The pandemic has significantly boosted the uptake of SMS marketing. With a 20% growth reported as early as April 2020.
Which isn’t surprising.
People already have their mobile phone accessible at all times. And with the usual activities such as socialising, exercising, high street shopping, and generally ‘going out’ being restricted during the pandemic, people are using their phones around 200 times more.
So there’s never been a better time to communicate with your audience via SMS marketing.
Still not convinced?
Then here are 9 benefits of using SMS Marketing in 2021.
1.
High open rates
One of the major benefits of SMS marketing is the high open rates it generates.
In fact, it generates one of the highest open rates for any marketing channel. With SMS messages being opened up to 98% of the time by recipients. Furthermore, SMS campaigns can deliver an average response rate of over 45%.
It’s easy for communications via other channels to be missed or scrolled past. But with our reliance on mobile phones and the popularity of texting, SMS messages generally don’t get ignored.
2.
Low cost
As well as high open rates, SMS messages are incredibly cost-effective.
It doesn’t cost much to send an SMS message, particularly when compared to other forms of advertising, such as PPC or paid social.
And the simple format of an SMS message means you don’t have to pay extra costs to copywriters or designers.
Furthermore, since your message is being opened and read by up to 98% of recipients, you know you’re getting a great return on investment.
3.
Fast turnaround
With SMS, once you send your campaign your recipients will receive your message almost immediately.
SMS marketing requires little preparation. You don’t have to write and design materials, wait for content or landing pages to be put live, or design an eye-catching template.
The only thing you have to worry about is crafting a snappy message, including a link if necessary, and sending it to your customers.
4.
Highly flexible
SMS is an incredibly flexible marketing channel.
We frequently see SMS being used for delivery updates or appointment confirmations. But there are so many other campaigns that SMS is perfect for.
Brands can announce a sale or discount, send VIP rewards, launch a new product, or share their latest news.
The options are endless.
5.
Easy to integrate
For a marketing strategy to truly excel, it’s important that all channels work together harmoniously.
While SMS is a great channel in its own right, it is also perfect for supporting other mediums, such as email and social media.
For instance, sending a simple follow-up SMS to remind someone to open an email can increase email open rates by 20-30%.
6.
Reaches a wide demographic
48.37% of the world’s population owns a smartphone.
And that is spread across all demographics, no matter what gender or age.
That means that by sending an SMS message, you have access to an incredibly wide demographic. And SMS doesn’t run the risk of alienating recipients, which other channels such as social media might.
7.
Engages Gen Z
Gen Z are the generation that owns and uses their mobile phone the most. But more importantly, Gen Z commands a remarkable $143 billion in buying power. That’s almost 40% of all consumer shopping.
That means that brands need to grab the attention of this generation. Fast.
And with 55% of Gen Z using their phone for five hours or more every single day, SMS seems like the ideal channel to engage with them.
8.
Easy opt in/opt out
We are always advocating keeping your recipient lists clean, up to date, and full of engaged contacts. This means that unsubscribes aren’t a bad thing. They work to keep your lists healthy and your engagement rates high.
The process for recipients to opt in or out of your SMS messages is easy for everyone. Brands can configure simple keywords for recipients to respond with, that will instantly opt them in or out of any future communications.
This simplicity is great for keeping your recipients happy. And increases transparency as they know they can stop receiving communications at any point.
9.
Improves insight and reporting
SMS is easily trackable and offers important insights into customers who are engaging, how often they are engaging, and delivery rates.
These analytics are incredibly useful for businesses to understand their database and identify the most relevant campaigns to send to specific segments.
Not only will this help to improve ROI, but it also enables marketers to know which recipients aren’t engaging, and target them with other channels, such as email.
Want to integrate SMS into your marketing strategy?
Then you’ve come to the right place.
At Pure360, we are experts in SMS campaigns, and we can also advise you on how to combine SMS with other channels, such as email.
Why not get in touch to learn more?