SMS Text Marketing is the act of using text messages to send advertising messages to opted-in individuals. SMS is an acronym for short service message. When it comes to advertising, Text messaging is probably one of the most undervalued approaches in the world of marketing. No one can deny that society has become almost solely dependent on mobile devices as a means of communication. It is important that businesses adapt to new and growing platforms like mobile devices in order to keep up with the needs of consumers.
SMS text marketing has the ability to help a wide range of B2C industries, from retail stores, to nonprofits. Not only are they meant to reach a wider range of audiences, they have proven to have a higher engagement rate with customers. In this day and age, SMS text marketing could prove to be one of the beneficial aspects to marketing your business. Integrating SMS Texting marketing to your advertising campaign will undoubtedly help your business grow by continuously reminding a consumer of what your company has to offer.
The Legality of SMS Text Marketing
According to the FCC “every business must obtain written consent from individuals before sending out any text promotion.” In other words, the customer must opt in, they can’t be volunteered. Does that mean you can send them an initial text asking them whether or not they want to opt-in? We’re not sure. But, what you can do, is write up an agreement that upon opting-in to email marketing, or upon purchasing your product / service, that they’re also agreeing to opt-in to SMS marketing. It should also be mentioned that those who opt in need to be given the option to opt out at any time.
The legality arose because SMS texts aren’t free, they need to be paid for by the receiver, hence why every introductory marketing text ends with with “standard msg & data rates apply”. This is similar to the fax machine marketing fad of the early 2000s, which became an issue because the cost of paper is also paid for by the receiver.
Advantages
One of the main advantages of SMS text marketing is that you can offer a discount or a unique incentive to your subscribers to buy a product on your eCommerce store or brick & mortar location. Perhaps you want to promote a new dish? Text marketing isn’t limited to just products or services, it could be extremely beneficial in the case of restaurants or cafes. Salons, real estate, grocery stores and chiropractors are only a few of the many businesses SMS text marketing can be useful to.
Secondly, incorporating this into your marketing plan, alongside email marketing, social media marketing, and direct mail marketing can prove to be extremely effective. Needless to say, our dependence on cell phones has drastically increased within the past decade. In fact, research has shown that Americans check their phones over 80 times a day, even on vacation! And if your company operates globally, more than half of the people on the planet own a mobile device. According to Rexibit consulting, only 48% of people are connected to the internet, while 64% have a mobile device. It could even be argued that SMS text marketing is more efficient than cold email marketing. Sites such as business2community claim that SMS has an average open rate of 98%.
Contacting your customer through texting establishes more authentic relationships by adding a more inter-personal touch. Depending on the type of content you decide to incorporate into your SMS text, it gives you the capacity to maintain brand awareness and influence customers to convert into profit.
How to Successfully Utilize it
To start off, you’re going to want to purchase a list of qualified cell phone numbers. From there, use one or more of the following 15 strategies to crush the SMS marketing game (in a good way).
