What is SMS Marketing?

Text message marketing is a highly effective way to increase customer reach, engagement and revenue. While the methodology is like Email Marketing, there are some distinct differences and advantages with SMS Marketing, especially when working with a robust, easy-to-use platform like SimpleTexting.

We all know about the benefits of Email Marketing. The majority of successful companies have some type of Email Marketing strategy, whether it’s a loyalty program, brand awareness, product launch, promotions or engagement strategies – it simply works. However, one common pain point is the amount of time spent with the possibility of low deliverability and conversion rates. Imagine spending hours creating an email blast only to see 10% of your subscribers received it? Kind of a gut punch, especially if time is not on your side.

Text message marketing with SimpleTexting eliminates low deliverability rates and increases conversions. Research suggests 98% of all text messages are read and 90% of text messages are opened within 3 minutes of receiving it. We can go on and on about the all the research that is out there (Google is your friend), but we will spare you the time and just dive into applications and benefits, as well as how you can increase revenue with SMS Marketing.

BENEFITS OF SMS MARKETING

SimpleTexting surveyed hundreds of US consumers, business owners and marketers in their 2020 SMS Marketing report. Based on the survey, 60% of businesses reported they plan to increase their text marketing budget over the next year. Here’s why:

Another major benefit of SMS Marketing is ownership. In the world of web development and digital branding, a SMS and Email lists are examples of owned traffic (no one can take that away from you), unlike rented traffic (like Social Media Ads – you pay every time you want to deliver content to a large audience and you do not own the traffic on those platforms). The iOS 14 update is a perfect example of why owned traffic is incredibly important when reaching your audience. With all the uncertainty regarding how it will affect digital marketing, it can be a bit daunting if all your eggs are in the Social Media basket. It’s important to shift resources to owned audiences and direct communications with clients. SMS and Email Marketing are a stable and consistent way to reach customers who opted-in to receive messages from you.

More benefits of SMS Marketing is the versatility. There are several ways you can make your customers happy, increase conversions and drive revenue. According to the SimpleTexting Marketing report:

Is SMS Marketing For You?

Do you have customers? Do they like receiving happy surprises like discounts, product alerts, events, promotions and actionable content from you? Are they willing to subscribe? Then yes, congratulations, you and basically every industry will benefit from SMS Marketing.

Jokes aside, SMS Marketing will benefit a wide range of industries. Practically every consumer over 18 years old owns a cell phone – direct communication with your customers has never been easier. The great part about SimpleTexting’s platform is that you have the option to manage your account from the web or an app, meaning you never miss an opportunity when you’re out of the office or on the go.

How to Increase Revenue with SMS Marketing

Let’s say you own a restaurant and most of your revenue is generated Thursday through Sunday. You can offer discounts and coupons for Monday – Wednesday to drive more traffic. What if you look at your annual reports and notice the beginning of the year is slower than the rest? You could create health themed coupons and new product offerings for those new year resolutions to offset slow business cycles. Have a product with extremely high margins? Offer a discount to your loyal customers. Consumers usually buy more than what’s on the coupon, especially if they’re loyal customers. “But if they are loyal, they’ll come back without an incentive.” Sure, but consumers like to know you appreciate their business.

What if you have an E-commerce or retail location? Send product launch alerts or digital coupon codes to your loyals. Holidays are also a great time to send customer love. You could even offer 15% off for new subscribers, which will help generate more owned traffic and help convert a new visitor. Plus, who doesn’t like a loyalty program that offers freebies? You can create one with SMS Marketing without the expensive software, management and multiple backend systems. Let’s keep this loyalty thing simple.

What about medical clinics and healthcare? We’re glad you brought that up. Offering appointment confirmations and reminders is standard practice. Healthcare professionals understand the pain points of no-shows and the financial impact as well as how it affects scheduling. Text Message Marketing can also help streamline the new patient process. Send a welcome text with a link to your website that allows the patient to electronically fill out new patient documents. The digital form on your website can relay the HIPPA compliant information directly to your backend patient management system. This will increase efficiency by saving time on document requests, data entry and managing a filing system. It also provides a better user experience for your patients. This modern-day workflow eliminates like 3 or 4 steps and saves you time and money.

Regardless of your industry, some undisputed benefits of SMS software include:

• Boost sales: send promotions, discounts and limited-time offers to grow revenue
• Build relationships: provide customer service and support with 2-way conversations
• Engage your audience: Quickly share important updates and new content
• Generate excitement: Host text-to-win sweepstakes or text-to-vote polls
• Collect leads: Allow potential customers to sign-up for texts or send in one-off questions
• Nurture leads: Follow-up with leads and keep them engaged with an occasional text

Best Platform for SMS Marketing

We highly recommend SimpleTexting for SMS Marketing. If you check out their homepage, you can see they have worked with hundreds of reputable companies (spoiler alert: you probably get some promotional material from your favorite companies who use SimpleTexting). They also have great online reviews and ratings from trusted and verified sources. The best part is they provide a 14-day free trial, no credit card required.

The number of features and flexibility also makes SimpleTexting an industry leader. There are no contracts required and “use it or lose it” does not apply – that’s right, they offer roll over credits unlike many of their competitors. Additional features includes:

• 2-Way Texting: improve customer satisfaction, resolve conversations and close deals
• Scheduled Texts: cover an entire week of campaigns in a day
• Text to Vote Surveys: get instant feedback from customers with a text poll
• Web Forms: let your fans opt in to your text messages from your website
• Import Contacts: already have a list? Easily import contacts in seconds
• Image Attachments: enhance your texts with beautiful images or enticing coupons
• Automated Birthday Texts: break out the cake and confetti, let’s celebrate
• Easy to Use Interface: the process is seamless with clear direction and functionality on desktop and mobile
  

You can even connect your favorite tools like MailChimp, Hubspot, Salesforce and so much more and send out thousands of texts to specific customers in minutes.

Final Thoughts

At Vertical Marketing Solutions, our main priority is in our name: solutions. We have seen clients spend countless hours trying to increase engagement, traffic and revenue to no avail. Several of our clients have used traditional platforms like business emails, cold calls, word of mouth, print materials and even human signage as seen in recent tv commercials (“like the sign says”, love those). After implementing SMS Marketing, clients have seen drastic increases in KPIs, brand loyalty, revenue and conversions. They have been able to implement loyalty programs, segmented audiences and shorter sales cycles. Conversions have increased, open rates went through the roof and new subscribers took a giant leap forward. Overall, their digital marketing outreach increased efficiency, revenue and controlled costs by consolidating systems and saving time. Collaboration across teams improved with the ability to add as many members as needed.

We offer managed services for SMS Marketing but are confident you will be able to manage SimpleTexting’s easy-to-use interface seamlessly in-house. If you simply do not have the time, we are happy to help. We can also provide strategy sessions to help maximize your experience. As always, feel free to reach out anytime. Happy texting!

Disclaimer: at no additional cost to you, SimpleTexting may provide us compensation if you sign up for a paid plan through our links. Their free 14 day, no credit card trial will ensure they are a good fit before you commit.