February 5, 2019 Posted by Pocketstop in Other Social Share
Words and the manner in which we use them to communicate play an important role in the marketing industry, regardless of what type of marketing you are practicing. Whether your campaign involves sending a small text message, posting a social media update about one of your events, or writing a press release presenting a new product, words always help you reach the outcomes you desire. The written language has been continuously adapting to the needs of individuals and communities, but that does not mean you don’t have to choose wisely when it comes to how you are going to convey your message.
The development of digital communication channels and social media networks, alongside with the expansion of sms have made it easier for brands and marketers to gain the attention of their target audience. Yet in order to achieve the highest outcome from your campaigns, drive sales, increase ROI, and improve brand identity, you need to know how to use words so that they perfectly compliment your strategies. With forecasts telling us that in 2019 there will be 2.9 billion smartphone users worldwide, paying attention to the way your text message marketing campaigns are developed is a wise business decision. Independent of the sector you are operating in or the size of your company, words are important for your marketing efforts, which is why today we are going to discuss text acronyms.
Text Acronyms and Their Use in Marketing
Acronyms are fairly popular in the marketing industry because they provide marketers with a simple, fun, and easy-to-implement mean of getting in touch with audiences, regardless of the broadcasting channel. They can be use as one-word taglines, keywords, or as a focus in an advertisement. The most popular form of acronym usage is represented by the three-letter-acronym or TLA, because yes, it has its own acronym. Everywhere you look you will see brands advertise themselves with three-letter-acronyms, and people react positively to them. Companies and individuals use acronyms for anything from brand identity to political campaigns, and people love them, since they are easy to remember.
In fact, some acronyms are so used that we often think they’ve always been words, as is the case of ‘laser’, which originated as an acronym for ‘light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation’. Also, the popular expression ‘CARE package’ that we now use when we are thinking of sending someone we love a symbol of our care, originally stood for ‘Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe package’, as aid meant to help Europe recover after WWII.
In the case of sms marketing, although acronyms can make for great mobile keywords, marketers need to be careful with how they use them. There are methods through which using acronyms can provide you with great outcomes, but also methods that can lead to misunderstanding, thus causing a dent in your text message marketing campaign.
How to Use (And Not Use) Text Acronyms in Your Text Message Marketing Campaigns
The first step when using acronyms in your marketing strategies is to make sure you have thoroughly researched your target audience, and also are sure of your goals and objectives. Different audiences react differently to various languages and manners in which you choose to communicate your message. For example, younger people are highly comfortable with acronyms, while more mature audiences might have a hard time with knowing their meaning, and would prefer the use of acronyms just in the case of product or brand names.
Use Acronyms That Are Easy to Say Out Loud
If you want to use acronyms in your sms marketing campaigns, make sure that you will always use organically-sounding acronyms that make sense also when read or spoken. For example, ‘LOL’ is not an acronym you should use in your message, as we don’t say ‘LOL’ when we are reacting to a fun fact. Keep it simple for your customers to understand your message without having to research the meaning of the acronym, or without having to pause when reading the text in order to think of what you are communicating.
Don’t Use a Brand Acronym Used by Another Company
One of the most common mistakes that we see when it comes to using acronyms in marketing campaigns is trying rebrand a popular acronym. Sometimes the words in a brand name of product title end up having the same acronym as something already in use, yet people choose to implement it anyway. Aside from confusing your customers, you could also be creating a legal conflict with another business entity.
Stick to Brand-Related Acronyms When Broadcasting to Older Audiences
If you have an in-depth database with your customers’ information, which allows you to segment your audience, it would be best to not use acronyms when implementing campaigns for older audiences, unless they are brand-related, or you are sure everyone knows what you mean. The great thing about a text message marketing is that it can reach so many people, as everyone has a mobile phone, which is why you should not erase that advantage by creating much-too-generic or cryptic campaigns.
Don’t Use More than One Acronym Per Text Message
As tempting as it might seem to shorten your message or make it sound more informal, using more than one acronym will confuse your customers and significantly decrease the response rate of your campaign. If you are using more than one acronym for your brand identity, choose either the one that people are most familiar with, or the one you want to consolidate as part of your identity. As easy as they are to remember, acronyms are also easy to be forgotten or confused with others when you are introducing your customer to more than one at once, especially in a text message.
History and the experience of the marketing industry have shown us that acronyms can be a great addition to your campaign or brand identity when implemented correctly. Which is why, when using acronyms for your text message marketing campaign, don’t forget to always make sure that your acronyms are suitable to be turned into mobile keywords, if needed. Also, don’t use acronyms such as ASAP (as soon as possible) or EOD (end of day) when you are promising something you your customers, unless you are certain you can deliver. Drafting and implementing your text message marketing campaign with custom-tailored data and objectives in mind will help you minimize the risks of a failed campaign regardless of what message you are broadcasting. If you plan on adding acronyms to you message, make sure you thoroughly understand how they work and how your audience reacts to them.
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