The Power of SMS Mobile Marketing

SMS mobile marketing refers to marketing activities done by using business text messaging. This is a great way to reach out to customers and has proved to be one of the most effective ways of marketing promotion. Mobile phones are available with virtually everyone. Not all of them may use internet on their mobile phones but everyone has access to SMS. Even those who do not have a smartphone would have access to SMS services.

This ensures that when a marketer sends an SMS, it would definitely reach the mobile phone of the recipient. Most mobile users read the SMS they get or at least have a look at it. Studies show that 90% of all SMS are read within 3 minutes of receipt. This ensures that SMS mobile marketing is the most effective way of reaching out to existing and potential customers. It is a great tool for marketers to use.

The power of SMS marketing

There are many reasons for the popularity of SMS marketing. These include:

• SMS marketing is less intrusive than a telephone call. A customer who is busy with his/her work may not like receiving a phone call from a marketer. The customer may even block the marketer. On the other hand, an SMS is non-intrusive, since the customer has the option not to read it.
• The possibility of a customer reading an SMS is much higher than the possibility of a customer opening an email or receiving a call from a marketer. This makes it a very powerful tool for marketers.
• The response rate for SMS marketing is around 45%, making it one of the best promotional tools using digital technology. Even Google search results do not have such a high response rate.
• SMS marketing is much more effective than email marketing. It ensures six times higher response than email marketing.

All these benefits demonstrate the power of SMS marketing.

How SMS marketing is taking over all industries?

It is not just one type of industry where business SMS marketing is being used. Marketers from all industries and service sectors use it. The benefits explained above are the reason why all industries use this form of marketing.

The following are some instances of how SMS marketing is being used in different industries:

• The restaurant and fast food industry are using SMS marketing to promote offers. It can be used to make a customer order food (like a pizza or burger) by projecting an offer. A well-designed SMS with a call-to-action can effectively help restaurants get orders quickly. They can launch targeted campaigns to produce better results.
• The retail sector is using SMS marketing very effectively. This would be especially useful to reach out to leads who had not completed an order. Enquiries who had shown interest but had dropped out at the last minute can be contacted through SMS. A special offer to help them decide and make a purchase and be executed effectively through SMS marketing. This is a good way to convert leads that seem to have been lost.
• E-commerce sector is using SMS for marketing very effectively. A new customer can be acquired through SMS marketing by sending new offers and benefits of registration. Offer codes can be sent through SMS, which a customer can use while placing an order to get discounts. If a customer has products in the cart but not checked-out, a special offer message can be sent to motivate him to complete the order. SMS marketing can be used to launch campaigns for repeat sales to existing customers.
• The financial sector is also using SMS marketing. Earlier financial advisories and other companies used email marketing, which was not effectively because of advanced spam filters. SMS marketing allows bulk marketing, whereby they can send details of their services to prospective customers and the possibility of response would be high. Personalized messages to investors can be sent using SMS software.
• Business to business firms are finding SMS marketing highly useful. They cannot just send promotional messages but can also use SMS to send alerts to existing customers. For example, based on order history, a supplier can send an alert reminding a customer to re-order goods so that it does not fall below danger levels. Business customers would appreciate the professional way in which SMS marketing works.
• The training and education sector can use SMS marketing effectively. They can send information on start of new courses or start of a batch. Details of batch start date, scholarships or discounts offered can be sent easily through SMS. This is being used by large schools and colleges and by small institutions for marketing promotion.

As can be seen, every industry is adopting SMS marketing. It is truly a great way of promotion and highly effective in the results produced.