When marketers begin planning campaigns to promote businesses or clients, all of the mainstream methods spring to mind – advertising, PR, email, direct mail, social, PPC and SEO – but all too often SMS doesn’t even factor.
Why is this? Is there a perception that the medium is old technology? Perhaps it’s been tarred by accident claims, PPI or failed Bluetooth campaigns of the past?
Whatever the perception, the reality is that text marketing platforms are evolving very quickly, driven by technological innovation in the sector – so much so that the abbreviation SMS is probably a gross simplification of the breadth of the services.
Beyond this, exceptional engagement and open rates mean that SMS could well be the unsung hero of the marketing mix.
SMS open rates and customer engagement
The mobile phone is the most widely used communications tool in existence and the number of handsets on the planet has already outnumbered the human population.
On every handset the text messaging application is front and centre on all operating systems and as such, SMS has the potential to reach every phone on the planet.
With high open rates of up to 97.5% within 5 seconds of being delivered (Ofcom), engagement levels simply cannot be rivalled by other channels.
One of the best things about text marketing is the ease of use. Limited personal details are required, there is no spam-filter to get past, messages by their nature are short and snappy, they can be read on the move, scheduled for any time of the day and you can get instant, accurate analysis and engagement.
Beyond this, around 80 per cent of consumers say they haven't received SMS marketing messages from their favourite brands (Hipcricket) and are open to the idea of joining up to loyalty programmes, confirming that SMS holds great potential for marketers to open the doors to customer engagement.
How does text fit into the broader marketing mix?
Despite being around for years, text message marketing is still relatively unexplored by the marketing industry at large. This, combined with the evolution of phones and the technology of platforms, means that it is a fresh way to reach out to consumers.
The strength of the platform is excellent customer loyalty. Text marketing can be used to communicate offers, events, incentives, reminders, surveys, tickets and even loyalty vouchers. In fact it can communicate pretty much anything you can think of.
Being in this unique position, SMS campaigns work well alongside most marketing tactics – particularly social media, which is more focussed on customer engagement and email which encourages leads to website and sales.
Beyond this, there is an amplification effect. Forty five per cent of SMS campaigns generate positive ROI with the figure reaching more than 50 per cent when combined with other popular channels such as email and social media (Smart Insights).
In addition, campaign response rates are often as high as 24 per cent (Dynmark), much higher than traditional tactics such as direct mail which has response rates of 4 per cent (DMA).
The technology driving SMS
Technology has driven mobile marketing to the point where the breadth and variety of functions offered would impress even the most seasoned marketers.
Through cutting-edge platforms it is now possible to send SMS, multimedia messages and to attach a host of documents including PDFs, surveys, loyalty cards as well as offering the capability to create Passbook vouchers and tickets to drive loyalty with customers.
Furthermore all of this can be managed online, by email and even from a mobile handset via an app – so it is nothing short of a sophisticated cutting-edge platform.
Most importantly, the personal touch of SMS means it’s a great way for marketers to open and maintain a direct means of communication with customers to create loyalty, bring the personality of the business to life and ultimately drive business growth.
With wide ranging functionality now available on SMS platforms combined with unrivalled open rates and excellent customer loyalty, the text is poised to reclaim its rightful place in the marketing mix.
By Jason Palgrave-Jones, MD of Textlocal.
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