The digital marketing space today is saturated. All kinds of digital strategies are emerging. But the most important thing for consumers these days is immediacy and convenience. That’s why sending SMS marketing campaigns that are more direct, personal and dynamic is more effective. Boost your marketing with personalized bulk messages, increase your brand visibility and build customer loyalty. But first, let’s dive into SMS marketing and understand what it is.
What is SMS Marketing
SMS marketing is simply sending SMS messages to boost your marketing. It is a form of opt-in marketing that requires your contacts to sign up. SMS marketing is different from social marketing for example, where the marketer publishes public content on social networks for example.
With an open rate of over 98%, SMS is the best option to increase your brand visibility and build customer loyalty. SMS marketing may seem like a simple strategy, but there’s a lot to know about how to launch an effective SMS campaign. Here are some insights into this article.
Does SMS marketing really work?
Indeed, SMS marketing can be a great tool for increasing engagement and keeping customers informed. According to a study by Aspect, SMS is the most used channel on a smartphone, with 97% of Americans texting every day. In addition, SMS receives almost twice as many customers as any other mobile marketing strategy. According to the same study, 50% of customers make a purchase after receiving an SMS containing a branded offer, discount or QR code. SMS marketing is therefore a good way for businesses to get consumers’ attention.
With its 98% open rate in the first 3 minutes, SMS beats all other communication channels. Email and newsletters (still used a lot in marketing) have an average opening rate of about 20 to 30%. Moreover, as email marketing has become more popular, commercial emails are overcrowding people’s inboxes and are often interpreted as spam. By communicating with customers in the way they want and using a more original channel than your competitors, you will drive engagement and get a response. Plus, SMS marketing is cost-effective and easy to implement.
How can I use SMS in my company?
Your business can use SMS marketing for many reasons. The strategies apply to various industries such as retail, healthcare, finance, hospitality and many more. At RingRing, we have encountered many cases where SMS is useful. Discover some original ways to use direct messages.
Use SMS to send promotional offers or discounts
We all know the promotional offers like « 40% off on sports membership this September ». Create these offers in a limited time to create a sense of urgency among your customers. SMS promotions are an effective way to increase purchases by encouraging the recipient to make impulsive decisions.
Use SMS marketing to send alerts or notifications
SMS alerts and notifications send various marketing messages to your customers and keep them informed of significant changes. You can communicate about your store hours, new products and services, a special event or even
notify you of an out-of-stock condition. Include a link to your homepage or new products page using a URL shortener. Efficiency guaranteed!
Use marketing messages for contests
SMS contests have been around for decades. You see them everywhere and hear them often on the radio. And they’re still around because they get results. Indeed, contests make customers loyal, make you known by new prospects and especially enrich your database. You can then send marketing campaigns to these new contacts.
Use SMS marketing for your loyalty programs
As you may have noticed, SMS is often used to manage loyalty programs. With SMS marketing for loyalty, your customers feel special and appreciated. Be careful, users must have registered to your loyalty program beforehand. Register your loyal customers in a specific contact group where they will receive exclusive benefits and discounts.
Using direct messages to promote my business
As you can see, there are many ways to promote your business using SMS marketing. During sales, the release of a new product or service, for Black Friday or even throughout the year (in small measures)!
Above all, don’t forget to measure the success of your campaigns. Monitoring the success of any marketing campaign is essential. Don’t hesitate to ask for a free trial of our platform to test an SMS campaign and analyze the returns. Our experts will be happy to guide you.