SMS Marketing or advertising via SMS is the contact with customers or subscribers through the sending of SMS SMS are sent either to achieve a marketing objective or to confirm some type of transaction in an e-commerce. The most common uses are communicating news, offers, discounts, or alerts of interest to subscribers.
What is an SMS?
SMS is the abbreviation of Short Message Service or Service of Short Messages. It is available on mobile phones and allows the sending of text messages of up to 160 characters from one terminal to another. In addition to the text, SMS include the following parameters when being sent:
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Timestamp or date of sending
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Validity of the message
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Phone numbers of the sender and the recipient
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Number of the SMSC (Short Message Service Center) that processed the sending of the SMS
Uses of SMS Marketing
Among the most common uses of SMS campaigns are:
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Information about news
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Offers, promotions, and discount coupons
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Updates on orders in e-commerce
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Appointment reminders
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Alerts
Benefits of SMS Marketing
Despite not being a widely exploited channel by companies today, SMS Marketing presents enough benefits to consider including it in the strategy of Online Marketing:
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It has a high profitability at a relatively low price (from 0.06 cents per SMS)
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It has a high open rate
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You can customize the sender to be recognized by subscribers
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Underexploited channel, so it can provide differentiation from the competition
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Allows analyzing metrics such as open rate and conversion
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Offers great versatility (promotions, order status, news communication, alerts, etc.)
Best Practices of SMS Marketing
For an SMS campaign to be effective, certain practices must be taken into account that can help you generate better engagement with your subscribers:
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Choose the sending time wisely: it is a more intrusive channel than others, so you must make sure to send it at appropriate times
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It has a high open rate
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Adapt the language to the length of the SMS (160 characters) without being excessively telegraphic or abrupt
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Use capital letters to highlight important parts of the message
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Include the 2 or 3 most important keywords of the campaign
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Facilitate the user's opt-out if desired
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Direct the user to a landing page where they can expand on the campaign information