Millions of Americans spend a lot of time texting on their phones. So why aren’t you using SMS to reach your customers? SMS marketing is a no-brainer, but many businesses still aren’t taking advantage of it.
According to Charles Golvin, research director, Gartner for Marketers, “SMS remains an effective, yet underutilized, mobile tactic among marketing leaders.” He also mentions that it’s particularly valuable when used to create a deeper level of customer engagement.
The Gartner 2016 Digital Channel Survey also found that 61% of mobile marketers surveyed don’t use SMS marketing and a third of these companies have no plans to invest in it in the coming 12 months.
So now that you know your competition probably isn’t using SMS marketing, it’s time for you to take advantage of this wide-open opportunity. Here are two important reasons why you need to start using SMS marketing in 2018:
SMS Has the Greatest Reach of Any Marketing Medium
SMS is so widely used because it’s a native feature of every cell phone. In fact, no other messaging medium has the reach that SMS has. That’s because every mobile phone is capable of sending and receiving SMS messages. Subscribers don’t even need to have a smartphone or a data plan to use SMS.
High Read and Response Rates
Various sources have confirmed that the SMS open and response rates are as high as 98% and 45%, respectively. This is because the average user typically receives far fewer text messages than they might receive emails or social media updates. As a result, SMS users actually see all of the messages they receive.
How to Start Using SMS Marketing Now
There are several ways to use SMS marketing to promote your business. However, if you want to start testing it out, one of the best ways to do this is with a text to win or SMS sweepstakes campaign. A text to win campaign is a short-term promotion that you can set up quickly with Sweeppea.
If you want to start a text to win campaign to increase customer engagement, here are some tips to follow:
- Identify specific opportunities to promote your business via SMS. You should choose campaigns that you can use to deliver value to your audience during peak value moments.
- Use Sweeppea. Sweeppea can help you create SMS marketing campaigns that are specifically designed to maximize your success. In addition, we’ll help you address the various concerns that come with running an SMS sweepstakes campaign, including official rules, registration and bonding and others.
Try your own SMS sweepstakes with Sweeppea. To get started now, see features and pricing.