Marketing is an important activity for any business to grow. Among the many channels/tools of marketing is SMS marketing. It has gained use in different industries and continues to grow due to its efficiency. Discussed here are 5 SMS marketing trends today.
1. Use of SMS marketing for transactional status messages
Transactional status messages are messages that customers demand. This include; order confirmation, order completion, payment made, withdrawal among others.
Customers are more likely to take action on a product shared on SMS than on a billboard or any other form of print.
SMS is not only useful to the marketing department but others like the human resource department. For recruitment purposes, a company can use text messages to inform candidates about their applications. They can also use SMS to inform employees of trainings among other important activities.
2. SMS Marketing is a direct marketing tool
More people use mobile devices for communication more than other electronic devices. This is a huge opportunity for brands and marketing to reach more people.
SMS marketing is one of the effective direct marketing channels available today. Brands have incorporated this with other marketing channels for maximum effect. With the efficiency that comes with it, brands cannot afford to leave this channel out of the marketing strategies.
3. Brands are embracing SMS marketing
Enterprises are using SMS messages to keep their customers informed. Banks are using SMS to send reminders, account statements, alerts on regular maintenance among others.
E-commerce stores are using this platform to confirm orders, ask for feedback, send reminders and general customer service. With this, customers can place their orders easily without necessarily accessing the e-commerce site.
News outlets and local communities are also using this channel to share news alerts and important information
4. SMS marketing is offering more conversions
Marketers are crafting their SMS content to include codes, coupons and links that make the consumer take various actions. Clear CTAs in the SMS determine whether the consumer takes action or not.
Did you know that you can use SMS marketing to drive traffic to your website? With the high open rates of SMS, brands use these to drive traffic to their websites. How? By embedding links in the SMS content. This is one of the SMS marketing trends that is if used effectively, can be a reliable tool to drive traffic to your site.
5. SMS marketing winning over email marketing
Statistics show that SMS have an open rate that is 5 times more than emails. This can be attributed to the high number of people using their phones on a daily basis. As most people have their phones in close proximity, they tend to open text messages sent faster.
Not that email marketing has lost its place, but SMS marketing is gradually proving more efficient than it.
However, it is important to note that SMS marketing will not work for all products or markets. It is therefore important to carry out proper market research prior, to find out which tool works best for specific markets.
