Did you know that 91% of U.S. adults have a cell phone? 56% have a Smartphone, according to Pew Internet. What’s more, 90% of marketing text messages are read within 20 minutes. The implications of that are pretty powerful for the local insurance agent.

You may be wondering how your agency can harness the influence of mobile marketing. It really ranges from making sure you have a responsive website, which means your site is easily readable and accessible on multiple mobile devices and computer monitors, to creating mobile apps.

You’ll find the major carriers have already jumped on the bandwagon. Liberty Mutual developed its own app that can take pictures of damage for insurance claims. It also allows users to view their policy details and add claims. Well, we’ve got a little secret for you… wait for it. You don’t NEED a mobile app to have a successful mobile marketing strategy.

What you should consider is using mobile text message marketing as part of your inbound marketing strategy, which should include a search-optimized responsive website, a blogging and social media strategy, and a marketing automation system that allows you to leverage email to reach your clients and prospects.

How exactly can your agency utilize text message marketing? With these tips:

1. Build a database that’s compliant.

There are several organizations that regulate text message marketing. Why? Because text messages are delivered via the cellular phone network, which is heavily regulated. The Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Mobile Marketing Association, CTIA, and Telephone Consumer Protection Act all have a role in regulating the industry.

But don’t let that stop you! Many text marketing vendors have procedures and features in place to ensure your agency is abiding by the regulations. One of which, is building a compliant database.

What that means is you shouldn’t buy or rent a list of cell phone numbers and blast text messages to them. That’s a big no-no. Each person you get to opt-in to receiving text messages from your agency must understand exactly what they’re signing up for and they must understand how they can opt out of the communication at any time.

This can all be disclosed in the sign up form, with links to your mobile marketing privacy policy.

Pro Tip: Setting up a simple iPad or other tablet device in your office when people come in to buy or receive a service for their account is an easy way to share this information with clients and get them to opt in. Have the opt in form on the screen so they can easily enter their cell number and email address. Be sure to send a recap email outlining the specifics of your text messaging program and policies, including how to opt out.

2. Promote incentives, discounts, events, reminders, renewals, or new products.

As you can see, there are a number of ways to utilize text message marketing. These are just a few. The goal of each message should be to deliver something valuable and exclusive.

Some ideas:

• Appointment reminders – Yes, it seems boring but imagine how much more efficient it is to send a text message 24 hours before the appointment than to hire someone to make the call or rely on an email that could get lost in translation.
• Renewal reminders – Is your client up for renewal? Use a text message to let them know.
• Incentives and discounts – Create an exclusive incentive or discount just for your text message opt ins. Consider offering them a unique service such as risk management at a discounted rate.

3. Emphasize the need to act now.

Always include a call to action in your text messages, and emphasize the need to act right away. Give them a deadline for new offers or incentives. A call to action could be, “hurry over to our office before 12/10 to qualify for this discount.”

4. Be mindful of timing.

Just like with email, it’s important not to over send information. You don’t want to give them a reason to opt out of receiving your texts. One way to keep from over sending is to commit to not sending more than one or two texts per month. Since we’re talking about mobile devices that often ping users when they receive a text message, it’s important to be respectful of certain off-putting times to send texts.

An example might be during rush hour or too early in the morning or late at night. Appointment reminders are best sent 24 hours or more before the appointment.

5. Avoid being marked as spam.

There are a number of ways a text message could appear as spam. One is by using too much promotional language like “amazing offer” and “act now” or overusing text abbreviations like “lol,” which you wouldn’t want to use anyway because it would cheapen your brand.

Keep text messages succinct and always explaining the benefit of the communication. Another way to avoid being thought of as spam is to identify your agency in the text message. Remember that unless your agency’s number is saved in their phone with an identifier, recipients won’t know it’s from your agency, therefore may delete it before reading it. That’s why it’s important to identify the message is from your agency.

While these are all great tips, they are just the tip of the iceberg of mobile marketing advice for insurance agencies. It’s important to remember that mobile marketing is just one piece of the inbound marketing puzzle and the best strategies involve a combination of tactics from blogging to social media and email marketing!