Texting has become firmly established as one of the most straightforward and most direct forms of communication and is something everyone is familiar with and comfortable with.
That means that SMS marketing offers a lot of potential upsides when you consider how easy it can be to communicate your message directly to an intended recipient.
With the help of a business texting platform, you should be able to implement an effective marketing campaign and make the most of what SMS marketing has to offer.
The fundamental question you are probably asking at this point is whether you will see a good return from your marketing campaign. In other words, is it worth doing?
Here are some key points and considerations about SMS marketing to help you decide whether this marketing strategy will deliver the results and ROI you are looking for.
Why SMS marketing makes sense
The business and social tool that the vast majority of us use on a daily basis is a smartphone.
We are constantly using our phones to communicate, check for messages, and a whole host of other regular tasks. When everyone is spending so much time on their phones throughout the day checking for new messages and other updates it stands to reason that text messaging can be considered a powerful tool for reaching your target audience.
There is a high probability that the recipient of your SMS marketing message will see your message and read the content. You can’t say that about every other form of marketing available.
Understanding the mechanics of SMS marketing
Text message marketing is a simple concept that offers you the ability to make direct contact with potential customers in a quick, efficient, and cost-effective way. It uses mechanisms such as short code texting, text-enabled toll-free numbers, or ten-digit long codes in order to send out texts on a mass scale.
Using this marketing tool involves using a short message service (SMS) in order to create marketing messages that are converted into texts that are delivered to each intended recipient’s smartphone.
The act of checking and reading an incoming message has become a daily habit for many smartphone users. That means there is a high probability that the recipient is going to read your message.
The fact that there is a high success rate for getting someone to read your marketing message is already a persuasive case for considering the idea of using SMS marketing as one of your primary communication strategies.
It often pays to adopt an omnichannel approach to marketing and SMS can be used alongside other forms of communication such as email marketing so that you can increase your chances of achieving a decent level of penetration and response.
Does SMS marketing work for small business owners?
There are some interesting and encouraging marketing statistics surrounding SMS marketing that strongly suggest the response rate and cost-effectiveness of this strategy make it a worthwhile proposition.
Every small business owner needs to spend their limited marketing budget with care. You want to know that what you do could deliver a worthwhile ROI.
Survey data collected suggest that as many as 75% of customers are happy to receive text messages on a B2B basis. Even more encouraging is the indication that about a third of recipients are likely to consider making a purchase as a response to the text message.
There are lots of other benefits and potential upsides attached to SMS marketing that point to the viewpoint that it is a tool that is worthwhile, from a response and ROI perspective.
You don’t have to use SMS messaging purely to try and directly sell a product or service. You can also use this communication method to engage with your customers and build a solid contact list.
It stands to reason that if you manage to compile a powerful active database of contacts you should be able to use that list to increase your response rate and success with every SMS messaging marketing campaign.
A marketing tool that can be used by a variety of different businesses
Another great point to consider about SMS marketing is that it is a form of communicating with potential and existing customers that is highly adaptable and easily transferable across a range of different business models.
The simple fact is that text message marketing can be viewed as a powerful way to engage with your customers whatever industry you happen to be in.
If you run a restaurant business, for instance, you can inform customers of special events, discounts, or special promotional offers. Text messaging can be a great way of keeping in touch and reminding people to come and visit your restaurant.
Retailing has to be considered one of the most receptive industries when it comes to SMS marketing.
The mindset amongst shoppers appears to be that using their smartphones is integral to their shopping experience. Survey data has indicated that almost half of retail customers are responsive to SMS marketing messages.
Having learned of the potential attached to this form of marketing and once you also discover how little it can cost to create and implement a campaign the next step will be to find out how to put your plan into action.
How easy is it to use a platform?
There are a number of key features to look out for when choosing a texting platform for sending out your messages.
The editing tools should be flexible and easy to use. It can be useful to have access to a platform that offers you the ability to use message templates. You also want to see a dashboard that is easy to navigate and makes it simple to create lists and build your message with the minimum of fuss.
You will also want the ability to send automated text messages. This makes it easy to generate a message using a series of triggers, such as a new customer subscribing.
Another key requirement would be to have access to a comprehensive reporting system. Being able to measure the analytics of each campaign will enable you to make adjustments for future communications.
All things considered, SMS marketing for small businesses has to be considered a viable option as part of your marketing budget allocation.
Choose a business texting platform that gives you the tools needed to craft an effective marketing campaign and see how it might be able to take your business to the next level.
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