SMS or WhatsApp Marketing- The New Age Marketing Strategy
- Satuti Aggarwal
- Jun 22, 2017
- 3 min read
If you are running a business enterprise that requires marketing of your product/service, or your venture demands personalized services to the customer, SMS/WhatsApp marketing is a perfect choice. SMS is sent out to the potential customers through mobile phones so you can tap them on the go. No hassle of opening and checking emails. SMS marketing is a rather convenient means of marketing that reaches the customer directly.
With over 2 billion smartphone users worldwide (Emarketer.com, 2016) companies have a huge scope of developing an SMS marketing strategy. But the important questions are:
Is the SMS marketing strategy worthwhile?
Does the SMS marketing require huge amounts of investments which are hefty on budgets?
There are a lot of misconceptions regarding SMS marketing. We will bust these myths and analyze why SMS marketing could be the best marketing choice for your business.
Direct channel of marketing
We are always accompanied by our smartphones. The first thing we do once we get up in the morning? Check our mobiles. From monitoring social media accounts, chatting with friends to checking directions on the map, a mobile phone has become an essential medium in our lives. So if you receive a text message on your smartphone, it will definitely not go unnoticed. We might overlook emails or mark them as spam when we see an advertisement, but an SMS has a read rate of 97% within 15 minutes of receipt.
People like to get personal notifications
When a person receives an SMS, it’s a personal notification. It gives a sense of importance when customers receive SMS messages. This could lead to trust building and turn the people into loyal customers who advocate the brand further to friends and family.
Can be easily integrated with other channels of marketing
With short attention spans and growing access to multiple social media and other marketing channels, it’s time businesses integrate multiple marketing resources. SMS can be integrated with social media, search engine optimizations, and emails to bring out the most fruitful outcome. You can send an SMS before the sale to check emails for discount coupons or ask the customer to check the Facebook page for new offers and schemes.
Feedback
SMS marketing can be a two-way communication channel where customers respond to messages and provide their feedback. Research shows that 31% of recipients respond to SMS within 5 minutes. Also, companies can gather all kinds of feedback like customer preferences, distress issues, dislikes and suggestions via SMS services.
These feedbacks will help businesses monitor and track the ROI and improve areas where customers are dissatisfied.
Increases customer engagement
This is a group of expectant moms created by a company that deals in pregnancy products/services. They have developed interactive sessions with moms-to-be and provide them with week by week progress of the baby in the womb. By providing quality authentic information, the company develops a trusted bond with the mothers. These moms will avail services from the brand and further recommend and advocate the brand to others.
To increase engagement with your customers, a business can send out SMS for regular updates to customers. For example, if it’s your client’s birthday, send out a personalized birthday message. You can inform customers of the new stock, schemes, and discounts on various products through an SMS service. The clients start getting dependent on your messages and will build a trusted bond with the brand. This will generate leads and conversions for the business.
Cost effective
It’s time to shed the myth around the costs associated with SMS campaigns. You do not need expensive and specialized apps to conduct an SMS marketing campaign. Just hire an SMS marketing service to send out the text messages. They offer different price packages depending upon the scale of SMS that have to be sent. Bulk SMS service providers promote your brand by sending out messages to a huge database of customers. You can select the magnitude of the database, frequency and potential reach as per the budgets provided by the agency. For smaller enterprises, you can send out SMS from your smartphone if you have a considerable customer data.
Wrap-up
Text messaging is undoubtedly one of the most convenient and fastest ways of reaching and interacting with potential customers. Companies can interact with customers and build a trustworthy relationship with the clients. This will lead to conversions and boost their ROI. SMS messaging is gaining popularity in the changing times where people carry their smartphones almost everywhere… even to the washroom. They mostly read the messages on SMS, as opposed to emails and social media posts that are often ignored. Local services can immensely benefit from SMS marketing as messages reach the potential clients fast and news spread quickly in the neighborhood.
Comments