SMS marketing has seen tremendous year-over-year growth, as more business try to harness the power of one-to-one communication via mobile.
Today, almost everyone uses a mobile phone and can receive a text. As a result, SMS marketing has become one of the most convenient and easiest ways to communicate and share business-related information. It is also the most effective way to get a response and a committed audience.
In this post, we discuss a few emerging trends in SMS Marketing that put it right at the top in the list of most preferred marketing channels by marketers all around the globe.
Personalization of Content
Correct utilization of content is the key to success of any SMS marketing campaign. Many people today tend to ignore promotional messages because they don’t find it valuable and relevant as per their needs.
Marketers are obliged to follow this latest trend to target the right group of people and enhance the customer relationships by informing them upcoming nearby events and connecting to them on a personal level like on special occasions like birthdays or anniversaries.
Text Message Links
As development in technology keeps on rising, we can now do things on our mobile phones that were not even remotely possible in the past years. It is now possible to send links into text messages which lead recipients to a particular website or a specific application.
Individuals can read articles on a particular product; watch an informative online video, read testimonials of other consumers and so much more just by clicking a given URL from SMS.
With this booming technology, companies can increase more traffic to their website by providing official landing pages links in the SMS content. This is one of the smartest ways to convert visitors into clients.
Short codes over Hash tags
Short codes are those four-to-six-digit numbers businesses use when they want people to send a text and enter a contest or take a survey.
Hash tags, with all their popularity, provide limited benefit to businesses. They direct a user to see content, but they don’t create any engagement or interaction.
Short codes, on the other hand, require an interaction for the customer to engage. Customers using the short code to communicate are indicating a high degree of intent to the business, as they’ve taken a concrete action. Once the customer reaches out through the short code, the business can respond to the immediate matter at hand and add the sender’s phone number to their phone list.
Top Industries Using SMS Marketing
Big e-commerce stores today are using SMS messaging to offer customer service i.e. to keep customers informed of their orders, confirm orders, ask for feedback and send reminders and FAQs.
Banks are using SMS to offer information about account balances, and transactions.
Local communities are sending information like weather results, and in the case of NIDA in Tanzania – sending registration of nationality ID cards updates and application status and for things like SIM card registration processes.
Soon, all the companies that moved on to other lucrative marketing channels are going to be back at SMS marketing and are recognizing its effectiveness.
Text Messaging Chatbots
The AI enabled chatbots can effectively converse with customers through SMS – sending them instant replies, reminders and answering FAQs.
These chatbots use latest advanced technology – like natural language processing and machine learning to learn from previous data, collect more data and effectively understand that data to respond to human queries in a natural way and for a bonus they can be programmed to work round the clock.
To sum up, SMS marketing is opening up opportunities for brands now more than ever whereas other channels are closing down due to over saturation and spam. This is true for a fact because currently almost everyone has access to a mobile phone and amount of time users spend on their phones is a lot when compared to other channels like TV.
At Beem, we recognize the need of businesses to leverage the power of SMS marketing. We offer a range of customized SMS marketing services and give free consultation to help you take the right steps at the right time. Feel free to contact us anytime for more information about our services.
