Definition, benefits, and best practices (with examples)
Marketing today is a truly omnichannel experience. Businesses need to connect with their customers across websites, emails, social media, in-person, and more. When presented with so many options, it’s sometimes hard to know where to focus resources.
SMS marketing platforms offer businesses a direct line of communication to a massive number of customers. A brand can speak directly to its audience and enjoy open rates that outpace other marketing channels. It improves the customer experience, provides promotional marketing for better conversions, and drives revenue.
This article will review everything you need to know about SMS marketing. We’ll examine what it is, how it benefits your business, and best practices you can use to develop your own SMS strategy.
What is SMS marketing?
Text message marketing (SMS) is a type of mobile marketing where businesses send text-only messages to subscribers. Businesses can communicate directly with prospective and current customers on promotional offers, important reminders, and delivery updates. Subscribers usually open text messages quickly and often. This makes SMS a perfect marketing tool for time-sensitive announcements.
SMS vs. MMS: what’s the difference?
Short Message Service (SMS) is another name for texting. It involves sending text-only messages to a phone. Each SMS must be less than 160 characters.
Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is a text sent with an accompanying attachment. The attached file can be a photo, GIF, video, etc. Each MMS can be up to 1,600 characters long.
Main types of SMS campaigns
SMS marketing campaigns typically fall into one of four main categories: promotional, transactional, conversational, and reminder. Each category has its own marketing goal, audience, and messaging.
Promotional SMS marketing
Promotional SMS marketing generates interest in a specific product, service, or event (like a new store opening or a new product launch.) The goal is to prompt subscribers to take an action such as visit a store or buy a product.
Examples of promotional SMS marketing campaigns include:
- Promotion
- Discount code
- Flash sale
- Giveaway
Transactional SMS marketing
Brands use transactional SMS messages in response to a specific trigger like an upcoming event, recent sale, or customer action. They are designed to provide a seamless and positive customer experience.
Examples of transactional SMS marketing campaigns include:
- Welcome message
- Appointment reminder
- Order confirmation
- Delivery notification
- Reviews or feedback request
- Password reset
Conversational SMS marketing
Conversational SMS messages use a combination of automated responses and human agents to deliver a chat-like customer service via text message. Conversational SMS marketing might be more accessible for some customers, offering service on their preferred channel. By providing customer service via text, brands can address customer needs immediately while streamlining operations.
Reminder SMS marketing
Reminder SMS marketing involves sending helpful reminders about upcoming appointments or events. These messages improve the customer experience with timely prompts. They improve attendance, which can mean more participants or more sales. By reducing no-shows and late arrivals, SMS marketing also lowers operational strain.
Benefits of SMS marketing
Marketers have continued to invest in SMS marketing – and for good reason. Benefits of SMS marketing include:
Direct access to customers and leads
SMS marketing provides a more direct way to reach potential and current customers. Businesses can communicate directly with subscribers without fighting through SERP rankings, social media algorithms, and external factors found in other marketing channels.
Higher open rate and click-through rate (CTR)
The average open rate for SMS marketing is 98% with a click-through rate (CTR) of 9.18%. For comparison, email marketing sees an average open rate of 20% and a CTR of 2.5%.
Improved customer response
When receiving communications from a business, customers are 134% more likely to reply to a text message than an email. SMS gives businesses a chance to improve customer engagement – leading to more conversion and retention.
Better access to customers and leads
90 % of mobile customers report opening a text message within three minutes of receipt. This instantaneous communication makes SMS marketing the perfect tool for delivering time-sensitive offers and promotions.
Increased revenue
Better access to customers, higher campaign performance, and improved customer experience all lead to more conversions, repeat sales, and (you guessed it) higher revenue.
Popular strategies for SMS marketing for your business
You can use SMS marketing to deliver any number of campaigns: abandoned cart, re-engagement, and more. Using SMS marketing software, SMS campaigns are also an effective tool for enhancing campaigns you already have for other channels like email. The type of SMS strategy you use will depend on a few factors like the campaign goal, audience, stage in the funnel, and what your team (and your MarTech) can support.
SMS marketing strategies include:
- Welcome message
- Appointment reminder
- Confirmation and delivery update
- Promotional announcement
- Items back in stock
- Abandoned cart
- Customer feedback
- Updated hours of operation
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6 SMS marketing best practices
Whether you’re reviewing an existing SMS strategy or building a new one, below are important steps you can take to optimize your SMS marketing efforts.
1. Get consent before sending
You can’t send SMS marketing without first getting permission from your recipients. You can gather subscriber opt-in through forms on your website, in-store signup, or through SMS keyword campaigns.
Once a subscriber has signed up to receive messages, you should send a confirmation text. This step isn’t required, but it helps you remain compliant with data laws. It also ensures you are only sending messages to interested parties.
To send a confirmation SMS, introduce your brand and thank the user for signing up. Allow them to confirm their opt-in by replying “Yes” or “No.”
Note: the opt-in feature isn’t only for promotional messaging. Remember to get consent for other SMS messages like order confirmations, delivery updates, or appointment reminders.
2. Make it easy to unsubscribe
Subscribers should always have the option to easily remove themselves from your SMS marketing campaigns. Popular unsubscribe options include a recipient simply replying to a text with “Unsubscribe” or “Stop”.
3. Announce your brand right away
When a customer first receives an SMS text from your brand, it will come from an unrecognized number. To ensure they don’t immediately delete the message (or worse, mark it as spam), identify your brand right away in the message. Then, highlight your offer and give them the chance to confirm or unsubscribe to receiving SMS messages from you.
4. Keep messages under 160 characters
SMS messages are limited to 160 characters, so each letter counts. Keep your messaging brief, to the point, and provide links to explain additional details or pertinent information. Don’t forget to use link shorteners to cut down on lengthy URLs.
5. Time your messages
SMS messaging offers one of the most direct ways to connect with consumers – when done at the right time. Sending an SMS message at the wrong time risks waking up a subscriber with a 2AM notification, interrupting a family dinner or sending the message late at night when the subscriber has already turned off their notifications. Make sure you’re sending SMS messages when customers are most likely to read them. Segmenting your audience based on time zones will help deliver messages at the right times.
6. Test, analyze, and optimize
Always monitor campaign performance and adjust as necessary. Open rates and unsubscribe rates for SMS are typically higher than other marketing channels. Are you starting a new SMS marketing campaign? Measure your unsubscribe rates for an initial period of time. Use that period as your starting baseline when measuring future campaign performance.
Enhancing your reach (and your revenue) with SMS marketing
With a whopping 7.49 billion cell phone users projected in the world by 2025, SMS marketing is an opportunity you don’t want to miss. The SMS marketing strategies and best practices outlined above will help you develop effective campaigns for more leads, conversions, and sales.
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