SMS Marketing’s Impact on Customer Engagement

Brands are confronted with an ever-growing number of potential marketing channels as technology continues to advance and change. Yet not every consumer touchpoint is made equal. With the help of text messages and messaging applications, more and more businesses are focusing on SMS marketing in order to build stronger ties with their customers. When done correctly, this omnichannel strategy may even be more successful than paid advertising, social media, and email marketing. How does SMS marketing operate and what is it?

SMS marketing vs. SMS customer service

Any text messages sent by a brand are typically referred to as SMS marketing. Some messages, however, are more support-focused than marketing-focused. Customers might get messages confirming the specifics of their online buy or nagging them to make a reservation, for instance. Brands may even provide text-to-order services, in which customers place orders by text message rather than through a website or app. Companies should seriously consider utilizing targeted messaging rather than chatbots and automated messages to offer consumers a more individualized experience and added value.

SMS marketing vs. email marketing

Brands urge customers to enroll in both SMS and email marketing so they can send content and offers right to their inbox or messaging app. Next, in order to continuously assess their performance and improve their tactics, marketers monitor open and click rates. The primary distinction is the frequency of user interaction: although most individuals only occasionally check their inboxes, over 65% of Americans check their phones every nine minutes, or 96 times each day. This has a major influence on open and click rates because SMS open rates can reach 98%, whereas email open rates are only 22%. Marketers need to consider how text messages can help their strategy for boosting sales, engagement, and ROI while not substituting SMS marketing for email marketing.

Challenges Of SMS Marketing

Poses a threat to reputation and brand saturation

Brands might be tempted to concentrate all of their efforts on text messaging due to the high open and response rates of SMS marketing. Yet, marketers need to exercise caution when it comes to the content and frequency of their messages. Customers are wary of fraudulent communication in today’s privacy-driven marketing environment, and they can misinterpret a brand’s SMS for spam. Due to the poor quality or excessive frequency of a brand’s SMS, customers may also unsubscribe from them. To avoid harming their subscriber list and brand reputation, marketers should look at best practices for sending timings and frequencies.

Risks communication breakdown and content imbalance

Brands must be as concise as possible with text messages because they are far shorter than emails, website copy, and social media captions. Marketers must, however, find the perfect balance between clarity and conciseness. They shouldn’t overuse abbreviations or slang, but they also shouldn’t use the maximum number of characters in each message. They run the danger of upsetting and confusing their clients if they don’t. For instance, brands can encourage customers to respond to inquiries with “Y” or “N,” but they shouldn’t use abbreviations like “CON.”, which might imply either “CONFIRM” or “CONTINUE.”