How Relevant is SMS Marketing in 2021?
How Relevant is SMS Marketing in 2021?
Despite the onset of digital marketing, SMS Marketing is still a valuable tool to connect with customers. SMS marketing involves sending promotional and informational text messages, such as alerts and SMS coupons, to your customers.
There are many benefits of integrating SMS marketing into your overall marketing strategy. SMS messages have an open rate of 90%, so businesses can effectively use them to target customers on the move, wherever they may be. An SMS marketing strategy is also easy to integrate with other tools and platforms. In doing so, you can make your omnichannel customer communications more effective both online and offline. Therefore, SMS marketing can increase customer engagement by allowing you to connect with your customers in a casual and accessible manner. This connection makes them more willing to engage with your brand and purchase products and services.
Why SMS Is More Relevant Now Than Ever Before
There are three main reasons why your company should adopt SMS marketing in 2021: customers’ reliance on mobile phones, the pandemic, and consumers’ preference for an omnichannel customer journey.
Mobile-First World
Globally, access to mobile phones is becoming more prevalent: at least 90% of the population in developed countries own mobile phones, with customers spending an increasing amount of time on their mobile phones. In fact, US adults spend an average of 3 hours and 43 minutes on their mobile devices every single day. These behaviours reveal SMS marketing as essential for companies that want to reach customers promptly.
The COVID-19 Pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic has also bolstered phone usage. With people stuck at home, using their devices for entertainment and communication, 76% of consumers reported spending more time on their phones since before the pandemic. Additionally, a study conducted by PCMag revealed that 54% of users use their mobile devices mainly for messaging purposes. This figure is 14% higher than those who used their mobile phones primarily for calls and 27% higher than those favouring social media. Consequently, these statistics reveal that text message applications are amongst the most frequently used applications by customers.
Omnichannel Customer Journeys
Today’s consumers prefer a well-rounded and seamless omnichannel experience. They want to connect with your brand anytime and anywhere, switching between online, in-person, and mobile touchpoints to engage with your company. More specifically, customers are increasingly keen on completing transactions online, with predictions highlighting that 54% of sales will be concluded through mobile commerce in 2021. This means that all marketing touchpoints, including SMS marketing, should work cohesively, leading customers through a carefully optimized customer journey.
What Can Marketers Do?
Given the importance of SMS marketing, we’ve compiled five essential tips you can take on board to strengthen your SMS messaging efforts.
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Personalize
According to the 2017 State of Personalization Report, personalization is a crucial driver of customer happiness and purchases. There are many ways to personalize an SMS marketing message. These include segmenting your target customers based on their customer journey, utilizing recipients’ names, and using dynamic fields (e.g., location, company name).
To effectively carry out your personalized outreaches, your customer database needs to be up to date. In doing so, you can correctly leverage powerful personalization; if you get your customers’ personal information wrong, your messages may ultimately backfire, leaving customers with a negative impression of your brand.
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Simplify
Often, simple messages are the best way to keep recipients engaged. As SMS messages only allow you to send 160 characters at a time, your message should be concise: they should only include what you want to emphasize. To pinpoint what you need to convey in your message, you should ask yourself the following three questions:
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What outcome are you trying to achieve with your message?
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What points do you need to address to achieve this outcome?
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What SMS marketing features can you use to deliver your message effectively?
By answering these primary questions, you can deliver a highly effective message to your audience within the 160 character count.
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Use a Call-to-Action (CTA)
Delivering an optimized SMS message requires you to implement a call-to-action, which is necessary to increasing your conversion rates and improving your ROI. Without a CTA in your SMS message, your offer can pass both you and the recipient by. If you want your consumers to act promptly, you can create a sense of urgency using time-sensitive offers.
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Shorten Links
Using link shorteners, you can turn long URLs into shorter branded ones. While longer links look spammy and unreliable, short and customized domains are cheaper to send and encourage customers’ trust. This trust makes customers more willing to access your links and see what you have to offer.
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Optimize Timing
Timing is essential for marketing outreaches –– and SMS marketing is no exception. The time you send your SMS messages can significantly impact whether consumers see your message, how they perceive it, and whether they desire to engage with it.
While there isn’t a universally perfect time to send marketing messages, there are several ideal time slots during certain parts of the week. During the week, these time slots are 9 am – 12 pm and 5 pm – 9 pm. Between these times, people either wake up and begin their workday or end their workday. This is when they’re most likely to check their phones. On weekends, however, you should send your SMS messages between 10 am – 12 pm. People are most likely to check their notifications within this time slot before heading out for the day.
To Wrap Up
Unlike what some might think, SMS marketing certainly isn’t dead. SMS messaging is a powerful tool for your business, generating the most fruitful open rates compared to other channels. Given how it fares against other marketing outreaches, SMS can drive sustained growth for your business. As such, there’s no better time to adopt an SMS marketing strategy than now!
Want to increase your ROI using SMS messages? Need to integrate text messages into your broader omnichannel strategy? Request a demo with iwinBACK today and let us help!