Why Is SMS Marketing Ideal for Startups and Companies That Are Starting With Digital Marketing?

Why SMS Marketing Campaign? In fact, most statistics show an open rate of over 95% for text messages (SMS), which is much higher than the open rate of other channels such as email which is currently at around 24%, or even the reach rate of social networks which is at around 2.5%

 

Although you may not believe it, marketing campaigns that use text messages (SMS) as their main platform have still been proving to be quite efficient in the last few years. In this new blog post, we are not only going to explain why that is but also give you the best tips to start building your own SMS Marketing campaign now.

 

First things first, let's quickly explain what SMS means for those of you who don't know yet. SMS is an abbreviation for Short Message Service.

 

What does this refer to? SMS are all short text messages -we are talking about no more than 150 characters each- that are sent and received directly on your cell phone or smartphone without the intervention of any external application...

 

You know, the text messages that everyone used to send before the existence of messaging services such as Messenger or WhatsApp.

 

And mind you, many people think that SMS and MMS are synonyms but actually sending an SMS message is not the same as sending an MMS message.

 

MMS is the abbreviation of Multimedia Messaging Service and the difference with SMS is that the former are messages that include some kind of supplement such as images and/or videos (and therefore usually involve a slightly higher cost than sending SMS messages).

 

And well, we already commented it here and surely you also thought it as soon as you started reading the article, if we are all (or almost all) used to using services such as Messenger, WhatsApp or Telegram and if in addition almost all social networks already have their own private messaging service, then what would be the point of investing so much time (and money) in a campaign aimed at SMS messages?

 

It's understandable that you might feel a bit skeptical about this, and that's a very valid question, so let's answer it now. Here's a list of reasons why text messaging is still very effective in the digital marketing world:

 

SMS messages are read instantly.

While it is true that most of us are very accustomed to receiving messages through some external application, it is also worth noting that we rarely let a text message go completely unnoticed.

 

In fact, most statistics show an open rate of over 95% for text messages, which is much higher than the open rate of other channels such as email which is currently at around 24% or even the reach rate of social networks which is at around 2.5%, which even seems insignificant compared to the other two. In addition, SMS has the advantage that many times you don't even have to open them to know what they are about.

 

This is thanks to smartphone notifications that allow us to see at least a part of the message as soon as we receive it, so no matter how much of the message your subscribers read, you can be sure that they did receive it and their minds did process it for a moment.

 

SMS messages do not depend on internet connection like other messaging services.

Imagine this scenario that will probably sound familiar to you: You are chatting with a friend or a family member through Messenger (or WhatsApp, or any other similar application you are used to) and just when the gossip was starting to get good, boom! the power goes out and the Wi-Fi is interrupted or just at that moment the mobile data of your mobile service plan runs out.

 

You didn't find out what happened and you won't until you get the signal again minutes or hours later (or even until the next day). We've all been there, haven't we? It's a very common thing that happens.

 

And it's even very common for people to own cell phones that can't even connect to the Internet. However, none of this is a problem for SMS campaigns.

 

With text messaging you can be sure that as long as your customers have a service signal from their provider they will be able to receive and view any message you send them. This is a guarantee that none of the other platforms can offer you.

 

Text messages can be personalized

Thanks to the technology of automated systems, commercial text messages can be personalized so that they always reach the customer with their name and with information that will be relevant to that particular person.

 

This is important because the text messages we receive are usually from friends or family, so it has become a more personal experience, so it is much more effective to receive a message that calls you by name than one that just sends you a message with generic information.

 

SMS campaigns can be well integrated into your marketing strategy with other channels.

We talk a lot about the advantages and disadvantages of certain communication channels but it is crucial that we don't lose sight of something very important: They are not exclusive, one platform can very well leverage another if they are used properly. And campaigns using SMS messaging are perfect for that.

 

As we already mentioned, SMS messages have a very high open rate, so why not take advantage of it to attract our customers to our other channels? You can tell them about your presence on other platforms not only to increase their reach rates, but to make you look more dynamic and to show your customers that you are flexible and can adapt to be where they are.

 

SMS messages can be shared very easily.

One similarity that SMS messaging campaigns and mass email campaigns have is the ease with which messages can be shared with others.

 

As we discussed in past blog posts, today messages can be shared in three simple steps of choosing the 'forward' option, choosing contact (and adding additional messages if desired) and then sending. It's that simple.

 

And just like that, your message can be rebroadcast to reach more people than you originally expected without you having to make a major effort.

 

Send your messages at an optimal time.

As with any type of campaign, it is crucial that the day of the week and time of day you send your messages are the most optimal for your content to reach as many people as possible.

 

Don't lose sight of the statistics you receive from your followers, analyze them very carefully and make sure you send your next messages on the day and at the time when your followers are most likely to have their cell phones in their hands to check them.

 

Keep your messages as short and concise as possible.

SMS messages are by nature short messages, but it is also necessary to apply the "less is more" rule and make each sentence worthwhile.

 

You can start with a hook that will appeal to your customer and make them curious to read the rest of the message, but whatever comes next, try to say it in as few words as possible. If you need to give your customer more information than you can send in an SMS message, it is better to redirect them directly to your website or official social networks.

 

Or, failing that, it is better to communicate it through an email so that you can explain it without any problem.

 

We know this is a lot of information to digest, but we hope that after reading it you will feel more inspired to try to create an SMS messaging campaign on your own.

 

This type of campaign is ideal for companies that are just starting their marketing journey or even if you already have your strategies planned for other platforms we assure you that if you also integrate this platform to them your reach will be boosted like never before.