SMS marketing and its role in mobile trends

Mobile marketing trends

SMSes are not only a quick way to send a message, but they hold unlimited business potential. This 160-character tool allows your company to reach all of your customers, even those across the pond. Can your business afford to lose out on SMS marketing?

Thanks to the technology’s compatibility and integration with every single mobile cellular device, the SMS has been the king of mobile messaging for over two decades. Even with the emergence of messaging apps and social media, SMS has remained the dominant form of mobile communication.

SMS marketing and mobile phones by the numbers

In recent years, mobile marketing trends have seen brands move towards solely online campaigns. Though the social media sector is booming with the likes of Twitter and Facebook, the reach and adoption rates still aren’t there. Facebook may have over 1.94 billion monthly active users, but there are over 5 billion people worldwide with a mobile phone. China has over a billion mobile phone users, while India is sitting at over 730 million. Every one of these devices can receive an SMS.

This figure is further strengthened by the fact that SMSes have a 98% open rate within 15 minutes of a user receiving a message, while Facebook ads have a maximum click-through rate of 1.61 percent. Social media platforms incorporate pricing structures where companies bid for a user’s attention, though this is not the same with SMS which is not restricted by the structure.

By these numbers, companies should not ignore SMS marketing as part of their overall digital strategy. It’s undeniable that technology still plays an important role in global communications.

Connecting to a listening audience

Part of the beauty of SMS marketing comes from strict regulations. In most countries, companies cannot send a message to a potential customer who hasn’t given permission. Though there are many businesses that may see this as a hindrance, for the enterprising few, it’s a way to connect with a core part of their clientele: those who want to be marketed to.

This allows enterprising companies to focus on building a relationship with clients who will be responsive to their campaigns. Businesses can use other methods of communication to sign-up potential clients, such as social media or email campaigns, which filters into a usable database. By using analytics, companies are further able to monitor engagement, and open and bounce rates of SMSes, which weeds out dead sales leads.

Real-time messaging

SMS marketing messages have an added benefit of being a real-time communications service. Other marketing platforms can take time to have a campaign put together – this is further delayed by not all customers seeing an advert at the same time. This means that flash sales or urgent messages can fall by the wayside after too much time has passed. An SMS marketing message can be sent instantly and will show up the moment it reaches a user’s mobile phone.

Online booking platform SweepSouth is an excellent example of how companies are using SMSs to bolster their offerings. Have a look at our case study on the on-demand cleaning startup, which outlines how SMSs are used for appointment bookings and notifications.