Text messaging is still a valid marketing option to reach the young and the restless
Text messaging is still here
It is not surprising the fact that, no more than a few years ago, mobile phone subscribers worldwide, exceeded the landline subscriptions. Sending and receiving messages, taking and exchanging photos, checking emails or surfing around the web and social media, have all become a part of our everyday life! Hence, cell phones are considered to be the primary means of communication.
Even though the Telco industry saw a small decline in messaging, SMS is still one of the most frequent and direct ways of communication. It is the only one succeeding open rates above 94% each day! Even with competition from chatting apps like Facebook Messenger, Viber, Google Hangouts, WhatsApp and WeChat, people of this world still send 350 billion text messages per month. The reason for that? It is because SMS is universal. It is available on every mobile phone, whereas other messaging applications face problems with platform compatibility and internet access.
Big players are using it
Text messaging is personal and intimate. Big companies like Microsoft and Google are using SMS in order to pass important and delicate information to their users. So do banks with financial information. Nobody is going to send you your new pin, access code or password using any other way than a text message. Governments are using SMS to alert people. You get an SMS when your car is ready or when schools are not opening due to a snowstorm. SMS is still the fastest, most secure and direct way of communicating and this is not going to change for the years to come.
This is why businesses are using SMS. More than 50 billion SMS per month classified as commercial or marketing messages are exchanged throughout the world. Companies are using text messages to increase brand awareness, build a customer opt-in database, drive up attendance to events or visits to a store, improve loyalty and increase revenue.
Some things about text messages that you might not have considered
•Messages are going to get opened and campaigns fulfilled at a higher rate in a fraction of the cost.
•SMS is native to the mobile. Available in all devices and needs no internet connection to work.
•SMS is highly regulated. Consumers opt-in to the desired services.This helps to foster trust between the business and the customer, because people continue to subscribe and text messages to be considered as valuable.
•SMS marketing is not “spray and pray” any more. It can be as elaborated and automated as any other communication channel.
•Text messages can be personalized. Unique links can be sent and customer engagement and sentiment analysis can be measured and evaluated.
SMS, an often forgotten goldmine in mobile marketing
While you can have a marketing agency to manage your SMS campaigns, it is not essential for most small to medium-sized businesses.
There are quite a few SMS marketing companies with amazing new age tools that let you organize lists of subscribers, automate messaging, follow customer behavior, fulfill complex marketing strategies and personalize your messages in the same way other communication services do, like email.
Choosing the correct SMS partner can help you generate new engaging experiences for your customer base.Text messaging done right can help SMBs build personal relationships and exceed their marketing goals. Do not be afraid to use it. People will open and read your SMS. Even Millennials.
