SMS is the primary use of mobile handsets worldwide and is used by 85% of mobile phone users, that’s 5 billion people. This has resulted in SMS becoming ingrained in everyday communication as the functionality of texting allows people to keep in contact and be reachable 24/7.
According to a recent survey by the ‘Direct Marketing Association’ mobile owners in the UK prefer receiving SMS-based promotions over other mobile channels. As a result, using SMS to communicate with your target audience shows that you’ve understood their preferred method of communication which should make the recipient more receptive to you texts.
Another incentive to use texting for Advertising and Marketing is the ability you have to tailor texts to specific customer types within your target market. For example, you can’t be sure that your target audience will watch the same TV advert, listen to the same radio station or visit the same websites. Whereas with a text you know it’s going directly to the intended recipient meaning there’s a bigger likelihood of your message being read. Texting also allows you to set up various different SMS campaigns which fit a variety of different customer types; this is more cost effective than using different methods of advertising and marketing to effectively communicate with target markets.
Sending a text can be personalised and highly targeted as they can be tailored to different target audiences making the call to action more effective as you’re informing them about something you know is of interest to them. For example, if you had a promotion on a specific product you could look back on sales records and identify the customers who have purchased this product from you and send them the text. You can also drip feed marketing messages, so that you remain in your customers mind as a constant reminder if they ever have a need for your products and services.
SMS is also a timely approach that allows you to get your message heard then and there. Many people still argue that email is a timelier, more cost effective channel of communication. For example, did you know that from 10% up to 40% of all emails are opened (on a well targeted email campaign) compared to 95% of text messages? This identifies that many of the email’s you send are getting deleted without being read or go unread for weeks; by which time your message may be irrelevant. With a text message these problems aren’t an issue; you can almost guarantee your message gets read. As you know the key to making your message effective is to have a good call to action that will make your recipient respond.
You may be thinking how do I measure my SMS Marketing activities and how can I be sure messages are successfully received. The answer to that is a statistic report. These reports will allow you to track how effective this channel of communication is as you can track enquiries against campaigns to see what products; services and promotions are bringing in the most enquiries giving you insight into when your call to action works best.
It will be interesting to see how businesses take advantage of mobile as it evolves, the opportunities to communicate with customers will become even more advanced and those that use it effectively will benefit greatly by incorporating mobile in to their marketing plans.