30 Dec 6 Reasons to Use SMS in Your Marketing Campaign
An SMS marketing campaign is an effective way to promote the goods and services you provide to customers. It is a tool that’s become more convenient as technology has improved, becoming an increasingly crucial aspect of customer engagement. With smartphones being so prevalent, consumers are beginning to expect brands to have some form of multichannel marketing with which to interact. That way, they can always stay in the know about the best sales and newest products.
Establishing a line of communication between you and the consumer is a crucial step in making your brand a household name. Thoroughly researched with noted, long-term effects on the success of the company, the benefits of SMS marketing cannot be overstated. If you have not considered adding SMS to supplement your marketing strategies, then here are six key reasons why it’s an absolute must.
Convenience
One of the main benefits of SMS marketing is its convenience for both your business and your customers. Marketing via SMS offers a quick and reliable way to promote your store to your consumer base on an individual level.
It is common for customers to have their phones on or near their person at all times. SMS, being compatible with nearly every brand of mobile phone, offers a concise avenue of marketing that is neither as disruptive as a phone call nor as easily ignored as an email. Sending a text ensures that your messages will be read almost instantly, thus prompting a faster response.
Additionally, these texts are convenient for a customer’s purchasing needs as well. Integrating services like package tracking, reminders of ongoing promotions, and occasionally providing coupon codes go a long way in increasing the overall satisfaction consumers have towards your business.
Feedback
The faster response times for SMS messaging also directly benefit the quantity and quality of customer feedback. Surveys sent via text tend to have better response rates than when sent by other methods. A common practice is to send out an SMS with the survey attached after a customer has finished a transaction to act as a natural extension thereof. With this, you can gather large amounts of customer data, using it to further improve your services and products.
Customer Care
SMS is unique among other marketing efforts in that it’s only applied to people who sign up to receive messages from a business. In fact, studies show that customers tend to look favourably on companies that use text as a communication channel. Since these customers are more likely to respond to survey requests, more information is collected on their preferences. Through SMS, a brand creates an experience customised to suit the personal needs of the consumer, offering discounts, sales, loyalty rewards, and other incentives according to their priorities.
Additionally, the use of a virtual number for all business-to-customer communications is a proven method of increasing customer loyalty. Having a single point of contact via SMS increases familiarity with the number and allows the consumer to recognise it on sight. It has been found that the use of a familiar marketing number, along with getting messages personalised to their tastes, provokes a sharp increase in customer satisfaction.
Automation
Communicating with customers through SMS means also being able to utilize an efficiently automated system to send out your texts. There is a level of control in an automated notification system that both businesses and customers can appreciate. A company can decide what form their SMS marketing will take, send it out to every customer or a specific sub-group at a time they deem to be as non-intrusive as possible for the customer, which leads to an overall positive experience.
Cost
Installing a direct communication system is feasible for nearly any budget. Of course, there are various platforms that offer text marketing services with a variety of differently priced packages. The cost of any marketing or operational communication, should always be measured against its effectiveness. While some mediums such as email are considered low cost, even the most effective email campaign can only hope to achieve a 25-30% open rate. When compared to that of SMS at 98%, email’s rate effectiveness can make it a more expensive means of communication.
Integration
With the relatively low cost and high returns of text promotion, combined with the ease of getting messages out to the public, SMS marketing can be seamlessly incorporated with any other marketing strategies you are employing. While it works perfectly fine on its own, you can get the most bang for your buck by using SMS to draw attention to your more in-depth email marketing campaigns. Or you can send periodic reminders of your brand’s social media accounts. Either option leads to a potential increase in email open rates or traffic.
Text promotion offers a great deal of rewards for a relatively minor amount of risk. For increased customer retention, loyalty, and sales, SMS marketing is a worthwhile investment.
Contact touchSMS for Business Texting Services
Do you want to get in touch with your customer base through texting? Would you like to hear about our affordable, reliable, and efficient mass text plans? Call us today at +61 2 9518 7455, or at 1300 794 419 in Australia to get started and see what automated text marketing can do for your conversions.
Our services include live delivery reports, auto opt-out management, SMS customisation, email SMS, and much more.