Advantages and Best Practices of SMS Marketing

What is SMS Marketing?

SMS Marketing, also known as Text Message Marketing, is a method of sending precisely focused, written authorization, opt-in text messages to give out bargains, coupons, promotions, notifications, and other information. The SMS character limit of these messages is 160. It's a type of opt-in marketing that requires subscribers to sign up. This distinguishes it from social marketing, in which the marketer publishes public material for others to like or follow.

Common types of SMS marketing examples include:

• Deals or discounts that are unique
• Remarketing
• Surveys

Consumers are increasingly comfortable connecting with businesses via mobile devices. They expect to be able to contact firms via messaging or SMS in many circumstances.

How does SMS Marketing work?

In the United States, SMS marketing messages are sent using short codes rather than full phone numbers or custom sender ID. These short codes are usually 5-6 digits long and can be given to a single sender or shared among multiple senders.

Many countries, including the United States, prohibit the alteration of sender information. This implies that whatever short code your supplier uses will receive your message as a text message (not from your business). That is why it is critical to mention the name of your organization in the message.

With SMS marketing, you may send two types of messages:

Campaign messages are mass text messages sent to a large number of people. Promotions (coupons, deals, etc.) and general information are frequently communicated through them (event details, updates, weather alerts, etc.).

Transactional messages are "one-to-one" communications that are sent in response to a specific event or behaviour. An order confirmation or delivery notification for an e-commerce purchase is an example of this. These messages provide individuals with relevant and timely information.

Best Practices of SMS Marketing

Check to see if your contacts have agreed to receive SMS Messages

Text messaging is an extremely efficient and direct method of reaching out to customers. However, there are a number of guidelines to keep in mind while devising an SMS marketing strategy. Receiving authorization from your contacts for sending texts online is the first and most critical step.

Although SMS has a high open rate, this won't help you if you send SMS online to individuals who don't want to receive them. Not to add that in most nations, opt-in is required.

Provide the name of your company in your messages

Based on the country of destination, SMS providers deliver bulk SMS messages through a shortcode, which means your contacts won't realize it's coming from you. That is why you must first inform your contacts as to who is delivering the message.

Customization should be a part of your strategy

SMS marketing is unusual in that it combines the convenience of a large marketing SMS campaign with the intimacy of one-on-one communication.

This is something that successful text marketing strategies take advantage of. To send smarter and more relevant SMS to their prized subscribers, they use capabilities like custom fields and segments.

You may further strengthen your campaigns by integrating your existing software with your text marketing efforts utilizing our SMS integrations. This allows you to send SMS notifications about everything from abandoned carts to delivery information.

Why is SMS marketing so successful?

For various reasons, SMS is one of the most effective marketing tools at your disposal:

Smartphone Adoption: With 81 percent of adults in the United States owning a smartphone in 2019, SMS is a great way to reach out to clients immediately. You can increase online messaging engagement with your company by inserting a link in this paragraph.

Completes the Email Marketing Cycle: Despite their many parallels in strategy implementation, email and SMS marketing perform best together. As previously said, SMS can be used to convey immediate notifications, whereas email can contain longer-form content.

Top Interaction Rates: When compared to email, SMS engagement rates are astronomical, with 90% of SMS messages being read within 3 minutes of receipt. As a result, SMS is particularly beneficial for providing critical information to a large number of people with a high success rate.

Perfect for Developing Markets: If your company is trying to function in a country where data is expensive and wi-fi is scarce, SMS is a far more effective way to share information.

SMS Marketing's Advantages

SMS marketing has a variety of benefits, which vary based on your industry and how you use it. Here are some of the most common benefits of SMS for marketers.

• Boost the number of people who come into your shop.
• Improve the number of customers you have and the amount of revenue you make.
• Reward current customers while also seeking out new ones.
• Get in connection with customers as soon as feasible.
• Customers may easily send important text promotions to their friends and family.
• Customers are kept informed about your business's operations.
• Customers will not feel abandoned due to a lack of marketing reach.

Who is a good candidate for SMS marketing services?

Regardless of the type of business you have, text messaging can be a terrific addition to your digital marketing efforts. They have the unique ability to provide extremely important information in a highly dependable manner.

However, certain organizations are unable to function without SMS as part of their marketing strategy:

E-Commerce Firms: SMS is a terrific tool for e-commerce firms, whether they're delivering promotional campaigns or order/shipping confirmations.

Travel companies: Customers need real-time information, thus SMS is crucial for travel companies. This includes updates on flight status, gate changes, cancellations, and weather alerts, among other things. You can use SMS to tell them exactly what they need to know without worrying about them receiving it on time.

Service firms that require appointments: Send SMS reminders to your clients to ensure they never miss another appointment. This will save you a lot of time and money from missed appointments and no-shows.

Large companies with more than 100 employees: Internal communication is critical, but communicating with every individual in a large firm is difficult. Email is far too slow for urgent information. The easiest approach to ensure that every employee receives the information you want to deliver them at the proper time is to use SMS for internal communication.

You might also read:

• SMS Marketing Strategies for E-Commerce