SMS stands for Short Message Service and is known as Text message.
SMS marketing is a form of direct marketing that involves sending critical messages like OTP, Payment confirmation, Bank Balance, promotional offers, updates, and informative messages to the end users via Text messages with 160 Characters and above. The standard SMS consists of 160 Characters however brands can increase the character as per the business requirements with an additional cost.
It’s an easy and convenient way to communicate with customers. It is a form of opt-in marketing that requires contacts to subscribe. If you want to reach your customers, you can’t wait for them to come to you. You must be proactive and go where they are.
Understand About SMS Marketing in Details
Multiple communication channels are available to reach out to prospective, registered, and loyal customers. It’s very crucial to reach out to your users via their preferred communication channels. SMS is a must have channel as all of the users are available on Mobile means they have a live number.
More companies adopt SMS marketing to reach users increasingly inclined to engage with mobile outreach. SMS marketing drives engagement, sales, keeps customers happy and connected, and grows your business without barriers.
No doubt SMS is a Traditional Channel but It’s cost-effective, affordable, and surprisingly popular with audiences worldwide, especially for all the triggered-based activities.
How SMS Works – When you send an SMS message, the message gets transmitted from the sending device to the nearest cell tower. That cell tower passes the message to an SMS centre (SMSC). Then the SMSC forwards the SMS message to a cell tower near the receiving device. Lastly, that tower sends the message to the recipient device.
Important Industry Benchmarks and Facts: –
1- Global SMS Marketing Software Market 2022-2026 The analyst has been monitoring the SMS marketing software market and it is poised to grow by $7. 53 bn during 2022-2026. accelerating at a CAGR of 19. Source by Reportlinker
2- Most customers don’t mind receiving business texts about shipment tracking, order status/confirmation, and scheduling reminders/alerts.
3- About 35% of customers would even enjoy being informed about special offers, promotions, and sales.
4- Many respondents (60.8%) would like the ability to text businesses back about customer · support issues, shipment tracking, and order status, confirmation, and cancellations.
Check how SMS Marketing grows your business
1. Real-time Engagement- Brands can engage with users on a real-time basis/on the fly. As a verification process or to get quality leads, Brands do the OTP verification which helps brands to communicate with their customers continuously.
2. Transactions happen with the SMS Channel- All the government and private banks power the major transactions, which are powered by OTP. As per RBI guidelines, all the financial bodies have to implement the OTP services as mandated.
3. Reach out to dormant/Lost customers: With the help of SMS, Brands can reach out to their dormant users at very less cost. As per the best practices, Brands can offer special discounts to dormant users to engage with the brands.
The price is four to five times more to acquire new customers versus retaining current ones.
4. Reach out to the users who are at Risk/About to churn- Brands can get to know about the users who are at risk, can reach out to their registered/paid users, and encourage them to use the brand services. For eg. Free trial.
5. Welcome New Users- During the registration process, A brand can send a welcome message along with a series of messages to share about the Brand story, Services, USPs, and Testimonials.
6. Loyalty Program Members- Loyalty Program is the backbone of any brand. It’s important to engage with loyal customers.
7. Special Wishes for your users- The brand can send special wishes saying Birthday or anniversary, or special offers say Big Billion sale, and do upsell and cross-sell.
8. Track Results- The brand can use the SMART link within the SMS to track which user has clicked on the link. On this basis of engagement, the Brand can decide whether they want to send the follow-up message.
9. Give customers to opt out– The brand can also give the option to out of the services so that they can’t get irritated with unwanted/ unnecessary messages.
10. Refer and Earn- App-first brands can use SMS for Refer and Earn campaigns.
11. Feedback and Surveys- SMS marketing can help brands to do the feedback and surveys to check customer satisfaction and net promoter score.
SMS marketing is still the most effective way to promote your business. Brands can reach out to their customers to international markets however the commercials and compliance vary from country to country.
As TRAI has recommended brands to register with DLT along with Telco, this has helped brands to streamline their process and send the Whitelist templates only.
Interested to know more about DLT and SMS Marketing, reach out to our DLT and subject matter expert at hello@enrcloud.com
Also Read- Know Everything About Whatsapp Marketing in 2024
Ritika Khanna is a senior product solution expert at EnRcloud and a part of the marketing consultancy and growth team. Helping brands to address their Engagement and Retention problem statement using New Age and AI Powered Marketing Automation Platforms. Apart from this, I am adaptive to any work environment and also a good team player.
