There are many ways to market in the twenty-first century, and businesses may have to choose between a variety of marketing methods. SMS (short message service) marketing has proved especially effective. This article provides information about why SMS is effective for marketing.
Marketing channels have opened up, and currently include a wide variety of ways of reaching customers and potential customers. Ways to reach people include newspaper advertisements, billboards, television ads, radio spots, direct mail, targeted direct mail, business websites, Internet banner ads, pop-up ads, and spot ads, the blurb that appears in search engine results, email, telephone calls, and SMS. SMS has been considered highly effective marketing. Why is this?
The Foundation
SMS and email have a special place in the realm of marketing, perhaps second only to face-to-face contact. This is for several reasons. For one, no matter how carefully targeted other types of marketing are, the recipient may avoid the effect:
• The newspaper might not be opened, might be only partially read, might be damaged by the weather or animals.
• The driver or pedestrian may not look up at the billboard.
• The television viewer might mute or skip the ads.
• The radio listener may be interrupted, or not listen for a particular week.
• Direct mail may be discarded unopened or incompletely read, even targeted direct mail.
• Websites may not be visited and URLs may be forgotten, negating the possible effects of not only the website itself, but also any advertising that might appear on the site.
• Users may ignore search result ads, and focus only on ranked results.
• Phone calls are easy to let go to the voice messaging or answering machine, where they can be erased without listening.
What’s different about email and text messages? Legitimate business marketing through email and SMS must be requested by the customer. Unlike all the other types of marketing avenues, these two provide merchants with a chance to be specifically selected by customers who want to receive their messages and who can stop at any time. Presumably, remaining on the list is a strong signal of interest.
These facts help explain the response rates percentages that indicate that 94% of SMS messages are read and up to 23% are responded to, whereas broadsheet ads have a 1% response rate, direct mail 23%, and targeted direct mail, only up to 10%. Note that the numbers are distinctly lower for purchased lists.
The Preparation
Obviously, the effectiveness of SMS marketing depends on the preparation behind the receipt of the text message. To get to that stage, the business must have already earned a customer or potential customer, led him or her to a notice of the availability of text message contact, and received the opt-in. But according to the research, the opt-in was often gained through the more traditional media – after all, you can’t send someone a text message to ask him or her to opt-in to a text message marketing campaign!
The Potential Audience
Because SMS is used primarily by a demographic that is somewhat homogenous—primarily 18 to 34 year olds—it is already easier to target than the population who have telephones, for example. Nevertheless, there are a wide range of different audiences concealed in that group. And of all the people who are reached with an offer to subscribe to SMS, only half a percent opt-in. That sounds like a low return. The key is, that once the work is done to get those opt-ins, they’re golden.
Other Elements of Effectiveness
Besides the focused audience, or niche market, there are some other reasons that SMS marketing is effective:
• It’s discreet. You can receive a text message with less fanfare than a phone call, and—because it’s brief—than an email, too.
• It can be interactive. SMS, particularly if it includes video, or other multimedia, can be more interesting and engaging than, say, a newspaper ad.
• It doesn’t go on and on. If you consider answering a phone call or an email, you don’t know how long it will take. An SMS can only be 160 characters, making it easy to anticipate.
• Deployment can be quick. The time from conceiving a campaign to unleashing it can be minimal, and far less than planning and working through a newspaper, radio, or television advertisement.