5 Amazing Benefits of Having an SMS Marketing Strategy
As technology continues to advance, customers are utilizing their phones for almost everything under the sun! More and more brands are finding that using SMS is a uniquely effective marketing tool.
While choosing to take advantage of mobile marketing may seem to require a heavy investment on the app-side of things, becoming an additional notification on your customers’ devices is often greatly undervalued. The ROI of SMS marketing is actually increasing over time, and we’re here to tell you why!
1.) A Direct Channel
While many people keep notifications such as emails, DMs and follows silent, approximately 97% of cell phone users are estimated to read their SMS within 15 minutes of delivery. This makes SMS one of the most direct forms of communication. When combined with other popular channels, most campaigns are reaching over 50% of their potential customers!
2.) Use of Shortcodes
First, what is a shortcode? A shortcode is essentially a 5-6 digit phone number that many brands will use to make the opt-in process smoother. It is shorter than a normal phone number, and more easily recognizable in their inbox.
When doing cross-posted campaigns across different channels, you can have your customers use your shortcode as a “text to enter” or “text to ask”. Simply put: the shorter the address (or phone number), the more likely a customer will be to participate.
3.) Support Other Channels
Although SMS is still a great standalone channel, when you choose to integrate themes and messages across multiple channels, such as email and social media, it will become all the more effective.
For example, you can send out an SMS to remind customers to check out your most recent Instagram promotion. By following your other channels’ content calendars and emailing schedule, you can increase ROI and strengthen your social media marketing in Baton Rouge!
4.) Gather Intel About Your Customers
SMS is an easy way to engage your customers in providing feedback. It is a quick and convenient way for someone to simply click a link that will direct them to a simple survey where you can gather information about their age, gender, preferences, and general feedback about your business.
SMS is easily accessible on most people’s phones, and is already being utilized to communicate with family and loved ones, so the likelihood of a customer providing feedback via SMS is higher than that via email or your website.
5.) Increased Customer Engagement
The most successful brands all have one thing in common: customer engagement. SMS can be a way to enhance the ways your brand engages with its customers. The occasion on which your customers will actually see your message, opposed to an email, is higher when in the form of SMS.
Remember that although SMS can be an effective tool, you will still want to save longer messages, such as brand updates or anecdotes, for an email. Additional ideas that you may want to consider for SMS marketing could be time-sensitive sales or even birthday messages!
There are so many wonderful benefits to having an SMS marketing strategy. If you are concerned about your ROI… Don’t be! Keep in mind that many of your top competitors are already using SMS as a tool to engage with their customers! SMS marketing is effective and worth taking the time to invest in!