How to Use SMS to Engage Multilingual Audiences on WordPress

Learn everything about SMS strategies for multilingual WordPress sites.

How do you connect with your audience on your multilingual website? Although AI-powered chatbots help website owners automate real-time communications with visitors, they lack a human tone of voice.

If you want to reach international audiences worldwide, you need to speak their language at a personal level. You can’t use machine-based translations and expect a high conversion rate if your visitors feel you don’t have the time to talk to them.

On the other hand, employing people with different language skills might be costly for many businesses. That’s where SMS platforms like WP SMS can help you.

In this blog post, we’ll explain how to use personalized bulk messaging in different languages and integrate it with your multilingual WordPress website.

Benefits of SMS for Multilingual WordPress Websites

Let’s see why SMS strategies for multilingual sites are a must. Despite all the new channels like social chats, SMS is still an effective means of communication and marketing. 

Here are the benefits of using SMS for multilingual websites along with other channels:

1. High Open Rates: The open rate of SMS is almost higher than any other communication channel. Many people don’t check their emails or direct messages on social media regularly. On the other hand, people open around 98% of their messages.

2. Immediate Communication: SMS is perfect for time-sensitive communications because many people read their messages within minutes. 

3. Personalization Opportunities: SMS platforms let you customize bulk messages according to the details of each recipient without manual intervention. This is great for multilingual websites as you can talk to global audiences at a personal level.

4. Better User Engagement: SMS is a great channel for interacting with global audiences in their native languages and encouraging them to engage with your brand.

5. Integrations: SMS can easily be integrated with your current platforms, including your WordPress website or WooCommerce online store.

So SMS can simplify your communication and help you gain the trust of your international audiences.

SMS Strategy for Your Multilingual WordPress Site

Sending an SMS is easy but running a large multilingual SMS campaign might be tricky. Here are some tips that will help you build a strong multilingual SMS marketing strategy for your WordPress website.

Consider Compliance with Local Regulations

You can’t simply send promotional and transactional messages to everyone. You have to comply with certain regulations regarding data protection and communication.

This is especially crucial for international text messaging. For instance, to send SMS messages to specific regions in the USA, Canada, and EU, you must ensure compliance with the following regulations:

• GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in the European Union
• TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) in the United States
• CASL (Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation) in Canada

Remember that some of these local regulations require explicit consent from your recipients before running your campaigns.

So try to run opt-in campaigns before running promotional campaigns and also include an easy method for unsubscription. 

Define Your Target Audience

Sending cold SMS to everyone is not an effective option any longer. You need to send customized messages to targeted audiences that are highly relevant to your website.

So understanding your audience’s characteristics is a crucial part of your multilingual SMS marketing campaigns.

To have effective communication with your audience, try to collect as much information as possible from your WordPress website, email, or social platforms.

Then, try to segment your users based on:

• Language Preferences: Identify the languages spoken by your users to speak their own language in your SMS.
• Location: Recognize the location of your audience to include local items in your messages.
• Behavioral Data: Use website analytics to determine user interests and customize the offers in your messages accordingly.
• Past Engagement: You need to separate users who frequently visit your websites.

Choose An SMS Platform that Simplifies Multilingual Messaging

This is one of the most important stages in your multilingual SMS campaign. You need to choose the right platform that allows you to run international campaigns in various languages.

First, you need to select an international SMS gateway provider with the following features:

1. Encoding for Specific Languages: Make sure that the SMS gateway supports languages with unique characters that need specific encoding.

2. Regulatory Issues: Your SMS gateway should comply with local regulations.

Moreover, your SMS gateway should be compatible with your current systems and offer complete documentation for configuration.

Then, you have to choose an SMS plugin for your WordPress website so that you can send international text messages from your dashboard and through the SMS gateway you choose.

WP SMS is one of the best SMS plugins for WordPress websites and supports 300+ SMS gateways like Twilio, ClickSend, and Sinch.

Installing and using WP SMS for your multilingual website is straightforward. You just need to go to your dashboard and from the left menu choose Plugins and search for WP SMS. Then, you can install and activate the plugin with two clicks. 

We’ll help you configure your SMS gateway and API without any problem. You can also use the demo of WP SMS to try its capabilities. So why wait? Start your multilingual SMS campaign right now!

Create SMS Templates in Local Languages

As said earlier, translating your SMS content to another language using tools is not a smart choice. 

If you want to build a long-lasting partnership with your international audiences, you have to write a text message in their language and include cultural items in the message to make them believe you’re one of them.

So use native speakers or professional translators to ensure accuracy. Also, pay attention to local aspects like:

• National holidays
• Local elements
• Currency and measurement units
• Communication styles

It’s recommended to prepare various SMS templates for different purposes like:

Flash-sale Promotion

• English

• Spanish

Welcome Message

• English

• German

Remember that SMS messages are typically limited to 160 characters. You need to pay attention to this limitation when dealing with multilingual SMS campaigns because it impacts your costs.

Use Dynamic Content Feature for Personalization

As you see in the SMS templates, you can include some details of customers like names and dates.

Fortunately, WP SMS lets you define a vast variety of items in your SMS template to automatically customize it according to the recipient’s details.

If you use the dynamic content feature of WP SMS in the right way, you’ll have the chance to personalize your messages at scale.

Add Shortened Links to Your Webpages

SMS marketing is a great opportunity to drive traffic to your WordPress website. So try to include links in your SMS messages and redirect your audience to different pages of your site.

Of course, you can’t use your website link if it’s too lengthy. So you need to use URL shorteners (e.g., Bitly) to save character space. Fortunately, WP SMS allows you to do that without having to switch your dashboard.

Remember to direct users to the correct language version of your website. Also, it’s good to create UTM-tagged links to track your multilingual SMS campaign performance in Google Analytics.

Test Before Sending

Before running your multilingual SMS campaign, you need to test your text messages to ensure:

• Proper formatting on different devices
• Correct language without encoding issues
• Clear and effective CTAs
• Links work properly
• Messages reach the target segment

Automate and Schedule Your Messages

Now, you have to send your text messages using the automation and scheduling features of WP SMS.

For notifications, you just need to define the triggers, which are usually specific actions taken by your website’s users.

Also, for promotional messages, you need to schedule the messages to be sent at the best time according to your recipient’s time zone.

Track & Analyze Performance

Last but not least, you need to monitor your SMS campaigns with key metrics such as:

• Delivery Rates: Ensuring messages are successfully sent.
• Open & Read Rates: Evaluating engagement levels.
• Click-Through Rates (CTR): Measuring the effectiveness of links.
• Conversion Rates: Tracking actions taken after receiving messages.

By analyzing the result, you can optimize your SMS strategy for future campaigns.

Conclusion

WordPress websites with international audiences need to think of multilingual communication strategies. SMS is one of the most effective channels to build a deeper relationship with your audiences in different languages. 

We reviewed SMS strategies for multilingual WordPress sites to let you know how you can run an international SMS campaign while you speak the language of each recipient. 

WP SMS along with international SMS gateway providers help you automate your SMS marketing campaigns. 

You can easily include the personal details of each recipient without manual intervention. So if you want to expand your WordPress website across the globe, it’s good to try the demo of WP SMS and get familiar with its features. 

You can also contact us if you have any questions in this regard.

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