For marketers, email has become a tried-and-true staple in the arsenal to reach customers and prospects en masse. It’s dependable and it works. However, as the use of mobile phones has become more ubiquitous, SMS Marketing (also known as Text Marketing) is quickly turning into another great way to quickly connect with customers.
With a plethora of tools and services available for marketers to run campaigns over SMS, text marketing is now easier and more accessible than ever. All phones today also support MMS (Multimedia Message Service), allowing you to enhance your messages with images, video and other multimedia.
A well-constructed marketing program will offer multiple steps where you'll need to decide if it's better to text your recipient or if sending an email does the trick. Or maybe a combination of the two is the right mix. Let’s take a look at what sets these two communication methods apart, with a specific focus on why marketers are increasingly adding including Text Marketing to their marketing digital and mobile strategiesy.
Five Reasons SMS Marketing Performs So Well — And Why Email Remains a Powerful Contender
1. SMS is Fast and Immediate
Text Marketing, like no other channel, delivers on consumer expectations of immediacy. With billions of smartphones in use, marketers can now message nearly anyone in the world, instantly. So when your marketing calls for an immediate connection with customers — perhaps a time-sensitive offer or urgent business matter — SMS is the way to go. Email, on the other hand, is perfectly suited for communicating information that is more detailed, doesn’t demand a swift response, and is meant to be saved as a future point of reference.
2. Texting is Simple and to the Point
By the very nature of a text, your message has to be short and sweet. You’re only allotted a few words to make a brand connection — just 160 characters for each message sent. So be creative and relevant. An incentive contest, special promotion, or time-based offer that is designed exclusively for your customer can inspire an enthusiastic response. Conversely, email gives you the chance to tell a fuller story and is especially effective if you have very detailed information to share or if your message is not time-sensitive.
3. SMS Marketing Receives Impressive Response Rates
Take note! SMS Marketing can typically result in open rates around 82%. Studies show that text messages that include a URL achieve click-through rates of 36% on average. Do the math and you’ll see that makes for a petty exceptional ROI. Our SMS Best Practice Guide shares these stats and more. You can also use mass texting to improve your ROI: similar to bulk email, you can send the same text to thousands of customers at once to engage them with a special offer or coupon. While SMS is an exceptional performer, we’ve seen even better results when paired with email which, according to the Direct Marketers Association, continues to have strong open rates, as high as 25% in some industries.
4. Mobile Phones Don’t Have Spam Filters
Because consumers might likely receive dozens of emails a day, many are employing their email application’s spam filters and junk folders where, unfortunately, the better part of well-intentioned marketing emails can end up. Because of how email works, spam is almost impossible to stamp out entirely, in spite of regulations around permissions and consent.
SMS, on the other hand, has strict regulations enforced by the TCPA. Consumers who have explicitly opted-in to receiving text messages from a business should be able to opt-out at any point. This makes SMS a higher quality channel and the perfect complement to email. A marketing strategy that uses SMS for time-sensitive messages that require immediate engagement and e-mail for longer and more descriptive content can thus be quite effective.
5. SMS & Email Work Well Together
You’ll find there is no magic bullet when it comes to integrated digital and mobile marketing communications. But many marketing strategies can be even more effective when SMS Marketing is used in conjunction with email. For example: adding your phone number or short-code to an email campaign is a proven way to entice a consumer to interact with you. Likewise, you can send a brief mass text message encouraging your customers to sign up for an email newsletter tied to their specific interests. Creative tactics like these provide marketers with more opportunities to begin or continue rewarding conversations with their customers.
Communication APIs: The Backbone of an Integrated Digital Marketing Platform
The use of SMS Marketing is clearly on the rise. From 2015-2017, its use by B2B marketers has increased by 197%. Simply put, SMS delivery is synonymous with speed — offering greater immediacy and demanding significantly more attention than email and most other digital marketing methods. But today’s marketers know that SMS Marketing can’t be developed in a silo: it needs to be part of a holistic, omnichannel program: one that can easily plug into their existing CRM or database.
The use of email is tried and true, a current staple within any business communication. Take a step back and develop a communications plan that embraces multi-channel conversations with a simple text or a more detailed email to drive your business messaging home.
With Twilio’s Cloud Communication platform, you can do just that. Our cloud communication APIs — including SMS Messaging, as well as email, plus Voice, Chat, Facebook Messenger, and more — can be seamlessly integrated into your digital and mobile marketing ecosystem to ensure you are connecting with your customers on whatever device or channel they prefer.
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