As a small business owner, you know the value of marketing your services and products. With the rapid adoption of mobile marketing, short message marketing (SMS) offers you a unique way to market your business in 2022. SMS has gained popularity due to how easy it is to use. You don’t need special coding or technical expertise to send and receive text messages, making it easy for small businesses to get started. You could have your SMS marketing campaign set up within minutes, all for an affordable price. Not sure if text message marketing services are right for your business? Below we explore the top 5 benefits of text message marketing for small businesses.
1. Create more time for yourself with “bots”
Sending automated messages, instead of doing each one manually can free up a lot of your time. There’s no question that email is a popular way of reaching out to people that you do business with— and for a good reason. However, it takes time to craft thoughtful responses to every inquiry or request you receive. And more often than not, you have to spend your own money to send those emails out — even if they’re automated responses! However, with SMS marketing, auto-responses (or “bots”)can save you quite a bit of time by sending immediate, pre-programmed auto-replies t whenever someone texts you with a question or comment about your business, they immediately receive a short, customized response based on what you’ve programmed for them.
2. Integrate your efforts between online and offline
Integrating your online and offline marketing efforts is something that many small businesses fail to consider. However, combining the two allows you to develop a more holistic marketing approach which has been shown to improve customer journeys which leads to increased sales. When customers get distracted at the point of purchase, and companies do not have any other means of communicating with these users besides online means, sales periods lag, and sales are lost. On the other hand, SMS offers greater flexibility when considering how to connect with customers. It allows you to communicate on multiple channels and send alerts, progress updates, and even special offers or deals to entice your prospect to purchase when the time is right for them.
3. Improved customer experience
Inbound marketing is all about creating a better customer experience, providing customers with the information they need, when they need it.
Text messaging is a fantastic marketing tool because it can improve your customer experience through immediate and direct response. SMS is also a very personal channel, which means that consumers don’t just see your brand as one among many. Instead, they feel more personally connected with your brand and receive more personalized service as well.
SMS is also an ideal way to improve customer experience through simple interactions like sending receipts after an online purchase or welcoming new customers with a welcome text message. It’s also an efficient way to promote loyalty programs and encourage repeat business by offering exclusive discounts only available to loyal customers through SMS messages. A well-executed SMS marketing strategy helps businesses create lasting connections with their customers.
4. Improve the quality of your leads
Have you ever had a lead come in that you sent a questionnaire or meeting invite over email just to never hear from them again, no matter how many follow-up emails you send?
This is where SMS can help. Instead of sending all of your website converters a form to fill out our meeting invite, you can send them a text message instead.
Why? Because 10 times more people open text messages than email and are 5 times more likely to respond to text messages, according to a recent study by Campaign Monitor. Additionally, SMS allows you to quickly and efficiently capture pre-qualified questions from users so that you aren’t spending time chasing after prospects that are a great fit for your business.
5. Achieve better ROI on your marketing budget
One of the most common questions that small business owners have is how to drive more sales with their marketing budget. If you’re not using text messaging as part of your marketing strategy, this is a great opportunity!
One of the biggest advantages of using text message marketing is its affordability. Unlike email campaigns, which require a significant investment in software, working hours, and reporting technologies, SMS marketing has no additional software costs and can be set up in minutes.
SMS also has higher conversion rates compared to other forms of advertising. For example, on average, customers who receive text message coupons respond to them by spending nearly four times as much as those who receive coupons by emai!
Getting Started with SMS
Text message marketing is a great way to improve the effectiveness of your marketing in 2022. The 5 benefits outlined above are some of the major advantages of text message marketing, like how it’s affordable, personal, and connects you with your customers on a deeper level. Hopefully, the information above can help you better understand how text message marketing works and help you make an informed decision on whether text message marketing is right for your business. Remember that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, so pay attention to what your customers want and need and what makes sense for your business model. Good luck!
Looking to get started with text message marketing in your small business today but don’t know how to get started? Well-Oiled Marketing is here to help. We are a leading SMS marketing agency that will create a campaign to fit your desired goals and budget. With the ability to measure results, we can ensure the success of your SMS advertising campaign today. Click here to take advantage of our FREE consultation today