Mobile phones are the most used personal device today. In fact, the average American checks their phone every 12 minutes – that’s an average of 80 times a day! Couple that with the fact that these devices are the primary source of information and entertainment for millennials and generation Z, and it doesn’t take long to realize the potential that SMS marketing holds.
It’s no surprise that businesses across the globe are implementing SMS as a key part of their marketing strategies. With its instant delivery, high open rate, elevated level of engagement, and fantastic return on investment, SMS marketing is beginning to leave more traditional forms of marketing behind. This is a two part series article. On this article we explore What are the Advantages of SMS Marketing? And on the second part we explain How to Best Utilize SMS Marketing?
What are the Advantages of SMS Marketing?
Instant Engagement
Unlike physical advertising, emailing, or letterbox marketing, SMS campaigns are delivered instantaneously. Once you hit the send button you can see the results almost immediately. You can monitor hundreds of clicks or other user feedback within a matter of seconds. Whatever your offer or promotion is, you can set it up, send it out, and receive leads, enquiries, and conversions within minutes.
Easy, Simple, and Fun to Use
SMS marketing gives you the ability to get a message out to your potential customers within minutes. The content you can include in your messages are almost endless, whether you want to introduce a flash sale, remind customers of an appointment, or share some great company news. The choice is yours.
All you have to do is create your message, chose the audience, and hit send. That’s it. Then you can sit back and watch the results come within seconds and minutes rather than hours and days.
High Open and Engagement Rates
SMS leaves every other outbound marketing medium behind in terms of its open rate. Open rates of text messages stand at a huge 98%. While an email or brochure might go days without being read, 90% of text messages are opened within 3 minutes of receiving them. These stats alone see many businesses turning to SMS marketing as it leaves their other advertising mediums in the dust.
Customer Initiation
Text message marketing is opt-in only and never counts as spam. Giving your customers an opt-in/opt-out option not only gives your audience control, it gives you and your business a clean list of people who want to hear from you – a win-win for your customers and you!
This kind of clean list marketing allows you to increase the targeting of your SMS lists and not waste time marketing to individuals who have no need for your product or service. Those who have opted in have initiated their preference to receive your marketing communications themselves. These potential customers are therefore much more likely to engage with your SMS content.
Targeting Ability
Smartphone ownership is at almost 95% worldwide and some people carry more than one device! Many businesses tend to spend a lot on social media platform advertising such as Facebook and Instagram, but what if your audience isn’t in that demographic? What if your target audience doesn’t access the internet on a daily basis? With SMS marketing you can ensure you are reaching your target audience alongside a wide demographic without requiring internet for delivery. Your target audience can be reached wherever they are and whatever they are doing.
SMS is Cost Effective
Text message marketing is incredibly affordable when compared to other advertising mediums. The per-message cost, regardless of how many people you are sending a message to or how many messages you send, is nominal. This makes SMS marketing extremely attractive to small businesses who may not have the biggest marketing budget at their disposal.
Incorporate SMS into Your Business Marketing Strategy Today
Whatever your reason for turning to SMS marketing, it is likely to be a great fit for your business as it is one the least expensive yet most versatile marketing methods available today. We have excellent packages starting at just $49.99 a month, so when you are ready, why not sign up for a free trial today to experience to full power of SMS.
Read the second part of this article: How to Best Utilize SMS Marketing?