SMS Advertising - Definition, Importance & Applications

It is no mystery that in order to sell your products you have to reach out to your customers and they will not come walking towards you. You have to be proactive and go wherever they are.  

 

What is SMS Advertising?

 

SMS Advertising  is the use of text messages to send promotional campaigns or transactional messages for marketing objectives (SMS). These messages are primarily intended to deliver time-sensitive offers, updates, and notifications to people who have agreed to receive them from your company.

 

If this definition sounds too complex, let's try to simplify and understand better. 

 

Mobile phones are like an essential organ to humans these days. So the best way to reach the customers is through sending them a text message. 

 

As people are more connected to their phones. Text message is the best possible way to reach the customers. Thus SMS advertising serves as the best possible weapon. SMS Advertising is what occurs when you target your advertising efforts straight to your potential consumers' text message inboxes.

 

Which can include different strategies:- 

 

• Promotional text blasts - This is when you send a single, wide message to a complete contact list. Consider it similar to a standard mass media commercial, but aimed towards a more specific, focused demographic

 

• Ongoing SMS marketing message - Regular promotions, discounts, and marketing messages can be sent to an existing SMS marketing contact list. As a result, you may build a long-term relationship with each consumer as a brand.

 

Everyone has easy access to text messaging, and they don't have to be "online" to receive it. As a result of the high engagement rate, SMS advertising is clearly a very successful marketing technique for modern firms

 

(Also read- 5 Best email marketing companies )

 

 

Importance of SMS Advertising

 

Putting it simply? Because SMS Advertising is the best and easiest way to reach prospective customers. 

 

Looking at stats by Marketing Profs:-

 

• After opting in, 75% of individuals are fine with getting promotional communications from brands and corporations.

 

• 90% of the SMS texts you send will be read within three minutes. They also have a 98 percent open rate.  According to the Email Marketing Benchmarks report, emails have an average open rate of 22.02 percent.

 

• Customers will redeem coupons or discounts on your products/services at around ten times the rate of other coupons if you send them out via SMS.

 

So SMS Advertising  is vital for organizations not just because it is a low-cost and low-cost option to send out bulk communications, but also because it is sometimes what your clients desire.

 

Another significant advantage of SMS advertising over other traditional or digital marketing channels is the ability to tailor text messages to make customers feel unique. As a result, the client is far more likely to participate with the campaign, improving overall outcomes for the company. 

 

SMS Advertising  is also an excellent approach to cut through the clutter and deliver critical reminders, whether for forthcoming campaigns or their own appointments, especially in today's hectic world.

 

(Suggested Read - Covert Advertising)

 

 

Rules for SMS Advertising

 

• Make sure your contacts have opted in to SMS

 

Text messaging is an extremely effective and direct method of communicating with customers. However, there are some principles to follow while developing your SMS marketing approach. 

 

The first and most critical step is to obtain authorization from your contacts to send SMS messages to them. SMS has a very high open rate, but this won't assist you if you send messages to those who don't want to receive them.

 

• Be mindful about the timings of the message

 

People open text messages practically quickly, as opposed to email, which is only reviewed a few times each day (at most). This is great for urgent communications, but don't abuse it by startling contacts at strange hours of the day.

 

Would you want to utilize a coupon that woke you up at 2 a.m. on a Wednesday night? No, I didn't think so.

 

Some nations even have regulations governing when it is permissible to send commercial text messages (e.g. France does not allow SMS marketing on Sundays, holidays, or anytime after 10 PM). 

 

• Include company’s name in the message 

 

When sending bulk SMS messages, most providers use a shortcode, so your contacts won't know it's coming from you. That is why, in the first place, you must inform your contacts as to who is sending the message.

 

You don't want to send a promotional voucher to a consumer and then leave them in the dark about where to redeem it. 

 

• Use SMS to complement the rest of your digital marketing strategy

 

The benefit of digital marketing is that you can communicate with your clients through a variety of methods. All of these channels work together to form a marketing communication system that allows organizations to develop large-scale connections with consumers and prospects.

 

SMS and email marketing are two channels that work well together. You may construct campaigns using both channels, utilizing email for more thorough information and SMS for time-sensitive or urgent material.

 

(Recommended blog - Principles of Marketing)

 

Applications of SMS Advertising/ Marketing

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Applications for SMS Advertising

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1. Short term promotions

 

Coupons and promos are a great method to get people to visit your business or website. If you are running a limited-time sale or promotion, you clearly want as many people as possible to know about it.

 

SMS is an excellent method for communicating these offers, especially if you want to notify clients while they are on the go. That way, you can be certain that they will not lose out because they did not receive the message in time.

 

2. Urgent update about events

 

There are several moving pieces involved in the preparation and execution of an event. The more people that attend the event, the more difficult it is to deliver the important information to everyone.

 

SMS allows you to transmit any changes, cancellations, general information, or updates in real time, which is superior than email or other methods

 

3. Appointment Reminder

 

If your business relies on planned appointment times, you understand the aggravation of clients forgetting their appointments and arriving late. Even more aggravating is when clients do not show up at all.

 

This not only throws off your schedule, but it also wastes your time. It indicates you may have turned down other appointments since that time period was already taken. Sending text message reminders is an excellent approach to ensure that individuals do not forget their appointments and arrive on time.

 

4. Internal alters

 

It might be difficult to transmit essential messages (office closures, emergency updates, etc.) to everyone at once if you have a large number of employees. You can send them an email, but they might not see it . SMS is an excellent technique to ensure that everyone receives your message on time.

 

(Recommended blog - Content Marketing Strategies)

 

SMS advertising, generally known as mobile advertising, is a communication method used by firms to send promotional and campaign messaging to target audiences' mobile phones via text messages (SMS). 

 

SMS Advertising is used to provide time-sensitive updates, alerts, reminders, and other transactional communications to consumers. Businesses may attract new clients through multi-channel marketing by using creative customized messaging. 

 

Businesses that use channels like TV, print, radio, outdoor, email marketing, or social media may use SMS Advertising by encouraging customers to send text messages to the company. SMS advertising  thus serves as a boon in the modern world.