We live in a world powered by technology. Artificial intelligence and machine learning have become mainstream for marketing. Today, businesses have multiple contact points to reach out to their customers and audiences. With so many options available, SMS message marketing is often overlooked. Especially for businesses, having strong CRMs such as Salesforce, that are okay with still using email communications which might go unnoticed many times
Being one of the old-fashioned ways of marketing, you may be thinking that SMS marketing is not as effective as social media and email marketing. Well, below the statistics about SMS message marketing will amaze you.
Did you know that around 86% of businesses and marketing managers in 2023 have utilized SMS marketing to reach out to their audiences?
Customers are more likely to open text messages, as they are displayed on mobile phones instantly. Hence, SMS messages have high open rates. They prove to be one of the most effective marketing channels for businesses.
In this blog, we focus on enlightening you on the potential SMS marketing benefits using CRMs and some best practices to create successful campaigns by utilizing this technology.
What is SMS Marketing?
SMS is an abbreviation for Short Message Service. It is a text messaging service that leverages cellular networks to facilitate the exchange of short messages between mobile devices.
SMS marketing is a form of marketing businesses leverage to promote their products or services or send transactional messages through text messaging. While businesses are now starting to shift more towards a stable and reputed CRM platform, they are still using either the same old conventional messaging way or doing it through email channels, which might go unnoticed many times. Besides, they share time-sensitive information, send reminders, promote new products, and seek feedback via text messages. It is an opt-in marketing technique where customers choose whether to sign up or not. As a result, there is no concern about spam or unwanted text flooding.
Nowadays, customers are more accustomed to interacting with businesses via mobile devices. They can simply message or text to reach out to brands. This accessibility lets customers develop a trustful relationship with the brands and maximizes their satisfaction.
Moreover, unlike other marketing channels, SMS is easy to deploy and offers a high return on investment (ROI). Hence, it serves as a low-risk, low-cost marketing channel.
Types of SMS Marketing
The following are the different types of SMS marketing based on your goals:
Promotional: Organizations send promotional SMS messages when they want to announce any new product, tell about a new sale, or convey about a specific event. These SMSes interest customers and prompt them to make a purchase.
Transactional: Whenever we sign up for any new service or purchase a product, we often receive a text message regarding the same. This is nothing but a transactional SMS. Many businesses use transactional SMS marketing to suggest other products based on your purchase history.
Reminder: As the name suggests, organizations send reminder messages so that customers do not forget about an event, purchase, or anything else associated with them.
Broadcast: Also popularly known as mass texts or bulks, broadcast messages are sent to a large group of customers or audience.
The Power of SMS Message Marketing in 2024: Unleashing the Benefits
Let us now discuss the benefits of SMS message marketing and how it helps businesses improve their marketing campaigns and conversion rates.
1. High Open Rates
Text messages have a higher open rate than other communication channels, such as calls or emails. 98% of general SMS messages are opened, whereas SMS messages intended for marketing purposes have an average open rate of 82%. Moreover, people open text marketing messages within the first 3 minutes after it is received. These statistics clearly indicate that SMS messages have a great potential to reach out to potential customers.
2. Direct Communication
Direct communication refers to having a conversation with an intended person without requiring any middlemen. SMS messages enable organizations to have direct communication with customers and vice-versa. This approach of direct communication fosters a strong relationship with customers, which, indeed, improves customer loyalty and satisfaction.
3. Cost-Effective
SMS marketing is a cost-effective marketing strategy. With minimal requirements for resources and infrastructure, It has the potential to produce high ROI. Plus, organizations can implement the bulk SMS option via an SMS API or CPaaS platform to reach out to a large number of customers with a single message. Unlike other marketing channels, SMS messaging is budget-friendly.
4. Instant Delivery
Another potential SMS marketing benefit is instant delivery. As soon as organizations send text messages, they are received by customers immediately. SMS messages reach a recipient’s mobile phone within a few seconds of being sent. This ensures fast and instant communication.
5. Easy Opt-In and Opt-Out
SMS messages have high regulatory compliance, unlike email marketing. Despite this, SMS marketing offers customers the flexibility to decide whether they want to receive messages or not. This means it offers customers the option to opt in or opt out.
Initially, when businesses send messages to customers, they provide an option to opt in. They configure simple keywords for customers to respond, which indicates customers agreed to receive text messages. However, in the future, if customers don’t want any messages, they can opt out easily.
6. Versatile
Besides promoting a brand, businesses can leverage the SMS communication channel in multiple ways, as follows:
- Welcome new customers
- Schedule, confirm, or cancel appointments
- Run flash sales
- Remind customers of upcoming offers or bills
- Send order placement, order confirmation, shipping, and order delivery updates
- Send customer feedback survey form
- Provide tech support
These are just a few ways of utilizing SMS to improve sales operations; the possibilities are endless.
7. Low Competition
What is surprising is many organizations do not use SMS for marketing, despite its ubiquity. Unlike email and social media marketing, text marketing has low competition. As a result, organizations have a chance of standing out and grabbing customers’ attention quickly.
8. Personalized Messages
Businesses can implement personalization in SMS marketing by segmenting customers based on their interests, demographics, location, and purchase history. They can send personalized messages referencing their interests, past purchases, and interactions. This helps create a strong relationship with customers and ensures effective communication, resulting in high conversion rates.
SMS Marketing Best Practices
To make your SMS marketing campaigns successful, here are some of the SMS marketing best practices to consider.
1. Integrate with Other Channels
These days, customers want brands to offer a personalized and enjoyable experience by implementing an omnichannel campaign. Hence, only implementing the SMS marketing strategy is not enough. For better engagement and higher sales conversions, consider integrating SMS marketing with other channels, such as email, social media, and in-store promotions.
Are you struggling with managing thousands of messages from different communication channels? If yes, Lead Manager Ninja is the ultimate solution. It is the best SMS app for Salesforce developed by Ksolves. Whether you communicate with your customers via email, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, chatbot, or Facebook Messenger, it unifies all communication channels and brings messages into a single inbox. This eliminates the hassle of switching between different communication channels to manage messages.
So, if you want to elevate your communication strategy and increase your ROI, using Lead Manager Ninja, an SMS app for Salesforce, is an ideal decision.
2. Segment Audience
Divide your target audience into different categories based on demographics, behavior, purchase history, and preferences. This segmentation lets you send personalized messages to customers, which makes them feel that they are noticed and valued. It results in increased response rates, higher conversion rates, decreased costs, and lower marketing expenses.
3. Offer Two-Way Communication
Two-way communication provides an opportunity for customers to respond to your marketing messages. This significantly improves customer engagement, as you get a chance to interact with customers personally and understand or resolve their queries. Two-way communication serves as an effective approach to building strong customer relationships.
4. Add a Call-to-Action
Adding a call-to-action to SMS messages improves the probability of customers taking the desired action. Whether you want customers to check out your website, sign up for a promotion, fill in a survey form, or make a purchase, you can add the respective call-to-action at the end of a text message.
5. Option to Unsubscribe
In many countries, providing an option to unsubscribe from your messages is a legal requirement. Though not a legal requirement, providing customers with this option increases brand reputation and indicates that you value customers’ preferences. As a result, make sure to include an unsubscribe link for every promotional and transactional text message.
Conclusion
SMS marketing is an effective marketing tool for diverse industry verticals. Many companies overlook the SMS communication channel for marketing due to its simplicity. However, SMS messages quickly grab the attention of customers, as they get displayed immediately on the mobile screen, eventually increasing open rates. In addition, they serve as a medium of direct communication, allowing businesses to interact with customers personally. This ensures maximum customer engagement and satisfaction by providing a sense of being valued. Hence, give a thought to Integrating SMS marketing into your omnichannel marketing strategy. This will help you unlock endless opportunities and create seamless customer experiences, resulting in long-term customer loyalty.