In today’s fast-paced digital world, there is always something new happening. From the latest social media platforms to updates on instant messaging apps, the communication landscape is starting to feel a bit crowded. But one simple piece of communication technology that has endured and outlasted the fads is SMS messaging. Bulk SMS marketing continues to be an effective and cost-efficient way for businesses like yours to reach out to their customers and prospects.
In fact, Bulk SMS marketing has become an essential part of any successful marketing campaign, and it’s easy to see why. SMS has a high open rate, 98% in fact, and it only takes three minutes for an average person to respond to an SMS, compared to 90 minutes for email. SMS marketing also offers immediate delivery and an opportunity for personalised communication.
As businesses continue to invest in Bulk SMS as part of their marketing mix, let’s look at some of this year’s trends that you may want to consider including in your marketing plan for 2023.
SMS is all about the right here, right now
In today's digital age, your customers want it all, and they want it now! SMS is a brilliant solution for delivering on that need for instant gratification. SMS messages are short, concise, and to the point, and they are delivered instantly, which is what consumers want. People don’t want to have to wait for days or hours to receive information, which is what makes SMS such a valuable communication tool.
Along with instant gratification comes instant reactions. According to Viber, roughly 90% of people respond to an SMS within 3 minutes of receiving it. Include a strong and compelling call to action in your Bulk SMS messages, and you have your customer right there ready to respond.
SMS continues to outperform other marketing channels
There just doesn’t seem to be any other marketing channel like SMS. According to a report by Mobile Marketing Watch, SMS marketing has a 209% higher response rate than email, phone, or other social channels.
Whether it is the instant deliverability of SMS, the ability to easily send out Bulk SMS campaigns, or the jolt of dopamine a well-worded SMS delivers to a customer, SMS continues to outperform other marketing channels.
Customers prefer SMS for support
SMS can be an effective customer service channel. Customers enjoy the flexibility and ease of using SMS to ask for help, report a problem, or send a business query. It’s just more convenient. And it is just as convenient for you as a business to set up your SMS account to fulfil more of your customer service functions, such as payment notifications, order status and delivery tracking, appointment reminders, or to get feedback.
SMS is a popular and effective security tool
Businesses are increasingly turning to SMS as a line of defence against cyber security attacks or scams. SMS is a popular authentication method for online accounts and transactions. Consumers feel more secure using two-factor authentication (2FA), which includes SMS authentication. 2FA protects sensitive information by sending a one-time password via SMS. This password is then used to authenticate the person trying to gain access to the account.
SMS is appropriate for all generations and ages
Although SMS seems to be a tool favoured and trusted by older generations, it can also be used to reach younger generations who are always on their phones. SMS is a quick and easy way to get a message or offer directly into the hands of your customers and they are easy to personalise and adapt for your audience.
SMS is still the best way to get offers to your customer
Customers still appreciate businesses sending them offers via SMS. According to a report by SMS Comparison, 75% of consumers want to receive special offers from brands via SMS. Click through rates from an SMS are also much higher than for other channels such as Google Adwords. It’s the simplest and fastest way to get your customers to act.
Protect your brand reputation and build trust with SMS
Scammers are increasingly using SMS to impersonate businesses and deceive customers. As a business, you can protect your brand and your customers by using SMS to communicate with them, providing timely updates, and warning them of potential scams. Nothing builds trust like information.
SMS is a powerful way to get customers onto your website
SMS messages can be used to drive website traffic. By including a strong call to action in an SMS message that plays on your customer's emotions or needs and a link to a website you can encourage your customers to visit your website or perform a particular action such as buying, signing up or asking for a callback, not only increasing website traffic but also potentially driving up sales.
Increase revenue per customer and cross-sell with SMS
Every time a customer does something, you have data on customer behaviour, preferences and purchase history. And SMS is the quickest and most direct way to send a targeted message to each customer to promote related products or services those customers are likely to need or want.
This is a highly effective way to increase revenue per customer and deepen your customer relationships.
There are several strategies to make cross-selling through SMS more effective:
1. Personalise your offers
Personalisation is the key to successful SMS marketing. You can personalise SMS messages by using the recipient's name, location, or past purchase history. By using customer data to tailor offers to individual customers, you can increase the likelihood that they will make a purchase. For example, if a customer has just bought a pair of shoes, you can offer them a discount on a matching handbag.
2. Segment your customer base for more targeted messaging
Segmentation allows you to send targeted SMS messages to specific groups of customers based on their shopping behaviour and customer journey. Segmentation can increase the effectiveness of your SMS marketing campaigns by ensuring that the right message is sent to the right person at the right time.
For example, you might target customers who have previously purchased from a particular product category with cross-selling offers related to that category.
3. Make them an offer they cannot resist
Your cross-selling offer should be compelling enough to entice customers to make a purchase. This might include offering a discount or free shipping.
4. You do all the hard work for your customers
To make cross-selling through SMS as effective as possible, you need to make it really easy for your customers to take action. This might include having a link to a landing page where they can make a direct purchase or allowing them to reply directly to your SMS message to make a purchase.
SMS is getting smarter and more conversational
Another trend in bulk SMS marketing is AI conversational marketing. Conversational marketing is a strategy that uses automated messaging to engage customers in personalised, two-way conversations. This can include custom offers, reminders, customer support, and engagement-led drip campaigns. The use of AI technology allows for real-time, contextual conversations that can help to build stronger customer relationships.
How your SMS messages are worded is crucial to their success
You have limited characters in an SMS in which to compel your customers to take action. And most often you are competing with plenty of other businesses using SMS marketing to meet their targets. Getting the message right, creating a sense of urgency, connecting to your customers on an emotional level and ensuring all your communications are brand right, this is something a copywriter that specialises in SMS copy, well, specialises in. Effective SMS copy that resonates with your customers will drive conversions.
Remember “the customer is king”? Well, their feedback is the new gold.
With Bulk SMS you can automate customer survey sends or feedback requests and collect valuable insights from your customers in real-time. This can help you to identify areas for improvement and make changes to your marketing strategy as needed.
Why Bulk SMS is the most powerful tool in your marketing toolbox
SMS is a native app meaning that it is already loaded onto every new phone and doesn’t require downloading. And unlike other channels that rely on an internet connection to work, SMS can be delivered to any mobile phone, making it accessible to a wide range of customers. Additionally, SMS is a highly trusted form of communication that is faster, more convenient and can be easily personalised. You have a winning formula for a great marketing and brand awareness campaign.
If you want to continue to grow your business and customers in 2023, make Bulk SMS your number-one strategy. Contact us at touchSMS to see how you can achieve all your business SMS communication needs from our simple but powerful online platform.