With the explosion in mobile devices over the last decade, many companies are understandably interested in launching or improve their mobile marketing campaigns. And while email and social media make up large parts of any mobile campaign, SMS marketing is a crucial and expanding frontier for creative marketers.

But unlike more traditional forms of marketing, bulk text message marketing is a new frontier that requires a nuanced approach. Here are some pro tips that should help you navigate this new and changing terrain:

1.      Get permission – This is a crucial point, as text messaging is still regarded as a “personal” form of communication, and unwanted texts will be promptly deleted and often reported as spam. Give your customers an incentive to sign up, such as great coupons codes or free promotional items like apps or text vouchers, and have them opt into receiving your texts.

2.      Build trust – Start by sending informational texts only, like reminders for appointments or shipping updates. Then, once you’ve built an informational report with your recipients,  you can extend benefits like coupons and promotions to them. Pushy text messages with sales pitches will often be deleted and your relationship with these customers will be ruined.

3.      Get a short code – Ever notice how corporate text messaging accounts have their own dedicated sender code of only a few digits? Getting your own code makes you seem more legitimate and helps users save your account in their mobile phones. If you use a personal number or alternate the codes you use, customers may be confused when they receive your text messages.

4.      Get help – You don’t want to spend all day sending messages from your personal phone, do you? Getting an automated sending program will make your process much more efficient and will give you the ability to track texts and analyze performance.