Collecting Audience Insights on Products? Try “Text to Vote”

If you have been marketing for a while, you know audience insights are the beacon for your marketing efforts.

Technologies such as Google Analytics, HubSpot, Mailchimp are designed to collect the information from your (current or potential) customers such as their location, age, gender, and so on.

Helpful as these tools might be, the number of clicks they measure only tells an abridged version of the story.

What does it mean when someone clicks an ad for your product, really? Engagement? A signal of interest? Intention to buy? Sometimes.

But other times, a click could very well be a time-killer in a moment of boredom. That pool of data is a collection of numbers. It doesn’t yield insights that will help with decision-making.

Instead of letting artificial intelligence guess what your customers want, why not use the old-fashioned way? What do you do when you want something? You ask for it. So what do you do when you want to know what your customers’ favorite products are? You ask them directly, by sending a text message. That’s why we are introducing text to vote for your favorite product poll.

Why use a “text to vote for your favorite product” poll?

Why send text messages? It’s hard for people to ignore a text message. It’s effective in driving awareness and engagement.

Texting is most prevalent among cell phone owners between 18 to 29—97% of them use their cell phones to send texts. The number is nearly as high (92%) for people between 30 to 49. Because of its ubiquity and privacy, cell phones have been a popular avenue to carry out business activities.

Using text messages for business has an impressive track record. The healthcare industry started sending health-related educational information and surveys in the 2010s. For example, one text message question-and-answer service allows youth to connect directly with a health educator. This company developed a social marketing campaign based on the responses collected via text messages and implemented it in six middle schools and high schools. By the end of it, half of the teens in the six schools reported they have heard about the service and 14% of them first heard about it via text messages.

The process of registering by providing their phone numbers is itself a luxury form of engagement. People who are registered to receive text messages from your brand have already signaled their higher level of interest in your products and willingness to answer your questions.

They say attention is the most valuable currency for a business in the age of social media scrolling. When you can send text messages to your customers, you’re one step further than many of your competitors. Don’t neglect that advantage!

Second, as a consequence of that willingness of consumers to give you their attention, some recipients are less in need of persuasion to buy from you (again) than they are in need of a reminder that you still or will have what they want and that you value their opinions. Some have built a good business by texting alone. Imagine the potential texting has for your business.

How to set up a “text to vote for your favorite product” poll?

Now that you know some of the advantages of text to vote, how can you set up a “text to vote” poll for your business? There are a variety of cost-effective platforms that can help you such as Mobile Text Alerts, Textedly, and SimpleTexting. They often offer a free trial period to let you decide if that’s the tool you need. Here are a few basic steps.

• Create keyword(s).

  They are words subscribers use to join the poll. Suppose you run an online record shop and you want to find out which musician is your customers’ favorite, you can use a keyword such as FAVORITEMUSICIAN. Keep it short and simple.

• Add questions.

  Suppose you want to know whose records to add to your shelves; you can put that question in the poll and add a few options. (Four is the standard number.) You can do all this via any software that allows you to create a questionnaire (for example, Typeform).

• Share your poll widely.

  Share the poll on your marketing channels, such as social media, to let more people know.

• See results and gain insights.

  It is reported that 55% text messages get opened—compared to about 32% of an email—and 100% of text messages are “viewed.” That means you will most likely have a lot of data to work with.

“Text to vote for products” example

Let’s say you’re an ecommerce clothing retailer.

And let’s say you want to get your audience’s opinion on a new product line in development.

You can set up an online poll asking something along the lines of, “Which of the following types of products interest you the most right now?” And you could have response options such as “Scarves,” “Hats,” and “Holiday Socks.”

You could then text out a link to this poll to your audience and get quick feedback on their opinions to help inform your development schedule.

“

Which of the following types of products interest you the most right now? Scarces, hats, or holiday socks?

“Text to vote” best practices

Now, it sounds nice to be able to send your customers text messages, doesn’t it?

They can’t be ignored. You get responses quickly. You can send people promotional or educational information in the future when you have their phone numbers.

However, we’d like to add a few pro tips before you add that to your existing marketing efforts.

Obtain Consent

The single most important thing is to obtain consent. It is required by mobile carrier regulations (though it is not always specifically required by law). It builds trust for your business. It saves you time and money. ​​The penalties for violating text messaging laws can vary, depending on the violation and if it was a repeated offense. However, penalties can sometimes include a fine of $500 to $1500 per message. To help avoid potential legal issues, use clear language to inform recipients they will receive messages from you and add a clear “unsubscribe” option.

Currently 10 states have strict state laws regarding texting consumers. If a business operates across state lines, it is best to keep them in mind. Keep up to date with the latest regulations governing text messages.

Be Transparent

Transparency builds trust. Clearly communicate who you are at the beginning of the message, the purpose(s) of your messages, and how the information will be used. For example:

“

Hi John, this is Moon Online Record Shop. We’d like your input on what records to add to our collection.

Be Personal, But Not Too Personal

Personalization is important. Addressing your recipients by their first names, adding a little humor, sending a product recommendation based on their buying history (from you) are all acceptable ways of personalization. However, it’s not a good idea to mention specific sites or ads recipients have clicked on. It will only alarm them.

Keep it Short and on Point

It is easier for recipients to read and thus respond to your messages if they are short. Phone screens are smaller and harder to read longer messages. If your poll leads recipients to a landing page, be sure to make that page mobile friendly and easy to navigate.

Follow up Cautiously

A lot of sales professionals say the magic is in the follow-ups. It’s important to send follow-up messages if your initial message goes unanswered. But be cautious and strategic. Avoid sending multiple repetitive messages within a short time frame. Always send a thank you note after recipients take your desired action.

Frequently asked questions

Can I segment recipients?

Yes. A number of SMS platforms offer this feature. You can segment subscribers based on their purchase history (purchasers, non-purchasers, cart abandoners, etc.), demographics (gender, geographic location, age, etc.), and engagement levels. Frequent messages to those who never engage will likely turn into a nuisance. It’s a good idea to stop sending messages to them after a while.

What forms of survey can I use?

Numerical, multiple choice, and open-ended questions are three common forms. Text-to-vote is an easy breezy way of receiving customer insights for future offerings. It often comes in the form of multiple choice. It can be as simple as this:

“

Hey [name], what products should we stock up for the spring? Text 1 for jazz, 2 for indie pop, 3 for 80s hit, or 4 with your choice.

The type of survey you use really depends on the information you want to collect and your subscribers’ engagement behavior.

Can I run tests?

Yes. A/B testing is the fun and necessary part of a marketing campaign. SMS platforms make testing easy. Here are the elements you can text in your SMS campaigns: subject lines, the use of emojis, message lengths, formats, send times, etc. Always only test one element at a time. You can then pick a winning variation based on the results. Testing helps you build a repertoire of texts that meet certain expectations. But, the point of picking a winning variation is always to beat it with better variation.

Final note

We have introduced the power of SMS in spreading awareness and collecting customer information. Because of the ubiquity and privacy of text messages, texting is a powerful tool regardless of what your goals are for a particular marketing campaign, given that you comply with the laws and regulations.

SMS marketing has similarities with email marketing, which is my favorite because of its privacy and level of creativity allowed. Subscribers are dubbed as “owned audiences,” in contrast to social media followers which are “rented audiences.” Suppose something happens to your social accounts or to the social platforms; you can lose all followers in a few minutes. That’s why a more personal channel like SMS is always a good choice. SMS has a sweeping 55% open rate and 100% “view rate,” which makes it ideal to ask simple questions and collect key customer insights to inform your business decisions.

You might not want to discuss subjects in length with SMS. But if you are having trouble deciding which new products you want to introduce in the new year, SMS is the tool. You can view poll results in real-time and place your orders with the vendors within a few hours!

Now, knowing about SMS marketing isn’t the same thing as actually doing SMS marketing. Want hands-on experience on SMS? Get a free trial with Mobile Text Alerts today to start sending questionnaires to your audience via SMS and see how it can help you achieve your business goals.

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Hi, I'm Phyllis. I write well-researched blog articles and sales material. Feel free to visit me on LinkedIn.