SMS Marketing:
Definition, its Benefits & How to Get Started
SMS Marketing is the perfect mobile marketing channel to increase the customer engagement, improve your brand awareness and of course skyrocket your sales!
Its effectiveness is based on its direct nature, the easy implementation and the fact that it is extremely popular among modern-day consumers, who clearly wish to receive SMS marketing messages that are relevant and have real value.
What is SMS Marketing?
SMS Marketing is defined as the sending of promotional or transactional SMS messages to people who have agreed to receive text messages from a business. These messages include time sensitive offers, notifications and alerts.
If the above definition seems too complicated, don’t worry, in today’s article we’ll see in full detail everything about SMS marketing, and how this channel can enhance the digital marketing strategy of your business.
Must-know Facts to understand the power of SMS Marketing:
98%
Open Rate:
SMS marketing comes with the highest percentage among all the available marketing channels.
Easy
& Quick:
You can send either 100 or 1.000 bulk SMS marketing messages in just a few clicks.
Instant
Delivery:
Your SMS marketing messages are delivered in real-time.
5 incredible Benefits of SMS Marketing
Businesses usually use SMS Marketing to increase customer engagement and consequently boost their sales. SMS is an ideal tool to grab the attention of the audience, as SMS messages are read within minutes.
Let’s see how SMS marketing can benefit your business and improve your bottom line giving you a competitive advantage.
1. SMS Marketing is cost-efficient
Compared to other methods and marketing channels, bulk SMS messages are one of the most affordable options to communicate with your customers. Additionally, SMS presents one of highest Return on Investment.
2. SMS Marketing equals real-time communication
SMS marketing campaigns are delivered within seconds and what’s more important, the recipients read the message nearly instantly. The majority of SMS messages are read within 3 minutes, thus SMS is ideal for time sensitive offers and important alerts.
3. SMS Marketing is trackable
In contrast to advertisements such as display ads where the possibilities for tracking are few, with SMS marketing you know exactly how many recipients clicked your link and which recipients converted. Moreover, you can see which recipients don’t engage with your messages and so you can reach them with a different strategy.
4. SMS Marketing is precise and accurate
SMS campaigns are sent explicitly to recipients that have opted-in for such communication. This way, businesses can collect valuable information for the users and their preferences during the opt-in process. By leveraging this information businesses are in the position to tailor their SMS marketing messages and send accurate campaigns.
5. SMS Marketing avoids the SPAM Folder
An important advantage of SMS marketing is that the SMS inboxes don’t have any filters that can categorize the messages as SPAM, so you ensure that your SMS will be seen.
Are you ready to start with SMS Marketing?
SMS Marketing Categories & Types of Messages
As we mentioned earlier SMS Marketing is divided in 2 categories depending on the nature and object of the communication. The 1st category is the promotional SMS that have advertising purposes and the 2nd category is the transactional SMS that have customer service purposes.
- Examples of Promotional SMS
- Limited Offers
- Coupons
- Discounts
- New product launches
- Event Invitations
- Surveys
- Examples of Transactional SMS
- Order Confirmations
- Shipping Updates
- Multi Factor Authentication
- Appointment Reminders
- Account security alerts
- Critical Notifications
Tips for effective SMS Marketing
Promotional Campaigns
Get Consent: SMS Marketing is an opt-in channel, you must not send messages without having the explicit consent of the recipients.
Concise Messages: Keep your messages short, concise and to the point. Communicate one call-to-action per message.
Segment your Subscribers: Segment your recipients in different sending lists according to their profile and preferences, so you can send always relevant content.
Include Call-to-Action: Guide recipients to take a specific action and always include a link that makes it easy for them to complete it.
Be aware of timing: You can experiment with different sending times in order to find the perfect one, but always respect common quiet hours.
Examples of useful SMS Marketing Campaigns
Promotional campaigns:
Exclusive offer
Get 20% off your next purchase when you use code SMS20 at checkout.
New product launch
We're excited to announce the launch of our new line of organic skincare products! Learn more here: yubo.to/link
Flash sale
Get 50% off all shoes for a limited time only.Visit now our e-commerce store.
Event invitation
You're invited to our exclusive VIP event on [date and time] at [location]! Reserve your spot here: yubo.to/link
Blog post notification
We just published a new blog post on [topic]! Click here to read it: yubo.to/link
Are you ready to start with SMS Marketing?
Transactional campaigns
Order confirmation
Thank you for your order! Your order number is 1234567890. We will send you a shipping confirmation once your order has shipped.
Shipping update
Your order is on its way! You can track your shipment here: yubo.to/link
Appointment reminder
You have an appointment booked for [date and time] at [location]. Please arrive 15 minutes early.
Password Reset
We received your request for resetting your password. Use the One Time Password 12356 to login and reset your password.
How to get started with SMS Marketing
It’s fairly easy to adopt SMS Marketing and use it in your overall strategy. The only thing you need to get started is a reliable SMS marketing platform with advanced and useful features.
Key Features of an advanced SMS Marketing Platform
Opt-in Mechanism
Look for a platform that provides opt-in forms that you can easily embed in your website in order to collect valuable customer data and the consent of future recipients.
Personalized Content
An SMS campaign to have maximum impact and results has to be relevant and tailored for each recipient. So choose a platform that supports the personalization of the messages’ content.
Detailed Reporting
To continuously improve your future campaigns, you need to know what works, so look for an SMS marketing platform that provides you with detailed reports on delivered messages, opens and clicks.
Summary
SMS Marketing is a powerful tool for businesses of all sizes as it is affordable, direct and non-intrusive. It comes with high open rates, instant delivery and has the ability to boost sales.
To use SMS marketing effectively, start by building your subscriber lists and collecting their consent. Next, choose an SMS marketing platform with advanced features such as content personalization and detailed analytics.
Start SMS Marketing today to boost engagement and increase your sales!
Are you ready to start with SMS Marketing?
