Why You Should Implement SMS Into Your Marketing Strategy

Did you know the first ever SMS originated back in 1992? Yes, SMS hit the 25-year milestone and is still one of the most common channels of communication. Today, messaging apps, such as WhatsApp and social media sites, like Twitter, are gaining user’s traction. Digital marketing is a powerful business strategy, but if you have not incorporated an SMS service in your business plan, you are behind the curve.

What is Text Marketing?

In today’s world, mobile phone is not a luxury; rather, it has become a commodity. People have their smartphones with them all day. They use this device to chat with friends and family, pay bills, shop, and browsing. So, why not leverage the power of mobile phones, particularly the Short Message Service (SMS) feature?

Businesses are now using text messages as a marketing channel to reach targeted receptive audience. SMS marketing, also called text marketing, is an incredibly cost-effective method of interacting with your existing and potential customers. If you have not implemented SMS in your marketing strategy, these reasons might be enough to convince you.

1. Highest Open Rate

How many times do you check the spam or junk folder of your email account? Once a day, a week, or month? Your consumers do the same. Compared to all other marketing mediums, such as email, SMS has an incredible open rate of 98%. This is just one factor that makes SMS a powerful marketing tool.

Research shows that 90% of the people read an SMS within three minutes of receiving the text message. Furthermore, text messages have a conversion rate of almost 45%. That is a big number and you would not want to miss the opportunity to interact with your customers.

2. Personalization

Text marketing services help you build a personalized relationship with your customers in a completely new way. Mobile phone is the first thing that many people look for as soon as they wake up; it helps them to connect with their friends and family. SMS marketing allows you to become a part of their inner circle.

However, you cannot enter this circle without the permission of your customer. According to the CTIA, the association that regulates all messages sent in the U.S., you must take customer’s approval before sending any marketing content.

It is called an opt-in program where the user shows consent to receive promotional messages from your end. You also have to give them the opt-out option; i.e., the choice to quit or unsubscribe your SMS program. Thus, SMS marketing allows you to have personalized interaction with your customers.

3. Short and Simple

Text marketing is brief; unlike other communication channels, it is not complicated. It is quite similar to sending an SMS to a friend. The standard length of an SMS is 160 characters. It is all about how smartly you can create a persuasive content within the limitations.

You can engage customers using text marketing in many ways. For instance, you can compose messages featuring coupon redemptions, incentive contests, and opt-in surveys. Moreover, you can use mass-texting for reaching a larger audience.

You can either send messages via short code or a long code. Make sure to promote your SMS short code on multiple channels to encourage potential customers to opt-in your SMS program.

4. Targeted Business Strategy

It is important to know your target audience and their wants and needs. While SMS is a powerful branding tool, sending irrelevant or too many messages frustrates the customer. They even choose to opt-out of such SMS programs.

You have to create a wise plan to target the customers interested in buying your product or service. Do not forget, 45% of the customers do respond to SMS marketing. However, this should not mean to bombard your customers’ inbox with unwanted texts.

It is best to schedule your messages. Do not send more than 2 to 4 texts in a month. If the message is relevant, it will definitely appeal the customer. However, sending messages with long gaps is also a mistake, which can cost you to miss important opportunities.

5. Cost-Effective Strategy

Text marketing boasts greater attention and immediacy than all other digital marketing tools. SMS marketing leads to higher engagement rates. Text message outperforms other marketing channels rapidly.

Compared to other advertising strategies, such as buying a Facebook ad spot for your brand, SMS is cheap. The cost of setting up a SMS short code or a SMS long code is affordable. With mass texting, you can send thousands of messages to customers instantly.

While SMS is a powerful tool itself, it becomes more effective when used in conjunction with other channels, such as push notifications, email, and voice notes.

6. SMS Marketing is Easy to Manage and Track

One of the most promising features of SMS marketing is Trackability. Most SMS platforms provide the feature to monitor and evaluate the performance of your SMS marketing campaign. Once a customer opts for your SMS program, you can keep track of his interests, purchasing history, demographics, and more.

Not only you can measure the real-time performance of your SMS marketing campaigns, but you can also track mass-texting proficiently. The data can help you create strategies tailored to the needs and wants of your customers. It can help you to establish your brand and prove your market value.

Points To Consider When Incorporating SMS Marketing

Now that you know the significance of SMS marketing, it is important to choose the right SMS platform. Make sure to tick the following boxes in the checklist.

• The platform provides superior global reach for seamless delivery of text messages in different parts of the world.
• The SMS programs support media rich content, such as polls, surveys, gifs, and pictures.
• It offers language translation services to enable you to interact with customers in their native language.

Whether you want to engage local customers or want to run a global marketing campaign, SMS is an effective branding tool. It is a friction-free way to interact with your customers effectively.