Effectiveness of SMS Campaigns In 2024
SMS campaigns are instant messaging forms of mobile communications sent by brands to engage with their customers. According to SimpleTexting, 62% of consumers have opted in to receive text communications from at least one business while 43% of consumers specifically have subscribed to one to three brands.
Besides their quick response rates, SMS messages can also receive a high engagement rate. So marketing professionals haven’t given up using this channel to promote their campaigns.
The key to engaging subscribers or customers is to maintain a balance in communications. Too many text messages in a week might lead to unsubscriptions. Too little communication and you will be forgotten.
Sending irrelevant text messages at the wrong time can do you more damage than good, so take a minute to think about your customers’ communication preferences. In this article, we want to share some tips and tricks about how to achieve higher conversion rates on your SMS campaigns by elevating them with rich content.
How Mobile Has Become The Preferred Channel for Companies and Customers
Mobile has become the preferred way to gather information, book flights, search for information, shop, or schedule appointments for most of us. And companies didn’t cease to recognize the potential that the mobile channel can bring to their revenue.
Many channels depend on mobile technology, from SMS to WhatsApp, Viber, and Facebook chat. Needless to say, a company without these forms of communication can’t be called a business.
Mobile marketing uses mobile channels to deliver different types of communications to customers. Depending on the breadth and value of interactions that you are willing to have with your customers, mobile plays a huge impact on your business.
Choose a channel that your customers prefer or adopt an omnichannel strategy to deliver proactive communication.
When it comes to an omnichannel strategy, keeping track of all your communications and sending them at the optimum time can get confusing.
Luckily, there is a range of tools you can use which merge all channels into one easy-to-manage platform. You can forget about the old-school ways to chat. Instead, streamline your work processes and instantly boost productivity.
When a customer arrives at one of your mobile channels, you have a chance to educate, motivate or inform them of your products and services. Offering unique and qualified content will lead to a better customer experience, leading you to a successful brand-customer relationship.
There are a lot of mobile marketing examples, but SMS marketing with links that lead to personalized landing pages has the highest open rates. Now, let’s see why that is.
Rich Content SMS Marketing: How Rich Content Can Enhance SMS Campaigns
While SMS marketing campaigns deliver good results such as 98% open rates, it is expected to deliver higher conversions than email marketing. SMS can’t be seen as a new channel, but it’s one of the most common communication channels. It’s accessible, instant, and can now deliver rich content.
It’s said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and we have evidence that rich content is preferred by customers in making purchasing decisions and taking action. Rich content such as pictures, videos, GIFs, or QR codes can engage customers through visual appeal.
Not being limited by the 160-character limit in SMS, a solution like rich messaging or SMS 2.0 allows companies to enhance their SMS campaigns. Let’s have a look at a few examples of how rich content connected brands to customers in a positive way.
Take Payments Easier
Did you know that debt collectors can use SMS communications to take payments? Sending automated payment reminders via SMS can scale up debt collection processes. By simply adding a link in your text reminders you can create a better payment journey for your customers.
Leading them to a personalized payment page that already has their information such as name and account number. Automating the payment journey and offering payment options such as payment plans and choosing the date features can lead to higher payment rates.
Provide Better Customer Support
Another use case for SMS communication is providing customer support. 47% of customers would take their business elsewhere if they feel like they weren’t treated as valuable customers or had poor customer service.
Empowering your customer support team with the right tools, mindset, and training is vital to increase your customer satisfaction levels.
Send Updates On Deliveries
Sharing more details with your customers regarding their orders is a plus. For example, SMS is currently used by companies like Royal Mail or Asos to let customers know when their packages will arrive, a rich message can elevate the customer experience. Firstly, consider adding a live update with the driver’s route to track your package.
Secondly, make sure your client can reach out to you to confirm if he is at home to receive the package, or if he can reschedule the delivery.
Use a Tool to Automate Your Messages
To get the best out of your SMS marketing strategy, you’ll need software that will automate the messages you send out. After all, you don’t have time to send SMS to all customers manually and even if you do, why would you waste it on something that can be done automatically?
If you want to learn more about how this works, click here to get access to Lightspeed, a top software used for that purpose. An integrated system like Lightspeed would require you to simply upload your list of customer contact information. Once you do this, you can use it to track your campaign data and automate the entire campaign.
Gather Valuable Customer Feedback
Enhance satisfaction levels by listening to your customers and taking action on their feedback with richer surveys. Features such as emojis, sliders, checkboxes, dropdowns, radio buttons, and free text are practices to consider when sending surveys. Keep your surveys short and personalize them according to your overall brand identity.
Richer Messages Make Customers Feel Exclusive
Next time you create an SMS marketing campaign, brand your SMS as if you were building it for a VIP Member Campaign. Rich content allows you to do that, so create high-quality images to make your offer stand out.
Or choose to reward them with special coupons and discounts on their next purchase. Adding “for new members only” makes them feel exclusive and valuable.
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Conclusion
There are a lot of ways in which rich content can impact and enhance future SMS marketing campaigns. No matter the industry, customer experience is what makes the difference in keeping customers loyal to your brand.
You might want to sell more, communicate better, personalize customer experiences, or create a long-term relationship with your customers. Capitalize on your customers’ needs and wants and deliver the perfect message on the right channel every time.
Author:
Cristina Ionita, Digital Marketing and Lead Generation Manager at VoiceSage
Passionate about content marketing and organic, inbound marketing strategies, she dedicates her time to researching new technology trends to write about.
