Estella Friesen, Author at SMS Marketing Blog by ProTexting

The internet has vastly changed the way companies market their products and services. From email campaigns, to using social media platforms, companies have had to learn how to utilise technology to remain competitive. SMS, or short message service, marketing is another marketing tool that companies can use in their campaigns. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of using this strategy in your next marketing campaign. Mobile phones are more popular than ever. Over 5 billion people are using a mobile phone, tripling the number over the past decade. Due to this sharp increase, the effectiveness of SMS software is rising. This alone is a good reason to use SMS marketing; your campaign will reach far more people. It is estimated that users touch their phone 2,617 times per day, making targeting mobile consumers the most direct marketing method. ‘Big name companies, such as Coca-Cola spend roughly 70% of its mobile marketing budget on SMS services’ says Edward Moody, a marketing manager at Gum Essays. Sending SMS online has become particularly useful for reaching younger audiences, and one study suggests that it is the preferred method of contact for that age group. High open rates People are on their mobiles so frequently that SMS marketing messages tend to not be ignored. In fact, they have the highest open rating at 98%. Mobile phone users don’t ignore their messages. As well as the high open rating, SMS marketing also yields a whopping 45% response rate, in comparison to email which yields an average response rate of only 8%. Consumers engage with SMS quicker. It takes approximately 90 seconds for a person to answer a text message, compared to the average 90-minute response time for an email. SMS has a good, proven track record of efficiency when it comes to promoting seasonal sales, VIP discounts, abandoned shopping carts, and customer service inquiries. SMS messaging is one of the most effective ways to make up lost revenue. Low Cost SMS campaigns are very inexpensive. It costs next to nothing to send an SMS message, unlike PPC or paid social ads. Due to their simplicity, you don’t have to spend money hiring a copywriters or designers, which is an extra savings. All of this, combined with average 98% response rate we mentioned above, yields a good return on investment. SMS campaigns are a financially sound way to advertise your products and services. SMS reaches a wide demographic. 48.37% of the world’s population own a smartphone, regardless of age or gender. Sending an SMS message gives your company access to a very wide demographic. SMS also doesn’t carry the risk of alienating your audience the way an email campaign or social media can. SMS can boost your other marketing channels. Marketing is seldom done using only one medium. You can use SMS marketing to help boost your email campaigns or your website. For example, a simple SMS reminder to check your email about important information actually increases your email open rates by 20-30%. Including a shortened hyperlink in a message means you will get more traffic on your website. SMS is easily trackable for customer insights and reporting. SMS as a marketing tool is incredibly easy to track and gain important information about your engaged audience. These analytics are incredibly useful for businesses to understand their database. This means they can identify which marketing campaigns will be the best fit to send to certain segments. This not only helps with ROI, but it also identifies which recipients are not engaging, allowing companies to reach out with another marketing method. SMS messaging is a great choice for DTC (direct-to-consumer) brands. DTC brands tend to be the first to adopt new marketing methods. Due to SMS uniquely personal approach, direct-to-consumer brands have a great way of reaching their online customers, creating a two-way conversation, which up until now was missing. Also, because it’s low-cost, and DTC’s tend to be small businesses, it makes it a much better financial decision for these companies. SMS marketing is highly effective and is the future of marketing campaigns. It is low-cost, efficient and has high conversion ratings that will boost business.