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20 SMS Marketing Statistics You Need to Know About

SMS Marketing Statistics

Despite being a digital technology that’s been around for decades, short messaging service (SMS) remains instrumental in many facets of the business landscape, particularly in marketing.

Marketers and business owners worldwide continue to reap the benefits of SMS marketing to boost their metrics. In fact, this strategy has a projected market size of $12.6 billion by 2025 in the United States alone, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.3%, demonstrating its significant growth.

In the Philippines, SMS continues to appeal to local consumers despite the emergence of free messaging services like Viber, WhatsApp, and Messenger. As a result, many large-scale companies still leverage texts for advertising, content marketing, and security, such as one-time passwords (OTPs) and text alerts.

Staying updated on the latest trends is essential to successfully using text messaging to build a following and foster customer relationships. Let’s discuss some of the most noteworthy SMS marketing statistics to help you understand its value.

20 SMS Marketing Statistics Worth Knowing

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  • The world sends 23 billion text messages every day (Forbes)

While texting may seem outdated since the emergence of more recent technology, it couldn’t be farther from the truth. Billions of people are still sending out multiple text messages daily, making SMS a continuously proliferating tech, albeit on a much smaller scale than decades ago. As such, texting remains an opportunity to optimize communications and build lasting customer relationships.

 

  • There are 153 million mobile subscribers in the Philippines (Statista)

In the Philippines, there are more mobile phones than people, resulting in some companies and reporters dubbing the country the Text Capital of the World. It proves that the Philippines is still a goldmine for companies looking to develop an omnichannel communications strategy and incorporate SMS into their marketing operations.

 

The number of enterprises implementing application-to-person (A2P) or business messaging is growing, with a 4.1% CAGR and no signs of slowing down. If the trend continues, we can expect SMS marketing to become a highly competitive industry that’s increasingly difficult to penetrate. As such, joining the movement soon is crucial, or risk facing stricter competition over the next few years.

 

  • 12.5% of business SMS are marketing messages (OneSignal)

A small percentage of business SMS is for marketing purposes. The majority are transactional, while the next prominent use case involves both. It indicates a smaller competition for marketing messages and an opportunity to take advantage of it by delivering content and offers via text. It also demonstrates the effectiveness of delivering multi-purpose messages instead of focusing on just one.

 

  • Businesses saw a 36% increase in SMS marketing spend during the COVID-19 pandemic (PwC)

The recent COVID-19 pandemic greatly benefited business texting, partly due to the subsequent ecommerce boom. Expenses for marketing campaigns via text increased by 36%, indicating a newly realized appreciation for SMS marketing’s effectiveness. As more enterprises migrate or expand online, you can stay ahead of the curve by emphasizing targeted campaigns via text.

 

  • 46% of finance and banking institutions expect to increase their SMS marketing spending by 2024 (PwC)

The finance and banking sectors plan to increase their budget allocation for SMS among other major industries, like IT, retail, and manufacturing. They were also the industry with the highest text spending in the last three years. If your organization is a financial or banking institution, consider investing in SMS marketing to stay competitive in your sector.

 

  • 60% of customer service costs can be saved by switching to messaging channels (Freshworks)

Speedy customer service is essential to running a company and maintaining customer support, which also means it’s often a resource-intensive investment. Messaging channels, including texting, slash a significant portion of the cost per customer interaction, especially compared to traditional ones, like phone lines. They also provide a more convenient service accessible from the palms of your customers’ hands.

 

  • 68% of marketers believe that a multichannel communication strategy is critical to user experience (OneSignal)

Using multiple channels to communicate with customers allows you to align content with the appropriate segments. Despite their 160-character limit, texts enable better content diversification and targeting to what particular customer segments prefer. In turn, you can resonate with customers more effectively and elevate their experience with your brand.

 

  • 71% of organizations agree that message personalization is critical to maximizing SMS marketing strategies (Forrester)

Personalization is vital to any marketing strategy, with 76% of consumers becoming frustrated without it. The same goes with SMS campaigns, especially with many marketers agreeing that it’s critical to success. Text personalization involves producing content tailored to each recipient’s demographic information and purchasing behavior to improve their engagement with your company.

 

  • Philippine businesses spend roughly ₱0.50 per SMS marketing message (Semaphore)

SMS is considerably cheaper than other digital marketing options. The average cost for non-SMS services in the Philippines can reach upwards of ₱100,000 per month for every project, which can quickly become expensive for small to medium enterprises. Meanwhile, sending an SMS to 10,000 people would only cost ₱5000, significantly reducing expenses.

 

  • 25% of business leverage SMS due to its efficiency and effectiveness (PwC)

One of SMS marketing’s advantages is that it doesn’t require an internet connection, which is beneficial in a country with inconsistent and unstable connections like the Philippines. Texts are short and to the point, given their character limit. As such, it’s an efficient way to deliver marketing campaigns, alerts, and other content to your customers without spending valuable time and resources crafting longer pieces.

 

Given its benefits, there’s no wonder why business texting has become instrumental to engagement, so much so that more than half of companies claim it’s more beneficial than mobile apps. Besides engagement, the Harvard Business Review report considers SMS critical in improving brand recognition and customer loyalty, among other metrics.

 

  • 97% of SMS messages are opened and read within 15 minutes of delivery (Red Eye)

SMS marketing messages have a staggering 99% open rate, with customers opening 97% of messages within 15 minutes of receipt. By contrast, email marketing campaigns have an open rate of 20.94%. It may be because texts feel more personal, like messages from loved ones, so recipients are more inclined to open messages. This assumption emphasizes personalization’s significance in your mass texts.

 

  • 45% response rate is about average for SMS marketing (Gartner)

An SMS campaign’s response rate determines the number of people who followed through with your call-to-action via text, indicating your efforts’ success. The average response rate for business texts is 45%, compared to 6% for email, proving that texts are a more effective communication channel than others.

 

  • 63% of companies experienced better conversion rates and acquisition from SMS marketing (Forrester)

Shoppers are more likely to purchase when they receive texts from a brand, enabling enterprises to drive conversions and acquire new customers efficiently. Also, 57% of Forrester’s respondents attribute higher first-time and repeat purchase metrics to SMS marketing, partly due to increased customer satisfaction. Finally, 87% believe this marketing strategy is critical to their future.

 

  • 12.8% of online revenue is attributed to SMS marketing (Forrester)

Business texting generates significant profits. In fact, leaders attribute a substantial portion of their online revenue to SMS marketing, which they expect to grow by 7.4% in 2023. According to the same Forrester report, SMS is also the fourth most-used channel to communicate with customers. Despite having existed for decades, texting is still competitive amid its fellow marketing strategies.

 

Despite its benefits, texts comprise less than a fifth of all messages by type, compared to email, which takes up 84%, possibly due to fewer marketers leveraging SMS marketing than other strategies. You could tap into this relatively relaxed competition to grow your brand rapidly using SMS. 

 

Rieva Lesonsky, GrowBiz Media’s founder, president, and CEO, claims that most millennials prefer texting over phone calls due to its convenience. It’s an opportunity for telemarketers and cold callers to consider reaching out to customers via SMS instead of calls to drive high-quality leads from a younger market. 

 

  • 42.2% of millennial and Gen Z customers like to receive relevant offers and promotions via text (LivePerson)

Data shows millennial and Gen Z buyers are open to receiving marketing campaigns via text, with a significant population preferring messages from brands they’ve already converted with. However, more people prefer relevant texts than otherwise, so it’s essential to leverage customer data to enable SMS marketing targeting and personalization.

 

  • 80% of customers want to receive delivery updates, primarily via text (DispatchTrack)

DispatchTrack’s survey found that customers who wish to receive delivery updates prefer to do so through text over any other communication method, including email, phone, and social media. We may attribute this preference to SMS’ convenience and non-reliance on an Internet connection, which makes updates more accessible for people constantly on the go.

 

Jumping on the SMS Marketing Trend

There’s no denying that SMS messages deliver significant open and conversion rates compared to other marketing channels. Despite this, only a small percentage of companies reach out to customers via text, so consider taking advantage of the low competition before it starts picking up speed in 2023 and beyond.

SMS is here to stay and bring value to your operations and Semaphore is an expert at integrating SMS marketing for businesses.

 

Contact us today to start driving your metrics to greater heights!

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10 SMS Marketing Best Practices for More Effective Campaigns

SMS Marketing Best Practices

SMS marketing remains as one of the best ways to engage with existing and prospective customers. Whether you’re looking to communicate with your current audience or want to reach out to new leads, SMS marketing is a practical, cost-effective solution that can help you reach your audience in real-time.

Business SMS benefits from its ability to reach customers when they’re most receptive. When you send SMS messages, they are sent directly to your customer’s phones, allowing them to view them immediately.

It’s also important to remember that text messages are highly personal. Through SMS, it takes around 90 seconds for someone to respond compared to 90 minutes on average for an email, proving SMS’ efficiency.

Knowing the best way to do things can mean the difference between a successful SMS campaign and a waste of resources. This infographic will showcase key SMS marketing best practices that businesses should adopt to give their future campaigns the best chance at success.

SMS Marketing Best Practices - Infographic

SMS Marketing Best Practices That Make a Real Difference

 

  • Respect privacy and security

Today, hackers have improved their abilities to breach different systems and gather personal information. These days, people have become more cautious about sharing personal information online, but because of how digitized society has become, it has become all but unavoidable.

In the case of SMS marketing, it’s essential that you have a strong and secure system that ensures that all data is safe. Additionally, if a customer does not want to receive messages, you should respect their decision and delete their contact information from your CRM database.

 

  • Ask SMS marketing recipients to opt-in

Asking SMS recipients to “opt-in” is similar to a call-to-action (CTA). If they show interest in what your business has to offer, they can consider subscribing to SMS messages. Once they do, you can send a text that indicates a keyword asking them to confirm. 

The worst thing you can do is send bulk messages to your entire audience because some may not be interested in receiving SMS and can deem them as spam. You will lose trust, and your brand image will suffer as a result.

 

  • Send your messages at the right time

It’s important to remember that people are busy most of the day and have a lot going on. Sending an SMS message when they’re not expecting it could make them feel like they’re being spammed or harassed by someone they don’t know.

That’s why it’s vital to send the messages at the right time, which is when people are likely to read them. When you know what times are best for your customers to receive SMS messages, you’ll increase engagement with your brand and build loyalty over time.

 

  • Offer immediate value

Businesses should offer immediate value to their customers in SMS messages because it is a great way to drive sales and engagement. 

By offering something of value, you are showing the customer that you care about them and that you want them to continue doing business with you. This step will help build trust between the two parties, which can lead to them being more receptive down the road.

 

  • Be consistent (branding, timing, and frequency)

When a business sends out an SMS message to its customers, it’s an opportunity to build trust and brand loyalty. But if that message is inconsistent in terms of branding, timing, and frequency, the business will send mixed signals to its customers.

Instead of changing things without explanation or notice, businesses should keep sending their messages consistently so their customers can count on them being there when and how they expect them to be there.

 

  • Be responsive to replies

If you send an SMS message to a customer, and that customer replies, then it’s crucial for you to respond as soon as possible. 

If you don’t respond quickly, it’s going to make your customer feel like they’re not important and that their needs aren’t being met. That feeling can lead customers to think of you as unreliable or untrustworthy—and ultimately, they might choose not to buy from you.

But if you are able to respond quickly when your customers reply after receiving an SMS message from you, they’ll feel like they’re getting the attention they deserve. They’ll feel valued, which will help them trust that business even more.

 

  • Provide an opportunity to unsubscribe

Many companies assume that it’s okay to keep sending SMS messages to their customers for as long as they want. But this isn’t the case. If a customer wants to unsubscribe from your company’s SMS messages, then they should be able to easily do so.

It’s not just about goodwill or building trust with your customers; it’s also about staying compliant with the law. Even if you’re not a big company, you still have to comply with regulations that protect consumers’ privacy rights and prevent them from being harassed by marketers who won’t stop nagging them with unwanted text messages.

 

  • Use a conversational tone

Businesses should send SMS messages with a conversational tone because people are more likely to engage with a message that sounds like they’re talking to a person rather than a machine.

A conversational tone makes it easier for customers to respond when they receive an SMS message. It also helps strengthen relationships between businesses and customers by making it clear that the company understands their needs and wants to help them out.

 

  • Use common language

When sending an SMS message, you need to remember that not everyone will understand what you mean when you use abbreviated terms or jargon.

You can avoid this by using common language in your messages. It will help ensure that everyone understands what you’re saying and won’t misinterpret your intentions or get confused about when they should respond back.

 

  •  Add an element of exclusivity

In today’s digital world, businesses are constantly competing for the attention of their customers. In order to win that battle, businesses need to differentiate themselves from their competitors in some way—whether it’s through pricing, brand recognition, or customer service.

One way to do this is by adding an element of exclusivity when sending out SMS messages. The sender will only provide these types of messages to customers who have opted-in to receive them, giving them a feeling of exclusivity and importance.

Straight Road to Success

SMS marketing still holds its value today, and businesses should capitalize on it to increase sales. The SMS practices discussed aim to maximize the returns from your text messaging campaigns, strengthen customer relations, and drive more engagement. 

The key to drive success is understanding your customer base because your strategies will revolve around how your customers react and respond to you. If you take the time to analyze them, your business will surely flourish.

Looking to power your business with SMS, contact Semaphore today!

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SMS Marketing vs Mobile Marketing (What’s the Difference?)

SMS-Marketing-vs-Mobile-Marketing

In recent years, more and more people have been using mobile devices for their daily activities. Mobile devices don’t exclusively just mean phones, but also relate to tablets, and even watches. The strong adoption and overall reliance on smartphones pose an opportunity for marketing companies to adapt and improve the way they do businesses. 

This also meant that marketing firms had to acknowledge that marketing on mobile devices has turned into an effective strategy. As such, they needed to make their content and marketing strategies friendly to general phone users. While many have since adjusted to meet the shift in platform demand in the industry, others may still be left in the dark. 

The purpose of this post is to provide you, the reader, with two types of digital marketing geared toward mobile phones and similar devices, what they are, and how they are different from one another. 

What is SMS Marketing?

The Benefits of Email and SMS Marketing Combined – KitschyImage Source: kitschy.ca

Short message service (SMS) marketing makes use of phones and sends text messages with the purpose of delivering marketing or promotional content to potential customers. Usually, these messages can include info on hot deals, new items, or special sales and discounts. 

SMS marketing operates the same as traditional email marketing, with the biggest differences being the platform it’s being delivered on and the length of the message. SMS messages are short, easy to read, and straight to the point. Even so, a good campaign doesn’t compromise the marketability and selling points of the item being marketed. 

What are the Benefits of SMS Marketing?

 

  • It provides an immediate channel

One of the reasons why SMS marketing is an effective promotional tool is due to the channel it immediately has access to. Because most people always have their phones at arm’s reach, it’s virtually impossible for them not to read through your message. 

As a matter of fact, within 15 minutes of initial delivery, there is a high read rate of 97%. Additionally, almost half of the SMS campaigns being distributed receive a positive return on investments, with that statistic increasing further when in tandem with email and social media marketing strategies. 

  • It takes advantage of a large audience pool

With SMS marketing, although the effort required may not be as significant as with other content channels, it remains an effective tool for businesses since it taps into a comprehensively wide pool of mobile users.

Because of this vast pool of potential, your business can almost guarantee that an SMS marketing campaign will reach its intended audience. Even if the average turnover per conversion may not be as big, another consolation is more people become aware of your brand and the products or services being sold.

  • It’s generally more cost-effective than other marketing tactics and strategies

Compared to other forms of promotional content, SMS marketing has proven to be both effective in generating returns and cost-efficient. With its ability to be both customizable and accessible to anyone with a phone, SMS marketing beats the traditional use of billboards or tarpaulins, which are generally more expensive alternatives. 

Making use of SMS marketing also allows you or other relevant users to gauge the performance of your campaign, and can adjust accordingly, which isn’t the case with other traditional forms of marketing content.

  • You can increase customer engagement

SMS marketing tools allow businesses to connect with potential clients and create meaningful engagements with them as customers. Through this personal connection with clients, your business can keep them updated and informed about what’s happening with your business, what new items they can expect, and if there are any ongoing sales or discounts currently being offered. 

  • You can access data to monitor and learn from

Because opting for SMS marketing lets you track performance and engagement, it can be added value to your business moving forward. This is because leading SMS platforms let you track return on investments, key engagement metrics, and other relevant indicators that reveal consumer patterns and trends. 

When your business has gathered a significant volume of audience data, you can use it to make more informed decisions. Additionally, you can also use these insights to make targeted campaigns that showcase a deeper understanding of your current audience.

When Should I Use SMS Marketing?

 

  • Retail promotions

SMS marketing can be the preferred mode of promotion when it comes to upcoming events for your business. Because timed store events drive up demand and revenue, text messages which are immediately received by people serve as the perfect way to convey these real-time communications to customers. 

  • Urgent updates

SMS marketing can be used to let your patrons know what happens or has happened to your business in the event of order delivery, as well as store updates to incidents that occur in a branch store. 

  • Appointment reminders

Your business may run on an appointment schedule, so this is one of the times SMS marketing can act as a handy tool for your daily operations. By sending reminders about an appointment made by a client, you can be confident that they will receive the message as soon as possible. 

SMS Marketing Tools

SMS marketing platforms such as Semaphore allow businesses to send SMS messages to customers and manage their campaigns from a single dashboard.

SMS automation tools like Zapier and can be used to automate SMS workflows, such as sending messages triggered by user behavior or events.

SMS analytics tools such as Semaphore also allow businesses to track and analyze the performance of their SMS campaigns, like by measuring open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates.

Mobile landing page builders such as Unbounce can be used to create mobile-optimized landing pages that are designed to convert SMS traffic into leads or sales.

SMS survey tools like SurveyMonkey and Qualtrics allow businesses to gather customer feedback and insights via SMS, helping them to improve their product or service offerings.

SMS Marketing Tips

  • Keep your SMS messages short, concise, and relevant to the recipient.
  • Always obtain express consent from customers before sending SMS messages.
  • Use automation and personalization to tailor your SMS messages to specific customer segments.
  • Include clear calls to action (CTAs) that encourage customers to take action, such as redeeming an offer or visiting your website.
  • Track and analyze your SMS campaign performance to optimize your strategy, such as by measuring open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates.

What is Mobile Marketing?

Image Source: businessofapps.com

Whereas SMS marketing thrives almost exclusively through text messaging across compatible devices, mobile marketing operates on a wider scope and range of devices. Aside from smartphones and tablets, mobile marketing has also recently started extending to other devices without SMS capabilities, like smartwatches. 

Another difference mobile marketing has over SMS marketing is the former’s capability to use content marketing tools to send ads to audiences. These tools typically range from SMS to social media or mobile apps that help your business market your product or service. 

Because this marketing strategy covers a broader scope of channels, different types exist depending on the platform and scope. 

  • Video ads

Most mobile phones allow for videos to be viewed in-app, so your business can promote your products or services through these video-enabled applications like YouTube. 

  • Mobile apps

One of the biggest culprits for people using their phones too much is the applications installed on the phone. An estimated 89% of phone time is spent on apps. Because these apps receive high, long-term engagement, your campaigns are seen by more people, increasing brand awareness over time. 

  • In-game mobile

Your business can also make use of mobile games as a location for ads and other marketing content. Because so many popular games exist, you won’t find a shortage of places to buy ad space. 

  • Location-based

Usually best if you’re a restaurant or retail store, location-based ads pop up if someone is nearby your physical address. This is meant to entice them to stop by since the venue is near to where they are. 

  • Mobile search ads

These utilize search engines that offer users ads compatible with mobile devices, meaning these are the promoted things you find when you browse through search engines, like Google or Yahoo.

What are the Benefits of Mobile Marketing?

 

  • Wider audience reach potential

Billions of people globally own a smartphone, making it easy for your business to reach a more diverse set of audiences. Along with the platform also come instruments and online tools that can help you distinguish different demographics, like age, gender, and location.

Through these tools, you can not only have bigger access to clients, but you can also segment them accordingly and target the ones you’d like to focus on. 

  • It is immediate and accessible

Like its SMS counterpart, mobile marketing is quick and fast to execute. Because people are on their phones for a significant portion of their day, your campaign will likely get immediate engagement upon launch. This level of accessibility lets your business reach audiences anytime and anywhere. 

  • It’s versatile with multiple marketing channels

To add to an already large pool of potential clients, mobile marketing also lets your business have a wider reach in terms of platforms and channels, making for an even wider reach. It also helps that most of web traffic occurs on mobile phones, at almost 60% as of 2022. 

Platforms and tools like mobile websites, mobile-friendly applications, and in-app mobile marketing can significantly fast-track your company’s journey to brand awareness and drive growth at a much faster pace.

  • It’s cost-effective

Like SMS marketing, mobile marketing benefits from being more affordable compared to other marketing strategies, namely traditional marketing strategies or those catered for desktop viewing. In fact, mobile marketing clicks cost 24% less than clicks from desktop equivalents. 

While being cost-effective is a plus for any scale of business, marketing has become much more accessible for small to medium-sized businesses, or any company on a budget. 

  • Results are trackable

Another benefit mobile marketing shares with SMS marketing is the ability for you to track the performance of each post or campaign. This means you’ll be able to monitor campaign performance live and make adjustments when needed. You can also use the more accurate and relevant data to improve future initiatives and strategies.  

When Should I Use Mobile Marketing?

Because there is an overlap between mobile marketing and SMS marketing, a lot of the examples used generally for SMS marketing can also be applied to mobile marketing. 

Despite the similarities shared by the two, your business should opt for mobile marketing strategies if you want to widen your scope to platforms that aren’t exclusive to SMS. To an extent, mobile marketing takes advantage of the potential pool of clients more than SMS marketing does, since there are more people being targeted due to more channels being available. 

Mobile Marketing Tools

Mobile advertising platforms such as Google Ads and Facebook Ads allow businesses to create and run mobile ads targeted to specific audiences.

Mobile app analytics tools like Google Analytics enable businesses to track and analyze user behavior within their mobile apps.

Mobile push notification tools such as OneSignal allow businesses to send push notifications to users and manage their campaigns from a single dashboard.

Mobile wallet marketing platforms such as Apple Wallet and Google Pay Passes enable businesses to create digital passes and coupons that users can save and redeem on their mobile devices.

QR code generators such as QR Code Generator allow businesses to create and track QR codes, which can be used to promote products or events.

Mobile Marketing Tips

  • Ensure that your website is mobile-friendly and responsive to provide a seamless experience for mobile users.
  • Use targeted and personalized messaging to engage your audience and provide value to the user experience.
  • Optimize your mobile campaigns for local searches by including location-based keywords, such as city or state.
  • Utilize push notifications to provide timely and relevant information to customers, such as product updates or promotions.
  • Track and analyze your mobile campaign performance to optimize your strategy, such as by measuring engagement rates, conversion rates, and user behavior.

Message Has Been Sent!

While both SMS and mobile marketing share a good amount of similarities, its differences lie in their niche and specifications in terms of scope and reach. In short, SMS marketing is part of the bigger umbrella that is mobile marketing.  

Keeping up to date with SMS means understanding the impact it can have on your business operations.

For any consultations, concerns, or inquiries about SMS for businesses, contact our experts at Semaphore.