For some reason most companies are comfortable and familiar with the idea of using a wide variety of marketing channels but are wary of SMS (i.e., text message) marketing. With open and response rates for text messages as high as 98% and 45%, respectively, adding SMS marketing to your strategy should be an easy choice. Keep reading to find out why you definitely need to try it for yourself.
Consumers Like It
Contrary to most people’s intuition, consumers report that they wouldn’t mind receiving an offer from a brand via text, with 75% of consumers actually saying that they would like to have offers sent to them via text(source).
Text messages provide the opportunity for companies to reach consumers in a more personal way and tend to be perceived as less intrusive because of the deliberate opt-in action recipients must take.
Texts also have the advantage of being more concise and doing a better job of presenting the value proposition of an offer due to limited space, something consumers across all demographics and industries appreciate.
People are already accustomed to mixing business with pleasure when it comes to their mobile usage, with 80% of people reporting that they use texting for business purposes (source). Whether they’re talking with clients, communicating with vendors/companies, or calling loved ones, your customers are already using text messages for all kinds of things.
It would be wise to take advantage of this open-minded approach to the use of mobile phones by finding new, innovative ways to incorporate SMS into your marketing and outreach strategies.
The Engagement Rates Can’t Be Beat
Not only are your customers more likely to open marketing offers and communications via text, they’re also more likely to interact with you when you communicate via SMS messaging. Beyond their inherently personal nature, SMS messages are generally more convenient to receive, read, and act on as consumers check their phones dozens of times a day.
SMS marketing statistics prove that texts motivate conversion through your sales funnel from the top down, whether your customers are responding to an offer you text, clicking through to your website, or giving you a review of recent services.
It takes the average person just 90 seconds to respond to a text message while it takes up to an hour and a half for them to respond to an email with the same information (source).
Coupons sent via text are also more effective with a redemption rate of around 10%. Print coupons are only redeemed about .5% of the time and emailed coupons are only redeemed about 3% of the time (source).
Though texts are limited by the number of characters that can be sent at one time, those characters can be a hyperlink to a website. When links are included in text messages, they’re clicked on approximately one third of the time. That’s ten times more than recipients click on links included in emails (source).
This makes SMS text messaging a key marketing vehicle for time-sensitive, participation-heavy offers and events, such as contests, limited time/supply sales or event registration.
It Provides a Greater Reach
With approximately 92 percent of U.S. adults owning a cell phone, your potential reach for text message marketing is enormous (source).
This percentage is higher than the 68 percent who own a smartphone and 73 percent who own a computer. That means that messages sent out through text have a higher chance of reaching people than using messages that can only be accessed through the internet or computers, such as email, social media or mobile apps.
Of course, just because people own a cell phone does not mean that they text. However, the numbers for texting are pretty amazing, too (source). Out of smartphone owners:
- •100 percent of 18-29 year olds text
- •98 percent of 30-49 year olds text
- •92 percent of those over 50 text
This means that you have a very wide pool of potential people across all demographics with which to send your text messages, upon their signing up for your program.
The Return on Investment is Generous
Return on investment is one of the most important metrics used to determine the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. At the end of the day, we know it all comes down to the bottom line.
Text message marketing is a comparatively inexpensive option. Bulk SMS providers charge just a few pennies per text and the more texts you send the lower that cost per text usually is. In addition to paying per text, you can pay to have a short code (a five or six digit number that customers send a text to in order to opt-in to receive texts) and a registered keyword (the word customers must text to the short code in order to opt in).
The relatively low cost paired with the impressive engagement rates discussed above make text marketing one of the most effective forms of marketing you can use.
Interested in learning more about how you can add text messaging to your own marketing strategy? Contact a Banner Marketing rep today!
