek out some help from the younglings themselves.

What you can do is be present on the platforms where they spend most of their time. Make sure that you´re on Instagram and TikTok, follow different social media influencers and pay attention to what kind of trends are spreading on these social media platforms. But at the end of the day the most important part is that your message is authentic and genuine.

There are a lot of available research on what it takes to create a good association and elicit a positive response to marketing campaigns from the younger generations. Alison Munch published a qualitative exploration on the effectiveness of digital marketing communication and advertising on millennials and generation Z. Part of the research suggests that including humor has a positive effect on the younger generations. The use of humor and other emotions makes the message seem more personal. Your customers will get a sense of affiliation to your brand and act as ambassadors for your company. (LINKER TIL “APPEAL TO EMOTIONS”).

How your company is perceived is especially important for generation Z. According to IBM Institute of Business Value gen Z supports businesses that they see as “fun” and “cool” to a larger extend than other businesses. This might sound like a no-brainer but it´s about more than just what you sell.

The younger generation is more interested in the people behind the company. In order to succeed with your marketing strategy aimed at these generations, you have to be authentic and show all sides of your company. They aren´t interested in the polished and impersonal marketing that dominated the marked before the rise of social media. Communication that is perceived as organic and human has a much bigger effect than templated and superficial messages.

If you want your marketing campaign to be effective, you should know what your customers appreciate. What kind of values do they have? What´s keeping them going? We have a generalized idea about the different generations’ values. It goes without saying that those are generalized ideas and won´t apply to everyone in that age group, but it´s a good pin pointer towards what they´re interested in.

When it comes to millennials, they tend to value and seek out social proof before making a decision. Feedback, assessments and others´ experience help with their decision on what products, services and brands to choose. With this generation you should have an emphasis on customer reviews so they can tell your story. Millennials trust online reviews just as much as personal recommendations. You can easily include social proof in your text message campaign by including statements like "Do like 3000 other students ...". You could also do it by linking directly to the reviews of the product or service you´re promoting.

Gen Z are motivated to take action when the brand appear as trustworthy and transparent. They value messages that solve problems more than purely informational texts or deal offerings. In order to engage with this generation, it´s important that you show social responsibility and how you´re part of the solution.

Take a look at the jewelry brand Pura Vida Bracelets for instance. The brand used SMS to tell their customers about charities and foundations the causes they support like "Feeding America" and "Stand Up to Cancer". In one of their campaigns, they pledged to donate $1 for each order in April with the goal of raising $200 000 or 2 million meals. In addition to reaching their fundraising goal, they managed to get a 15x ROI on their text message program. This is a great example of why you should include your company’s values and mission in the campaign when talking to Gen Z.

It´s also worth noting that this generation has a - well ... Interesting humor to say the least (I can say it cause technically I am a Gen Z´er). Their humor tends to lean to the darker side and may come across as incomprehensible to someone looking in from the outside. In order to resonate with Gen Z you have to be unafraid and take a little risk. Your content should be time relevant, include humor and maybe refer to a currently circulating meme (its pronounced (/mi:m/) and you can find out what that is here - You´re welcome!)

There are some SMS messages that resonate across generations. In a report from 2022, Twilio SendGrid researched messaging engagement across generations in the US. According to the finding in the report, American customers interact the most with messages that include:

· Offers or discounts

· Relevant products

· Relevant content

At the end of the day, it´s important that you remember to have documented op-ins, write relevant messages and ensure that you include emotions in your messages regardless of who the recipient is. Talk to the customer and make sure that they know that have their interests and needs in mind. The only person that knows your customers better than you is the customer themselves!

This is one of the most, if not the most, important point to be aware of when sending SMS internationally. Before you start sending SMS campaigns, you have to map out which countries you´re going to send SMS to. Step two is to figure out what guidelines apply to each country. In France and India for instance, your SMS campaign will get rescheduled if sent at what they deem as inappropriate times. Other countries like USA, Saudi Arabia and Japan will filter out messages related to gambling.

In Norway you have to follow the marketing law, and rules and guidelines given by The Consumer Authority. In addition, you have to make sure that you´re in compliant with GDPR which regulate the whole European Union. For the US, there are rules and guidelines in place given by TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) and CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association). When it comes to other countries like Canada you have to follow the guidelines given by Canada Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). The Australian market is regulated by Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

Rregardless of which country you´re sending SMS campaigns to, make sure that your customers have actively opted in. You also have to make sure that the opt-ins are documented in case there are any questions. You also have to have a system in place for customers who opt-out of your SMS marketing. This is something Intellipush can help you with by making sure you have an active blacklist. If you breach any of these points you risk having to pay huge fines and ruin your company’s reputation.

It doesn’t matter if you have the best crafted message or the best campaign if your message doesn’t reach its intended recipient. That’s why its super important to remember to include the country code when sending SMS messages internationally. You can do this by including a separate column with the country code in your spreadsheet. You can also add the country code in our platform at Intellipush while importing new contacts. And don´t worry, you won´t have to remember every single country code by heart! Here you can find a list over every single country code you´ll need!

When sending SMS messages to other countries, it’s important that you remember and take into account the time difference. Especially if you have customers that live in countries with a different time zone than yourself. It´s important to familiarize yourself with the appropriate times to send out SMS campaigns in said country. It’s also worth noting that in some countries there are different time zones within the country, for example like in the US and Australia.

A message that is sent at the appropriate time for customers in California will most likely be highly intrusive and inappropriate for someone in New York. To make it easier for yourself, you can utilize the segmentation tool you have available at Intellipush. This way you can divide your customers into subgroups based on where they live.

Another tip is to keep up with the holidays and other important events happening in the countries you send SMS campaigns to. You can send special offers on those holidays and attract more customers from certain countries or areas. But it´s also important to remember that not all countries celebrate the same holidays. For example, a Christmas related sale will most likely not be as popular in Saudi Arabia compared to other western countries. The same goes for National days. A 4th of July sale is only relevant to American customers.

This is where you can show your customers that they´re more than a mere number on a list. This is especially important when you want to communicate with customers that live in other parts of the world than you. You can do this by writing the message in their native language. If you choose to go that route you´ll have to be a hundred percent certain that the message is written correctly. I use Google translate as much as the next guy, in this case though, it can be helpful to enlist the help of a native speaker if you don´t know the language yourself.

If you decide to go the safer route you can always write the message in English. Then it might be a good idea to sprinkle in a well-known saying or word in the language of the particular country to show that the campaign was specifically meant for those customers. It can be something as simple as "merci" at the end of the message to customers in France or "¡hola!" to customers in Spain.

Another tip is to write the correct currency in the message if you mention a specific offer. Use NOK in Norway, pounds in Great Britain and USD for customers in the USA. This makes it much easier for the customer to decide if the message and the offer is relevant to them. The threshold for checking out the offer or taking an action will also be significantly lower.

Are you ready to go international? Don´t hesitate to get in contact with us! We´ll gladly help you get started with your international SMS campaigns.

No, hear me out! There is actually a lot of research done on the effect of SMS reminders on different health-related aspects. A research article published in Journal of Clinical Case Studies researched the effect of SMS reminders on attendance rates. They focused specifically on the efficiency related to healthcare appointments. They concluded that SMS reminders significantly improve attendance rates, with SMS reminders being “a cheap and effective method of improving patient attendance rates.” (Royal Victoria Eye & Ear Hospital, Adelaide Road, Dublin 2 & Tang, 2022)

Another study published in the International Journal of Medical Informatics looked at the effect of SMS reminders. They focused on the adherence to a healthy diet, medication, and cessation of smoking among adult patients with cardiovascular diseases. They too concluded with SMS being highly effective in improving adherence to a healthy diet and medication. “SMS is easy and accessible way to communicate with the patients, make intervention personal and interactive, and can reach a large number of patients.” (Akhu-Zaheya & Shiyab, 2017).

This is not the only study concluding with SMS being highly efficient in enhancing healthy behavior. A meta-analysis published in 2015 found SMS to be a robust medium regardless of population characteristics and targeted healthy behavior. “SMS messaging is a simple, cost-effective intervention that can be automated and can reach any mobile phone owner. While the effect size is small, potential health benefits are well worth achieving." (Orr & King, 2015).

A research paper published in The Business and Management Review Vol. 10, looked at the impact of SMS marketing on consumer behavior. The author looked at four main elements and how each element influences the overall customer perception of the brand. The four elements are entertainment, informativeness, irritation and credibility. Their study concludes that SMS marketing has a strong and positive impact on customer behavior as long as the message is perceived as entertaining. “(...) participant perceive positively when they receive an entertaining text from company." (Ahmed, 2018).

A paper published in Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing Vol. 13 focused on the response rates and branding effects of text message advertising. Their research too showcased the importance of the text message creativity and contents. Of all the campaigns they included in their research, the campaigns containing either good offers or riddles or jokes came out on top. This shows the effect emotions have on recipients in an SMS marketing campaign.

In the same paper, Rettie et al. found out that 89 percent of the messages were read, and 5 percent of the them were forwarded to friends. They also noted the inclusion of a Call-to-Action as being a driving force for eliciting a response. “For most of the campaigns (20 out of 26), respondents followed the specified call to action, with the most frequent response following the message directions” (Rettie et al., 2005).

When it comes to response rates, text message advertising came out on top with response rates averaging 31 percent. Compared to other mediums like e-mail marketing, text message advertising was the most favorable. “This compares very favorably both with direct mail, with reported response rates between 1 percent and 5 percent, and permission-based e-mail marketing, with reported response rates from 1 percent to 8 percent." (Rettie et al., 2005).

They also looked at the correlation between response and purchase intention in regards of text message advertising:

The relationship between response and action is highly linked to the perceived relevance of the message. The people that found the campaign more relevant were significantly more likely to take action. Those who didn´t take any action categorized the campaigns as not relevant at all. This is a great example of why you should personalize your campaigns and tailor them to each customer segment. This helps you make sure that the message is as relevant as possible.

Now you have a full-blown article backed by (what I hope is) peer-reviewed research telling you about the efficiency of SMS messages. If this doesn´t convince you to give SMS marketing a shot, I don´t know what will! If you decide to try it out for yourself and reap the benefits, we´ll gladly help you on the way.

Do you happen to have thousands of dollars set aside for a multi-million dollar marketing mistake? I´m guessing not! Gambling with sending SMS marketing to customers who have not given permission to receive them is like shorting a stock. The potential profit is high, but you risk losing everything and then some. If you send unsolicited SMS marketing, you´re putting your company´s wallet and reputation at risk.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) covers unsolicited calls and texts to cell phones. They protect consumers from unregulated use of their personal information and unsolicited advertisements. You’re prohibited from sending marketing SMS to individuals who haven´t voluntarily given their consent to receive these types of messages. The same goes for SMS marketing in Norway. This is regulated by The Norwegian Consumer Authority under the marketing law.

So, what happens if you break the law? Let´s look at an example:

The company Jiffy Lube recently did a mistake and found themselves in a sticky situation. They sent out a great offer via SMS that cost them a whopping $47 million. They got served with a lawsuit for violating the TCPA after sending an unsolicited SMS campaign to their customers. None of whom had given their consent to receiving these types of messages. The company had used phone numbers provided by their customers on invoices from previous sales and used them for marketing. It´s safe to assume that the return on investment on that campaign got butchered.

The laws and regulations for SMS marketing and cell phone communication may vary from one country to another. It can be easy to forget or simply temping to ignore these regulations. But it´s safe to say that it will cost you more than the time you spend researching them. So, make sure that you´re aware of which laws and regulations you´ll have to comply with based on which countries you operate in.

The first of our mistakes with SMS marketing is somewhat tied to the first point made in this article. The motivation behind both mistakes is getting a better ROI (Return on Investments). The irony is that these types of messages will perform worse than campaigns more tailored to smaller subgroups of customers.

Unless you offer a single line of product or target a specific type of audience, you´ll benefit from segmenting customers. There are many different criteria to base your segmentation on. The most important part is that it´s tailored to the customers´ interests and needs. This way, your messages will be perceived as relevant on the recipients’ part, and therefore result in a higher ROI. Not to mention that you´ll save a lot of money on sending less messages in the long run.

It should be self-explanatory that you should avoid sending messages late at night and especially after midnight! The same goes for early mornings, unless you want a bunch of complaints and angry customers. A good rule of thumb is to avoid odd hours in general.

There is no definite answer to when you should send SMS marketing campaigns. It all depends on your industry and customers. You can use the tools you have at your disposal at Intellipush to get a better idea of when your customers engage with your messages. After testing it out for a while you´ll get a clear indication of when it may be preferable for your customers to receive messages, and when to avoid sending them.

Your customers should have an easy and quick way to opt-out of receiving SMS marketing. In addition to that, you risk a fine for up to $1,500 per text message you send to a customer who has opted-out, but hasn´t been removed from your list. So not only do you have to have to make sure that your customers can opt-out easily, but you also need a system in place for what happens if and when they do.

An simple way to make sure that your customers have an easy way of unsubscribing is by having a short code. This way your customers can easily opt-out by texting the short code to a specific number. For an even more seamless experience, you can include these specific instructions at the end of each message you send. This way your customers know exactly what to do if they want to opt-out.

To ensure that you comply with the TCPA and other laws and regulations, we have created what we call a "blacklist". This blacklist ensures that every number that opts-out of your SMS marketing will end up on a separate list blocked from receiving text messages from your company. The only way for your customers to get removed from this list is by manually and voluntarily opting-in again.

CTA, or Call to Action, is a marketing term that refers to anything designed to prompt an immediate response from your customers. It could be that you want to encourage your customers to visit a website, buy a certain product or sign up for an event. Whatever it is, it´s important that you are clear and precise about the message you´re trying to convey. Otherwise, your marketing campaigns will seem as irrelevant and disruptive for the recipients. Always ask yourself: What am I trying to achieve with this message?

The easiest way to do that is by including a link to the landing page you want to direct customers to. If the message is 20% off children's shoes, then the link should lead to a landing page for children's shoes. The same applies to events - if you want customers to register for an event, the link should lead to a registration form. The point is, avoid linking to a generic page that will only confuse your customers. Remember: the more specific your SMS marketing is, the better results you'll get.

We have rolled out the red carpet and showed you the way - It´s now up to you to walk the talk.

SMS is one of the most effective communication channels that you can use. Most of us have our phones glued to the palm of our hands at all times. You can almost guarantee that your message will be noticed. It´s especially useful if you want to send time sensitive messages, because almost all messages are being read within 15 minutes. Your SMS won´t have to compete with other distractions. Receiving an SMS is often perceived as something personal, especially is you include your customers first name in the message.

If you’re good at segmenting your customers into subgroups, your message will be perceived as more tailored and relevant for the recipient. In addition, SMS has a high delivery rate. That means that your message will almost certainly be delivered because we so rarely change our phone number. Most of us have only one phone number, and the chance of cancelling a mobile plan is miniscule.

Here is a little fun fact for you: SMS is actually more environmentally friendly than Email. Yes, you read that right! SMS has a lower impact on the environment because it has a lower emission of CO2 compared to email. For every gram of CO2 emitted by SMS, Email has an emission of 286 grams.

Mail is one of the most widespread channels for communication and is particularly used by businesses. With Email you can influence the visual presentation of your message. You have the creative freedom to choose the type of visual elements you want your customers to see. From pictures and gifs to different color themes, you can influence your customers to think or feel a certain way. (LINKER TIL "Appeal to Emotions")

With Email you can write longer and more descriptive text for your campaigns. When it comes to pricing, most of the basic features are available for free. You can however pay different services like Mailchimp and get access to their more advanced plans. These include features like scheduling, pre-built templates, and A/B testing.

Even though we live and breathe SMS, we have to acknowledge that there are some disadvantages to it. The obvious elephant in the room is the character limitation in an SMS. The moment you exceed 160 characters, your message will be counted ad two SMS. Your recipients won´t notice a difference, but we unfortunately can´t say the same thing for your wallet.

Speaking of wallet. Unless you want to send out SMS messages from your private phone number to thousands of customers, you´ll have to pay a few cents per SMS. Yes, it is an expense but in return you will get access to a professional platform with features like your company name as the sender, unlimited contact lists and much more!

Another potential disadvantage with SMS is that it requires more creativity when brainstorming text ideas than with email. You´ll have to get your point across while keeping it short and sweet. On top of that you should ideally manage to elicit an emotional response for optimal results. This requires that you spend some time and brain capacity on planning good SMS campaigns that capture your audience´s attention.

Even though it´s cheaper to send Email, it´s not necessarily profitable for your company. Well yes, you´re not paying anything directly to send the Email but it´s safe to assume that you spend time and resources on planning, writing, and sending the Email. These are resources you should take into consideration when evaluating the return on investment (ROI) of your marketing campaigns. The numbers show that only 18% of all Emails get opened, and if you´re lucky you´ll have a click-through-rate (CTR) of approximately 5%.

E-mail also tends to get flagged by spam filters. If your email is poorly designed or if you use an extensive amount of punctuation, your Email will most likely never get past the inbox spam filters. On top of that you´ll have to be prepared to do some manual work from time to time. You´ll have to go through your E-mail lists to make sure that all the addresses you´re sending to is in use and functional.

In summary, SMS vs Email - Now that you have an overview over the good and the bad with both SMS and Email, you can use this information to your advantage. Instead of choosing one and missing out on the other, you can optimize your communication strategy to include SMS and Email in a way that elevates your message. SMS is highly efficient when you need to convey a time limited offer, while Email is excellent for sending newsletters and other information-based messages. Do yourself a favor and use the communication channels you have available in a way that gives you the desired outcome.

Do you need help with your SMS communication strategy? Let us help you get started!

Before we get to the nitty-gritty about numbers and statistic, we´ll have to understand why CTR for SMS is so efficient. SMS is a bit like Samwise Gamgee from Lord of The Rings. It will reach its destination whatever it takes. SMS doesn’t rely on an app or an internet connection. And if the recipient doesn’t have cell service it will stay put and wait till it´s back to be delivered. And just like Sam, SMS doesn´t always get the recognition it deserves.

Businesses are often skeptical to using SMS as part of their marketing strategy because it can be perceived as intrusive. And that is true to some extent. Let’s say you´re in a meeting or you´re watching a movie with your phone within eyesight. The second an SMS message comes through your eyes will automatically and unconsciously gravitate towards the phone. And those of us who use a Mac doesn´t stand a chance.

As I´m writing this article a message popped up in the corner of my screen and immediately stole my attention. It´s because we perceive SMS as something important, something that requires our immediate attention.

With that said, XL.Today have found out that 75% of people say that they would like to receive offers via SMS. So why not give the people what they want? At the end it´s all about balance, meassuring the CTR for SMS will give you insight into the use. On one hand you yourself know how intrusive SMS can be. On the other hand it´s an effective way of communicating with your customers. You will have to think thoroughly through how many SMS messages you will send and when to send them.

Okey, it´s now safe to say that you know why SMS is such an efficient tool on a general basis. But what about your specific SMS campaigns? It´s good to know what to expect from SMS. But wouldn´t it be even better if you actually got to see the results of your SMS marketing. A lot of people we have talked to describe SMS as a big black hole. The messages go out from one end and on the other end it´s radio silent. Did the customers even get the message? Are they interested in the offer you sent out? Traditionally, these questions remain unanswered, but not anymore!

We hear you and we see you!

We have taken this into consideration and have developed our own link shortener that gives you the insight you wouldn´t have gotten otherwise. The links you make with this link shortener is safer than links made with publicly available link shorteners like Bitly. Because Bitly is available to everyone and their mother, there is a natural skepticism that surround those types of links. The reason is the cheer amount of scam attempts that have been hidden behind a Bitly link over time.

With our own link shortener, your links won´t be flagged or checked by a third party for scam attempts. This is because only our customers have access to this link shortener. In addition, you will get insight into the specific CTR for SMS messages you send. You will know whether your customers received the SMS, if they opened the link and even when they opened it. You can generate separate lists with contacts who either opened the link or those who didn´t.

First of all, you can use this information to improve your marketing strategy. You can make your campaigns more tailored to your customers’ needs and wants. You can use the information about the CTR to map out the best time to send out SMS offers. When are your customers most active? At what time of the day do they engage the most with your message? You can also use this information to improve your segmentation strategy. The icing on the cake is that you will gain full insight on who your most loyal customers are.

This information is more valuable than gold for your company. After using Intellipush´s link shortener for a while, you will get a full overview over your most loyal customers on the front page of your account. This overview is based on the number of links the customers have clicked on. You can choose which time period you would like to get an overview of and the minimum number of clicks. And you can make a whole new contact list consisting of only your most loyal customers.

You can use this list to show them your appreciation for their loyalty to you and your brand. This can be in the form of early access to certain deals. Or they can get an extra good offer as a reward for their loyalty. The possibilities here are endless - the only thing stopping you is your own imagination.

Talk about making informed decisions!

So, what do you say, shall we begin?

There is a reason behind every action. If you want to write effective CTAs, the reasons behind them should be crystal clear. You´ll have to figure out what you´re trying to achieve with said CTA. Are you looking for new leads? Increasing traffic to your website? Or maybe increase sales? Whatever your goal is, it should be decided before sending out any SMS campaigns.

You should also put yourself in your audience´s shoes. Why should they take any action? What´s in it for them? You´ll have to be transparent and clear on what they´ll get in return. At the same time, you should highlighting the befits of choosing you and your brand. This is where the magic of irresistible SMS Call-to-Action comes into play.

This one is for all my Game of Thrones nerds out there! Let me remind you of the words of one of the wisest women in Westeros:

"The lords of Westeros are sheep, are you a sheep? No, you are a dragon. Be a dragon!".

The words of Lady Olenna Tyrell are straight to the point. You may not be of Targaryen decent, thank the gods, but you´re just as unique. Don´t act like a sheep, doing what every other brand is doing. Writing the same CTAs, we´ve heard a million times before. Why should your audience choose you? What do you have to offer that none of your competitors have? That is your dragon!

So get creative with your CTA. Don´t be afraid to use humor or appeal to their feelings when writing a CTA. You have all the tools you need to capture your audience´s attention and get your message across. Don´t let conformity stop you!

In a sea of notifications and advertisements, it´s all about capturing your customers’ attention. If you´re in a crowded place and someone shouts your name, your instinctual reaction is to turn around and find the source. The same goes for written messages. Your customers gravitate towards more personalized messages. So why not include their first name in you SMS campaign and make it more personal.

Another way to personalize the messages is by including words such as "you" and "your". After all, they are the main focus point of this deal! A very good example of this is a SMS Call-To-Action from Dropbox:

As you can see, the CTA button is clearly differentiated. It´s in a box with a different background color that stands out from the rest of the page. The text "Find your plan" is followed by an arrow that indicates action. With a CTA like that, you signal to the customer that the product or service you offer is personally tailored to their needs. The words "find" and "your" give the customer a sense of control and that they are making a personal choice. But they´re not alone, they will get assurance and help along the way.

SMS is a short and concise medium by nature, and your CTAs have to accommodate that. Spare the nitty-gritty details about your products and services to your website. When writing an SMS campaign, the goal is to communicate your message in a short and efficient manner. As long as you communicate your offer clearly, show the value of your offer and sprinkle in a little bit of FOMO, your CTA don´t need to exceed 2-5 words. In addition, if you have done a good job with segmentation and personalized your message, all you have to do is sit back, relax and watch the magic happen.

There is a field within marketing known as emotional marketing. It’s exactly what it sounds like. Brands use emotions to capture their audience´s attention. The goal is for their audience to notice, remember, share, or purchase a product or a service based on an emotional reaction. The emotion can be happiness, anger, eagerness, excitement or even fear – the point is to elicit an emotional response.

But what are emotions?

We often tend to miscategorized states of mind as emotions, like feeling tired or motivated. The distinction between emotions and other feelings can be tricky, even for those who are in tune with their emotions. But when trying to appeal to an emotion, you´ll have to know what you´re aiming for!

Psychologist Robert Plutchik (Ph.D.) created what he calls an emotion wheel. It depicts 8 core emotions, each accompanied by less intense variants of the same emotion. This is a helpful tool to use when trying to decipher what kind of emotions you´re trying to elicit from your audience.

As much as we wish that we were rational beings driven by facts and numbers, this isn´t always the case. More often than not humas are driven by emotions - unless you´re a Buddhist monk that’s completely detached from your ego. We feel deeply and those feelings have a lasting effect on us and influence our impression of the world.

Let´s look at an example.

Say you’re an avid tennis player looking for a new racket. You come over two different commercials, one from Nike and one from your local Sports outlet. This is what you see:

Which commercial is more likely to elicit an emotion from you?

Most likely you´ll feel some type of empowerment looking at the picture of Serena Williams and reading the inspirational quote, especially if you´re a woman. Seeing a living example of what you can become accompanied by word of encouragement might just be enough for you to buy the tennis racket from Nike.

Or maybe you prefer Adidas and just keep scrolling.

The point is that emotionally charged messages tend to make an impression on us. And that´s exactly the goal! What kind of impression your audience forms about your brand is decided in a matter of seconds. Don´t gamble on them forming that impression after reading tree and a half paragraph about the specifics regarding your product. You don’t have time or space for that, especially not in an SMS message.

This is where the magic happens.

You will have to keep your message short and sweet, and yet powerful! Look at Twitter for instance. Yes, the character limit is slightly higher, but you have the option to send several SMS in one text message and get approximately the same number of characters. But that isn´t always necessary!

Take the ongoing beef (pun intended) between Wendy´s and McDonald’s as an example.

Its short, simple, and straight to the point (or heart depending on who you are). Wendy´s are consistently and subliminally placing themselves above McDonald´s in the consumers’ minds by having fun of and taking jabs at their competitor. They don´t explicitly ask the audience to choose them over McDonald´s, but because they elicit emotions in marketing as a form of humor, they´ll most likely stay on top of mind.

Don’t be afraid to be a little cheeky with your messages. Take the brand Shinesty as an example. They use humor to appeal to their customers and have made it a core part of their branding. This is a part of an email campaign they sent out to their customer:

You may recognize your most loyal customers, but do you know who they are and what they need? The job as a barista showed me the effect of knowing your customers. I made a point of making mental notes of various details about the customers. What have they told me about themselves? Do they have any allergies and preferences, or do they perhaps order the same thing every time? As the company's face outwards, it was my responsibility to make sure that I knew the customer inside and out. Knowledge of your customers' interests, buying patterns and needs is what sets you apart from your competitors. If you know what their needs are and how you can meet these needs, you are already well on your way to becoming the customer's preferred business.

It is especially important to make note of such details when working with marketing. An effective marketing strategy is targeted, relevant and carefully selected. If you know what your most loyal customers want, you can make sure they feel seen and heard. At the cafe I had many regular customers, and one of them was Mari. Mari always used to come by after work to grab a cup of coffee on her way home. Every time I saw her making her way towards the cafe, I started making her regular order. It was a takeaway latte with caramel syrup. The first time I did it, she could hardly believe her eyes. "Is this for me? It's exactly what I wanted! How did you know?". After that, she started visiting the cafe in her free time too. That´s because she knew that there, she could get exactly what she wanted.

It´s easy to have an overview of your loyal customers in a cafe where you meet them face to face. But how easy is it for an online store? You have no direct interactions with the customer, and everything happens digitally. Digital stores do not have the same advantage as physical stores when it comes to personal relationships with customers, but there are other options.

Intellipush recently launched a tool called "Your most loyal customers". This tool is intended to help you get to know your customers. The concept is quite simple. Every time you send out an offer with our link shortener, we collect insights about the customer's engagement. Over time, you will have a complete overview of which of your customers have clicked on the most offers and how many links they have opened.

"Your most loyal customers" is a tool that can be used in many ways. You can create a separate contact list that only consists of your most active customers. You can also use this list to show off these customers on your company's social media pages. It will be a public declaration of your appreciation to your customers. It will also act as an incentive system for the other customers to become more loyal.

Without customers, your company cannot survive - that is the reality of things! So, it´s super important that you reward your most loyal customers. After all, they have chosen you over all your competitors, so it´s up to you to give them what they need and then some. That could be an extra good offer exclusively for your most loyal customers, or that you take the time to send them a personal thank you message. This will result in your customers feeling appreciated and hopefully gaining more loyalty to your company.

Customer loyalty is no longer a given, and there is no shortage of competitors in the market. Research has shown that it costs your business five times more to acquire a new customer compared to keeping an existing one. So go the extra mile and make sure your customers stay with you.

f you have a question, the odds are that there are others who are wondering the same thing. As the event starts to approach, the same questions start ticking in from all sides. Questions you've heard before and questions you knew would come! Ultimately, you as the organizer have all the answers. It´s your responsibility to ensure that the participants are informed and well prepared. But that doesn't mean you should have a full-time employee on standby to answer questions. Make it easy for yourself and predictable for the participants by answering the questions before they are asked! That's where SMS for organizers come in handy.

You've been through this before and know what to expect. Start by writing down all the questions you know are likely to come up. As the event approaches, you can send out an sms for events to the participants with all the crucial details. With this message, you ensure that everyone gets the information they need to come prepared, making it easier for them to access key details while freeing up your time to focus on organizing the event of the century.

Additionally, with Intellipush's solution, you can upload and send a file as part of the sms for events you dispatch. This allows you to create a simple one-pager with common questions and answers that may be useful for participants.

Unforeseen situations tend to arise during events. It doesn’t take more than one comment before rumors begin to flow around and uncertainty spreads among the participants. That’s why it’s important that you as an organizer have an effective communication channel to use when such situations arise. If there are changes to the program or if a rumor is spreading, you can take control of the narrative and send out correct information to the participants. With SMS, the recipients need neither an internet connection nor an app to receive your message. Don't make the audience dependent on checking social media to get important messages during the event. You want your audience to enjoy the fruits of your work, instead of scrolling Facebook in the hopes of keeping updated.

When the event is over, it is important that you as the organizer spend some time following up on the participants. Ask for their feedback and promote future events. The easiest way to do this is by creating separate contact lists with the participants for each event. If you have just organized a summer concert, you can create a separate list with the participants of said concert.

Beforehand, you send out important information, and afterwards you can ask for feedback and thank the attendees for their participation. If the participants have agreed to receive marketing messages from you, you can use the opportunity to promote your upcoming event. The most important thing is that you do not lose contact with your customers after the end of the event.

Before using SMS for marketing and communication, you should start by segmenting your customer group. Not all customers should receive offers in a text message, nor are all messages equally suitable for different types of customers. The best way to find out what message to send to who is by dividing your customers into smaller subgroups based on certain criteria. It can be based on what they have already purchased, gender, age, place of residence or something else entirely. No one knows your customers better than you, so it's up to you to choose relevant criteria to base your segmentation on.

As you know, SMS is very personal, and it doesn't take much before your messages are perceived as intrusive. This is especially important to think about when sending out promotions and other marketing-related messages. it's important to think through when and how often you send out messages. Be short and precise, and only send out relevant messages in moderate quantities at reasonable times. We recommend that you send 1-2 sales-related SMS per month.

When you send out a message, it's important that you're clear about what you want to achieve with your communication. Do you want the customer to take advantage of an offer? Include a short link that takes them directly to a product or service with an already discounted price. Do you want the customer to be informed about something specific?

Include the information as an attachment in the message. Then, it will be sent as a short link that makes it possible for your customer to read the information. The point is that you should remove all pain points for the customer and make it easy for them to engage with you.

SMS can have great advantages when used as a communication tool. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Studies shows that sending an SMS reminder in advance of a doctor's appointment has an enormous effect on the attendance rate. It is safe to assume that the same positive effect will apply to other types of events and happenings.

You can also send out reminders about an offer. But it's important that you have insight into which customers engaged with your previous message about the offer and who didn’t. You can get this insight by sending your offer as an URL using the link shortener at Intellipush. Then, you will easily be able to create a separate contact list with only the customers who didn't click on the URL. This way you will save on the expenses, and your active customers are spared an unnecessary reminder.

It's important to remember that those who have agreed to receive marketing SMS communication from you are your most engaged customers. Being on the SMS list of a business should be treated as something exclusive and should have some exclusive benefits. This can be through exclusive offers only sent to those who have signed up to receive SMS. If you're going to launch a new product or sell tickets to an event, give these customers access and information before everyone else. Reward your customers for their loyalty to you and your business!

FOMO or Fear of Missing Out is the anxiety that creeps up slowly but surely when opportunities present themselves. People with FOMO are afraid of regrets or missing out on good opportunities. Most of us have experienced FOMO to a greater or lesser extent in our lives. Surely, we don't want to miss out on a good offer or great experiences.

In marketing, this can be used to create engagement around your offers. You can do this by setting a time limit like a 24-hour offer for example. Or you can have a limited number of products, available appointments, tickets - you name it! The most important thing is that there is an incentive for customers to book, buy or sign up quickly.

This half-point is one of the most important points to consider when sending out inquiries via marketing SMS. In Norway you as the sender are required by The Norwegian Consumer Authority to provide the customer with an easy and free way to opt out from your SMS list.

It should be easy for the customer to say "no thanks" after every marketing-related message you send out, without it having any negative consequences for the customer. It's also an advantage for you and your company that the customer has the freedom to choose whether to receive SMS from you or not. This way, you will not be perceived as unwanted, intrusive, or invasive by the customer and you will save money by not sending marketing SMS to uninterested customers.

What is it that allows you to log in to various apps and websites with your Facebook profile? And how can you find and book flight tickets on a website that has nothing to do with the airline? The answer is quite simple: The system you use talks to other systems to retrieve and verify information. If you log in to Pinterest with your Facebook account, Pinterest talks directly with Facebook to verify your log-in information.

The invisible hero that makes this possible is known as an API, but what is it? API is an acronym that stands for Application Programming Interface. We use theese interfaces all the time without even realizing it. Every time you check the weather forecast or pay with PayPal online, you use an API.

API is the IT world's equivalent to an interpreter, because it allows different programs to talk to each other. It´s a code that makes it possible to exchange data between different systems and apps. The API takes your requests, tells the system what you want to do, and returns a response back to you. Think of the API as a waiter; the waiter receives your order (the request) and forwards it to the chef in the kitchen (the system). When the food is ready, the waiter returns to the table with your food. In this example, the waiter is a contact point in the system. In technical terms, the contact point is refered to as an endpoint.

Like the waiter, each API has a predetermined protocol that they must follow. The protocol determines what information is required and what the end result should be. To get the desired results, you must provide the correct information. If a person with a gluten allergy orders bread on the side, they have to be specific and order gluten-free bread to get what they´re asking for. If the information you provide is incorrect, your request will be refused.

To continue with the same analogy we used earlier: if you go to a pizza restaurant and order an omelette, you will be told that the restaurant does not serve omelettes, and your request will be rejected. That's because the information you provide the system is incorrect according to the protocol.

To use an API, you usually need to provide a key along with the request to identify yourself. An API key is a unique ID that enables the system to have an overview of who is accessing the system's endpoints. To access the API of Intellipush, both an ID and an Secret are required. This is because it is secured with Oauth 2.0 authentication. You can find this information under "settings" on my page on Intellipush. This means that Intellipush's API is both open and secured at the same time.

Anyone can create an account for free at intellipush.com and get access to the ID and - Secret. Our goal is to make it easy for you to explore and inspect the API and see all the potential possibilities - and believe me, there are many!

API makes it possible to integrate various functionalities and additional services into an app or software. Take the integration of PayPal in online stores as an example. The advantage of this is that different software services and applications can offer different functionalities and strengthen their value proposition, without having to spend countless hours reinventing the wheel. Instead of creating a completely new payment method, they can integrate with PayPal! Another advantage is that API integrations automate what would otherwise be a manual process. The company saves time and resources, and can scale up the business more efficiently.

With an SMS integration, you will be able to use all the functions that Intellipush offers directly in your system. This can be a CRM system, cash register system, website or other systems you use in your daily operations. The advantage of such an integration is that you get all your tools gathered in one place. Instead of having to log into Intellipush's platform to send a message, you can do it directly in systems where you have an overview of your customers and their habits, interests and needs. This way, you get SMS marketing as an integral part of your workday.

Do you want to integrate with one of the best SMS APIs? Contact us or one of our partners and find out what value an integration with Intellipush can bring to your company!