SMS Marketing Strategy: Is it Still Effective?

SMS Marketing is a messaging strategy that is promotional or marketing in nature. These messages are mostly meant to communicate time-sensitive offers, updates, and alerts to people who have agreed to receive text messages from your business.

In this modern era, SMS Marketing is still widely used even though it seems old-fashioned, but it is still used by many lines of business. Although there are many more modern marketing channels today, the use of this method has a considerable role in the business industry. The question is, is SMS marketing still effective amidst the onslaught of other digital marketing methods? Let’s dig deeper.

The Role of SMS Marketing in Business and Marketing

1. Effective communication tool
   SMS marketing allows businesses to communicate directly with their customers. The high open rate of messages makes SMS a very effective communication tool for delivering important information, promotions, or reminders.
2. Reaches a wide audience
   SMS marketing allows businesses to reach an audience that may not be active on social media or email. Since almost everyone has a cell phone, SMS can reach a wider and more diverse market segment.
3. Feedback and survey collection
   SMS marketing can be used to collect feedback from customers through short surveys. This provides valuable insight into customer satisfaction and areas for improvement. By using SMS marketing, responses tend to be faster and higher compared to other methods such as email.

Why is it still used?

There is research that says SMS is superior to email, here’s why:

1. 95% of all SMS are opened within 3 minutes.
2. The percentage of SMS opens is almost 5 times greater than email.
3. Click-through rates for messages are 19%, while emails are around 2%.
4. 98% of SMS are read, while email is about 20%.

In line with the Founder and CEO of MuteSix, Steve Weiss, quoted from Forbes, it only takes 90 seconds to reply to a text message. This duration is quite far compared to the time it takes to reply to emails, which takes an average of 90 minutes.

SMS Marketing Challenges

1. Character Limitation
   One of the major limitations of SMS is the character limit of only 160 characters per message. This forces companies to keep their messages concise.
2. Cost of Delivery
   While effective, the cost of sending SMS can be a challenge, especially for small businesses with limited marketing budgets. These costs can add up significantly if companies send a large number of messages.
3. Regulation
   SMS marketing is governed by strict regulations to protect consumer privacy. Companies must ensure they comply with these rules to avoid legal sanctions.

Current Marketing Trends

SMS marketing continues to adapt to changing technology and consumer needs. Trends such as personalization, automation, omnichannel integration, and the use of Rich Communication Service (RCS) show how SMS marketing is evolving to stay relevant and effective. By keeping up with these trends, businesses can maximize the potential of SMS marketing and create a better experience for their customers.

SMS Marketing Made Easy with APIs from Sandeza Intelligent
Sandeza Intelligent’s intelligent messaging solutions offer an easy and effective solution for SMS marketing. With advanced features such as automation, personalization, reporting, and data security, businesses can manage their SMS campaigns more efficiently and achieve better results. In the competitive business world, utilizing technologies such as Sandeza Intelligent’s SMS API can provide a significant edge in communications and marketing. Consult your messaging needs with us here.