The need to boost consumer engagement is pushing businesses to evolve and invest heavily in digital transformation. As more consumers make their phones a primary channel for communication and making purchases, there is a growing need to invest in mobile marketing. There are only a few messaging channels that are capable of delivering marketing messages en masse, which means marketers must take advantage of what’s readily available. A great way to reach the most customers and meet their real-time communication expectations on mobile is to utilize SMS with the other channels.
Additionally, personalization, such as sending the right message, at the right time, to the right individual can significantly impact marketing performance. According to Evergage, as much as 87% of marketers report a measurable lift from their personalization efforts. No matter what form personalization takes, more and more marketers are investing and finding value in giving messages a personal touch.
As marketers continue to effectively leverage SMS to boost consumer engagement, what makes this tactic such a huge success? Let’s explore some of the key reasons why marketers are gaining momentum with their SMS marketing efforts:
SMS campaigns introduce consumers to other mobile campaigns
Mobile marketers are on average 79% more likely to use other mobile-specific marketing tactics if they employ SMS marketing strategies. This is because companies that embrace SMS marketing quickly see the effectiveness of SMS marketing tactics and understand the receptiveness of their audience to the medium, informing marketing strategy all around. By leveraging text campaigns, brands are able to expose consumers to other active mobile campaigns. This helps increase response rates and exposure, while increasing the positive light and relevance with which they view a company. This is because companies that embrace SMS marketing quickly see the effectiveness of SMS marketing tactics and understand the receptiveness of their audience to the medium, informing marketing strategy all around.
Short links on mobile can boost conversion rates
Digital strategists are always looking for ways to increase conversion rates, which is why branded links present an opportunity for mobile marketing. Branded vanity links get up to 39% more clicks than generic short links. These links achieve higher CTR than generic links because consumers feel more confident following a link that reveal its origin. Branded links become particularly important with text messaging campaigns for security and reassurance reasons. From the recipient’s point of view, a link within a text could send them anywhere on the web, unless they are familiar with the domain name. Customers feel better about clicking on it, knowing your company wouldn’t be associated with spam or phishing sites.
SMS is a global communication channel
Over 35% of phone users in the world are best reached by SMS text messaging. While iPhones and Androids are commonplace in major cities today, it’s important to remember that nearly half of all cell phone users in the world do not own a smartphone. This means that more advanced mobile marketing campaigns — such as those utilizing apps or QR codes — are not accessible to nearly half of your potential global customers. This is worth considering as companies look to broaden their marketshare. The beauty of SMS marketing is it allows brands to reach new markets and appeal to a variety of demographics, in a mobile-friendly way.
SMS open rates outperform email
As a marketer getting consumers to open an e-mail takes a lot of crafty copy and even then the average open rate is only 20% compared to 90% through text message. Consumers naturally trust SMS versus e-mail, and believe it is a more personal way to communicate and receive marketing offers. Additionally, SMS is cheaper to deliver with a greater return on investment, making this tactic a no-brainer.
Moreover, the response rate of SMS text message marketing is 45% vs email response rates at 6%. So, not only are your customers more likely to open marketing offers and communications via text, but they’re also more likely to interact and engage with you when you communicate with you SMS messaging.
SMS marketing statistics prove that texts motivate conversion through your sales funnel from the top down, whether your customers are responding to an offer you text, clicking through to your website or giving you a review of recent services.
Text messages provide a faster way to measure your performance
It takes the average person 90 seconds to respond to a text message. While people are quick to respond to a text, they take up to an hour and a half to respond to an email with the same information. This makes SMS text messaging a key marketing vehicle for time-sensitive, participation-heavy offers and events, such as contests, limited time/supply sales or event registration. Companies can also leverage faster response rates to get real-time customer feedback on orders, customer service experiences, and brand opinions.
Consumers find SMS promotions less intrusive
When consumers opt-in to receive your marketing messages, 75% of them say they are welcome to receiving SMS text messages from brands. The personal touch that comes with SMS marketing, along with the fact that, for companies to reach out via SMS, consumers have to deliberately opt into the communications makes this an trusted promotional channel.
Finally, SMS tends to cut out the excess marketing fluff by presenting the value proposition of an offer due to limited space; something consumers across all demographics and industries appreciate.
See how the world’s most trusted brands boost consumer engagement by leveraging SMS in their campaigns, and how to enable this marketing tactic easily and effectively.
