What is SMS Marketing, And How Does It Work?

SMS marketing, which is short message service marketing, is a marketing approach in which businesses and organizations send automated text messages to prospects and customers for promotions, for distributing information, or for transactional purposes such as special offers, appointment reminders, and alerts. SMS marketing is not confined to enterprises; it also applies to government organizations. For example, a utility company can inform citizens about a scheduled power outage.

Here are a few instances when SMS marketing is used:

Special offers: Companies can SMS special deals and limited-time discounts, such as a discount on home furnishings or an impending sale at the neighborhood store.

Appointment reminders: Reminders for impending appointments with physicians or other professionals.

Confirmations: Confirmations of recent transactions that include tracking information or other actions taken after the purchase, such as feedback forms.

Receipts: An automatic digital receipt can be sent by a physical retailer.

Alerts: Public service announcements from the local government, such as weather warnings or modifications to the days for garbage collection

Other types of notifications: For instance, if you are a tenant, notices of property inspections. Or maybe you requested that your bank send you regular alerts on financial activity, or you signed up for neighborhood updates. 

Scams or spam: Regretfully, a lot of us have also been the target of unscrupulous individuals who use our numbers for more sinister intent.

Businesses can employ SMS marketing for a number of purposes, even though most people only think of promotional activities.

SMS marketing is preceded by an opt-in phase. Subscribers can send an SMS to an automated system or sign up on a website or social media page to get updates, promotions, and other news and receive them directly on their phones. At the moment of the first message, an SMS marketing software stores the sender’s phone number in a database. The software then sends a confirmation text to ensure the sender opts in. When relevant marketing information becomes available, the number is then fetched and utilized. Customers are always free to choose not to receive any more messages.

Why is SMS marketing important?

People can sometimes be overwhelmed by the swarm of SMS messages they receive. For marketers, the decision also poses a problem: which channel is more effective for reaching your target audience? 

Among the many options available to marketers, SMS marketing is unique:

• High open rates, much more than those of email marketing.
• Instant communication. Because most individuals read their communications quickly, there are opportunities for timely engagement.
• Direct and personal. An SMS message is sent straight from the business to the consumer’s pocket, bypassing any platform filters. It is therefore the most intimate and direct route.
• Almost everyone has a cell phone, which translates to a wide reach for SMS. 
• It has a high return on investment (ROI) making it cost effective.

What benefits does SMS marketing offer?

The fact that individuals are more inclined to trust text than other marketing methods is arguably the largest advantage of SMS marketing services. Spam accounts for less than 5 percent of all texts received; the vast majority of SMS are authentic. SMS text messages have a 98% open rate. This is far higher than the 22% open rate of email marketing, which is among the most successful strategies now in use.

Another advantage of SMS marketing is how fast you can communicate with your customers. According to research, the average response time for SMS texts is 90 seconds, as opposed to the hours, if not days, it may take to answer via other methods. According to IDC Research, 80% of Americans have their phones on them for over 20 hours a day. So, when customers receive a text from you, there is a very high chance they will read it.

How can businesses make use of SMS marketing?

Businesses that want to get into this segment must be mindful of some best practices:

Provide value

SMS messaging is personal. Most individuals only text close friends and family, so if they’ve accepted you into their inner circle, you must make the offer worthy. By segmenting your contacts, you can send personalized messages to them. When your subscribers receive a text from your company, they will be eager to open it.

Similarly, make the deals, offers, and information you send via SMS exclusive. If your subscribers can get the same bargains through your emails, print ads, or website, SMS messages lose their attraction. Ensure that opting in is worth it for your subscribers.

Be mindful of timing.

When do customers prefer to hear from you? Probably not between 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m., especially if your business isn’t operating during those hours. And in most cases, weekends too. Monitor the times when users are most engaged on your mobile site to determine the best times to give out deals and other information. 

Additionally, ensure that when users opt-in, your system is ready to give an immediate confirmation. If someone opts in but does not hear from you for several weeks or months, they may lose interest.

Monitor results and refine your approach.

If you want your SMS marketing strategy to be effective, you must monitor its performance. Track the number of opt-outs from each SMS and use that information to identify which types of material generate the best results.

How can you determine which SMS marketing solution is ideal for you?

As you look for the appropriate solution for your organization to adopt SMS marketing, keep the following questions in mind:

What are the features of this solution?

Does it allow you to automate SMS scheduling? Does it provide analytics to help you track and provide insights on customer behavior? Does it offer an easy interface for managing the contacts you’ve gathered? Can it handle what you need it to?

How easy is it to integrate into your existing CRM?

Your organization has most certainly established an infrastructure to keep operations running smoothly. How quickly does a new tool integrate into your tech stack without causing disruptions? 

Once set up, how user-friendly is it?

How intuitive is the solution? How quickly can your existing employees start using it? What about new employees hired later? How effectively does it integrate with your existing systems? How easily does it sync with your contact database?

People and their phones have an intimate relationship. SMS marketing builds on that relationship. SMS ensures that recipients are engaged by delivering direct, personal marketing to prospects and customers, as well as the option to opt in or out of participation. Despite this, SMS marketing is frequently disregarded when businesses come up with their marketing plans. Make use of this effective marketing channel. SMS marketing gets your message where it needs to be – in the hands of your customers.

How GirikSMS can help?

GirikSMS, a 100% native Salesforce messaging app, can provide a comprehensive SMS solution for your business.

GirikSMS allows you to create, build, and deploy automated text marketing campaigns while employing powerful AI technology to accelerate engagement. With an in-built template library for hundreds of use cases and a user-friendly point-and-click interface, you can manage, track, and optimize SMS campaigns, as well as send notifications and alerts. 

Discover how GirikSMS-powered SMS for Salesforce can help you leverage SMS marketing to build deeper customer engagement.