Over on the Tatango SMS Marketing Blog, the company detailed a recent SMS campaign for Ford that reached an impressive 15.4% conversion rate using a unique messaging sequence that mimicked a retargeting campaign.
Ford placed its call-to-action in print ads asking readers to text “FORD” to 63611 to receive more information on Ford vehicles. After a user texts in, an autoresponder asks the user to respond with which car they’re most interested in. After that users are asked to respond with their zip code, followed by their full name to be contacted by their local dealer.
Tatango’s Derek Johnson said he stopped the sequence after being asked for his zip code and was prompted three different times over the next month to finish the sequence through different offers and messages. Messages like “See participating dealer for more details and exclusive offers for this vehicle. Want offer from your local dealer? Reply with your full name to be contacted.”
The concept of retargeting usually relates to Online advertising and works by “retargeting” marketing messages to users who visited your website and left without converting. A Website places a cookie in your browser and then ad-networks serve relevant messages trying to get you back to the original site in hopes you’ll eventually convert. Ford’s SMS campaign uses a similar model by trying to re-engage users who failed to respond to previous messages. Using a retargeting technique via SMS can be tricky, however, because you run the risk of annoying users much more easily then simply serving up an Online banner.
Still, the concept garnered a 15.4% conversion rate for Ford, which is substantial even by SMS marketing standards.