Why you need to add SMS to your marketing mix
Adding SMS to your marketing mix isn’t anything revolutionary.
In fact, SMS is one of the longest standing methods of mobile communication.
Back before push notifications were a thing. Before you could easily check email on your phone. Before smartphones really existed. SMS was pretty much the only way to reach customers on their mobile device.
Yet, as of late, SMS marketing seems to be taking a backseat to other methods, particularly push notifications.
This is unfortunately due, in part, to the damage caused to SMS’s reputation as a result of the spray and pray approach adopted by many companies in the past.
This saw people receiving messages that weren’t targeted and as such, they found them to be irritating and invasive.
Unfortunately, many companies are now hesitant to use the channel due to these concerns.
However, having ran many successful SMS campaigns for our clients we are keen to get even more on board.
But we know it won’t be that easy convince you, so we’ve come up a list of the most compelling reasons to add SMS back into your marketing mix.
Effective
With Irish smartphone users checking their devices a whopping 57 times a day, you can rest assured your SMS won’t go unnoticed.
We certainly have an affinity with our phones. With 40% of us checking them within 5 minutes of waking up.
So it’s no surprise that SMS has an open rate of 94%, head and shoulders above any other form of communication.
But not only are customers opening their SMS messages, they are actively engaging with them.
A study by Velocity found that SMS had a response rate of 45%.
In fact, SMS is shown to produce engagement rates six to eight times higher than email marketing.
Some pretty impressive stats that demonstrate just how effective SMS campaigns can be.
Immediate
Another great benefit is how quickly an SMS campaign can be deployed.
One perceived negative of SMS is its lack of support for rich content. No color, no pictures, no video.
On the flip side, this means no long waiting time for designs to be mocked up or campaigns to be printed.
The shorthand format, max 160 characters, also means you likely won’t have to get a copywriter on board either, saving you $$!
So, not only will you free up some precious time, but with over 90% of messages read within 3 minutes of being received results can be seen immediately.
Increased Conversion
SMS has the capability to engage a reader instantly and elicit a response.
Expanding your SMS campaigns so that your customers can respond to your messages is a fantastic way to increase conversion.
In fact, a study carried out by Velocity found that texting in the sales process can lead to conversion gains of more than 100%.
And what’s more, sending three or more purposeful text messages after contact has
been made with a prospect can increase conversion rates by 328%!
Trackable
SMS campaigns are trackable meaning you can find out not only whether or not your messages have been successfully sent but details on who, what and when links have been clicked.
This in turn gives you better visibility over your campaign allowing you to tweak and adjust to improve future performance.
Having access to the above information is useful for sales and marketing teams as they can attribute sales to the correct channels/campaigns
SMS can be an effective way to communicate with your customers. However, it should never be your only marketing channel.
There are things you can’t say effectively and people you can’t talk to successfully this way.
Additionally, convincing people to part with their mobile number can be significantly more difficult than their email.
So, although we are massive advocates of SMS we always recommend that it be implemented as part of a larger communications strategy.
Need help on your next SMS campaign? Then be sure to get in touch today on +353 1 8041258.
