SMS marketing is an effective marketing channel that doesn’t depend on the internet and algorithms. It’s a cost-efficient way to engage your target audience and existing customers, giving you an edge over competitors.

However, more than 50% of customers urge businesses to interact with them using SMS marketing, and over 60% of companies are yet to implement it in their business communications. In this piece, we’re going to demystify SMS marketing. You’ll learn what SMS marketing is, why it is an effective marketing channel, and why SMS marketing should be a part of your marketing mix. Are you ready?

SMS Marketing Defined

SMS marketing, or short-message service marketing, refers to the use of text messages to send promotions, advertisements, and transactional messages to a group of customers who give their consent to receive texts from your business.

According to Global text messaging stats, five billion people communicate via text messaging, and it is the only messaging app with virtually worldwide uniformity. You can use SMS marketing to send automated text messages, communicate between staff and customers, or send bulk SMS promotional messages.

However, while SMS marketing promises numerous advantages, use it with other marketing channels like email marketing for the best results.

Why is SMS Marketing Effective?

SMS marketing offers numerous benefits for your marketing and business. Some of these include the following:

Quick Message Delivery

With people spending more time on their mobile devices, SMS messages prove to be an effective way to grab their attention, yielding a 97% read rate within 15 minutes of getting the message. Generally, SMS messages have a 99.9% open rate, meaning your audience will read any SMS correspondence you send.

Short and Concise Messaging

Due to the character limit of 160, SMS messages are short and usually only contain the most essential information. They usually include a concise message on your current promotion, contact info, or a promo code. 

People do not have all day to read a lengthy text message. Keeping it short and sweet caters to their preferences, making it an appealing way to interact with a brand. 

Aids Segmentation and Precise Messaging

With SMS marketing, you can send different messages to different segments of your prospects and existing customers. This enhances personalization and, in turn, improves your ability o nurture your customers and give them the kinds of information and offers they want. 

Inexpensive Marketing

Compared to other marketing tools like print media, influencer marketing, and paid ads, bulk SMS marketing is a cost-effective marketing tool with higher conversion possibilities. When you need the most bang for your buck, SMS marketing is a no-brainer. 

Scheduling

You can schedule periodic SMS marketing messages intended for your contacts and target audience with SMS messaging. That way, you can free up precious time to pay attention to other aspects of your business.

SMS Marketing Uses

SMS marketing can be to communicate an array of information to your customers and prospects. Here are some examples of what you can send via SMS marketing:  

• Promotions: Do you have a time-sensitive offer you want prospects and customers to know about? Send a promotional message using SMS messaging.
• Reminders: Since SMS messaging has a higher read rate, it’s an excellent channel for sending reminders to your customers. You can send reminders about products left in the cart, incomplete checkout, or a coupon/discount expiration.
• Updates: Are there new business updates that customers need to be aware of? Get them up to speed with an SMS marketing message.
• Automated responses: Like other marketing tools, you can create auto-responses with SMS marketing triggered when customers perform specific actions.
• Review and survey requests: Take advantage of the open and read rates of SMS marketing for reviews and survey requests. Send these via SMS message, which might encourage them to take action and assist you with getting consumer insights. 
• Content sharing: Get more eyes on new content about your products, services, how-tos, and instructional videos by updating your customers via SMS messages. It increases accessibility to your content and is also a convenient process for your audience.

Successful SMS Marketing Tips

Use the following tips to boost your SMS marketing and get better results for your marketing spend and efforts:

• Use SMS opt-in forms to build and grow your contact list.
• Only send business communications via SMS to customers who opted-in to be a part of your contact list. The last thing you want to do is upset potential customers with an unwanted SMS message. 
• Stick to the character limit, keep your message succinct and focus on the critical points.
• Ease communication and free up time by using automated responses.
• Personalize your message to your contact segments.
• Focus on a clear and single CTA in your SMS promotional messages.
• Shorten URL links and highlight offers and promotions in your messages.
• Avoid complicated text message abbreviations in a bid to pack more in your message.

SMS marketing is a cost-effective and promising marketing tool that will keep your customers engaged and get them to take action, which means increased business revenue for you. Mobile usage will only increase year over year. SMS marketing is the future of marketing, so make sure you’re not playing catch up. Invest in this communication channel today and see your profits soar.