If you examine the success of big brands of the USA today, you will find that all of them are using SMS marketing to connect and reach out to their targeted audiences. As a small business, you too can do the same. The costs are not expensive, and there are reliable companies that will help you all the way to create winning strategies for your business!
How effective is SMS marketing for your business?
There are hundreds of big brands in the USA, and the fact is they are successfully competing with one another. They have chosen to make text messages a part of their marketing and promotion campaigns. This strategy of sending out personalized messages to a targeted audience with consent is affordable and highly effective. You can highly improve your rates of response and customer reach. This is why most of the big brands in the USA are highly successful today.
SMS marketing campaigns are successful because a text message sent to a customer who wishes to receive updates, news, and notifications from you has an open rate of 98% within 5 minutes of SMS receipt. Emails take a lot longer. Some emails are even overlooked especially if the customer does not log in his or her account. The email you send may get lost in a trail of emails. Texts are opened instantly, and they arrive on a cellphone. Most of your consumers will have instant access to their cellphones, and this is the prime reason why the success rates of SMS marketing campaigns are better. In short, if they work for large companies, they will work for you as well.
Research and statistics reveal that over 75% of consumers like to have their offers sent to them via text message. There are recent studies that reveal that approximately 35% of consumers that receive text messages click on the links received and around 47% of them go on to make purchases. If you compare them to online banners, they are much higher. Online banners have a click-through rate of just 6%. Additional research reveals that customers have a more positive attitude and approach towards a company that offers them text messages as communication.
Therefore, from the above, it evident that SMS marketing campaigns produce effective and incredible results for large organizations. In the past, a leading car racing circuit in the UK had released an SMS marketing message to its subscribers with an invite to a race. This campaign turned out so successful that it produced returns on investment percentage of 680%. Again, there is another example where a reputed cosmetics company discovered that almost 73% of its SMS list subscribers made purchases after they had been sent a text message. This means if large businesses can make profits out of SMS marketing so can you!
Email, mobile ads, and apps- do they fetch you high ROI?
Leading experts in the field of SMS marketing in the USA, SimpleTexting state that SMS marketing is good however this does not mean that mobile banner ads, emails, and apps do not work at all. They do, but they are not as effective as SMS marketing to bring in the desired results for your business.
The response time for emails is very low, and now they have continued to fall even further. There is evidence that sales promotion emails are often treated as spam by the consumer and directly sent to trash. This is not all- you will also find that the response rates for emails are very low as well. Emails are like the hit or miss components of your marketing campaigns.
Apps are generally kept for shorter periods of time. Consumers do download apps however most consumers uninstall them after 90 days of usage. If you are a business and have relied on banner ads inside your app, there is no guarantee that you will get returns on investment for it.
People today are using their mobile phones for shopping more. There are blockers for mobile ads. The traditional mobile ads are too costly and most small business owners will not be able to afford them.
Planning your SMS marketing campaign
Your SMS marketing strategy has to be planned. You must invoke the desired action from the consumer with the right text. However, most small businesses often fail to realize the importance of evaluating their strategies and do not get the desired results. If you as a small business owner are new to the field of SMS marketing, take help from professional companies in the market that have proven track records in the field. They will analyze your business needs and help you to create a positive SMS marketing strategy for getting better business returns and profits.
What are the common mistakes small businesses do in SMS marketing campaigns?
When you are planning your SMS marketing campaign as a small business owner, the following are three mistakes you should avoid –
1. Do not text any message to the customer without consent. Often consumers do not respond or get frustrated with SMS messages that are sent to them without consent. Moreover, if you send a message to the consumer without permission, chances are your response rates to the desired action will be nil.
2. Do not use jargons or ambiguous language. The language of the text message you send will only work if the language is clear, short and precise. This means when you are sending a text make sure it is short and sweet.
3. Do not text the customer at the wrong time. Avoid early Monday mornings or a time when the customer is distracted by holidays. Working hours are great to send a message to your customer.
Therefore, from the above, it is evident that you should plan your SMS marketing strategy carefully. Take the help of professional companies to create the right strategy for you so that like large companies you can excel in the market as well. This will improve your returns on investment and establish your brand presence successfully!
