What’s Old is New Again: SMS Marketing – Forbes
Published on 9/13/19 on Forbes.com
What’s next for digital marketing? That’s a pretty common question at any given marketing industry conference. With the continued evolution of the internet, it seems marketers are always on the lookout for the next channel they can add to their marketing program to drive results. From email marketing 40 years ago to search, social media, mobile and video marketing, new channels emerge regularly, with some carving out their places for the long term and others fading into the background.
As marketers, we are often drawn to the new and innovative, since no one likes to be left on the sidelines when the next digital channel explodes onto the scene and starts delivering great campaigns. However, a funny thing happened in 2019. While some marketers were focused on finding the next bright shiny object, others were looking back at a channel that has been around for decades (since 1992) and is nearly ubiquitous these days.
Marketers who were focused on retention and customer communications and marketers who were targeting prospects and driving new business both found common ground around text-based or SMS marketing. What was it about SMS that caught their attention? Message open rates that can reach 98% were certainly one reason. The fact that the market isn’t saturated yet is also a key factor.
However, before you jump into SMS marketing with both feet, there are several important issues to consider and understand.
SMS Marketing Basics And Best Practices
While the SMS channel has similarities to other direct marketing channels, it has a number of unique characteristics. While it is possible to send images to recipients via text messaging systems, not every user’s device allows it, so SMS is largely a text-only channel. This means marketers must rely on nothing but their marketing copy to deliver their message and generate a response. Here are a few tips and best practices to consider in your SMS campaigns.
Read the rest at Forbes.com.