Living in an increasingly digital world means constantly reassessing your digital marketing strategies. Much of the world is glued to some form of digital media and faced with a saturation of information.
So, how can you stand out above the rest?
SMS marketing is one key piece of this marketing puzzle. SMS provides endless customizable options, direct communication, and, when done well, can provide significant growth for your business.
Ignite Your SMS Marketing Strategy
SMS marketing could be your business’ answer to cutting through the white noise where other digital channels cannot. Instant messaging offers consumers the speed and convenience they’re looking for when being contacted by a business. Text messages have also been one of the most commonly used communication tools for years now. On average 18-24-year-old Americans were found to send and receive an average of 3,200 text messages per month, with that number only continuing to grow.
By nature, SMS is direct, concise, and simple. Not only will your business benefit from the ease and efficiency of your SMS campaigns, but so will your customers. And in terms of engagement and click-through rates (CTR), SMS is unbeatable. According to Gartner, the SMS response rate can be as high as 45%, while email response rates are as low as 6%.
Key SMS Features That Complement Any Communication Strategy
Email-to-Text
Email-to-text is one of the simplest ways to enhance your business’ communication strategy. All you have to do is configure your current email platform with an SMS plugin. Email-to-text is a powerful tool to have in your communication arsenal, converting email into SMS format for specified recipients. Recipients can also reply via text, which will be sent directly to your email inbox. It doesn’t get easier than that.
Automated SMS
Automating any marketing system can increase productivity and efficiency. But automated SMS is also especially useful for speedy responses to clients and perfectly timed SMS delivery. By utilizing keywords and trigger responses, you can set up automatic replies to your customers. With relevant responses crafted ahead of time, you ensure your recipients aren’t left waiting.
Timing is crucial for any SMS campaign to ensure the highest CTR. Bulk and individual SMS can be scheduled ahead of time, giving you the ability to stagger a campaign or block out chunks of time to restrict automated reminders. Because no one wants to get a doctor’s appointment reminder at 3am.
Bulk SMS and MMS
With the simple click of a button, businesses can easily send hundreds or thousands of direct mobile messages. Any mass communication between a brand and its customers can be achieved with SMS and MMS. Whether it’s a reminder, sales promotion, exciting business announcement, or feedback invitation, bulk SMS and MMS are the most direct and prompt way to get your message across.
Plugins and API Integrations
Utilizing an SMS plugin or API integration is the best way to scale up an established business process. SMS integrations can be added to CRMs, eCommerce websites, and other platforms to provide simple, automated SMS functionality.
A range of flexible SMS solutions can be integrated into your current processes to satisfy diverse communication needs, including features such as:
- Order status updates
- ‘Welcome’ messages
- Two-way SMS
- Scheduled text messages
- Merge Send
- Reporting
- Contact management
- Account verification
SMS Marketing for Enhanced Customer Experience (CX)
Facilitating good CX requires businesses to implement a range of digital communication tools now that consumers expect more personalized experiences from a brand. With the flexibility to customize customer interactions, SMS is a seamless and simple touchpoint to create a positive association with your brand. Among 4,000 consumers surveyed in the USA, 65% reported that a positive experience with a brand is more effective than good advertising. And given that 63% of businesses with a focus on good CX experience an increase in revenue, it’s clear that a valuable and enjoyable customer journey shouldn’t be overlooked.
CX and Customer Loyalty
Improving digital CX is shown to correlate significantly with loyalty and revenue across 20 industries. And a critical step to ensure quality CX is to measure your customer loyalty. After all, how do you know what your customers really think of your business without asking?
When a customer feels included in the conversation, they know that their spending choices and opinions are valued. SMS and OTT messages are the most efficient way to directly communicate with customers and ask for feedback. These direct messages are personal in nature. Plus, gathering your feedback or survey results can be easily managed through a comprehensive SMS gateway.
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is one effortless way to measure and categorize customer feedback. The NPS is a standardized approach to measure a customer’s experience of a brand. Using two-way SMS, a survey is sent to customers asking them to respond via text.
Measured on a simple scale of 1-10, the NPS divides customers into three categories by how they rate a brand:
- Promoters (9-10) are loyal customers who will continue to buy and recommend a particular brand
- Passives (7-8) are satisfied customers but are open to competitors
- Detractors (0-6) are unhappy customers who can ruin the reputation of a brand by word of mouth
Compared to other customer surveys, the NPS scaling system is concise and uncomplicated. Harvard Business Review also found that NPS has a strong association with increased sales when businesses are given a high score.
Amp Up Your SMS Marketing Campaigns
When it comes to composing your SMS marketing campaigns, it can be hard to know where to begin. While text messages have an impressive open-rate as high as 98%, the message content still needs to engage the customer with a clear call to action (CTA). No matter what SMS marketing strategy you choose to implement, the message must always be highly relevant, personalized, and to the point.
3 ways to succeed with SMS marketing
1. Promotional Deals
Announcing a promotional deal or sale via SMS is an effective way to influence and encourage purchases. The terms of the promotion must be made clear in the message, including the exact discount on the product or service, with a direct link to purchase (if it is online). Making the deal time-sensitive is also a simple way to add a sense of urgency for your customer.
2. Loyalty Programs
Facilitating a loyalty program with SMS is an easy way to make customers feel special. Once a customer has signed up to your loyalty program, you can leverage the personal nature of mobile messaging by also addressing them by name. Customers are sent automated welcome messages, discounts, and benefits exclusive to your loyalty program contact list.
3. Alerts & Notifications
SMS notifications are the most direct way to inform customers on business announcements such as store opening hours, special events, new releases, and product launches. These alerts are most effective when linking to a landing page for a specific product or to provide more information.
In Summary…
The power of SMS to elevate your marketing and business strategies should never be underestimated. Text and OTT messages are the most flexible communication solutions that can be implemented in a range of company workflows. Instant and direct, SMS solutions are the key to exceptional business results and customer satisfaction.
About the Author
Gracyn is a Content Writer at SMSGlobal, working in the digital marketing team. Aside from cooking culinary delights and binge-listening pop culture podcasts, writing relatable, engaging, and useful content is what she excels at. You can find her online here:LinkedIn –Twitter –Instagram –WordPress
