A recent survey performed by the UK’s communication regulator Ofcom found that the average British citizen checks their mobile phone about once every 12 minutes. This survey clearly highlights how obsessed the nation is becoming with mobile phones.

This trend presents an incredible business marketing opportunity. By using text messaging as a marketing channel, your business can reach millions of eager smart phone users — informing them of on line sales, product promotions, and new services.

This article will explain how text message marketing works and identify a few reasons why this business marketing strategy is so powerful.

What is text message marketing?

Text message marketing, as known as "SMS marketing", involves the use of text messaging services to promote a brand, product, or service. Messages can include:

Coupons

Product announcements

Special offers and sales promotions

Discount codes

Renewal dates for subscription

Upcoming events

Appointment reminders

Service updates

Text messages can be sent in real time, with the recipient seeing the message seconds after it has been sent. In most cases, the messages used are short and will only contain information that is beneficial to the recipient.

Although most business owners assume that obtaining permission for sending text messages is heavily regulated, it works in the same way as email marketing. A recipient must first voluntarily opt in to a text message service. After that point, your business can begin sending them messages. The only requirement is that all messages include a method for opting out, which is usually a text message that the recipient can send.

What are the benefits of text message marketing for businesses?

Here are a few of the main benefits of incorporating text message marketing into your business marketing plan.

Text messaging helps to improve customer engagement

Text messages have an extremely high user engagement rate. Researchers have found that an estimated 90% of text messages are read within the first three minutes of being sent and 98% of messages are read at some point. This is far beyond the engagement rate of other forms of marketing like traditional advertising, email marketing, social media marketing and on line advertising.

Being able to send messages in real-time also makes it easier for consumers to engage with your business effectively. They can respond to your messages instantly and you can notify them of sudden events like flash sales or one off promotions. The high level of user engagement provided by text message marketing means that marketing campaigns are more likely to generate a positive return on investment.

Text message marketing can help you learn about your customers

Unlike traditional forms of advertising, text messages can be a two-way street. You can ask your subscribers to provide information about their purchasing preferences or how much they enjoyed a recent purchase. This information can be extremely valuable and help you to improve your business.

Text messages can be sent instantly

The instantaneous nature of text messages provides some significant benefits for both your business and consumers. You can share important information instantly with subscribers, keeping them up to date on special events like flash sales or free delivery periods. These kinds of events are very well received by consumers and have a high take up rate.

It is simple to integrate text marketing with other marketing channels

While text message marketing works well as a standalone form of business marketing, it also combines well with other marketing techniques. You can promote a social media campaign with text messages, encourage customers to sign up to your email newsletter, tell subscribers about new blog posts, and much more. A simple message asking subscribers if they have read your business’ latest email newsletter can significantly improve open rates.

Response data is easy to track

The results of a text message marketing campaign are simple to track. You will have access to open rates, time of open, engagement rates, and other metrics from each campaign. This allows to improve your campaigns efficiently and maximize the amount of benefit that you receive from text message marketing.

Text message marketing is extremely cost effective

One of the best reasons to use text message marketing is its affordability. It delivers an exceptional return on investment that is superior to virtually all other forms of marketing. It is a more affordable than traditional advertising (paper, radio, television), Facebook ads, Google Adsense, and email marketing. There is no substantial capital outlay required to get started and you only pay each time you send a text message.

Mobile friendly advertising is increasingly important

Many consumers are constantly using their mobile phones and turning away from traditional forms of media. They often watch television and listen to music via subscription services which makes them harder to reach via traditional advertising.

Text message marketing gives you a direct line to the consumers who have opted out of traditional media. This is particularly useful of you are interested in reaching consumers in a younger demographic.

We hope you enjoyed reading Text Message Marketing For Business. For more information on text message marketing, visit our website.