9 Reasons why the best marketers use SMS marketing

Why use sms marketing?

SMS marketing has been around a very long time but its ubiquity and platform independence makes it more popular today than ever before - something that the very best marketers know all too well. You also know by now that 7 billion people own cell phones and that the open rate for SMS is cited as 98%, making SMS the superpower marketing tool you can't ignore.

9 reasons to integrate SMS marketing into your next marketing campaign:

It's affordable

When you have many budgets to balance, the scalability of SMS marketing is very attractive. It's suitable for any size of the business, from a small hair salon to a multi-national operation. Depending on your needs, you could opt for a pay-as-you-go messaging option which keeps you in control of your marketing spend.

It has a high ROI

Whatever currency you think in, one SMS will cost you mere cents or pence but generally results in a huge uptake teamed with an incentive such as an exclusive discount or offer. SMS marketing is vastly more cost-effective than traditional media spend.

It's instant

If you need to swiftly amplify an existing marketing campaign, you can count on the immediacy of SMS marketing to get your message out there fast. Many top SMS service providers offer an easy, no-set-up option where you could be sending messages to thousands - or millions if you are lucky enough to have such a healthy database - within hours from a web-based platform.

It's time and location aware

With today's on-the-go consumers, you can smartly integrate SMS with your web platform to alert customers of a location-specific sale or offer, catching them on the move.

It grabs attention 

You are not competing with a full inbox or a plethora of online messages. You are not waiting for the off chance of a customer walking past your store window or billboard. A mobile phone will alert its owner once an SMS arrives, giving it immediate urgency and priority over other messages.

It generates new leads

By setting up a keyword with an SMS short code, you can allow customers to easily and voluntarily opt into your database to receive news and special offers. Voilà - you instantly have hundreds or thousands of new leads. If you offer something of value, your customers will also spread the word to their family and friends through word of mouth.

It's trackable

Partner with a leading SMS marketing service provider and you could enjoy intelligent tracking of your messages. With the uptake of offers and tracing it back to sales, especially in e-commerce, this is particularly important for marketers. As all smartphones have browsers, you can also track click-through with URL-shortening links such as bitly - the perfect length for an SMS.

It's personal

People may have various email addresses and social media profiles but they have just one mobile number. Like email, you can smartly personalize messaging to the right target at the right time in the right place. SMS marketing only targets customers who have previously opted in to hear from you, so you can be more personal and customized in your messaging. What's more, the fact that you only have 160 characters to work with forces brands to keep their messages short and to the point.

It keeps customers loyal

You can make your customers feel special and part of an exclusive community with creative discounts, offers, exclusive invites to sales, events and more. Make it worth their while and they will keep coming back for more.

To sum up

SMS is relatively quick, easy and cost effective to implement - the perfect partner to the time poor marketer. For more ideas on how other companies are using SMS to drive sales and strengthen their marketing campaigns, download our 101 uses for SMS guide.