Multi-channel strategies that include SMS are becoming increasingly important as companies seek to reach mobile users. However, because few digital marketing firms provide SMS as a primary service, their customers may lose the need for more opportunities to engage with consumers and boost return on investment.
High delivery, higher interaction with customers, and higher income are just a few of how SMS marketing helps companies succeed. The use of short message service (SMS) is becoming increasingly popular in reaching out to consumers.
In this article, we’ll discuss SMS marketing in greater depth, including its benefits and how to integrate it into your marketing plan.
What is SMS marketing?
SMS marketing, also known as short message service marketing, enables companies to communicate with their consumers by sending them promotional text messages. In other words, text and SMS marketing practically mean the same thing.
Customers need to opt-in to receive both email and SMS ads. In contrast to email marketing, SMS marketing consists of many brief texts (which are more likely to be opened and scanned than emails).
“SMS” is technically reserved for messages up to 160 characters in length (as opposed to longer or media-rich messages). The term is now commonly used to refer to any text message.
Marketers use short message service (SMS) marketing to interact with consumers and drive revenue. Businesses can use SMS marketing for various purposes, including spreading sales and discounts, getting the word out about new products, requesting customer input, and more.
How effective is SMS marketing?
Like the other new normal business strategies, SMS marketing is most effective when the texts are well-considered and delivered to the targeted recipients.
Is it worth your time and energy to put effort into SMS marketing, and how successful is it? We’re likely to agree with you there. Almost 97% of citizens now have a mobile phone. And they’re hooked to their phones: a survey among business proprietors showed that SMS messages got 4.5 times more consumer responses than emails.
However, suppose you thoroughly divide your consumers based on their buying behaviour or area. In that case, SMS texts can be a valuable addition to your overall approach rather than a replacement for email marketing.
The Benefits of SMS Marketing
Customizable
Using SMS, you can interact with customers based on their tastes, such as how often they want to hear from you, what information they find most useful and more. Customers will have a better impression of your business if you take the time to cater your messages to their preferences.
Zero-Party Data
Customers care deeply about their privacy, and businesses have had difficulty adjusting to the new restrictions on data exchange between apps. Zero-party data, or information a customer has willingly provided to a business, can be gathered and used in SMS marketing to give customers a more customized experience.
Low Competition
Despite the widespread adoption of SMS, few companies use it for advertising. There is less rivalry for consumers’ focus here than on more congested channels like email, so your brand will be more noticeable.
Cost-Effective
SMS campaigns are more cost-effective than conventional forms of advertising and promotion. However, they can generate a much higher ROI because they are adaptable and flexible.
And due to the data you can glean from SMS marketing, you will have a more profound knowledge of each campaign’s performance than you would with a concept such as a TV or live stream ad, where it’s impossible to know what actions consumers took shortly after watching the ad.
Flexible and reliable
Sending out meeting notifications, providing purchase progress updates to online customers, and promoting sales are just a few of the many uses for short message service (SMS) that businesses can put it to. However, they need more room to tell their tale via SMS. Therefore, businesses should use the 160-character limit carefully to communicate with their target audience.
Most communications sent via a cloud phone service are secured, making it a safe and dependable medium for companies to contact customers.
Businesses of the future will rely heavily on cloud-based communications tools. They facilitate real-time communication with consumers and data-driven initiatives that offer greater insight into future initiatives.
Affordable
SMS marketing is beneficial for owners of small businesses in particular since it is cost-effective. It is much more cost effective to send a prospective customer an SMS communication instead of putting a complete advertisement in front of them.
There is some variation in pricing, but many platforms offer your company the ability to deliver communications for a few pennies each. In the meantime, mass messaging programs allow you to transmit hundreds or even thousands of messages each month for a reasonable fee.
Wide demographic
Texting reaches a large audience because almost everyone has a cell phone or smartphone. That’s similar to email marketing since nearly everyone has an email account, but people tend to view messages as more pressing.
Consider how much more pressing a text message to your private phone number is than an email. With this type of text-based urgency, you can keep your business and its products fresh in your customer’s thoughts. As a result, your message will stick out from the crowd, as advertising messages are significantly rarer than emails.
Instant opt-in and opt-out
Spam is one of the most frustrating forms of electronic correspondence to receive. However, with the development of shortcodes, consumers now have instantaneous access to choosing in and out of an SMS feed. Your consumers can opt out of receiving your communications with minimal effort and time investment. It helps keep the company’s excellent track record and satisfies subscribers.
The number of people buying smartphones has reached a new peak. The possibilities of receiving your communication are exceptionally high, especially in light of the widespread change in smartphone patterns.
Delivered quickly
Due to its brevity, SMS marketing appeals to both the advertiser and the consumer. In contrast to extensive email promotions, SMS messages are typically one or two sentences long and include a link to a website with additional information about the promotion. As a result of their brevity, consumers are highly likely to read entire messages. SMS messages can also be perused at the recipient’s discretion, making them less intrusive than web pop-ups or phone calls.
The condensed nature of SMS communications significantly eases the time constraints of running a small business. It is rapid and straightforward to plan and execute a promotion using SMS and requires significantly less preparation in advance than more conventional forms of advertising.
Best Practices for Using SMS Marketing
When it comes to SMS promotion, simplicity is important. Compared to other forms of digital advertising, such as email or social media, there is no need to develop the design further.
To start an SMS marketing campaign, you should do the following:
Make a list of customers.
Sending unsolicited text messages to someone without their consent is illegal in the US and Canada. Be optimistic that everyone on your roster has agreed to receive your SMS communications before you launch your promotion. Anyone that has authorization status you cannot verify must go.
Customer data collection and compliance monitoring are both simplified with loyalty software.
Reach the best customers.
Someone who resides near your central spot and spends a lot of money there monthly will be more open to different messaging than someone who only shops online and buys around the holidays. Similarly, a pleased client will be more receptive to marketing than an indifferent or angry one.
You can optimize your effect by categorizing your clients based on their conduct. Use a POS data product to automatically organize consumers into groups to save time and ensure your containers are always correct.
Be concise about your program.
Before committing to your SMS marketing list, ensure your potential customers know what they’re getting into. The program’s goals should be clear, and the outcomes people can reasonably anticipate should be communicated. There is no need for complexity. Just describe the service in a couple of sentences.
Doing so is simple and must be done in two places: the auto-responder your users receive after messaging them to join or finish an online form and the places you promote your SMS program’s request to opt-in.
Don’t Send Too Often
No one intends to receive daily text messages from your brand. SMS is a form of intimate communication that must be acknowledged. In most cases, we recommend sending no more than 2 to 6 text messages per month. More will cause individuals to opt-out.
Furthermore, you should ensure individuals recognize how often you’ll message them. It is a crucial expectation of establishing advance.
Include CTAs
The CTA is a non-profit organization that serves as a global cellular communications sector voice. They regulate the majority of shortcode messaging and are the origin of several SMS marketing best practices.
In your original opt-in wording, you must include “Message and data rates may apply.” This statement informs users that entering your SMS program and getting future texts will contribute to their cellphone plan’s text/data allotments.
Use common language
Avoid overusing texting jargon. Although most people today know what you mean when you use an acronym in a text message, some still won’t. Furthermore, based on your intended audience, it may be impersonal.
If you must reduce the number of characters you use by reducing some phrases, stick to the most popular text acronyms.
Final Thoughts
Customers expend a substantial amount of time online and on mobile devices. With SMS marketing, you can simply reach them in mass with brief, delectable offers.
The best way to gather consumer behaviour information for your SMS marketing efforts is to integrate your network for sending and receiving text messages with your point of sale system.
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