While text messaging remains one of the most effective tools in digital marketing, nobody could have envisioned how essential texting would become in such a short amount of time. But what is SMS marketing, and why are companies hurriedly integrating it into their marketing efforts?
SMS marketing is the distribution of promotional content, including ads and time-sensitive offers, to be delivered to consumers via text messaging. Unlike with email and social media marketing, SMS reaches people immediately and directly on a device they check dozens of times a day. This direct line of communication has changed the way brands engage with the public.
In this guide, we’ll dissect all you need to know about SMS marketing – from the basics of what it entails, to effective strategies you can adopt that really deliver results.
Understanding SMS Marketing Fundamentals
What is SMS Marketing
Text message marketing, AKA SMS marketing is a permission-based marketing process that allows businesses to send text messages to customers who have opted in to receive text communications. These can be prolific messages like promotions, appointment reminders, order updates, or just useful details about products and services.
At its heart SMS marketing is about consent. Customers must opt‐in to receiving text messages from your business. This opt-in approach results in an extremely engaged audience that has already demonstrated an interest in your brand.
Key Components of SMS Marketing
- Short Codes and Long Codes: Corporations use special phone numbers to send their texts. Short codes consist of 5-6 digits which are easy to memorize and long codes are regular 10-digit telephone numbers.
- Keywords: These are the words that customers text to your number in order to opt into your messaging program. For instance, sending a text reading “DEALS” to 12345 could sign someone up for your promotional messages.
- Content of Message: In an SMS message, you only have 160 characters, each word needs to count. This limitation means marketers have to write brief and powerful messages that go straight into the subject.
- Compliance: SMS marketing is highly regulated. Otherwise companies could be penalized, as per rules laid out by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) among other regulations.
Types of SMS Marketing Messages
Promotional Messages
These messages lead to sales and special offers. They could announce flash sales, private discounts or when new products are launching. The most successful promotional messages are those that generate a sense of urgency or good value for the recipient.
Transactional Messages
Transactional SMS: It’s that message that informs a customer of their purchase or account information. Order confirmations and shipping notifications and appointment reminders are included in this junk. Customers anticipate and desire these messages, which have much higher open rates.
Informational Messages
These are informative messages and do not try to sell products. These could be trade secrets your industry, news about your company or educational content that establishes your brand as the authority in your space.
Benefits of SMS Marketing
SMS Marketing vs Other Marketing Channels
- Short Reach and Low Open Rates
The open rate for text messages is 98 percent, and most are read within three minutes of being sent. This instant accessibility makes SMS ideal for time-critical promotions or updates. - Direct Communication Channel
SMS: No need to clutter up someone’s email inbox or social feeds. Your message is instantly on the customer’s phone screen, and pretty hard to ignore. - Cost-Effective Marketing
SMS marketing is much cheaper than conventional advertising methods. Message costs are generally. combined with high engagement squarely in favour of the advertiser. - Personalization Opportunities
Today’s SMS platforms enable companies to tailor messages to customer information, purchase history and preferences. Such personalization leads to more relevant and engaging feed items. - Mobile-First Approach
Now that the world has gone mobile, and the vast majority of internet browsing on mobile-, SMS marketing perfectly connects with people and the way we get our information nowadays. It gets in front of customers exactly where they already are.
How SMS Marketing Works
Building Your Subscriber List
The process starts with gathering phone numbers of interested consumers. This can happen through:
- Website opt-in forms
- In-store sign-ups
- Social media campaigns
- QR codes on printed materials
- Contests and giveaways
Message Creation and Scheduling
When you have subscribers, you can send different messages to targeted segments of your audience. Many SMS platforms give you the option of scheduling messages for an ideal delivery time.
Delivery and Tracking
SMS is transmitted by SMS gateway providers who take care of the technical parts of sending out a message. You can monitor data such as delivery rates, open rates and click-through rates to measure the effectiveness of a campaign.
Managing Responses
It is two-ways, which means when you message your customers, you give them an option of replying and this creates customer service and engagement opportunities. It can be used to tackle fundamental questions automatically, while more complicated problems could go to human agents.
SMS Marketing Best Practices
- Timing Your Messages
When is your audience most likely to have availability to read and respond to messages? No early morning or late evening messages, unless it matches your business strategy. - Frequency Management
Strive for a balance between staying top-of-mind while also not causing message fatigue. For most businesses, 2-4 messages a month works, but it depends on your industry and what your audience wants. - Clear Call-to-Actions
Every message should have a clear reason and next step to take. Whether you’d like customers to come to your store, buy something, or visit your website, make the action you want them to make clear. - Compliance and Legal Considerations
Never message any one without asking permission first. Include easy-to-find opt-out process in every message, and thoroughly document customer permission.
The Best SMS Marketing Opportunities by Industry
Retail and E-commerce
Stores are sending out SMS to promote sales, offer exclusives, and give abandoned cart reminders. Because of the instant nature of text messages, leads make fast purchasing decisions.
Healthcare
Physicians’ practices use SMS for appointment reminders, prescription alerts, and health coaching. SMS is action-oriented, helps prevent no-shows and encourages patient communication.
Restaurants
Restaurants use SMS to send deals and promotions, new menu items, and updates on an order. Restaurant marketing is so local, though, that SMS is especially powerful.
Financial Services
Banks and financial services companies do employ SMS for account alerts, fraud notifications, and promotions. SMS is so secure and so immediate, why not use it for financial messages?
Measuring SMS Marketing Success
Key Metrics to Track
- Delivery Rate – The rate at which messages were successfully delivered to its recipients
- Open Rate – The rate at which messages read and opened
- Click-Through Rate – The proportion of your recipients who click the links in your messages
- Conversion Rate – The percentage of your readers who perform a specific action after reading your message
- Opt-Out Rate – The ratio of subscribers that remove themselves from your messages
Tools and Analytics
Most SMS marketing tools have robust reporting features to monitor KPIs like these in real time. Leverage these findings to refine your messaging approach and over time see better results.
Tried & True: Blunders to Dodge with SMS Marketing
- Sending Too Many Messages
Flooding your subscribers with daily emails results in poor unsubscribe rates and a bad brand image. When it comes to SMS marketing, quality beats quantity. - Ignoring Compliance Rules
Not complying with laws around SMS marketing can bring about very heavy fines and legal trouble. Compliance should always come before hard sale tactics. - Generic, Irrelevant Messages
Sending the one and only message to all the contacts does not work well. Customize messages by using customer data and preferences. - Poor Timing
The worst thing of all is that sending messages when you shouldn’t can annoy customers and ruin your brand reputation. Note the time zone and the customer’s schedule when designing a campaign.
Getting Started with SMS Marketing
Choosing an SMS Platform
Choose a platform with the functions you require, like automation, segmentation, and analytics. Some popular choices are systems that work with your current customer relationship management platform.
Creating Your First Campaign
Begin with a basic new subscriber welcome message series. This helps manage expectations and establishes the start of a relationship.
Building Compliance Processes
Define your consent, subscription and legality workflows clearly. It is this base that shields your business and leads you to long-term prosperity.
The Future of SMS Marketing
Plus, technology and consumer behavior keep redefining SMS marketing. The next generation of messaging (RCS messaging) will offer more advanced features and functions, while AI will make personalization and automation more complex.
SMS will be better connected with other marketing channels to create cohesive customer journeys on every channel. Those businesses who are able to perfect SMS marketing right now are going to have a huge competitive edge as these technologies mature.
Ready to Begin Your SMS Marketing Venture?
There’s no doubt that SMS marketing is an efficient and straightforward way of getting in touch with customers that can lead to real business results. Due to its high engagement, instantaneous delivery and cost-effective nature, it is an integral participant of modern marketing strategies.
Good SMS marketing is about knowing your audience, honoring their wishes, and providing real value with every message. Begin small, concentrate on compliance and slowly scale up your program as you learn what works best for your business.
The mobile-first era presents boundless opportunities for companies that will serve customers where they are. SMS marketing is the bridge connecting your brand with your customers’ most personal device — use it with respect!
Understanding what SMS marketing means is essential for modern outreach, just as maintaining a strong brand reputation is key to ensuring successful product promotion across all channels.”
