Transactional messaging is another SMS marketing use case and helps improve the customer experience. It involves sending business-critical texts to customers, like PIN codes for two-factor authentication (2FA), order confirmations and delivery updates.
Text message marketing offers masses of potential for reaching customers and connecting them with them on a personal level. Check out the benefits of SMS marketing below...
1. Global reach
SMS is easily accessible for virtually everyone around the world. Even people with basic feature phones – those without WiFi connectivity – can send and receive text messages.
Despite the abundant choice of instant messaging apps available, smartphone users still rely on traditional text messaging because SMS can reach them when they don't have an internet signal. (For instance, if they're in a remote area or their home internet service is disrupted.) To that end, SMS ensures that important messages can reach all recipients, with no one left behind or ignored.
2. No delays
Texts are delivered almost instantly – there's no significant lapse between hitting 'send' and your recipients receiving your message. According to Reviews.org, 75% of Americans can't go for five minutes without checking their phones after getting a notification. So, the chances of your text being opened and read quickly are high.
This makes SMS ideal for time-sensitive messages, such as:
2FA PIN codes, which expire after a few minutes.
Limited-time discounts and flash sales, where customers only have a specific number of hours to make a purchase.
Holiday greetings or birthday messages.
Service downtime updates that need to be sent in real-time.
Urgent alerts like flood warnings, roadblocks or evacuation instructions.
3. High open and response rates
Texts have a high reach and, therefore, offer high deliverability. There's less chance of your messages being marked as spam than email unless you indulge in dodgy practices – like texting recipients way too much or sending texts that aren't relevant to them. (This will lead to your Sender ID getting blocked or reported to mobile operators.)
That said, providing you send well-timed, quality content via text, your audience will likely see, open and read your message. People instinctively know that text messages are short and it takes just seconds to digest them. Email marketing, on the other hand, is more likely to be long-form content that recipients put on the back burner to read properly when they have time – if they get around to it. (Emails can also easily get lost or go unnoticed in a cluttered inbox.)
4. Personal touch
Texting is like chatting with a friend and seems to the recipient like you're having a personal, one-to-one conversation with them. By using a mass texting platform that supports personalisation, you can add variables to your message content, such as customers' first names or products they've purchased, making the content highly relevant to the recipient.
By combining your customer data insights with a sophisticated messaging platform, the opportunities for targeted communications are endless. So, on customers' birthdays, you could send an automated Happy Birthday message – a nice gesture that keeps your brand front of mind. Or how about recommending a product you think customers have run out of based on their past purchase history? Personalised SMS marketing campaigns like these make customers feel valued, increasing loyalty and trust.
5. Easy language and greater engagement
SMS messages, being concise, are easy to understand for most people. And by using common texting abbreviations, you can say more than you'd think. Texts are generally an informal way of communicating – so there's less to think or worry about regarding tone of voice.
By setting up two-way SMS, customers can reply to you. They can type out their response and fire a text back without taking up much time. Or you can give them a choice of answers, e.g., 'text Y or N' or 'reply 1 for Agree or 2 for Disagree' to enable them to respond even more quickly.
Because text messaging is so convenient, you can achieve a greater number of responses compared to other channels – and quicker responses at that. Texting is perfect for surveys, feedback requests, polls, text-to-win competitions and other SMS marketing messages designed to increase customer engagement.
6. Affordability
One of the best things about text message marketing is that it's more cost-effective than other marketing methods, such as paid online ads, direct mail and printed advertising.
Check out some of Messente's SMS prices below:
500 one-way texts to France = €29 (€0.058 per SMS).
500 one-way texts to the UK = €20 (€0.040 per SMS).
500 one-way texts to the U.S. = €10 (€0.020 per SMS).
*Calculate SMS pricing according to your requirements in over 190 countries.
Messente's Managing Partner, Uku Tomikas, uses cost-per-click as a comparison point when talking about SMS pricing. In our Black Friday Messaging Maven podcast episode, Uku said, "The average global SMS price is around 67 cents, and average click-through rates are between 17% and 49%. SMS, therefore, gives you a cost-per-click of 14 to 40 cents. This is way cheaper than the average cost-per-click for Google ads, which is between €2 to €4 (or dollars)."
7. Requires explicit permission from customers
Data protection laws, such as the GDPR, stipulate that you must obtain recipients' express consent to receive SMS marketing campaigns from your business. This involves providing a way for people to actively 'opt-in' to receive your text messages. It can be as simple as customers ticking an opt-in checkbox on a signup form or as they proceed through your online checkout.
As well as being a legal requirement, customers feel empowered when they're given a choice over whether your business can or can't send them marketing messages. Recipients are in control: they don't need to worry about the possible repercussions of signing up for your campaigns, as they can easily unsubscribe again – supplying an opt-out method is also part of your legal obligations.
8. Improved customer loyalty
Because subscribers must willingly opt-in to your SMS campaigns, you have peace of mind that your contacts genuinely want to hear from your business and find value in your offering. This means everything in marketing, as you effectively have a pool of people that will potentially convert from being warm leads to paying customers.
Your job is to build a rapport with customers and deliver quality, meaningful SMS communications to gain their trust and loyalty over time. Providing you get your SMS marketing strategy right, you can expect an excellent return on your marketing spend, attracting more first-time customers and repeat buyers.
9. Easy campaign management and performance tracking
Campaign management is a vital reason you should partner with an SMS provider, as they'll provide you with all the necessary tools to run your SMS marketing efforts smoothly.
Messente, for example, gives you a user-friendly dashboard, campaign composer tools and templates, contact management features, analytics and delivery reports, and more. This helps you launch, manage and keep track of your SMS campaigns to see how they're performing – something you can't do using your default SMS app on your mobile device.
How can SMS marketing help to grow a business?
SMS marketing offers enormous potential to reach your target audience. It's a direct communication channel with global reach and exceptionally high open and response rates. Your messages will be delivered in almost real-time, making them perfect for time-sensitive content – and it's easy to add a personal touch, even if you text in bulk to thousands of recipients simultaneously.
Texts are short and, therefore, quick to read – so they elicit responses better than other channels like email. You can use SMS messages to build loyalty, empower customers and grow their lifetime value.
Finally, by using a professional SMS marketing platform, you'll get all the tools you need to deliver high-quality campaigns, track performance, and manage your subscriber list.
Discover Messente today – sign up for free to see how our system works.
