The world of digital marketing is vast and robust. There are endless technologies and softwares out there that enable companies to create comprehensive social media calendars, send communications across a variety of channels simultaneously, and even track all of the consumer data associated with these communications. For someone just entering the world of digital marketing, there’s a lot to learn. Keeping all of this in mind, one of the most effective forms of modern marketing is actually one of the simplest. Text message marketing, or SMS marketing is one of the best and easiest ways for modern brands to connect with and engage their consumers.
SMS marketing is a type of marketing that makes use of the one item that most consumers worldwide always have on them every single day. Their smartphone. While SMS marketing strategies can be very effective, it is also important to remember that this is a form of mass texting, and therefore the strategies involved need to have a slightly broader focus. That said, SMS marketing comes with plenty of benefits.
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High Open Rates
One of the most important aspects in marketing is the attention of the consumer. This is especially true in today’s digital age that is hyper saturated with virtual experiences like social media. Not only has smart technology made it easier for us to live in a remote society, but in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote operations and connectivity became vital to survival, in some sense. This only furthered our everyday reliance on technology and its integration into society. As such, the virtual marketplace became even more robust and active as more and more brands entered. In turn, this meant that the consumer encountered more points of contact with various brands through a variety of channels. From paid ads on social media, to web browsing, to reading blogs and coming across affiliate marketing mentions.
Through all of this noise, consumers typically end up with a wide spectrum of communication channels, but they pick and choose which they’d like to receive notifications from. For instance, many consumers choose to mute social media channels, so they don’t interrupt their everyday workflow. Email is another good example of a communication channel that often sees low rates of response and low open rates because of how often consumers mark messages as spam or send communications straight to the trash.
Text messages, though, are very rarely muted by consumers because of their immediacy and their proximity. In this way, SMS text messaging and mass texting is extremely effective because it cultivates a high view and open rate. This means that at the very least, the messages being sent by the marketing team are being seen and read by the recipients.
The Convenience Factor
Mentioned briefly above was the proximity that smartphones and text messaging have with consumers. Because smartphones are almost always within an arm’s length, text messages are that close as well. Not only that, but texting has become a very personal form of communication. People don’t give their personal phone number out to anyone and everyone, so it isn’t only convenient – it’s an additional layer of consumer trust being built.
Because it’s so convenient and personal, though, it’s also important to be aware of the rules regarding and relating to consent. There always needs to be an easy, clear, and obvious way for consumers to either opt-in or out of continued text message and mass texting communications.
Very Cost Effective
Another benefit of building and integrating an SMS marketing strategy into your brand’s overall growth plan is that it’s a fairly cost effective form of marketing. The cost-effective nature of SMS marketing combined with its high open and view rate makes it a really great strategy for modern companies to embrace.
Light Design
One of the reasons that SMS marketing can be so affordable is because of the fact that there is very little graphic-design work involved. This is in direct contrast with most other forms of marketing which rely heavily on aesthetics, graphics, animations, or video.
Measurable and Mobile Friendly
One of the biggest hurdles that marketing professionals often have to overcome with their marketing campaigns is how to accurately track metrics. This is especially the case with forms of outdoor marketing like billboards or transit marketing in general. With the assistance of sophisticated technology, though, marketing professionals can get real statistics on the text messages and mass texting campaigns they send to consumers, like how many are opened, at what time, and other pieces of impactful data.
A Few Final Thoughts on SMS Marketing
In today’s day and age the consumer comes across countless brands, pieces of content, and other forms of media in any given day. This happens so often, that many of us have actually learned to “tune out the noise,” so to speak. Break away from the crowd and connect with consumers in a more personal and effective manner through SMS messaging and mass texting marketing.
