Benefits of SMS Marketing

SMS marketing is the clear winner when it comes to engaging customers where they spend most of their time. 85% of consumers prefer receiving text messages over a phone call or email.

Email, advertising, social media and other marketing methods all have a time and place. But SMS marketing can enhance the work you’re doing across different marketing channels to reach customers more effectively and boost conversion rates – for a fraction of the cost.

Looking for compelling proof that SMS is a worthy addition to your marketing arsenal? Look no further than our comprehensive list of SMS marketing benefits.

12 Benefits of SMS Marketing

With all of the marketing strategies out there, why choose SMS marketing? Here are 12 benefits of SMS that prove it’s a must-have marketing tool for businesses.

1. Cost-Effective Marketing

Small and medium-sized businesses often struggle to craft compelling marketing campaigns with limited budgets. Companies can easily rack up thousands of dollars in marketing spend across channels like email, social media and paid advertising. But results are never guaranteed, and it can take a lot of time and effort to see a return on your investment. 

 In comparison, many SMS marketing providers offer plans at low starting costs. Textedly’s SMS marketing platform starts at $29 per month for 1,000 messages. There’s little financial risk in getting started, and flexible price plans allow you to scale with ease as your SMS list grows. 

2. Near-Instant Delivery

Text messages are delivered almost immediately and don’t require an internet connection. A recipient only needs cellular coverage to receive a text message from your business. With SMS, bouncebacks and deliverability are no longer issues.

3. High Open Rates

With email marketing, standing out among a sea of competing messages is difficult. Emails have an average open rate of only 20%, meaning most recipients won’t see or engage with your message.

Conversely, 98% of text messages get opened, and 90% of people read a text message within three minutes of receiving it.

4. Low Spam Rate

SMS marketing is permission-based and requires users to actively consent, which means you’re only texting people who genuinely want to hear from you.

Less than 3% of text messages are marked as spam — so there’s no need to stress about upset customers or complaints of unwanted messages.

5. High Response Rates

Looking to send a survey or poll? SMS is your best bet if you want to maximize responses.

SMS campaigns have an average response rate of 90 seconds. And 31% of consumers respond to text-based surveys within 5 minutes.

On the contrary, the average response rate for email is only 6%.

6. Ideal for Businesses In Every Industry

SMS marketing is ideal for nearly every industry and business size.

Whether you need to send a handful of texts per month or want to message thousands of customers and create segmented lists, SMS marketing can handle a diverse range of business needs.

For ready-to-use sms marketing templates specific to your business, select from our expanded list of industries.

7. Extensive Use Cases

SMS marketing is extremely versatile and can be used for both external and internal communications.

Want to promote a new product or service? Use SMS marketing to send out exclusive discount codes and product announcements.

Need to deliver time-sensitive information to employees about an upcoming event? Send updates and RSVP links via text.

Trying to streamline your appointment scheduling process? Set up automated SMS appointment reminders and confirmations to save your office staff time.

8. Universal Inbox Access

With SMS, you don’t need to worry about cross-platform or software compatibility. You can send SMS messages to any mobile number, regardless of carrier or WiFi access.

As long as recipients have some kind of mobile device — smartphone or not — they can send and receive texts to/from your business.

9. Wide Demographic

Being able to message any mobile device also allows you to reach a wide customer demographic. Virtually everyone is familiar with texting, from young adults to seniors.

According to Pew Research Center, 99% of adults ages 18-29 and 91% of adults older than 65 own a cellphone. No matter the demographic you’re targeting, you can be sure your text marketing messages are being seen.

10. Complements Other Marketing Channels

SMS isn’t meant to replace all other marketing efforts – it’s the perfect companion to other marketing channels. For example, you can send an SMS coupon in conjunction with an email campaign when promoting a new product.

11. Highly Trackable

SMS gives you a clear view of how users interact with your campaigns. Traceable coupon codes and metrics like link clicks and response rates let you measure how customers engage with your text campaigns. You can use this data to lift ROI over time.

12. No Extensive Marketing Skills Required

One of the most significant benefits of SMS is the low barrier to entry. You don’t need a fancy degree or years of marketing experience to text your customers.

SMS marketing platforms like Textedly make it easy for anyone to set up a campaign and start messaging customers.

Intrigued by the benefits of texting in business? As long as you’re familiar with a few basics of SMS marketing, you’re ready to jump in.

Next Chapter:

Types of SMS Marketing