Is SMS Marketing Extinct? According to new research not yet
Whenever I post a screenshot of a friend’s
amusing text on social media,
someone always comments on how many unread text messages I have.
“Why do you have so many unread texts on your computer?
Who are you ignoring, and why?
my friends frequently inquire.
The truth is that the majority of the texts I disregard aren’t from real individuals.
They’re usually brief marketing communications
that I signed up for and then promptly forgot about.
Whether you joined up for a mobile service,
medication alerts,
furniture store promotions, or another list,
you’ve most likely received a few SMS that you either deleted, opted out of,
or completely ignored.
With instances like the ones described above,
you could conclude that SMS marketing is no longer successful.
However, because individuals are more glued to their phones than ever before in 2021,
we may be wrong about the power of text message advertisements.
As it turns out, a recent Simple Texting study
suggests that text message marketing is still alive and well.
According to the report,
which polled over 1300 consumers and marketers,
more than 76 percent of businesses expect
to invest in text-message marketing in the coming year,
and 62 percent of customers subscribed to receive texts
from at least one brand in the previous year.
Why SMS Could Be Coming Back Strong
While members of our blogging team once stated that SMS needs to be
“put out of its misery”
owing to the world’s other communicating techniques at the time,
no one could have predicted the shifting landscape brought on by COVID-19.
Individuals turned to their phones and electronics more than ever during the epidemic,
which forced most people to stay at home, with 76 percent of consumers reporting greater screen-time.
When it came to messaging,
61 percent of customers raised or considerably increased the amount of time
they spend on their text applications daily.
SMS Marketing Effectiveness in 2021
According to Simple-Texting, 62 percent
of customers have agreed to receive texts from at least one business,
with 43 percent expressly subscribing to one to three companies.
When it comes to the efficacy of text messaging,
people respond to marketing texts that need a response significantly faster than email.
While the majority of people respond to emails between a half-hour to an hour,
72 percent of customers respond to texts within 10 minutes.
Aside from having a high response rate,
text messages can also have a high level of engagement.
43 percent of surveyed business owners and digital marketers that utilize
SMS marketing report click-through rates ranging from 20% to 35%.
According to the Simple-Texting survey,
52 percent of companies experienced improved opt-in rates between 2021.
However, almost 10% reported a drop in opt-ins over the same year.
While the higher opt-ins are in keeping with
increases in screen and text-message time,
the increased opt-outs suggest that consumers
may be just as fast to unsubscribe from text message content as they are to subscribe to it.
The Simple-Texting study, as well as other research, highlights to reasons
why consumers might choose to opt-out.
- Too many text messages from one brand
Sixty percent of Simple-Texting respondents
have unsubscribed from SMS notifications
sent by brands that send them too frequently.
Furthermore, 56% of those polled want to receive only one text message each week from a brand.
- Too many texts from multiple brands
If you increase your text cadence to two,
bear in mind that your subscribers may bombarded with messages
from other companies as well.
While your messages may still be relevant,
you may see a greater sensitivity to opt-outs simply because subscribers are sick of receiving text notifications.
- Meaningless content
You’ll need to hook your reader and keep them engaged with
the information they’ve signed up to receive, just like you would with email marketing.
Un-subscribes may occur if you send too much advertising content,
uninteresting content, or content that isn’t what people signed up for.
Tips for Launching a Great SMS Strategy
While SMS is far from extinct, text messaging or conversational marketing systems
can be difficult to grasp.
Keep these brief suggestions in mind when you contemplate or develop a text-based strategy.
- Understand your persona: People may rapidly sign up to receive your communications, but it won’t take long for them to unsubscribe. To prevent sending useless texts that go unnoticed, make sure you know exactly what your audience members are looking for and how frequently they want to get that material.
- Provide subscribers with what they signed up for: Remember that subscribers are giving you their contact information, and if you aren’t upfront about what you’ll be delivering or how frequently you’ll text them, they may swiftly drop out. Make sure you stick to what they’re expecting.
- Keep in mind that little is more: Nobody wants their phone to flooded with pointless over-promotional tests. Before launching an SMS campaign, ask yourself, “Am I contacting them too frequently?” and “Will they even interact with this content?” If you are concerned that the information will be ineffective, try simplifying your SMS timetable and delivering only the most important text material.
Best SMS Marketing Tools
Let’s take a look at some SMS marketing solutions.
SMS marketing solutions make running effective campaigns much easier.
We’ve hand-picked the best successful SMS marketing solutions.
OptinMonster
OptinMonster is one of the greatest lead-generating tools for creating eye-catching
pop-ups with gorgeous ready-to-use themes and a visual drag-and-drop builder.
Furthermore, OptinMonster effortlessly connects with any SMS marketing provider.
Furthermore, you will be able to select from a variety of SMS marketing campaign formats,
such as popup, full-screen mat, and floating bar.
Our customers utilize SMS marketing campaigns to increase their subscriber base
and increase revenue by offering unique discounts to SMS users.
Sendinblue
It is a top provider of email and SMS marketing services.
SendinBlue allows you to segment your audience and deliver customized text messages in mass.
You can quickly advertise time-sensitive discounts
and unique events with SendinBlue’s SMS marketing tools.
It has built-in statistics, allowing you to discover which messages work the best.
3. ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign, like SendinBlue, allows you to automate SMS marketing campaigns.
The SMS marketing tools of ActiveCampaign allow you to automatically
send flash sale notifications or appointment reminders.
It includes form creation capabilities, allowing you to gather phone numbers on your website.
Furthermore, if someone wants to unsubscribe from your list,
they just need to respond with “STOP” or “UNSUBSCRIBE.”
This allows you to keep your list supplied with only the most engaged subscribers.
EZ Texting
EZ Texting is a straightforward SMS marketing solution that allows you to send mass texts.
You can arrange your contact list and track SMS marketing metrics inside EZ Texting.
This service may used to deliver SMS notifications
regarding contests, discounts, and online promo codes.
It also includes marketing attribution tools for tracking conversion sources.
SMS Marketing Examples for Inspiration
There are several reasons to send SMS marketing messages.
- Offer a Coupon
- Advertise a Sale
- Publicize New Products
- Distribute Updates and Notifications
- Establish Appointment Reminders
- Gather Customer Feedback
The Top 3 Benefits of SMS Marketing
So, how effective is SMS marketing?
According to statistics, SMS open rates may reach 98 percent, which is greater than any other marketing medium.
Not only that, but the majority of consumers prefer text messages to other kinds of contact.
And, while some marketers believe SMS marketing is dead, preferring to communicate
with their consumers via email, there are several advantages to SMS marketing
that cannot overlooked.
Let’s look at some of the advantages of SMS marketing in more detail:
1. Lightning Fast Delivery
Mobile marketing is rapid.
When you send a text message, it is immediately delivered.
As a result, you may send out time-sensitive communications such as flash deals and event-related promotions.
For example, on Cyber Monday, you might send users a message to boost sales on that one day.
As a result, when you hit the “send” button, hundreds of users will get your message immediately.
Furthermore, people always carrying their phones with them,
increasing the likelihood that your message will see as soon as it is delivered.
90 percent of SMS messages are read in the first 3 minutes.
2 Much Higher Open Rates
When a user receives an email marketing message, they must “check” their mailbox.
This includes receiving a notice, accessing a smart-phone app,
and scrolling through their email. Users are more inclined to disregard
the email and social media alerts when they receive so many daily.
However, with SMS marketing, customers will receive a text notification
as soon as a new message is received.
Because individuals are more inclined to dismiss text messages from friends and family,
such notifications are less likely to be ignored.
Furthermore, most phones display a sample of text messages directly on the screen.
SMS marketing is more personal and distinguishes itself from other alerts,
resulting in a greater open rate than any other marketing medium.
What are SMS open rates?
They were as high as 98 percent in 2018!
When compared to email marketing,
which has a 20% open rate, SMS marketing blows it out of the water.
An adequate open rate is critical to the success of any SMS marketing strategy.
You’ve essentially squandered your time if people aren’t opening your emails at all.
3. Higher Response Rates
SMS marketing messages are not only opened more frequently by users,
but they also have greater response rates.
SMS marketing has a 45 percent response rate on average.
Your response rates might reveal whether or not your SMS marketing campaigns are effective.
For example, if a specific message receives a low response rate,
you may modify it and resend it.
If you get more responses the second time around, you know you’re on the right route.
Furthermore, greater response rates might lead to increased revenue.
Receiving SMS is the preferred mode of communication for many consumers.
In addition, 70% of customers believe that SMS marketing is an effective
method for firms to get their attention.
By interacting with consumers in the manner in which they prefer,
your company is more likely to receive engagement and a reaction.
Aside from these three fantastic advantages,
SMS marketing is also inexpensive and simple to implement.
You’re undoubtedly eager to get started now that you’ve learned about
the benefits of SMS marketing.
However, if you want to develop great SMS marketing campaigns, you must do it correctly.
SMS Marketing: The Good
Check out these suggestions
if you want to amaze your consumers with
SMS marketing and obtain the results you want.
1. Do Get Permission
Just because you have a contact’s phone number doesn’t imply you can call them.
Texting individuals without their consent or utilizing a mobile phone marketing
list to reach them at random is more than simply a blunder.
It is, in fact, unlawful.
Before texting users, businesses must obtain their specific authorization.
You may accomplish this in two ways:
Customers should be required to click an opt-in box,
similar to how they sign up for your email list.
For example, when a customer purchases on your website,
you may give them the option of opting in to receive text messages at the checkout.
It’s also vital to inform people about the types of text messages
they may expect from your company and how frequently they can expect to get them.
Keep your commitment to users by being explicit about the communications you will send.
That is if customers expect to get text messages exclusively about flash sales,
don’t send them text messages marketing new goods.
Conclusion
Make it clear what action you want consumers to take after reading your text message.
That’s all! That’s the good, the terrible, and the don’t-dare aspects of SMS marketing!
Text messaging may be a great tool for your business,
allowing you to convey crucial messages directly to your consumers’ hands.
So, make the most of it.
Keep these pointers in mind, and you’ll be an SMS marketing master in no time.
You may contact Nummero,a top digital marketing agency in Bangalore.