How SMS Marketing Can Spark Changes in Your Business

Once upon a time, marketing was entirely physical. Things changed, and email was the next big thing. As spam emails started to clog inboxes, another change was made. SMS marketing is one of the most popular ways to give customers information about your business and its products or services.

Based on Forrester Research research, customers continue getting more and more texts from brands. It’s an excellent method to create authentic relationships with customers.

Today, we will examine SMS marketing services and what makes them valuable. SMS is a powerful way to get out your message, but we want to delve into why it’s a tried and true option for you to use.

The World of SMS Marketing Today

Understanding why free text message marketing for small businesses is essential requires a look at some numbers. Below we’ll delve into the monthly global active users for some of the most popular messaging apps in the world.

1. WhatsApp: Nearly 1.5 billion in 2017
2. FB Messenger: About 1.25 billion in 2017
3. WeChat: Around 1 million in 2017
4. Apple iMessage: Over 0.5 billion in 2017

In the United States alone, over 310 million individuals have a phone that sends text messages. You can compare that with the number of users on WhatsApp in the US for 2020 at over 68 million or on Facebook Messenger at nearly 118 million.

Pew’s research findings show that text messaging is the most common thing to do on phones. At least 97% of Americans use the installed text messaging app on their phones daily.

This is all to say that SMS marketing grants access to tons of people. Everyone is on their phones nowadays. That can’t be said for other market sections where things are more fragmented.

Some use iMessage, others use Facebook Messenger, and some use WhatsApp. Regardless of how people send and receive messages, texting is enormous. And it isn’t just a matter of everyone having access to texting. According to a Twilio study, 47% of people prefer to text when talking to brands, followed by 21% who like to use Facebook messenger.

How Does This Factor into Your Marketing?

When at least 90% of people want to message to communicate with brands, you need to make the most of SMS marketing tools. It’s best to choose the medium with the most customers adoption.

For instance, in the 16 to 24-year-old range, people use email and telephone much less than they are texting, messaging, and social media. Conversely, with the 65+-year-old crowd, email and telephone are still used more often, but texting and social media are also being adopted.

So why is free SMS marketing so important? There are several reasons people may be using messaging now more than they did in the past.

1. Demographics: Gen Z and millennials have been texting most of their lives. It is no massive surprise that they want businesses to be available through the communication forms they are comfortable with.
2. Convenience: Today, we live in a world of convenience. You can order furniture, book a vacation, and get tacos using nothing but a mobile device. Most people spend around three hours a day on their phones, so you need to meet them there.
3. Ease of use: Most people today are busy and don’t want to spend extra time on something if there’s another option. Of United States adults, 66% note that the most crucial thing a company can do to offer excellent service is value their time.

Why Is the SMS Marketing Platform So Powerful?

As we mentioned, SMS is the most used channel for messaging. In addition, you know that most consumers are interested in messaging with businesses. These are two of three reasons businesses should use SMS marketing to grow and succeed.

That brings us to the third reason. This boils down to how much mobile web traffic growth has been seen over the years. From 2010 to 2020, there has been considerable growth in global web traffic on mobile phones.

According to Oberlo, only 3.8% of web traffic came through a mobile phone. But when you look at the same statistic for 2020, that number has jumped to 48.6%.

At this point, you might realize that you haven’t focused enough on mobile users. While you might get more visitors through mobile, maybe you aren’t yet doing mobile messaging. You aren’t alone, and like others in this situation, you need to make some changes to be on top of the marketing game.

Many of your SMS marketing options are overly expensive. Creating a mobile app costs a whole lot of dollars. However, creating SMS marketing campaigns is inexpensive and relatively easy.

Other Important Statistics

At this point, you’ve seen that people prefer to use messaging to other communication solutions. Texting is also something that nearly everyone does. Those things, combined with an increase in mobile web traffic, lead to exciting numbers for any business to be aware of.

For instance, you can expect conversion rates of 29%, a CTR benchmark of 30%, and response rates calculated at 45%. Those conversion rates are impressive, but there’s more. People also check out, read through, and respond quickly to texts. On top of that, the open rate for text messages hits 98%.

How Businesses Use SMS Marketing

There are tons of different ways to use SMS marketing for business. We’ll review a few of the most common options below so you can choose what works best for your situation.

Text Message Sales Promotions

With about 50% of customers wanting texts about promotions and sales, it’s no surprise that these messages do well. Customers want them, and they can give you an immediate boost in revenue. This can be as simple as offering a percentage off a purchase for texting a specific keyword to you.

Product Launches

About 25% of customers are also interested in when you have new products launching. This is excellent for you after you do the hard work of creating something new and want others to see it. Send texts when the product is on sale, featured in the media, or when pre-orders can be made.

Acquiring Reviews from Customers

Sometimes it can take time to decide how to capture customer reviews. However, it’s worthy of that energy since it helps people learn about your company and choose to buy from it. Linking to a survey via text is an excellent method to use.

Text-to-Vote Polls

Polls sent through the text are a great way to learn more about customer wants and needs. You could ask them questions about a new product to ensure you’re on the right track. All you need to do is send out the poll and collect the answers to see what matters.

Are You Ready to Start Text Message Marketing?

There are an array of excellent benefits to customer text marketing. It can meet a variety of goals and needs for your company. If you need more insight into how to start or maintain an SMS campaign, consider browsing the resources below:

1. 10 Best Practices for SMS Marketing
2. 5 Awesome Benefits of Text Marketing
3. How to Build the Perfect SMS Subscriber List
4. SMS Text Marketing Campaigns 101: What You Need to Know
5. What Is SMS Marketing & Why Use It? A Complete Overview

You can also feel free to reach out to us at Esendex. Our team of texting experts can assist you with all your needs. We offer various solutions for mass voice calling, mass texting, and sending media to customers. Reach out to us today to find out more.